Puzzle Training Sites

[+stringcachers]

I am looking for web sites with tutorials on solving GC type puzzles. I am not looking for specific answers to known caches. I want ideas on ways to go about solving the puzzles in general. Things people have seen, and how they solved them, etc.

 

Any ideas?

[bogleman]

With the wide variety of puzzle caches out there you almost have to take each one on its own.

[+radioscout]

I thought that "?"- and multi caches are a european problem. (Some weeks ago Groundspeak posted a world map that showed almost only traditional caches in the USA and almost only "?"- and multi caches in Europe)

 

Most of the puzzles are copied from internet puzzle sites. If you find the original puzzle you have the solition for it.

[+Deliveryguy428]

It is just call trial and error, you just have to look and hope you find the right one. I mean after hours of searching I've built a nice little 6 or 7 link bookmark with puzzles that would more then likely get me run of out town if I even tried to use one cause some of that are not :-D

[+Kit Fox]

Try emailing the owner and see if they will steer you in the right direction. When cache owners refuse to help, try emailing a previous finder,and asking them for a clue.

 

I have more puzzle caches solved than actually found (lack of time to hunt them). Many puzzles turned out to be quite easy, once you understand the unique concept used. I also love to hide puzzle caches. I get emails from cachers needind guidance, and gladly help them.

 

Here is a great starting point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitution_cipher

 

Some puzzles are created by the cache owners, and it is up to cacher finders to use intuition to "mind read."

[+radioscout]

Another solution for the puzzle cache problem:

just post the puzzle on a forum for people who like riddles or on a mathematical forum. There are lots of guys who love to solve the puzzle for you.

[+Subterranean]

Unless the puzzle is designed to be solved by searching for help on the internet, you're obviously not going to experience the cache the way it was intended. Why not try to solve the puzzle on your own, pulling plenty of hair out along the way, and feeling true satisfaction when you finally figure it out? I say either solve the puzzle on your own, or put the cache on your ignore list.

 

...perhaps the one acceptable place to get a hint (if you truly need it) is directly from the cache owner.

Edited April 2, 2006 by subterranean

[AZcachemeister]

I click the 'Ignore' button, which always provides an immediate solution!

[+jerrytcher]

If you email the owner, a lot of puzzle cache owners will also tell you if you have the correct coords before you head out. Don't forget to use "Select All" under Edit (ctrl-A) to show any hidden type in white fonts.

[+DocDiTTo]

The best trick to solving puzzles is to know what's out there and recognize it when you see it. Lots of puzzles are based on things like Morse code, Braille, Roman Numerals, Subsititution ciphers (aka Cryptograms), ASCII/Hex/Binary conversions, Signal flags, etc. Then there are the various ciphers that are often seen, like PigPen, Polybius, and Caesar. Of course harder ones such as Enigma, Vigenere and Bazaries have been used too. And then there are the fad puzzles like Sudoku that seem to be popping up everywhere all at once.

 

Once you know what you're dealing with, they're easier to crack. For example, I downloaded software from http://www.sudoku.com/ that lets my computer crack any sudoku puzzle in just a couple seconds. (I was never a big fan of math puzzles myself). Cryptograms are easily dispatched with the tools available at http://www.blisstonia.com/software/WebDecrypto/. Other puzzles require other technology, but much of it is freely available on the web.

 

Every once in a while you get a completely new, unique type of puzzle created by someone with way more free time and smarts than the average joe has. In those cases, you're on your own.

[+Miragee]

Sort of like this one?

 

By the way, I use AZcachemeister's method. I exclude Puzzle caches from my Pocket Queries . . . That works really well for me.

[+DocDiTTo]

Sort of like this one?

 

By the way, I use AZcachemeister's method. I exclude Puzzle caches from my Pocket Queries . . . That works really well for me.

 

Yeah, like that one. Although I must admit, the one I was thinking of is that one in your neck of the woods with the Monopoly cards... I still have no clue what's up with that.

[+Miragee]

What cache with the Monopoly cards? . . .

 

If it has one of these in front of the cache name, it doesn't exist in my world.