Veteran hunter Steven Sanftner found the 2026 Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt medallion at Linwood Park on Wednesday, Jan. 28, after 11 clues, in a hunt that had treasure seekers split between several parks that began with L.

Here are all the clues, along with their explanations.

Clue 1

Welcome King Boreas, your swag so notorious

It’s part of the mythic lore

No need for sulkin we’re back with Vulcan

In time for seven score

Explanation: After a brief split between the Winter Carnival and the Treasure Hunt, we’re back together this year with an even bigger total prize to celebrate the carnival’s 140th birthday (seven score). “Seven” also refers to Seventh Street, which is clearly visible from the bluff edge of Linwood Park, and “score” refers to the athletic events at the park.

Clue 2

For this hunt sublime a commemorative rhyme

Cheers the coming anniversary

For a third its history a writer of mystery

Has spun clues using sorcery

Explanation: The treasure hunt is celebrating its 75th year so it’s diamond jubilee is coming up. “Diamond” invokes both baseball and softball fields at Linwood Park. “Diamond Jubilee” invokes historic celebrations of long-serving royalty in England – such as the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. Victoria Street, which runs into the north end of Linwood Park, was named for her.

Clue 3

Sitting with pen musing all in ken

Twigs and dolls filled the pages

A flashing demonic offered tonic,

The rhythm of the sages

Explanation: Patricia Hampl, a St. Paul writer, grew up near Linwood Park, where she would often go to write poetry. She sat on a bench near the bluff overlooking the “miniature twig trees and tiny doll people” of the West Seventh Street neighborhood. She was mesmerized by the red neon sign of the old Schmidt Brewery, which she described in her memoir “A Romantic Education” as having a warm yet “satanic quality.” The sign rhythmically spelled out “S-C-H-M-I-D-T,” which for her embodied the rhythm of poetry.

Clue 4

Pack your bag for riches to shag

The game demands your best

No need to be vandal to get a good handle

On how to fulfill your quest

Explanation: “No need to be vandal” reminds hunters again to respect property and nature. The brown paper grocery bag with handles was invented in 1917 by St. Paul grocer Walter Duebner and his wife, Lydia. Duebner Place, which borders the west end of Linwood Park, was named after them.

Clue 5

The prize is massive so don’t be passive

Or let your tracks spin and spin

If you earn your due be it not lost on you

That someday you’ll land the win.

Explanation: All the clues refer to “LP,” the initials of Linwood Park. First, a “limited partnership” or LP is for passive investors. Second, a long play (LP) record is a vinyl disc that spins on the turntable while a needle picks up the vibration of its tracks. Third, LP is the stage name of Laura Pergolizzi, a Brooklyn-born singer, songwriter and musician who wrote the songs “Lost on You” and “Someday.”

Clue 6

This is the year we hid it here

Where it was once said to have lain

In the woods by the lake you may catch a break

That may end in a toast of champagne

Explanation: The only time the medallion was hidden in Linwood Park was in “Treasure Hunt,” a 1992 novel about our treasure hunt by St. Paul writer Roger Barr. “Linwood” derives from Old English meaning “woods by the lake.”

Clue 7

Without much contortion find outrageous fortune

Near this bunkerish getaway

Look for a bird known for the word

Who hailed from this waterway

Explanation: Bunkerish getaway refers to the Linwood Recreation Center, which is built into the side of the bluff at Linwood Park. Shakespeare references in “outrageous fortune” (from “Hamlet”), “bird known for the word” and “waterway” lead to his nickname, “the Swan of Avon” (he grew up on the River Avon in Stratford, England). Avon Street ends at Linwood Park, an intersection close to where the medallion is hiding in snow.

Clue 8

The hunter appeared, properly geared.

Knowing their dink would be praised.

But not quite yet for saying “nice get!”

They must wait until the kitchen is raised.

Explanation: The “Reimagine Linwood Park” project is changing how Linwood looks by providing the park’s first field improvements in 30 years. That includes new pickleball courts, where “dinks” are short shots, and the “kitchen” is the non-volley zone in the ever-popular paddle game. The park is under construction, so hunters looking to hit some shots will have to wait until summer 2026, according to St. Paul.

Clue 9

For its one hundred forty years, St. Paul’s Carnival deserves cheers.

(The ones that had these make up roughly one quarter.)

With an entrance fit for a queen, we look forward to one day seeing

A park from which we can take in royal boarder.

Explanation: The Pioneer Press again cheers the Winter Carnival’s anniversary and throws out a stat about ice palaces – 36 have been built in the Carnival’s 140-year history. The “queen” reference is about Victoria Street, named after England’s Queen Victoria and which runs right into the front door of the Linwood Recreation Center. Like most revelers, we’d one day like to see another ice palace (the last was in 2018) – but we’ll have to settle this year on the Palace Community Center (our home for a “royal boarder”), which is visible south of Linwood.

Clue 10

A local stone borders the home;

Hunters should eye a visual center.

Stay off the street and kick your feet

It’s in the snow that we did set her.

Explanation: Across “a visual center” (anagram for “St. Clair Avenue”) from the park, a large wall of limestone is an easy-to-see landmark for hunters. In the park, folks should search the low-lying areas, as we tucked the puck into the back of a snow berm near the St. Clair-adjacent sidewalk.

Clue 11

Like Kaohly Her, St. Paul mayor,

This park breaks new ground.

So be a dear, search turf here

For garbage and trash abound.

Explanation: A nod to the fact that Linwood has never been a hiding location before – a first, like Her, St. Paul’s first mayor of Hmong descent. Again, we advise hunters to search where there’s turf – not in the construction zone, which is excavated dirt – and look for the “discarded” soda can that contains the medallion.

Clue 12

Those in Linwood should shout this motto: The treasure is hidden east of Grotto!

Our puck is tucked in a Coke, buried in a long pile of snow.

Start between a power pole and tree. Walk three paces toward “Schmidt” and see

That those south of the sidewalk are closest to the winner’s glow.

Explanation: On a clear winter night, the Clue Writer ventured out to Linwood Recreation Center to hide the medallion. With the western portion of the park under construction, the CW ventured east, past the community garden, past the tennis courts, past where Grotto has a small staircase that ends across St. Clair from the park. Hunters that head to the small portion of the park east of Grotto and line up a power pole and tree, then take three paces toward the red, glowing “Schmidt” Brewery sign, will be rewarded if they’re near the sidewalk and unearth the puck, covered in the crusty remnants of several holiday snowfalls.

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