Puzzle Caches

[+jjhamilton]

My husband and I are new to geocaching. We are doing really well with traditional caches, finding them easily, but we want to get into puzzle caches. We've looked at a couple of them and we're just dumbfounded. There are so many that are just a jumble of letters for which a cipher needs to be discovered. We just don't even know where to begin! We're so lost with these. Can someone please help us!?! We're not looking for answers to puzzles, we're looking for a process or something that can help us get started. Thanks!!!

[+9Key]

Start with the easy ones and work your way up.

[+FreeBird65]

check out GC1MH0T

[+jjhamilton]

Thank You FreeBird! I will check that out for sure! I hope it helps me.

[+Max and 99]

I'd start with the easiest rated puzzle caches in the area, and get a feel for solving puzzle caches. Some are much easier than others! All of our brains are wired differently, and a puzzle cache that has stumped me may be an easy one for someone else. They can vary greatly!

 

Good luck.

[+GeePa]

Here's some more good helpful tips I picked up from the forums:

 

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, and will look like "N 37° xx.xxx W 122° xx.xxx". So when I'm solving a nearby puzzle, I look for a group of 15 things, and then I look for ways to get the digits 37xxxxx122xxxxx from them. In general, I look for ways to get the number 37 (or the digits 3 and 7) from something near the beginning of the puzzle, and the number 122 (or the digits 1, 2, and 2) from something near the middle of the puzzle. (Of course, you'll need to adjust this for the coordinates near you.)

 

Other useful resources include the Puzzle Solving 101 Series

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.a...ef-901807ba9c98

and this "Solving Puzzle Caches" article

http://bcaching.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/puzzles-part-1/