Puzzle Caches

[+sinninen64]

Hi there all cachers, This is a thread about "Puzzle caches" This started with doing some puzzle caches and then suddenly comming accross a load that are possitivly hard... I understand that a lot of people like the extra challenge, I myself do like a cache that requires some work to complete it, But there are a quite a lot that Well leave you felling either really hacked off or really stupid. I feel that some of these caches lack info as to what you are looking at. So I asked the publisher if he solved them all before publishing them (If he did then my hat off to him,as he must Einstein) he said no and hinted that a forum thread was needed to see if anyone else felt the same or am I the only Troublemaker... Your responses please and keep it clean please...

[+Lasagna]

By publishers do you mean reviewer or hider? If you mean the hider, then I would think they would have solved their own puzzle before posting the cache. If you mean reviewer, that's not their responsibility.

 

If you try asking nicely for a hint from the hider, they will often give you a clue -- after all they want you to find their cache eventually. Now, I understand if it's a FTF opportunity, etc. and they won't give out a clue -- but after the cache has been found, most will usually help out.

 

If not, contacting a previous finder will also sometimes yield a clue. Remember, that if there was a previous finder ... someone obviously was able to solve the puzzle!

[+sinninen64]

I think you may have got the wrong end of what I am saying I aint having a go at the publisher/reviewer or the hider, just that some of the puzzle caches give you such a little info that you dont know what to do. I know that going to the hider willyield a hint. For instance if they want you to solve a Quadratic Equation then why not say "this is a quadratic equation". What I am trying to say is that not all of us are programers or mathmaticians, and when I see a page of numbers with the words "solve this" with no hint as to what it is I wonder how people manage to solve them...

[+bwmick]

can you give us a ferinstance?

 

(I like qudratic equations, there just so cuddly with their little x's and y's all over the place. )

 

bwmick

[+tozainamboku]

1. What was the difficulty rating of this puzzle? If it was 4 or 5, it's supposed to be a challenge.

 

2. While going on the forum to ask for help on specific puzzles is frowned upon, you can email the hider privately to ask for a hint. In some areas, people will get together and wokr on a difficult puzzle as a team. Usually, hiders have no objection to this. (BTW I salute you on the way you have addressed the topic here - you did not ask for help on a specific puzzle)

 

3. Geocaching.com guidelines state "The information needed to solve the puzzle must be available to the general caching community and should be solvable from the information provided on the cache listing. " Reviewers don't need to solve the puzzle, but they may ask for assurances that it meets this guideline. If you think it doesn't meet the guideline you could try posting a Needs Archiving. But just because you haven't found a solution doesn't mean the puzzle is not solvable.

[+sinninen64]

one that has me really stumped is called base puzzle (berks) (I aint having a dig to the owner of this cache ) If you like those quadratic equations here is one I got done for me and it turned out to be wrong somehow as it took me to a farmers field... Its called manudens mathmatics its near stansted airport..

[+sinninen64]

right Let me get this strait for those who wish to have a go.....

 

1.. I aint here for any clues for any puzzles. I can ask the hider myself for a hint

 

2.. The local reviewer suggested that I put this thread up to see what response I got as they thought it a interesting question.

 

3.. I know that the reviewer doesnt have to solve the puzzles I only asked if they are suppossed to solve them before publishing them...

Edited May 15, 2006 by sinninen64

[+Fish Below The Ice]

one that has me really stumped is called base puzzle (berks) (I aint having a dig to the owner of this cache ) If you like those quadratic equations here is one I got done for me and it turned out to be wrong somehow as it took me to a farmers field... Its called manudens mathmatics its near stansted airport..

 

When in doubt, go to google and type "quadratic calculator". Then, plug in a=1, b=-52.08185, and c=8.50780. According to google maps, this puts you right next to some trees near Maunden.

[+sinninen64]

Thats where I went to but no luck I think it was the same site that was used for it. I didnt work it out my mate did for me but it wasnt far out. Still didnt find it though it is quite a dense little wood.. and the cache is a small one at that with lots of muggles walking through..

[+Prime Suspect]

If people are finding it, then obviously there's enough info on the cache page to solve it.

 

Not all puzzle are going to be solvable by everyone, just like not everyone will be able to find every cache.

 

If you need a clue, email the owner. They may or may not decide to provide one. If you still can't get it, put it on your Ignore list.

[+niraD]

In my (limited) experience with frustrating puzzles, a lot of them will have an "aha moment" when you see how the puzzle works. It's really hard to give a hint for such a puzzle without giving it away, since once you see the trick, the puzzle is easy. The challenge is to see the trick.

 

And many that appear to require specialized knowledge really don't require anything of the sort. It's all window dressing to distract you from the simple way the coordinates were hidden in the cache description.

 

I'm really good at overthinking puzzles. I do the same thing with parlor games like "Aunt Emma" or "The Good Book".

[+Prime Suspect]

3.. I know that the reviewer doesnt have to solve the puzzles I only asked if they are suppossed to solve them before publishing them...

Huh?

[+Buder]

My first experience to Geocaching was an attempt at a Puzzle Cache in Vienna. Now hubby is a native German speaking (good thing since we were there visiting his parents) and we met up with a couple of friends from Britian. Hubby was translating the puzzle for the rest of us and we thought we got everything at the various stages and then worked out the coords for the final and went for it. No dice. Tried some other reworkings of the math. Still no go. Went back to the two stages we thought we might have messed up. Still no smileys. Eventually we had to give it up for the night. I did email the owner of the cache with our answers to the stage questions and it turned out we were /way/ off on one of them. When he explained the answer it turned out our translation was a 'gist' and we missed the keywords to get the correct answer. So we never did get our smiley cause we didn't have time to go back. Do I reqret all the time we spent on the puzzle? Not in the least. We had a blast. It was the first time we were exposed to Geocaching and we were still hooked without evening finding the treasure. We've had DNF's still and the lack of finding the cache doesn't mar the experience in the least. It was still a fun time to be had.

[+NotThePainter]

For instance if they want you to solve a Quadratic Equation then why not say "this is a quadratic equation". What I am trying to say is that not all of us are programers or mathmaticians, and when I see a page of numbers with the words "solve this" with no hint as to what it is I wonder how people manage to solve them...

 

Because sometimes finding the puzzle is the puzzle itself. Solving a quadratic equation isn't hard. You either google for it or find a mathematician friend. For one of my puzzles I had one finder ask questions of a museum art curator!

 

I think you're talking about the type of puzzle I make. For example, check out these two:

• The Mystery of Susan Walker
  
• The Art of Jean-Luc Charbonneau
  

In both of these puzzles just figuring out what to do is the hard part. Once you know that the puzzle is easy in case, slightly harder in the other case.

 

Contrast that with this puzzle of mine:

• The Ash Street School
  

This is the classic "figure out how to transform letters into numbers" puzzle. Very different approaches. In the Ash Street School it is clear what the puzzle is. In Susan Walker and Jean-Luc Charbonneau it isn't at all clear what the puzzle is.

 

Paul

[+Harry Dolphin]

Hi there all cachers, This is a thread about "Puzzle caches" This started with doing some puzzle caches and then suddenly comming accross a load that are possitivly hard... I understand that a lot of people like the extra challenge, I myself do like a cache that requires some work to complete it, But there are a quite a lot that Well leave you felling either really hacked off or really stupid. I feel that some of these caches lack info as to what you are looking at. So I asked the publisher if he solved them all before publishing them (If he did then my hat off to him,as he must Einstein) he said no and hinted that a forum thread was needed to see if anyone else felt the same or am I the only Troublemaker... Your responses please and keep it clean please...

 

Well, yes. There are easy mystery caches. There are difficult ones. And there are very difficult ones. Some people like them. Some people hate them.

I'm not sure what your question is here. Do the reviewers have to solve the puzzle first? Of course not. They do expect an explanation of how to solve the puzzle. "Use every third letter of each five letter word in the description" sort of thing. Or "Here is where the final coordinates can be found'.

Okay, you don't know what you're looking for? But the answer is there somewhere!

You are describing yourself as a possible Troublemaker. From this, I assume that you would like to ban any mystery cache that you cannot solve? Okay. You're a trouble maker.

Someone posted the respones: If you don't like them, put them on ignore. And leave the rest of us alone.

I'm working with my reviewer to explain where 'the puzzle information is on the cache page.' I think it's an interesting mystery.

Myself, I don't care for any cache that requires a boat. And there are two on my nearby list. I won't be a troublemaker. I'll just put them on 'ignore', and let those who are interested go for them.

What exactly are you asking? It's not very clear.

[+Team Neos]

I do think that some puzzles are too difficult.

 

The strange thing is --a puzzle that I think of as difficult could be one that you might think is simple, and vice versa.

 

Some puzzles tend toward math, others toward language. Some rely on color cues, while other are based on patterns. Others are, well, I don't know, I haven't figured them out yet. I am pretty good at patterns and simple ciphers. Some math puzzles reveal themselves to me when I glance at them. Other puzzles, I can stare at for days on end and not have a clue where to even start a google search for hints. I've had puzzles I can solve in thirty seconds using an ink pen that leave had others complaining that they are too hard. Some that others say are "too obvious" leave me stratching my head.

[+Lasagna]

I do think that some puzzles are too difficult.

 

The strange thing is --a puzzle that I think of as difficult could be one that you might think is simple, and vice versa.

 

Some puzzles tend toward math, others toward language. Some rely on color cues, while other are based on patterns. Others are, well, I don't know, I haven't figured them out yet. I am pretty good at patterns and simple ciphers. Some math puzzles reveal themselves to me when I glance at them. Other puzzles, I can stare at for days on end and not have a clue where to even start a google search for hints. I've had puzzles I can solve in thirty seconds using an ink pen that leave had others complaining that they are too hard. Some that others say are "too obvious" leave me stratching my head.

 

I agree ... I enjoy difficult puzzles. Sometimes it just a matter of figuring out where to start. Not everyone gets it. That's why if I've beat my head against the wall for a day or so on the puzzle, I'll swallow my pride and ask for a gentle nudge in the right direction.

 

Here's a couple I liked in my area ...

 

GCVR0Q - A squirrel's Story

GCQYPG - Cipher in a Cipher in ...?

GCKC11 - Llama Corner: Revisited

 

And then, since I'm a fan of logic puzzles, I have one which I think is pretty easy ...

 

GCR5RA - Lenker Park Lunchtime Logic

 

It's all a matter of perspective. Some people think these are difficult (Squirrel took me a couple hours before I figure it out while Cipher in a Cipher took a couple days) while others will stumble onto the answer rather quickly.

[+chstress53]

Everything you need to solve this amazing puzzle cache is on the cache page, but you must figure it out. Sometimes it takes a team effort.

Here is a prime example.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...33-ed33ad9cbae0

Edited May 16, 2006 by chstress53

[+One of the Texas Vikings]

I have 8 caches put out. 6 of them are puzzles, but they are solvable puzzles.

I try to make a puzzle that gives no one a distinct advantage. (Quantum equations ???)

anyway, mine are more fun than difficult. A good way I found to check them is have the guys at work

who are not cachers work on them.

Then I correct the things they find...

 

Oldies but Goodies

Movie Mania

Geography

The Truth is Out There !

 

etc.... I have tried puzzles, that were made by people, that require special knowledge and they are frustrating,

so they end up on my ignore list...

 

Rick