+OmniCitadel Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I have a cache which is as i just reciently found out very very very hard to find, and i need to create a hint that is short and sweet. Here is a description about the location Cache is located about 6' Beneith the gps 0' spot. It is located in a crack in the rock (there are thousands of cracks in the rocks all arround) and this crack is not visible while standing on the top of the cliff. Ironic how i cant come up with a hint... Quote Link to comment
+wiseye Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 How about, LOOK DOWN, or YOU CRACK ME UP! Quote Link to comment
gridlox Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 When I give a hint I try to make them cryptic. By that I mean, some of them when read ahead of time make you go "HUH?" or appear to be misleading. But if you are at the cache site, then you go "Oh Yeah!!" because it makes perfect sense! (Usually ) For instance, one of my hides is on a river bank. The encrypted clue is "Don't take more than one step." If you were to pull it up on any of the maps, you would think it would mean "to be careful" since you are near the river bank. But once at the site, there area a series of railroad ties that make up a stairway down to the water's edge. Under the top step is a hidey-hole that contains a small cache. So, if you take "more than one step" you've passed the cache! D-man Quote Link to comment
+Bill & Tammy Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Forget the hint, make 'em sweat a little. It's bad enough many are using phone-a-friend on tough ones anyway. Quote Link to comment
+OmniCitadel Posted January 8, 2006 Author Share Posted January 8, 2006 lol well a team of 5 just tried to do my cache and spend 2 hours on this one with no success... Quote Link to comment
+Bill & Tammy Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 (edited) lol well a team of 5 just tried to do my cache and spend 2 hours on this one with no success... Nah, they were just getting warmed up. Seriously though... why "dumb down" a very nice and clever cache with a give-away hint. There are way too many easy finds already out there. You should be proud you have a cache that is a challenge. So what if not everyone finds it. Paw used to say that is why they call it "fishing" and not "catching". Edited January 8, 2006 by Bill & Tammy Quote Link to comment
+Team Tigger International Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 When I put out a news cache, I'll often leave out the hint until I see how cachers are dealing with things. Once I have an idea where they're getting stumped, I can figure out a way to guide them to the cache. Wulf Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I tend to provide positional hints. If this were mine it would probably be: lo Quote Link to comment
+Alan2 Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 When I put out a news cache, I'll often leave out the hint until I see how cachers are dealing with things. Once I have an idea where they're getting stumped, I can figure out a way to guide them to the cache. Wulf That's not fair to the people who go first and don't find them. Then you change the dificulty by making it easier adding better hints after the fact. I think it would be fairer all around to come up with a hint and that's it. Make it sopecific and let it go like that. Anyway, that's my hint Quote Link to comment
Tahosa and Sons Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Creative use of the english language is very useful when you do hints. Or you could make them as vague as one I did. "Its in the woods" Or include them in your cache description as a poem, like I did for one of mine. After you have solved the menu, sight down the bore to see where you will go. Once you have parked, follow the old road. Soon you will find a fork in the trail, ignore the arrow and think, would Tahosa give you a nature walk or a uphill run. Swing to the left and up we go, Walk to the high sign and swing to the right. Skirt the deadfall and as you cross the draw, the appetizer will be low and to the right. Return to the high sign and follow the path, even though the arrow says go up, up, ignore it. Continue on the trail as it meanders up the hill. The approach to the salad will be from the North. Return to the trail, and search for the Yucca. Soon you will pass the Sage, who is not old or wise. When it starts to level out swing to the right, And get ready to enjoy your meal. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 That's not fair to the people who go first and don't find them. Then you change the dificulty by making it easier adding better hints after the fact. I think it would be fairer all around to come up with a hint and that's it. Make it sopecific and let it go like that. Anyway, that's my hint Excuse my French, but what does fairness have to do with anything? That guy found a hard cache, this guy found an easy one. So what? I have a cache that is somewhat difficult and if they decrypt the hint, I want to them to find it. And I had a cache that was more difficult and I wasn't giving them anything. I depends on how much the OP wants to give them. Start with the cache description posted here" "Cache is located about 6' Beneath the gps 0' spot. It is located in a crack in the rock This crack is not visible while standing on the top of the cliff. " "Smart" it up from there. Quote Link to comment
+res2100 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 I am a firm believer that hints should be specific. Afterall, I would think that cache owners would want their caches to be found and no finder wants to go away from a cache with a DNF. As a finder, I would not read the hint until after I have run out of places and ideas of where to look. If someone chooses to read the hint before hand, well...they're just spoiling it for themselves then. Thing I hate the most is a vague hint like "by a tree" where you are standing in a forest with a thousand trees. With the exception of a few caches of mine where I may have a cryptic hint because of the type of challenging hide that it is (ie fake log or a 2 foot slab of concrete that is sitting out in the open and is the actual log book), I make sure that my caches have a very specific hint so that I know that if a cacher has trouble finding the cache, that they can decode the hint and able to walk away with a find. In your case where it is in a crevice among other crevices and people seem to have trouble finding it, I would give step by step directions in the hint on how to find it...ie, start at some easily identifiable object, go over 3 trees to your left, reach way in to the 2nd crevice on your right or something like that. Hope that helps in deciding what to provide in the hint. Quote Link to comment
+DocDiTTo Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 A hint should be specific, but not a giveaway. A vague hint like "it's in a crack in the rock" won't help much if there's 300 cracks in the rocks nearby. hints are supposed to help guide the searcher, but not be a dead giveaway. "In the base of the rotting tree stump north of the largest rock" is NOT a hint, it's a spoiler. Maybe use some of the grafitti as a "landmark" to get people closer to the correct spot? You've been to the area, you know where the hide is, we're not the right ones to tell you what your hint should be. Helpful but not a spoiler, just run with that and you'll be fine. Quote Link to comment
+RockyRaab Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Suggested hint: As deep as a coffin. Quote Link to comment
+olbluesguy Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 This cache is not on a level that you are familliar with . Would it be beneath you to search elswhere? Quote Link to comment
+Team Neos Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 This cache is not on a level that you are familliar with .Would it be beneath you to search elswhere? Oooooh, I like that one. Its cyptic, in a way, but almost makes it obvious in another way. I like hints like that. If I were out there, I would immediately think "Well it's not as easy as it looks...and it appears that it may be below me...now why can't I see it? Hmmm? Do I need to approach this from another angle?" Quote Link to comment
+RockyRaab Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Here's another cryptic one: Head to toes: toes to cache. Quote Link to comment
ATMouse Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 "It's not about atttitute, but altitude" Quote Link to comment
+sept1c_tank Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 You can be right on top of this and not see it. Quote Link to comment
+sept1c_tank Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 I noticed you already have a hint on your cache page. Since this is a popular spot, and it is at the highest point around, I'm guessing there might be a sign there with the official elevation on it. If this is a fact, and your hint is accurate, that should be good enough. If there is no sign, your hint is mostly useless since most GPSrs won't give you that accurate of an elevation. Quote Link to comment
+olbluesguy Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 This cache is not on a level that you are familliar with .Would it be beneath you to search elswhere? Set Your Brearing towards The King Of Babylon. Can you phathom this? If not,I will give you such a crack! Quote Link to comment
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