Stupefyingly difficult U. of C. Scavenger Hunt marks 35 years with Olympic condoms, aerial pancake flipping and Rube Goldberg machines
CHICAGO — The 35th annual University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt — which is nominally a scavenger hunt but closer to a campus tradition wrapped inside a multigenerational class reunion bundled into an elaborate prank requiring the cooperation of hundreds of students, dozens of faculty, family, friends and government officials — concluded Sunday night. The winners were the students and alumni of the Snell-Hitchcock residential hall.
To win, they jumped through hoops. Many hoops. They located a list of scavenger hunt items from the first hunt in 1987. They found an official Olympic condom. They flipped a pancake 35 feet. They brought a mariachi band into a restaurant. They invented a beer glass that screams whenever it reaches room temperature. They constructed a Rube Goldberg machine that played music. They sewed a Magic Eye-style quilt depicting the walking trails of Millennium Park. They built a scale model of a 3200-series CTA train car with working doors, an LED sign for stops and automated announcements. They secured the written endorsement of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
They were far from alone. There were 15 teams and about 300 contestants. The list of stuff to find, do and/or construct
