Clue Angst

[+Zekester & Simon]

A recent business trip took us to the Jacskonville, Florida area, where we encountered much opportunities to fritter away what little free time we had, in both Georgia and Florida. Many of the caches we sought had clues like "GA style" or FLA micro style".

 

Such clues are meaningless to an out-of-town cacher, and it got us thinking about other clues we've seen. They seem to fall into a few of categories:

 

1) Useless

2) Too usefull (they tell you exactly where it is)

3) Helpful with a little thought.

 

It is hard to write a good clue that walks the edge without giving up too much; we struggle with it ourselves. Just wanted to vent, CT style.

 

Your thoughts?

[Team Armadillo]

I agree with your asessment. I haven't seen too many hints that are useless, but many fall under the category of making it too easy.

 

I have tried to balance on that edge with many of my clues, but it is hard and I often fall off the edge one way or the other. I have received a few complaints from people that my hints weren ot helpful enough. All I can say is that they make sense to me when I write them and only trial and error and feedback from the finders lets me know if they are on the edge or too far in one direction or the other.

[+StarBrand]

As long as I don't see "No hint needed - this one is easy", I'm pretty much ok with any help I get.

 

Most of mine are a bit obscure to most and way too much info for a few others but that is about the best I could hope for.

[+welch]

I'll take # 2 Too usefull (they tell you exactly where it is)

anyday over "this is easy you don't need a hint", "no hints here", or ones that are too vauge to be helpful. I mean seriously if I'm reading the hint I want help

[+TeamAO]

A recent business trip took us to the Jacskonville, Florida area, where we encountered much opportunities to fritter away what little free time we had, in both Georgia and Florida. Many of the caches we sought had clues like "GA style" or FLA micro style".

 

Such clues are meaningless to an out-of-town cacher, and it got us thinking about other clues we've seen. They seem to fall into a few of categories:

 

1) Useless

2) Too usefull (they tell you exactly where it is)

3) Helpful with a little thought.

 

It is hard to write a good clue that walks the edge without giving up too much; we struggle with it ourselves. Just wanted to vent, CT style.

 

Your thoughts?

How about "PA 5 Gallon Bucket Style"?

 

Micros in an urban environment usually are needless of a hint.

 

If you find 10 micros, you can find them all. Some take more time than others, but hints usually point you in the right direction.

 

I thought that was what the GPS was for.

 

Once you're there don't ask Jeeves, THINK.

[+badlands]

I found one cache that was laying out on the open ground near a tree. I put the container back in the obvious spot in the hollow at the base of the tree.

 

The next cacher DNF'd because it wasn't "Eye High" and the cacher after that found it but complained that the last finder (me) hadn't put it back in the right spot.

 

I clearly stated in the log entry that I had found it on the open ground and put it back in the most likely spot..................guess those "too obvious" hints could be useful after all..

[+briansnat]

Personally, my clues are a dead giveaway. I like to think that fellow geocachers will only go to it as a last resort, =though I know that in reality, that many decrypt it ahead of time. Its their loss as it really ruins the hunt.

Edited September 8, 2005 by briansnat

[+carleenp]

I am so hit and miss with hints. I will admit that I still have one on a cache that should likely be on the main page or deleted. It says to stay on the trail to avoid a creek. That really isn't a hint for the actual hide, although I enjoy the logs where people found the creek first! I think I will go change or delete that tonight if I remember. I keep meaning to and forgetting! I plead early ignorance on that since it was my first cache, and now forgetfulness since I have looooong since known better and keep forgetting to change it!

 

I also like to give no hints. Either that is because the cache is in a spot meant to take the person there, yet so easy to find that no clue is needed, or because I really want the cache to be difficult. On the easy ones, I think I have some with hints, but dang, if they need them on those I would be surprised!

 

Anyway, the "X style" hints are often not helpful to people from out of town, at least not until they find some. But I just take that as part of the challenge.

 

My main annoyance is when parking coords are in the hint. But even then, it is part of the experience.

[+CYBret]

Cool thread. I'm working on an article about hints. Some of the stuff that's been mentioned here falls right in line with what I'm working on.

 

One thing that I think we forget about is the hint is also your first line of defense against a muggled cache. If your hint is obvious enough that a cacher should be able to find the cache and they still can't, you can be pretty certain the cache is gone.

 

Make the hint work for you.

 

Oh, and yeah...I'm one of those "last resort" hint users (usually), but still...I don't enjoy the "blatant give away" hints. Make me work a little for it.

 

Bret

[+Harry Dolphin]

Personally, my clues are a dead giveaway. I like to think that fellow geocachers will only go to it as a last resort, =though I know that in reality, that many decrypt it ahead of time. Its their loss as it really ruins the hunt.

Dunno, Brian. We just DNFed Flat Stuff. I wouldn't say that your clues are dead giveaways. Generally, they are helpful.

I decrypt hints on my print-out, and use them, if necessary. (Yes, I use printouts.) I'm too lazy to translate them at the site. I should probably print out the logs too. Generally, they are more helpful. But that takes too much paper and ink.

Decrypting beforehand also saves me from getting really mad at the "No hint needed" or parking coordinates in hints.

I had one hint that no one ever understood. Oh, well. Guess I was being too cute. So I changed it to what people were expecting. Oh, well. Added a hint to a cache that people were having troubles hiding. I mean for my caches to be found, not hidden in an impossible and nasty way. I have grown tired very quickly of the 'bison tube in a prickly evergreen in a small park with the coordinates seventy feet off' caches.

I disagree that urban micros do not need a hint. Some are very well hidden!

[+horsegeeks]

 

Micros in an urban environment usually are needless of a hint.

 

If you find 10 micros, you can find them all.  Some take more time than others, but hints usually point you in the right direction.

 

I thought that was what the GPS was for. 

 

Once you're there don't ask Jeeves, THINK.

You obviously don't hunt the micros around Raleigh, NC.

[+Ed & Julie]

Cool thread. I'm working on an article about hints. Some of the stuff that's been mentioned here falls right in line with what I'm working on.

 

One thing that I think we forget about is the hint is also your first line of defense against a muggled cache. If your hint is obvious enough that a cacher should be able to find the cache and they still can't, you can be pretty certain the cache is gone.

 

Make the hint work for you.

 

Oh, and yeah...I'm one of those "last resort" hint users (usually), but still...I don't enjoy the "blatant give away" hints. Make me work a little for it.

 

Bret

See this thread:

Usless Hints

[+soreyes]

I use 'giveaway' hints on some of my caches where I am concerned about impact on the area. I feel that I created the caches to show the seekers the journey and destination rather than the container itself.

[+Bear_Left]

I make the hint a giveaway when the cache is well off the beaten track, at the top of a serious hill, etc., and I'd hate to send some poor cacher away empty-handed after they'd put in the effort to get there.

If it's in a suburban park, I might put in a cryptic hint if I can come up with one, just to give the finder an option (sit down and puzzle out the hint) other than tearing apart the shrubbery and scaring the crowd of watching Muggles!

 

I think it's important to mention in the main description that the hint _is_ a giveaway, just to let conscientous cachers search a little longer before resorting to it.

 

And never, ever do the "too easy for a hint" or "there's free parking at the south gate" type of hints!

[+Mastifflover]

Micros in an urban environment usually are needless of a hint.

 

If you find 10 micros, you can find them all.  Some take more time than others, but hints usually point you in the right direction.

 

I thought that was what the GPS was for. 

 

Once you're there don't ask Jeeves, THINK.

Go to Erie PA and look for some of Goldsnoop's harder micro caches. I assure you that you will be properly humbled.

[+Isonzo Karst]

I tend to give positional type hints: knee high, head high, ground level ... just narrowing the search range, and possibly drawing your eye to a cachable feature.

As far as being an out of town visitor cacher and not familiar with hint "style" - Florida, JAX, Federation style, Georgia style, NC style - that's just part of caching - you also don't know that your maps lie, that X bridge is out to construction- that ABC Parkway is one laned one-way (against you) and so on. Those hints aren't useless - actually they can be almost spoilers, but you have to learn. Here's a cache where the hint, JAX style made a find easy, even though the coords are about 100 feet off (deliberate, I think),

0-17052

[+The Jester]

Another type that I ran across was bilingual: This cache. No help if you don't know the other language. I finally found the cache, but still don't know what the hint says.

[+Husker]

Back in the olden days before PDA’s and CacheMate were invented, I used to take a print out of the cache with me. I really liked deciphering 200 word long clues by hand. Nothing is as much fun as spending 20 minutes to get a clue wither it is useful or not.

[+suz55tbird]

Check out this wonderful related thread: "Useless Hints"

[Lesbaru]

I'm a weenie. I always print out the decrypted hint, and always read it before I go searching. Caching loses it's luster when the kid is FLIPPING OUT because he can't find the cache. I dole out little clues from the hints and try to direct him a little to help him think it through. "Hey, the clue says the cache is in the squirrel's penthouse. What part of the tree do you think is the penthouse? And what would a squirrel's house look like?"

 

Gotta cache. Gotta keep the kid enthusiastic. Gotta love those hints!

[+Miragee]

After a disappointing day a few months ago I wrote about the missing hint problem in my blog.

 

With gas prices the way they are now, I appreciate a clever, but somewhat specific hint, so I can find the cache on my first trip.