Puzzels and such!

[+ohanagirls]

I have been caching for a few months and have cleared out my city pretty well. I am down to the unknown and stuff like that. When ever they are numbers only I am totally stuck. I have 2 in my town that I have been looking at for a while and so stuck. I was wondering if a person could guide me to where I find the tools to solve this stuff. I really am not looking for someone to solve them. I want to know what type of decoders you use or number games you play to figur these out. I have no experience with anything like this and really want to learn. Mabey there is a web-site for clue less number people, like myself??

thanks

[+Arrow42]

I have been caching for a few months and have cleared out my city pretty well. I am down to the unknown and stuff like that. When ever they are numbers only I am totally stuck. I have 2 in my town that I have been looking at for a while and so stuck. I was wondering if a person could guide me to where I find the tools to solve this stuff. I really am not looking for someone to solve them. I want to know what type of decoders you use or number games you play to figur these out. I have no experience with anything like this and really want to learn. Mabey there is a web-site for clue less number people, like myself??

thanks

 

The cache owner is the best place for clues. As far as I know there isn't any centralized website for cache puzzle spoilers (that has been successful).

[+briansnat]

The only tool for finding puzzle caches is in your head. I'm too dumb to even try to solve them so I just put most on my ignore list.

Edited July 6, 2009 by briansnat

[+NevaP]

I have been caching for a few months and have cleared out my city pretty well. I am down to the unknown and stuff like that. When ever they are numbers only I am totally stuck. I have 2 in my town that I have been looking at for a while and so stuck. I was wondering if a person could guide me to where I find the tools to solve this stuff. I really am not looking for someone to solve them. I want to know what type of decoders you use or number games you play to figur these out. I have no experience with anything like this and really want to learn. Mabey there is a web-site for clue less number people, like myself??

thanks

 

There's an endless variety of puzzle caches, each is different and there is no general rule for solving them. Some take familiar forms, crosswords or sudokus for example. Others involve various mathematical devices and special calculations. Some are literary or word puzzle based. Some use common substitution codes, familiar to kids, such as pigpen code and others use complicated ciphers. Sometimes running your cursor over the page or highlighting sections will reveal hidden information.

 

Sometimes Internet research will lead you to the method you need. Last week I googled up how to do polyalphabetic ciphers and found a puzzle cache very near my home, which I have ignored for over two years. The name of the puzzle was the hint for that one. But usually when I look at a puzzle cache I haven't the foggiest idea how to proceed and sometimes it's really a rather obvious solution, like reading the first letter of each line in a poem. But unless I get a hint from the cache owner or from somebody who has solved it (we have some puzzle cache fanatics in our area and I'm not one of them) most of them just sit there, ignored, to maybe do someday.

[+Steve&GeoCarolyn]

I have been caching for a few months and have cleared out my city pretty well. I am down to the unknown and stuff like that. When ever they are numbers only I am totally stuck. I have 2 in my town that I have been looking at for a while and so stuck. I was wondering if a person could guide me to where I find the tools to solve this stuff. I really am not looking for someone to solve them. I want to know what type of decoders you use or number games you play to figur these out. I have no experience with anything like this and really want to learn. Mabey there is a web-site for clue less number people, like myself??

thanks

 

We love the puzzle caches. I am not certain what you mean by the number games. Do you have an example?

 

I don't know if you've seen this bookmark list. We found it useful. It is meant to teach you how to solve puzzle caches.

 

We use this site to help us solve cryptograms.

 

My beloved uses a sudoku solver to help him with sudoku puzzles. If that's what you're talking about I'll ask him for the link tomorrow.

 

None of this will solve it for you. It just makes it easier to solve and requires less paper.

 

Carolyn

[+MountainRacer]

There are so many different methods, it's useless to attempt to list them all. If you want a clue, your first priority should be the cache's owner. Everybody likes having their caches found, and most puzzle owners will give a push in the right direction (or several) if asked. Be polite.

[+ohanagirls]

There are so many different methods, it's useless to attempt to list them all. If you want a clue, your first priority should be the cache's owner. Everybody likes having their caches found, and most puzzle owners will give a push in the right direction (or several) if asked. Be polite.

 

thanks for the links and advice!!

The one I am stuck on is GC1TNBV!

thanks

[+ohanagirls]

I have been caching for a few months and have cleared out my city pretty well. I am down to the unknown and stuff like that. When ever they are numbers only I am totally stuck. I have 2 in my town that I have been looking at for a while and so stuck. I was wondering if a person could guide me to where I find the tools to solve this stuff. I really am not looking for someone to solve them. I want to know what type of decoders you use or number games you play to figur these out. I have no experience with anything like this and really want to learn. Mabey there is a web-site for clue less number people, like myself??

thanks

 

We love the puzzle caches. I am not certain what you mean by the number games. Do you have an example?

 

I don't know if you've seen this bookmark list. We found it useful. It is meant to teach you how to solve puzzle caches.

 

We use this site to help us solve cryptograms.

 

My beloved uses a sudoku solver to help him with sudoku puzzles. If that's what you're talking about I'll ask him for the link tomorrow.

 

None of this will solve it for you. It just makes it easier to solve and requires less paper.

 

Carolyn

GC1TNBV

 

Thanks! The one I am stuck on is GC1TNBV

[+niraD]

A while back, The Rat offered a puzzle-solving class as an event cache. His slides are available here:

http://thegba.net/resources/general_information.php

 

Among the tips he offered:

 

Identify the theme. Check the cache title, the hint, the HTML source, the graphics (including names/URLs), any links (including URLs), whatever is at the posted coordinates, etc. If you can figure out the theme, then you should look for numbering systems that are associated with that theme (zip codes, area codes, telephone keypads, episode numbers, etc.).

 

Around here, coordinates will have 15 digits, so look for groups of 15. Also, look for ways to get the number 37 or the digits 3 and 7 from something near the beginning of the puzzle. Towards the middle of the puzzle, look for ways to get the numbers 121 or 122, or the digits 1, 2, and 1, or 1, 2, and 2. (Of course, you'll need to adjust this for the coordinates near you.)

 

For the record, it is considered inappropriate to ask for help with specific puzzle caches in public forums like this.

[+fizzymagic]

The one I am stuck on is GC1TNBV

Experience is the greatest teacher for puzzles caches. Because of previous puzzles of this type, I recognized a pattern and had it solved in about 10 seconds. Had I never done any of those previous puzzles, it would have taken me considerably longer.

 

It's not appropriate to leave clues for other people's caches in the forums. I recommend that you email the cache owner for a hint. Solving it that way will help you learn to recognize patterns in the future!

[+Steve&GeoCarolyn]

It's not appropriate to leave clues for other people's caches in the forums. I recommend that you email the cache owner for a hint. Solving it that way will help you learn to recognize patterns in the future!

 

For the record, it is considered inappropriate to ask for help with specific puzzle caches in public forums like this.

 

I don't think she asked for help with a specific puzzle cache. She asked for generalized help with websites that have puzzle help. My assumption is that generalized help is acceptable to provide like links to puzzle solving sites or the cache that helps people learn about puzzles. That is correct, isn't it?

 

I asked her for an example of what she meant by number puzzles and she provided the cache as an example. (I'm still mystified by what she meant since that was not what I expected.) I have compiled a list of websites I go to for puzzle solving tips and help which I thought would be acceptable to post but, as I said, I wasn't sure what she meant by number puzzles and whether she was looking at Sudoku.

 

Again, my assumption gleaned from watching here for a while was that general help and websites that offer puzzle help would be acceptable as long as they were not directed at a particular cache's puzzle. Did I err in this?

 

Carolyn

Edited July 6, 2009 by Steve&GeoCarolyn

[+Pat in Louisiana]

Here is a series of caches that might help.

GCYXZ1 Puzzle Solving 101 - Lesson #1:Strategy

First in a series of ten.

Edited July 7, 2009 by Pat in Louisiana

[+ohanagirls]

Here is a series of caches that might help.

GCYXZ1 Puzzle Solving 101 - Lesson #1:Strategy

First in a series of ten.

 

Thanks for the advise. I am looking at all the web sites for help learning to identify patternsetc..

And yes, I did not want to have this solved for me, or I would not feel that I should get the smiley.... The reason I listed the cache is so the person who askled me what type of puzzel could see what I ment. There is a few similar to this in my town, and I would like to be equiped to solve them.

Thanks again for everbodys help!!!

[CLV3]

I was going to mention the same series that Pat In Louisiana mentioned. They are a very good series that takes you all the way from planning a strategy to solving MANY of the different puzzle types out there.