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Stupid Puzzle Caches


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I hate stupid caches in general. Can't people place smarter caches? Just not so smart that they rise up against their creators, like Terminators and Cylons. Bringing about the destruction of humanity is about the last thing geocaching needs. Good luck getting the NPS on our side after that.

:rolleyes: Very Jack Handey-like!

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Im ambivalent to puzzle caches. I neither go out of my way for them, nor run from them. Ive placed one, or rather I encorporated one into a multi of mine. One of the caches stages became problematic, first was the police, then with muggles. At first, the stage was a magnetic, then PD got involved... questions... forget it. I reluctantly moved the stage, which burned because I really wanted to share this spot with the caching community. Well the secondary spot got muggled, ( Cheers to Harry Dolphin and Andy Bear for plunging on toward the last stage anyway! Yes, through persistance, they found it. )

Anyway, I found the only way to make this work was to do a number puzzle.

Further, I see puzzles that are good require a bit of forethought. Most are not all that good. Like mine. Mine was ok, not great; nor hard. There is a dark irony involved. I was happy.

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I would rather have a puzzle cache that uses the technique mentioned at the start of this thread than have one that involves writing/etching/engraving cache coordinates into public property to get you to the final cache location. This method can also allow you to take the cacher to a location that would not be allowed/approved for a cache (like near an historic courthouse)...

 

I do enjoy puzzle caches (to an extent) because they force me to think, many times in ways that I might not normally. This allows me to grow and learn more.

Edited by GeekBoy.from.Illinois
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I really think people are robbing themselves by doing a blanket ignore and not even looking at the cache page to see if it's something they might enjoy.

 

I heartily concur! Here's one that even a grade-schooler might enjoy:

 

Seeing Spots (It's a subsriber-only cache - sorry.)

 

And this one is well-known in our area for being devilishly tricky, clever, brain-twisting, and delightful, and has received kudos from everyone who's solved it (or tried to):

 

Gadgetmaster

 

Me, I love puzzle caches that I can solve. I especially like the "Ah HA!" moment when the solution finally appears.

 

But I hate the puzzle caches I can't solve. :rolleyes:B):(

Edited by charliewhiskey
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We somehow manage to find some redeeming quality in every cache we find. We certainly have a huge number of puzzle caches in our area. Sometimes it seems we are also the central HQ for the evil urban micro. We have no shortage of light post hides, fake rocks, etc., but each hide means another cacher took the time to find the spot and place the cache. Are they all great? Nope. Are they all scenic? Nope. Do we really like every cache we find? Nope.

 

The true beauty of our sport (Yes we think of it as a sport. I don't recall seeing any stats on the latest folks who have climbed various mountains but I would certainly think of that as a sport) is that it gives each and every one of us the ability and opportunity to play it the way we want to. Sometimes we need a quick fix and we go for the parking lot light pole. Sometimes we need some excercise so we head out to the local trails and/or mountains and/or lakes, oceans, etc. Sometimes we need the mental stimulation that comes from hunting an evil micro or solving a challenging puzzle. Each of these has redeeming qualities for the cachers who choose to hunt them. Every cacher can also choose not to hunt a given cache. What a great sport! We each play it the way we want to.

 

There are cachers who only hunt a certain type of hide (or who exclude a certain type of hide) and look down on other types. That is fine - it is their choice.

 

Ultimately we try to hunt every cache in our area. If we can't find it we may ask for help. If we can't solve a puzzle we may ask for help. They are all fun in their own way.

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Heh, you just gave me a great idea!

 

"Count the letters in the fourth name on the sign... add 156... multiply by the # of Jupiters Moons...

Take the inverse... square root... multiply by pi... double that... add to that the # of pimples on my butt...

These are the coordinates... after you reverse the numbers...

go there and take the #of letters in the second name on the new sign, etc. etc. etc.

Multiply the answer by zero and add 42 12.345 88 12.345"

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Heh, you just gave me a great idea!

 

"Count the letters in the fourth name on the sign... add 156... multiply by the # of Jupiters Moons...

Take the inverse... square root... multiply by pi... double that... add to that the # of pimples on my butt...

These are the coordinates... after you reverse the numbers...

go there and take the #of letters in the second name on the new sign, etc. etc. etc.

Multiply the answer by zero and add 42 12.345 88 12.345"

I'll just point my seekers to your post in this thread. Can we get a webcam going for the pimples on your butt or is this a consistant thing and you can just let me post a photo?

 

Thanks.

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Heh, you just gave me a great idea!

 

"Count the letters in the fourth name on the sign... add 156... multiply by the # of Jupiters Moons...

Take the inverse... square root... multiply by pi... double that... add to that the # of pimples on my butt...

These are the coordinates... after you reverse the numbers...

go there and take the #of letters in the second name on the new sign, etc. etc. etc.

Multiply the answer by zero and add 42 12.345 88 12.345"

 

Next time you're in the area give a go at:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCC9FC

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You have to be carefully when filtering out the puzzle types. I placed a night time cache in my area and marked it as a traditional, then the reviewer changed it to the " ? " type.

 

I've never understood why puzzle caches (and puzzle multi-caches) don't have their own type, or some other distinguishing feature (on the Web site and in the GPX file). At the very least, there should be some mark so that a computer can filter out the unsolved puzzles in your pocket query before sending it to your GPS.

 

I started to program GeoBuddy to detect "the cache isn't at the posted coordinates" in the Description, but gave up after I realized how many variants (and "misspelings") are out there.

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I've never understood why puzzle caches (and puzzle multi-caches) don't have their own type, or some other distinguishing feature (on the Web site and in the GPX file). At the very least, there should be some mark so that a computer can filter out the unsolved puzzles in your pocket query before sending it to your GPS.

 

If you use GSAK you can use it to store the 'corrected coordinates' for puzzle caches that you have solved.

Then you can have a filter that shows only puzzle/mystery caches that have these corrected coordinates.

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If they're offset caches where you need to take information off a sign or object to get the actual coordinates, I think they're fine. They are an ideal replacement for virtual caches in that they often take you to an interesting spot and you use info there to find the acutal cache.

 

Pretty much sums it up. For good or bad it's one result of not having virtuals available. :unsure:

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I think that the OP was complaining about tedious offset caches rather than any type of puzzle cache. I get slightly irritated by offset caches that require complicated and unnecessary maths: luckily, they're rare in this part of the world.

What's wrong with just ignoring them? OK, that means that you have no unfound caches in your area, but it would have been the same if these caches didn't exist in the first place.

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We enjoy puzzle caches and have done quite a few. We even have a name for the type that the OP describes, the ones that involve taking a bunch of easy trivia and then performing loads of silly arithmetic--they're "Tax Forms."

 

Don't get me wrong, some of these are pretty good, if the trivia is well-chosen and interesting. Our puzzle Knothead might be considered a Tax Form in that it's relatively easy, but involves a fair amount of manual decipherment. But making the search for the knots a visual one draws the searcher into the world of knots, which is pretty interesting and unknown to most people other than Boy Scouts, sailors, rock climbers, and knitters.

 

We also have a name for pointless multis that lead you from place-to-place just because they can: "Puppet Caches." They probably deserve their own icon.

Edited by Mule Ears
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Count the letters in the fourth name on the sign... add 156... multiply by the # of Jupiters Moons...

Take the inverse... square root... multiply by pi... double that... add to that the # of pimples on my butt...

These are the coordinates... after you reverse the numbers...

go there and take the #of letters in the second name on the new sign, etc. etc. etc.

Now you have the key for deciphering the following puzzle...

 

I am getting really tired of these caches...

 

Anyone else???

 

These type of caches are not for the LCD..decipher that.

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I HATE puzzle caches! Well, the math ones, at least. I mean, I don't even balance my check book (tg for online banking) never took algebra or any higher math---my kid runs when I offer to help him with his math homework---which is only when his Dad is out of town. How, how, HOW do you keep them off your PQ's??? That would be the best bit of info I've had in a long time! I've reviewed the "Build a PQ" over and over, I can't see how I can filter them out.

Edited by Geckolovers
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I HATE puzzle caches! Well, the math ones, at least. I mean, I don't even balance my check book (tg for online banking) never took algebra or any higher math---my kid runs when I offer to help him with his math homework---which is only when his Dad is out of town. How, how, HOW do you keep them off your PQ's??? That would be the best bit of info I've had in a long time! I've reviewed the "Build a PQ" over and over, I can't see how I can filter them out.

 

Just check the "selected types" radio button and check the ones you want to receive. You can't filter them off by "math types only" but you can get rid of the puzzle caches.

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Yup, it is a trend that is hitting the Seattle area hard, too. It seems like some hiders want to one-up one another in making obscure puzzles that have little if anything to do with caching.

 

:blink::unsure:

 

In all my time caching, I have only done/seen only ONE (1) puzzle (Things with Wings) that used actual cache data you needed to research to find the correct coords. I guess you could say that's caching related.

 

My question is this: How is ANY puzzle NOT caching related if you need to solve it to find the cache? :o

 

This thread is funny. If you substitute the word "Micro" for puzzle, it sounds just like all the other threads where someone crys foul because geocachers in their area refuse to cater to their own personal aesthetic. :laughing:

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If you substitute the word "Micro" for puzzle, it sounds just like all the other threads where someone crys foul because geocachers in their area refuse to cater to their own personal aesthetic. :laughing:

Not hardly. In your, (poorly), imagined scenario, cachers are running around bemoaning the unfairness of Groundspeak for listing things they don't like. Al Sharpton could learn a thing or two from your powers of exageration. :unsure: The reality is that folks have likes and dislikes. Those who dislike something, such as your beloved lamp skirt micro, tend to fall into three catagories:

1) Hunt them anyway.

2) Ignore them completely.

3) Express their opinions.

 

I happen to fall into the "express their opinions" group. If I see a container type that is almost universally lame, such as a film canister or a hide-a-key, I will likely express my personal thoughts on the matter. They are only opinions, not a call for action. In this thread, folks are expressing their personal thoughts on puzzle caches. Some like 'em, some don't. No one is crying "Foul".

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I personally like puzzle games...at times. Anyone can go to a set of coordinates and look for a hollow tree stump, but not as many ppl can break a cipher or do rather complicated calculations to arrive at a final coordinate. When I'm able to find some of the more difficult puzzle caches it gives me a better sense of accomplishment than finding a parking lot micro. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the quick cache and dashes for a lunch break. But when I have time to try to solve a puzzle, the find at the end is even better than a normal find.

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I happen to fall into the "express their opinions" group. If I see a container type that is almost universally lame, such as a film canister or a hide-a-key, I will likely express my personal thoughts on the matter. They are only opinions, not a call for action. In this thread, folks are expressing their personal thoughts on puzzle caches. Some like 'em, some don't. No one is crying "Foul".

 

You seem not to realize that I am in your group too. My opinion, which I get express quite regularly in THIS forum, is that opinions who down other folks attempts to participate are almost universally lame and unconstructive.

 

If a cache was approved for meeting the guidelines and an SBA is uncalled for because it in fact does not break any rules, then what's the point in bemoaning the type, size, distance from other caches, uninspiring location, lack of parking, or whatever? It's a cache. Just because it doesn't enhance your aesthetic doesn't make it a bad cache.

 

I haven't been able to do a whole lot of the puzzle caches in my area because I lack the skills (advanced math skills, etc.) and equipment (sextant, sighting compass) to do them.

 

SO...... B)

 

Does that make the puzzles that I can't do STUPID? :o You did notice the title of this thread didn't you? Tell me what's constructive about it? It clucks like a chicken. So it must be fowl. :D:laughing::unsure:

 

Oops, pardon me. I think I just punned... :blink:

Edited by Snoogans
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I have not done a puzzle cache, am not good at it, so really hate puzzle caches :blink: therefore, I do not expect to do puzzle caches but instead if my desire is to log the find, hand the cache page to my son. He does the dirty work. Then will even go with me to find the cache! Yeee haa. He likes puzzles. He runs the code through a decrypt program. He's clever. This works. :unsure:

 

(oh and he's one that says he wants to change his name to IDLFO, :laughing: )

Edited by laughingcat
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If you substitute the word "Micro" for puzzle, it sounds just like all the other threads where someone crys foul because geocachers in their area refuse to cater to their own personal aesthetic. :blink:

Not hardly. In your, (poorly), imagined scenario, cachers are running around bemoaning the unfairness of Groundspeak for listing things they don't like. Al Sharpton could learn a thing or two from your powers of exageration. :o The reality is that folks have likes and dislikes. Those who dislike something, such as your beloved lamp skirt micro, tend to fall into three catagories:

1) Hunt them anyway.

2) Ignore them completely.

3) Express their opinions.

 

I happen to fall into the "express their opinions" group. If I see a container type that is almost universally lame, such as a film canister or a hide-a-key, I will likely express my personal thoughts on the matter. They are only opinions, not a call for action. In this thread, folks are expressing their personal thoughts on puzzle caches. Some like 'em, some don't. No one is crying "Foul".

 

My opinion is that strawberry flavor ice cream is LAME and should be banned. Real ice cream eaters know that chocolate and vanilla are the only real ice cream flavors. Unfortunately, the newbies see a lot of the these weird Ben and Jerry flavors and are ruining ice cream for us by making more STUPID flavors and making it real hard to find any chocolate and vanilla. :laughing:

 

I think that people who express their opinions about certain cache types have just as much right as I have to put down all the ice cream makers that make flavors I don't like. I also think that the expression of these opinions have just as much effect on what caches are placed as my expressing my opinion will have on what flavors of ice cream are sold in stores. :unsure:

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Some things I have learned since I started geocaching.

 

1) I hate some micros.

2) I like some micros.

3) I hate some traditionals.

4) I like some traditionals.

5) I hate some multis.

6) I like some multis.

7) I hate some puzzles.

8) I like some puzzles.

9) I hate some webcams.

10) I like some webcams.

11) I hate some earthcaches.

12) I like some earthcaches.

13) I hate some virtuals.

14) I like some virtuals.

 

I can see saying "I hate lampost skirt micros" or "I hate puzzles that require math skills" but I don't get how people can say "I hate all micros" or "I hate all puzzles" and then proceed to just ignore that whole cache type.

 

Or maybe of the puzzles I've done, the ones that require super-CIA decoding skills or math genious skills are in the minority (and they are indeed my least favorite). I've done puzzles ranging from sodokus to watching a video, to making a phone call and listening to the voicemail, to following a trail of photographs, to finding a bucket full of gadgets and trying to figure out how to retrive the cache using only what's in the bucket, to having to find pieces of a map to put together to find the final cache. It boggles my mind that people wouldn't want to do some of the fun puzzle caches I've done and just choose to ignore all puzzles because some of them require math or decoding skills.

 

But to each his own I suppose. It just seems to me that by doing a blanket ignore on a particular cache type, you could be missing out on some fun, is all. Hence why I would advocate only ignoring caches on a cache-by-cache basis, rather than doing a blanket-ignore of a whole type.

 

My 2 cents.

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Count the letters in the fourth name on the sign... add 156... multiply by the # of Jupiters Moons...

Take the inverse... square root... multiply by pi... double that... add to that the # of pimples on my butt...

These are the coordinates... after you reverse the numbers...

go there and take the #of letters in the second name on the new sign, etc. etc. etc.

Now you have the key for deciphering the following puzzle...

 

I am getting really tired of these caches...

 

Anyone else???

With only three or four exceptions in my entire geocaching career, I never touch, and I have never touched, puzzle/riddle caches. I would rather extract my toenails with a pair of vice-grip pliers while rubbing salt and vinegar into the open wound than solve a puzzle cache. However, on the other hand, my wife Sue is addicted to puzzle caches, and probably solves/finds over thirty per week. Am I bothered at all by the relatively large amount of puzzle caches in the MD/DC/DE/PA/VA area? No, not at all -- I just ignore them, same as I ignore the vast majority of lame urban micros and caches placed in spots which I consider taboo, such as graveyards, in the (carefully landscaped) bushes located immediately below office windows on the landscaped private grounds of a private hospital (for example, Kalamazoo, MI has loads of these... very odd!), or caches placed in or near children's playgrounds. Thus, I never get tired ot these caches, because I simply ignore them. For me, to each their own!

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It's a cache. Just because it doesn't enhance your aesthetic doesn't make it a bad cache.

Since I'm the only one who can determine, for me, what a bad cache is, wouldn't the fact that it didn't enhance my aestetic make it, by default, a bad cache?

 

For instance, I happen to love puzzles of all types. Not just for Geocaching, but puzzles in general. I'm not bright enough to solve a lot of them, but I still enjoy trying. The wisps of smoke drifting from my ears tells me when to quit.

 

I strongly disagree with the OP's broad sweeping statement indicating that all puzzles are stupid, but I support his right to such closed minded viewpoints.

Different strokes for different folks, eh?

Edited by Clan Riffster
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My question is this: How is ANY puzzle NOT caching related if you need to solve it to find the cache? :laughing:

 

This thread is funny. If you substitute the word "Micro" for puzzle, it sounds just like all the other threads where someone crys foul because geocachers in their area refuse to cater to their own personal aesthetic. :unsure:

 

I don't agree that simply because something is on a cache page it is necessarily caching related. By "not related" I mean a puzzle that either has nothing to do with GPS technology or navigation, or has nothing to do with the theme or location of the cache. I imagine that you understood what I meant, though, and just wanted a chance to argue.

 

The rest of my comments are being set up to be a straw man. I have nothing against puzzle caches (I have hidden and found many) and am not trying to have them pulled. Rather I was stating my opinion that many of the puzzle caches placed recently in my area have had little thought put into them. In fact, for a time certain people in my area were actually competing to create the most obscure puzzles possible - i.e. puzzles not intended to be solved or caches found, but just a game to try to "one up" each other. It was a trend that many in the area disliked for what I think are obvious reasons. These weren't caches placed with the community in mind.

 

Any time I see trends taking place that I feel are negative for the game, I'm going to express my concerns with them. Apparently that makes me unpopular with some.

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I strongly disagree with the OP's broad sweeping statement indicating that all puzzles are stupid, but I support his right to such closed minded viewpoints.

Different strokes for different folks, eh?

 

I didn't get the impression that that was what the OP said or meant. It seemed to me that he was distinguishing the poorly implemented/created puzzles from the rest.

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I strongly disagree with the OP's broad sweeping statement indicating that all puzzles are stupid, but I support his right to such closed minded viewpoints.

Different strokes for different folks, eh?

 

I didn't get the impression that that was what the OP said or meant. It seemed to me that he was distinguishing the poorly implemented/created puzzles from the rest.

 

Actually, I thought he was specifically referring to taking information off signs, historical plaques, graves, etc.. i.e. "take the 3rd digit in the 2nd year", "take the 4th digit in the 4th year, and add 2", stuff like that. Then almost everyone in the thread took the ball and ran with the thread referring to every puzzle cache ever published. At least thats the impression I get.

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If they're offset caches where you need to take information off a sign or object to get the actual coordinates, I think they're fine. They are an ideal replacement for virtual caches in that they often take you to an interesting spot and you use info there to find the acutal cache.

 

As far as true puzzle caches that involve ciphers, numbers puzzles, etc... they are not my cup of beer.

 

That's exactly it! I was way overboard to say I hate puzzle caches. Just some of them. Actually, one of the first Caching Events I attended was held at the Dayton Art Museum. You wandered thru, visited exhibits, collected numbers to complete coordinates, then went to a nearby park to find the cache. It was very fun.

 

I guess I prefer "Puzzles Light".

 

Some of the earlier posts said you could filter puzzle caches out. Can someone provide implicit instuctions, because I have visited "Build Pocket Queries" several times, and the only thing I can see that might help is to filter out "Unknown", but most of the puzzle caches in our area are catagorized as traditional.....

Edited by Geckolovers
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Some of the earlier posts said you could filter puzzle caches out. Can someone provide implicit instuctions, because I have visited "Build Pocket Queries" several times, and the only thing I can see that might help is to filter out "Unknown", but most of the puzzle caches in our area are catagorized as traditional.....

 

If the puzzle cache is catagorized as a traditional, there is not much you can do with filtering. :blink: I wish people wouldn't do that, but they do so we live with it.

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