CADILLAC MADNESS

When we at D Magazine first came up with the idea of having a Cadillac Treasure Hunt, we hoped it would be well received. We thought it would be a fun and different way to kick off spring. But never in our wildest dreams did we think the idea would catch on like it has. Ever since the April issue made it to our subscribers’ mailboxes and the newsstands of area stores, our offices have been swamped with phone calls from happy-and frustrated – hunters.

Three days after the issue came out, we received a frantic message from our receptionist that someone had found the keys to the car; the hunt was over. After talking with the elated person on the phone, we discovered that he hadn’t found the keys, but he was sure he knew where they were. We haven’t heard from him since.

Then, of course, there was the phone call from an eager D reader who wanted to know the quickest way to get a copy of our June issue, in which the final segment of the puzzle will appear. “Is subscribing faster than buying a copy on the newsstand?,” he asked. Mustering all of our marketing talents, we told him that of course subscriptions were much faster.

We also received an unconfirmed rumor that several high school teachers were assigning different segments of the puzzle to their students to “enhance their problem-solving abilities.” And we know of one Dallas oil executive who says he’s losing thousands of dollars by taking time away from his business to try to solve the puzzle.

And lastly, members of a local university fraternity recently threw a Let’s-Solve-The-Cadillac-Treasure-Hunt Party. Imagine, a “fraternity Cadillac!”