  =='CHEAT'==  Come now - this is a bit strong. As I recall, the SOLE criterion for success was unearthing the Hare. Nowhere was it stated that you HAD to solve the puzzle in the book in order to do this. This may have been the easiest and most obvious way, and for the majority of people it was the only way, and thus assumed by everyone to be neccessary, but you were morally free to use any method AT ALL which resulted in you digging in the right spot. If you had been in the pub in Nailsworth one night, and Kit had been sitting opposite and fallen asleep, and started mumbling 'Ampthill . . . Catherine . . . Solstice' in his sleep, you would have been quite justified in driving to Ampthill and digging up the Hare - it would have been completely within the rules. If you had convinced Kit that the Hare had been discovered and vandalised, and then trailed him to Ampthill and spied on him when he checked - it would have been completely within the rules. Physical posession was the only criterion specified for legal ownership, obtained by WHATEVER method you chose. There was no cheating involved, just loosley drafted rules - subsequent treasure hunts learned from it and specified you had to have solved the puzzle as well.     