Difficulty Rating For Puzzle Caches

[+Jango & Boba Fett]

We love Puzzle/Mystery/Unknown Caches. Living in a part of England where most of the existing caches are simple Traditionals some of that enjoyment ends up as Armchair Caching and we have a file of solved but not found as yet caches. However it seems to us that the existing categories in the ClayJar Difficulty Rating system need a little amplification as lots of Puzzle Caches turn out to be either too easy for their rating or (much fewer) much more challenging than expected.

 

We have started a thread in the United Kingdom Forum but seems only fair to extend the discussion further so here's how we started things off:

 

Having visited GeoCaches between the Solent and Sutherland in the last three months I've noticed a huge variation in the Difficulty Ratings assigned to Puzzle caches. But then I'm as much to blame as the next cache setter because using the ClayJar rating system I feel constrained to rate any puzzle cache as at least a 3 (Challenging) but still get emails saying this took me 2 hours hunting while a 3 should be straight forward. The ClayJar Difficulty Rating is (with apologies to egg blowing grannies):

1. Easy. In plain sight or can be found in a few minutes of searching.
   
2. Average. The average cache hunter would be able to find this in less than 30 minutes of hunting.
   
3. Challenging. An experienced cache hunter will find this challenging, and it could take up a good portion of an afternoon.
   
4. Difficult. A real challenge for the experienced cache hunter - may require special skills or knowledge, or in-depth preparation to find. May require multiple days / trips to complete.
   
5. Extreme. A serious mental or physical challenge. Requires specialised knowledge, skills, or equipment to find cache.
   

Having spent an hour checking out all the Puzzle caches within 150 km of the House of Fett it would seem that for Puzzle Caches the East Anglian approach is:

1. Easy. Single stage you arrive there and the answer is obvious (eg What colour is the building? If blue then ... red then ... green ...)
   
2. Average. Single stage to find all the required information which is clearly stated on one interpretation board, inscription, web site, etc
   
3. Challenging. Multiple stages which involve obtaining numerical values indirectly (eg counting things), Puzzles for which the strategy to solve the mystery is readily apparent. Easy to Moderate Sodoku. Any cache which requires some prior research or preparation.
   
4. Difficult. Hard Sodoku. Puzzles in which the strategy to solve the mystery is not readily apparent. Any coded puzzle for which no explanation of the code is provided. Any Puzzle Cache which involves more than one strategy to solve.
   
5. Extreme. Anything by Pharisee. Bonus caches which involve the solving of multiple 3 and 4 star caches.
   

This is only a work in progress as Pharisee does place 4 star caches as well. My real bug bear are caches with too high a rating, particularly those where you arrive expecting an hour or too of mental gymnastics only to find your self filling in the log book 20 minutes latter.

 

Any comments or suggestions please.

[+fizzymagic]

I would say that your rating system is about 1 full point higher than ours here in the Bay Area of California.

 

In my opinion (and it's only an opinion) there is no Sudoku puzzle I have ever seen that is worth more than 3 stars.

 

It's hard to generalize, but a 3-star puzzle is one that will probably be solved the first day; a 4-star puzzle takes a few days; if it will take a week or more, it's probably worth 4.5 or 5 stars. But the Bay Area puzzle-solving community is pretty big, and as a result is probably faster than most at solving really tough puzzles.

Edited July 6, 2006 by fizzymagic

[CoyoteRed]

Wouldn't it be more of function of the steps and procedures involved than how long it takes to solve a puzzle?

 

One area might have a very smart puzzle solving community who can solve the puzzles rather quickly, but the same puzzle stumps everyone in a different area. Of course, puzzle solving as a group would be different than puzzle solving as an individual, too. Plus, some puzzles are completely unbreakable without a key and that key is intuited. How long does it take to intuit a key piece of information?

[+Ichabod]

Unfortunately the difficulty of the puzzle is often determined by the person solving the puzzle. Puzzles are often VERY esoteric and what is easy for one person, may be difficult for another.

 

I have solved some 5 stars that took me an hour or less, where others have struggled with the same puzzle for weeks, and I have spent weeks on three stars that others solved in under an hour.

 

In general, I base my puzzle ratings on how much time I think it will take the average cacher to solve and then adjust the rating based on feedback from people that find the cache.