DASH 12
Grab your friends and check your passports – it's time for a
Delightful Animal Sanctuary Holiday!
You and up to 4 of your friends will take a trip through The Bewilderness, a nature preserve
teeming with supposedly lively animals from around the globe. View these puzzling creatures in their
natural habitats, and learn more about them in our exclusive Bewilderness guidebook.
But perhaps not all is as it first appears at The Bewilderness. Can you work through a series of
zoological enigmas to expose the truth growing in the park's underbrush?
DASH 12 took place on Saturday, September 13, 2025.
Here are the results for Standard
and Expert levels.
While we do what we can to ensure that all players have a similar experience, there will inevitably be some differences,
so scores may vary across events. Notably, teams in London were able to review the guidebook before they started the first
puzzle, so their times won't correlate well with other events.
Puzzles
DASH 12 puzzles are available for download, sized for either letter or A4 paper.
Each zip contains the DASH 12 puzzles in both Standard and Expert levels, as well as an
Instructions PDF with details on printing and preparing materials.
DASH 12 uses two decks of cards.
The above files include pages that you can print and cut to create the cards.
For a nicer experience, you can order either or both of these decks from DriveThruCards.
DASH is designed to be played by a team of 3-5 people. You'll find it handy to have scissors,
clear tape, a glue stick, and a wet-erase (transparency) marker for DASH 12.
We recommend using ClueKeeper to complete your DASH 12 experience.
ClueKeeper will confirm answers (including partial solutions) and provide hints,
and reveals more of the story as each puzzle is solved.
It also has built-in support for Zappar, an "augmented reality" system used by one of the DASH 12 puzzles.
For a small fee, you can purchase a version of the DASH 12 ClueKeeper hunt specifically designed
for use with the files above. Purchase the
Standard
or Expert
hunt based on which level you wish to play. (See the
DASH FAQ for guidance on choosing a level.) Note that the ClueKeeper
purchase is for an entire team, not a per-person cost.
Credits
- DASH 12 Directors – Cathy Saxton, Mark Larson
- Puzzle Managers – Cathy Saxton, Mark Larson, Sean Gugler
- Events Managers – Mark Larson, Sean Molley
- Artwork – Dana Young
- Social Media – Yen Duong
- Puzzle Authors
- Funny Business – Max Woghiren
- Errant Anteater – Wil Zambole
- Trouble in Paradise: A Chants Encounter, Chain Letters – Sean Gugler
- Trouble in Paradise: Donor Dilemma, Traffic Ham – Jimmy Chang
- True Stripes – Sara Goodchild
The "Waterfall" puzzle type used in the Zebra puzzle was invented by Mike Selinker
- Eagle Scout – Wei‑Hwa Huang
- This Trivia's Gone to the Birds – Jen McTeague
- Putting the Pieces Together – Amos Eshel
- Searching the Park – Dann Webster
- Plant of Attack (meta) – Jonah Ostroff
- Bewilderness guidebook cover puzzle – Dana Young
- Story Author – Emily Culp
- Berkeley, CA
- Lead: Rain Thalekai, Justin Thelukai
- Davis, CA
- Lead: Paul Rundle
Additional Volunteers: Katrina Arredondo, Daniel Rundle, Marie Rundle, John Rundle, Megan Findahl, Anthony Forsberg
- Los Angeles, CA
- Lead: Cheryl Gaul, Rich Malena, Jean Gaul
- San Francisco, CA
- Lead: Recca Auld, Orion Auld
Additional Volunteers: Kirk, Tori, Sage, Dennis, Allen, Mike, Nicole, Alexis, Allen, Jenny, Joe, Fred, Matt, Jeff, Jack, Jason, Brian, Melissa, Arden, Aisha
- San Mateo, CA
- Lead: Rain Yang
Additional Volunteers: Wei-Hwa Huang, Linda Holman, Jessen Yu, Nina Hinrichs, John Ananny, Alex Bertelli
- Denver, CO
- Lead: Steve
Additional Volunteers: Elaina, Ivy, Josh & Julie
- Washington, DC
- Lead: Nate Perkins
Additional Volunteers: Emily Culp, Jason Florek, Sam Freund, Zoe Perkins, Todd Powell, Becky Ross, Alex Stinson, Anji Stinson (ASquared Adventures), Amy Zezula
- Atlanta, GA
- Lead: Brian Schoner
Additional Volunteers: Michael Hanft, Bryan Leclair, Sean Molley, Megan Orr, Heidi Pritchett
- Chicago, IL
- Lead: James Nelson, Wil Zambole, Anna McCleary
Additional Volunteers: Katje Sabin, Bill Gilliland, Zach McDowell, Anna Chapin, John Retterer-Moore, Mia Blixt-Shehan, Grace McClintock
- Boston, MA
- Lead: Mika Braginsky, Amy Hailes
Additional Volunteers: Karen Sittig, David Fisher, Lev McClain, Arcturus Wang, Fro Myers, ?Annie Guo, Becca Chang
- Twin Cities, MN
- Lead: Charles Borchert
Additional Volunteers: Jarrin Jambik, Heather Nova, Marc Gutman, Mark Larson, Kenrick Bjelland, Ole Nelson
- Saint Louis, MO
- Lead: Julie Buchheit
Additional Volunteers: Joseph Buchheit, Lindsay Cranmer, Joel Stillwell, Joni Manry, Abby Dring, Kevin Bizub, Eli Montgomery
- New York City, NY
- Lead: Mark Schmit, Kerry Hannan, Nancy Taubenslag
Additional Volunteers: Jacky, Becca, Mike, Jeff, Ellie, Sarah, Eric, Rachelle, Sam, Andy, Carlos, Kate, Beth, Jeff, Sarah
- Portland, OR
- Lead: Robert Erickson
Additional Volunteers: Alex Russel, Anastasia Roeszler, D Westerholm, Matt Cleinman, Ronnie Kon
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Lead: Dillon Lareau, Emily Forney
- Austin, TX
- Lead: Stephanie Guo
Additional Volunteers: Christine Sizemore, Ryan Sizemore, Richard Li, Amy Xin, Paul Nguyen, Grace Chan, William Hodges, Taylor Miles, Omar Lopez, Morgan Cooper, Brenner Jones
- Seattle, WA
- Lead: Glenn Hollingsworth
Additional Volunteers: Cathy Saxton, Tom Saxton, Jonah Ostroff, Dean Papastrat, Jessica Chau, Evan Cahill, Barbara Joyce, Cele Wolman, and Stephan Mueller
- Melbourne, Australia
- Lead: Jupiter Haehn
Additional Volunteers: Peter Runacres, Graeme Hairsine, Katelyn Gigante, Jeffrey Theobald, Juliette Wade, Hazael, Brenda Leslie
- Toronto, Canada
- Lead: Amelia, Michaela
Additional Volunteers: Than, Em, Pip, Ethan, Hamada, Becca, James, Sara
- Montreal, Canada
- Lead: Henry Smith, Catherine Paré
Additional Volunteers: Drew Lanclos, Lisa Lee, Sara Breitkreutz, Carol Breitkreutz, Susana Ung, Stephanie Pilon, Justin Lachance
- Brno, Czech Republic
- Lead: Petr Valášek
Additional Volunteers: Ondrej Valášek, Adéla Valášková, Magdalena Valášková
- Christchurch, New Zealand
- Lead: Lisa, Nicole, Danielle, Geoff
Additional Volunteers: Ross
- Singapore
- Lead: Eunice Wong, Tham Jun Han
Additional Volunteers: Sim Hong Jhun, Gan Weiliang, Lim JZ, Jazlene Ong, Mysti
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Lead: Andy Kuo
Additional Volunteers: Claire, Christina So, Esther Huang, Glenn Tang, Jenny Tsai, Justin Wu, Kayleigh Madjar, Steven, Tom Bach
- London, United Kingdom
- Lead: Michael Colao, Jan Schneider, Gareth Adams
Additional Volunteers: Chris Dickson, Morag McBride, Mia Gwen Chell, Jacob Bailey, George Day, Caroline Hardman, Ed Gamble, Liv Evans, Louisa Gummer, Amy Bower, Chongyang Cao, Melissa Tucker, Gary
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