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How Do I Make A Monkey Puzzle Cache?


Milbank

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Well, that's a hoot - when I saw the thread title I was gonna tell you, "email sOulbAit, he has a couple"! and he does, only they're the ones for sale on ebay. Fiendishly easy/hard....he brought one to our last event. Sensei Doombot had it solved in a few seconds, I believe everyone else struck out. I have no idea how to make one. I was too busy hosting to play with it. As a cache he was forced to place the thing on his own front porch - people kept taking it off, determined to figure it out. Now you can't leave his yard with it.

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The Monkey Puzzle for sale on Ebay is derived from the original one that was put together from scrap parts around the garage. Luckily, I'm on the good side of the evil genius who built the original. so he rarely uses his powers against me. I'll clue him in to this thread and see if he wants to share. Honestly though, I suggest dumping out your junk drawer, having a beer, and getting creative. It's a lot more fun than working from plans or buying someone else's creation.

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89f05407-82ed-4340-94df-7d17e8740427.jpg

 

See what geocaching and alot of free time has done.

Common clue us in. :unsure: I just cant see buying one for 60 bucks. And people putting film canisters and blinkers in rock piles with the hint look for rocks.Around our kneck of the woods is getting old fast, they need payback. :D

Edited by Mystery Ink
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you can't pull the bar out without removing the lock. You can't remove the lock unless you can get the key out.

 

Here is a picture of another monkey puzzle. The key is inside.

 

c37ca0d0-baef-468a-b4a4-7744c6f4aa5f.jpg

 

I am making one now. Hope it comes out working fine.

 

That looks so much like a pipe bomb. Be careful where you put it!

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I know this is a very old thread, but I wanted to know if people are still using this type of puzzle. I don't see them for sale on ebay like is posted above. Are there newer types of puzzles out there now.

I have one. its a 5/5

imagine the words out of someones mouth after solving a hard puzzle but to find a monkey puzzle waiting for them at GZ :)

GC20A37. its got one find in a year.

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I have one. its a 5/5

imagine the words out of someones mouth after solving a hard puzzle but to find a monkey puzzle waiting for them at GZ :)

GC20A37. its got one find in a year.

I haven't found a monkey puzzle cache yet, but I've enjoyed the on-site puzzles I've found. I particularly enjoy caches that combine an online puzzle (to get the actual coordinates) with an on-site puzzle (to access the container or to get coordinates for another stage).
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First, obtain the monkey.

There are many varieties to choose from, but the species shouldn't really affect your results.

Write the co-ordinates to the actual final container on the monkey. A tattoo would probably be best, but a Sharpie might work OK.

Cut your monkey up into several/many odd shaped pieces such that it will be difficult to tell how to put it back together again.

Place the scrambled pieces in a suitably large container and wait for the logs to roll in.

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12 minutes ago, RufusClupea said:

There's a new invention; it's called goggle (or something like that). :rolleyes:  That's what I did.

On second thought, maybe a better reference is Y-tube.

That's an obnoxious answer to provide to someone who already acknowledged their newbie status. 

Perhaps someone more helpful could post a brief summary of what this bumped thread is about, and what's a monkey cache?

  • Upvote 3
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57 minutes ago, bigjim4life said:

Wait - for a relative newbie - what is a "monkey" cache?  I don't quite get it...

I've never found one, but based on what I've seen online, the idea is that there is a hidden maze, and you have to move the monkey puzzle around in a way that causes a small object to follow the path of the maze. Once it reaches the end of the maze, the small object falls free.

Some seem to use a micro/nano cache as the small object. The large monkey puzzle is only a way to keep you from accessing the micro/nano cache.

Some seem to use a key as the small object. Once the key is free, the padlock securing the container can be opened.

  • Upvote 1
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19 minutes ago, niraD said:

I've never found one, but based on what I've seen online, the idea is that there is a hidden maze, and you have to move the monkey puzzle around in a way that causes a small object to follow the path of the maze. Once it reaches the end of the maze, the small object falls free.

 

We did a few. "Worst" one was a wooden cube 20cm*20cm*20cm with a locked drawer. There was a metal (pin?) ball inside that had to be lead through the 3D maze by listening where the ball was. At a certain point the ball would open the "lock" on the drawer exposing the micro with log. It took us about an hour trying to get the drawer open without success and when I turned the cube to put it back in it's hiding place the drawer sprung open... It was one of the best (and most frustrating) caches we ever did. It was one of many very special caches in 2 series by the same CO.

Another was a PVC pipe maze where you needed to use two magnets to "lead" the key to the end of the maze. At a few points there were fixtures holding the maze in place where the key would drop so you needed a second magnet to make the key pass the fixture.

 

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Actually, thinking about it, the plastic maze puzzle boxes (for example, this one at Amazon) are pretty similar in concept to monkey puzzles, and I've done a couple caches that used them. The main difference between them and what I think of as a monkey puzzle is that the ball you're moving around the maze is captive: it never comes out of the maze, but instead just moves to a position that allows you to open the container's latch.

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3 hours ago, Keystone said:

That's an obnoxious answer to provide to someone who already acknowledged their newbie status. 

Perhaps someone more helpful could post a brief summary of what this bumped thread is about, and what's a monkey cache?

Please check our relative join dates and #s of finds.

It wasn't intended as obnoxious; I explained how & where I found the answer to the same question.

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2 hours ago, on4bam said:

We did a few. "Worst" one was a wooden cube 20cm*20cm*20cm with a locked drawer. There was a metal (pin?) ball inside that had to be lead through the 3D maze by listening where the ball was. At a certain point the ball would open the "lock" on the drawer exposing the micro with log. It took us about an hour trying to get the drawer open without success and when I turned the cube to put it back in it's hiding place the drawer sprung open... It was one of the best (and most frustrating) caches we ever did. It was one of many very special caches in 2 series by the same CO.

Another was a PVC pipe maze where you needed to use two magnets to "lead" the key to the end of the maze. At a few points there were fixtures holding the maze in place where the key would drop so you needed a second magnet to make the key pass the fixture.

The problem with some of those types of puzzles is ensuring that they can be reset very easily.  If it takes even half as much effort to reset than to "open", many are likely to just leave it open/solved--or very close to open/solved.  Worse yet are those individuals, who when frustrated by a challenging puzzle, will resort to brute force, lock-picking, etc. to "teach the CO a lesson".

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1 hour ago, RufusClupea said:

The problem with some of those types of puzzles is ensuring that they can be reset very easily.  If it takes even half as much effort to reset than to "open", many are likely to just leave it open/solved--or very close to open/solved.  Worse yet are those individuals, who when frustrated by a challenging puzzle, will resort to brute force, lock-picking, etc. to "teach the CO a lesson".

One of the things that impresses me about the plastic maze puzzle boxes that I've seen is that they reset automatically, with no effort from the solver. The latch doesn't work at all until you navigate the maze to get the metal ball from point A to point B. Then the latch works once, moving the metal ball from point B to point A in the process. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I've seen some game-theory discussion of escape rooms that address the issue of resetting the room for the next group. The ideal situation is one where solving the puzzle leaves it in a state where it is ready to be solved again, but it's hard to design puzzles that way.

  • Upvote 1
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17 hours ago, niraD said:

 The ideal situation is one where solving the puzzle leaves it in a state where it is ready to be solved again, but it's hard to design puzzles that way.

Exactically.  I spoze I'd (from a designer's P.O.V.) call it part of the challenge.  A little easier if one can remember it from inception.  Nothing like getting an epiphany for a whiz-bang puzzle, only to have that "D'oh!" moment halfway or more into fabrication... :o

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On 9/29/2017 at 4:03 PM, RufusClupea said:
On 9/29/2017 at 1:05 PM, on4bam said:

We did a few. "Worst" one was a wooden cube 20cm*20cm*20cm with a locked drawer. There was a metal (pin?) ball inside that had to be lead through the 3D maze by listening where the ball was. At a certain point the ball would open the "lock" on the drawer exposing the micro with log. It took us about an hour trying to get the drawer open without success and when I turned the cube to put it back in it's hiding place the drawer sprung open... It was one of the best (and most frustrating) caches we ever did. It was one of many very special caches in 2 series by the same CO.

Another was a PVC pipe maze where you needed to use two magnets to "lead" the key to the end of the maze. At a few points there were fixtures holding the maze in place where the key would drop so you needed a second magnet to make the key pass the fixture.

The problem with some of those types of puzzles is ensuring that they can be reset very easily.  If it takes even half as much effort to reset than to "open", many are likely to just leave it open/solved--or very close to open/solved.  Worse yet are those individuals, who when frustrated by a challenging puzzle, will resort to brute force, lock-picking, etc. to "teach the CO a lesson".

I was FTF on one of those plastic maze puzzles after someone had DNF'd it. .  I think they must of left it "almost" solved as I only had to twist the box a couple of times before the metal ball fell into place and I could open the box.  

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On 2/19/2011 at 10:44 PM, AZcachemeister said:

First, obtain the monkey.

There are many varieties to choose from, but the species shouldn't really affect your results.

Write the co-ordinates to the actual final container on the monkey. A tattoo would probably be best, but a Sharpie might work OK.

Cut your monkey up into several/many odd shaped pieces such that it will be difficult to tell how to put it back together again.

Place the scrambled pieces in a suitably large container and wait for the logs to roll in.

Still my favorite post in this thread.

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