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I enjoy them a lot...though I admit there are many that I simply cannot solve. When I have some spare time I bring up a list of Mysteries and go through them, looking for ones I can get. If I read the page and have absolutely no idea where to start, I just close that one and keep on looking.

 

Sometimes I'll go back to a page I'd previously passed by, and this time I'll be able to tackle it, thanks to having learned some trick in the meantime.

 

I don't like the ones where I churn away at it and finally it seems like I've solved the presented problem...and the data / numbers I've figured out still make no sense. Obviously there's another step that needs to be taken, and sometimes I don't have any idea what that next step is!

 

But yes, I love puzzles!

 

--Q

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Don't you just LOVE the moment when they 'click'?!? I used to hate mystery caches until the first time I figured one out on my own. Now I'm addicted! I'm sorry but I'm just so excited to do more! So are you like me and you like mystery caches or are you the type of person who doesn't care for them one bit?

 

They're good when they work out. But I just tried one today - the new coords seemed right, google satellite view put it just off a rail trail path. When I got there there was a minor path in the forested area so it looked like there may have been caching activity but at GZ nothing and a whole lot of hidey holes to look for a cache. The CO did not provide any hints and didn't provide a geochecker either. Very frustrating. I much prefer Puzzle/Mystery caches that provide a geochecker and may limit myself to that type of puzzle cache from now on.

Edited by Lone R
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Don't you just LOVE the moment when they 'click'?!? I used to hate mystery caches until the first time I figured one out on my own. Now I'm addicted! I'm sorry but I'm just so excited to do more! So are you like me and you like mystery caches or are you the type of person who doesn't care for them one bit?

if you're ever in arizona:

GC20A37 - hard.

GC298VE - so rediculously easy it hasn't been found yet.

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If you're keeping track, you can count me in the "Love them" column. I especially like the ones that involve decrypting some sort of cipher.

 

That reminds me of the running gag in one of the Get Smart episodes. They had called in an agent to break a CHAOS code. Whenever he was introduced to someone as a cryptographer, they would respond "Aren't you a little old to be photographing graves?"

 

Anyway, I'm an amateur cryptographer. Sometimes I photograph graves, too.

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Depends.

 

Some puzzles just grab me and won't let me go -- I'll work on them relentlessly until they are done.

 

If something doesn't click with me right away, if there is no little nugget to keep me digging deeper, I'll often put it away and never look at it again.

 

I've even had puzzles where I knew what had to be done but the decryption was going to be too tedious so I didn't bother.

 

Put me in the "I love a good puzzle, but good puzzles are rare." category.

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I always seem to like them more after I solved them than while I am still working on them! :D I have only placed 3 caches so far and 2 of them are puzzles. The hardest part about posting them was trying to decide what difficulty to rate them at (second hardest was figuring out how to use hidden waypoints to let the reviewer know where the cache was located). After all, I created the puzzle, so it's easy for me, right?

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The CO did not provide any hints and didn't provide a geochecker either. Very frustrating. I much prefer Puzzle/Mystery caches that provide a geochecker and may limit myself to that type of puzzle cache from now on.

 

that is my stand too, for the life of me i don't understand why Co's don't provide a geochecker

my only conclusion is they don't want their cache to be found except by a select few

so i put them on ignore and move one

 

which one did you try to solve? :D

Edited by t4e
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Don't you just LOVE the moment when they 'click'?!? I used to hate mystery caches until the first time I figured one out on my own. Now I'm addicted! I'm sorry but I'm just so excited to do more! So are you like me and you like mystery caches or are you the type of person who doesn't care for them one bit?

I like some, hate others.

 

I think it's a bit fun putting them together and trying to invent an idea which hasn't been done before.

 

I don't think all need to be hammered out before the glowing monitor. Some you have to work out in the field and I generally like them a bit more.

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The CO did not provide any hints and didn't provide a geochecker either. Very frustrating. I much prefer Puzzle/Mystery caches that provide a geochecker and may limit myself to that type of puzzle cache from now on.

 

that is my stand too, for the life of me i don't understand why Co's don't provide a geochecker

my only conclusion is they don't want their cache to be found except by a select few

so i put them on ignore and move one

 

which one did you try to solve? :D

 

I enjoy puzzle caches quite a bit, even to the point that I've solved quite a few of them that I will almost certainly never find.

 

I don't understand your comment about a geochecker though. A coordinate checker merely provides a verification mechanism once the puzzle has been solved. Ignoring puzzle caches without a coordinate checker seems to be just an excuse to avoid doing a puzzle that one can't figure out.

 

I have done a *lot* of puzzles where a coordinate checker wasn't necessary. There are a lot of puzzle which reveal the coordinates in such a way that you can see the coordinates when you've solved the puzzle. The only time a coordinate checker is really necessary is when you're answering some sort of question where there may not be a definitive answer (i.e. when you can find the answer on a web site...but, depending on *which* web site you searched you might get a different answer).

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If you're keeping track, you can count me in the "Love them" column. I especially like the ones that involve decrypting some sort of cipher.

 

That reminds me of the running gag in one of the Get Smart episodes. They had called in an agent to break a CHAOS code. Whenever he was introduced to someone as a cryptographer, they would respond "Aren't you a little old to be photographing graves?"

 

Anyway, I'm an amateur cryptographer. Sometimes I photograph graves, too.

Here's a really good cypher one in my area GCPDMM.

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If you're keeping track, you can count me in the "Love them" column. I especially like the ones that involve decrypting some sort of cipher.

 

That reminds me of the running gag in one of the Get Smart episodes. They had called in an agent to break a CHAOS code. Whenever he was introduced to someone as a cryptographer, they would respond "Aren't you a little old to be photographing graves?"

 

Anyway, I'm an amateur cryptographer. Sometimes I photograph graves, too.

 

You should give "The Key to the Cryptonomicon" a try as it contains several cryptograms. Ask Stumpwater about it. I know that he solved it awhile back. I solved it a couple of years ago but I don't know that I'll ever get to Nashville to find it.

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The CO did not provide any hints and didn't provide a geochecker either. Very frustrating. I much prefer Puzzle/Mystery caches that provide a geochecker and may limit myself to that type of puzzle cache from now on.

 

that is my stand too, for the life of me i don't understand why Co's don't provide a geochecker

my only conclusion is they don't want their cache to be found except by a select few

so i put them on ignore and move one

 

which one did you try to solve? :D

 

I enjoy puzzle caches quite a bit, even to the point that I've solved quite a few of them that I will almost certainly never find.

 

I don't understand your comment about a geochecker though. A coordinate checker merely provides a verification mechanism once the puzzle has been solved. Ignoring puzzle caches without a coordinate checker seems to be just an excuse to avoid doing a puzzle that one can't figure out.

 

I have done a *lot* of puzzles where a coordinate checker wasn't necessary. There are a lot of puzzle which reveal the coordinates in such a way that you can see the coordinates when you've solved the puzzle. The only time a coordinate checker is really necessary is when you're answering some sort of question where there may not be a definitive answer (i.e. when you can find the answer on a web site...but, depending on *which* web site you searched you might get a different answer).

 

Yes, there are some puzzles where you know you have the correct coordinates without needing a geochecker. Or some puzzles that can only be solved at the site, so a geochecker wouldn't be useful (unless your carrying a phone with browser access). But usually the CO provides a hint that makes it clear when you arrive a GZ that you're probably in the right place.

 

I suppose what I don't like is getting to the location only to find there's no hint that let's you know that you are at least in the right spot. How do you know if you are indeed at GZ and the cache is gone? The last puzzle I did was a binary code puzzle. You had to convert the binary to figure out the coords in decimal format and then translate that to degrees minutes. The only hint was that the correct coords were within 1km of the posted coords. My calculations put me just under 1km for the posted coords, in the woods between next to a paved path and a road. Looked right to me. At GZ I ended up on the minor path with a few likely spots nearby - hollow base of tree, hollow logs, a few hollow stumps, lots of logs and branches lying about, (it also looked like someone might be hanging out there - a jacket hanging off a branch, some other soiled clothing near the jacket). I spent about a half hour checking everything in ever widening circles then gave up. I could contact the CO but I'd rather just ignore the cache and try something else less frustrating.

 

But that's not to say that I haven't found some very nice puzzles. I especially liked this one:

Look down, Look around, Look up

and it includes a geochecker.

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The CO did not provide any hints and didn't provide a geochecker either. Very frustrating. I much prefer Puzzle/Mystery caches that provide a geochecker and may limit myself to that type of puzzle cache from now on.

 

that is my stand too, for the life of me i don't understand why Co's don't provide a geochecker

my only conclusion is they don't want their cache to be found except by a select few

so i put them on ignore and move on.

I put checkers on mine too because I hate when a puzzle doesn't have one.

if i can't find it i want to be at least assured i got good coords.

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The CO did not provide any hints and didn't provide a geochecker either. Very frustrating. I much prefer Puzzle/Mystery caches that provide a geochecker and may limit myself to that type of puzzle cache from now on.

 

that is my stand too, for the life of me i don't understand why Co's don't provide a geochecker

my only conclusion is they don't want their cache to be found except by a select few

so i put them on ignore and move one

 

which one did you try to solve? :D

 

I enjoy puzzle caches quite a bit, even to the point that I've solved quite a few of them that I will almost certainly never find.

 

I don't understand your comment about a geochecker though. A coordinate checker merely provides a verification mechanism once the puzzle has been solved. Ignoring puzzle caches without a coordinate checker seems to be just an excuse to avoid doing a puzzle that one can't figure out.

 

I have done a *lot* of puzzles where a coordinate checker wasn't necessary. There are a lot of puzzle which reveal the coordinates in such a way that you can see the coordinates when you've solved the puzzle. The only time a coordinate checker is really necessary is when you're answering some sort of question where there may not be a definitive answer (i.e. when you can find the answer on a web site...but, depending on *which* web site you searched you might get a different answer).

 

Yes, there are some puzzles where you know you have the correct coordinates without needing a geochecker. Or some puzzles that can only be solved at the site, so a geochecker wouldn't be useful (unless your carrying a phone with browser access). But usually the CO provides a hint that makes it clear when you arrive a GZ that you're probably in the right place.

 

I suppose what I don't like is getting to the location only to find there's no hint that let's you know that you are at least in the right spot. How do you know if you are indeed at GZ and the cache is gone? The last puzzle I did was a binary code puzzle. You had to convert the binary to figure out the coords in decimal format and then translate that to degrees minutes.

 

In that case, I think a geochecker would be justified, if only to check your math. There are certainly quite a puzzle where a geocacher would really be appreciated, and if the failure of a CO to provide one is causing others to refrain from trying to solve puzzle caches in general or ignore the cache once they've tried, I think they're just giving geocachers which don't care for puzzle caches that much anyway a reason to ignore them. All of the coordinate checkers that I have seen are free and easy to use and there isn't a good reason why they should not be used (other then using one that allows battleship guesses until the correct coordinates are revealed). That's not the same as "all puzzle caches should include a geochecker". Some puzzle caches just don't need them and the inclusion of one could clutter up the page. Hmmm...that gives me an idea for a puzzle cache. What if I made up a cache listing with a bunch of text containing numbers or asked a bunch of questions which had answers which produced coordinates for the white house, but included a image for a geochecker that was modified with steganography to include the actual coordinates.

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I suppose I'll be the first, and maybe only, to say they don't enjoy the puzzles. I want to enjoy them. I've tried a couple, but I just can't find it in me to have fun with them. I definitely admire those of you who can do puzzle after puzzle, I wish I could hang. Now, give me a nice long hike with some wicked terrain, lots of rocks, a few snakes, a large river to cross, and a broken trail? Now that's my idea of an ejoyable challenge.

 

I'll probably try a puzzle here and there in the future, but they won't be a regular deal for me in the forseeable future.

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I just figured this one out: GC70

 

LOOK at that GC number. Impressive isn't it. This is the 40th oldest active cache and less than 10 miles from my house. I've looked at it before and wanted to do it but could not figure out the puzzle. Today I printed it out and - face plant.

 

I'm so going out there this weekend.

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I suppose I'll be the first, and maybe only, to say they don't enjoy the puzzles. I want to enjoy them. I've tried a couple, but I just can't find it in me to have fun with them.

 

You are not the only one. I knew I was in trouble when one puzzle owner suggested I broaden my mathematical scope to include trigonometry. But at the end of a day, where I have been working on complex issues, the last thing I want to do is to sit down with a puzzle. For me, it makes caching into work.

 

So every once in a while, I will look at the easy ones. If I know how to solve it right away, or if it is a puzzle put together by certain cachers, I will eventually give it a go. If it is about something I am interested in, like baseball, darts, pirates, or old episodes of Get Smart I will take a closer look.

 

But if it is puzzle that is by certain other cachers, that involves higher math, programming skills, complex ciphers, or the enigma code, it will go to my ignore list right away. If it is a puzzle that involves multiple obscure codes, identified only by leaps of faith having nothing to do with the cache title, description, or each other, I will roll my head and have a few choice words on the matter. If I am being asked to spend significantly more time on a puzzle than I would looking for a cache, then there are probably other things I could be doing.

 

To be consistent, I am planning on archiving most of the puzzles I have created within the next few months. Although I did think about going out with a bang and creating one with two unrelated ciphers and codes, interspersed with a completely obscure cache description that may or may not contain valuable information, along with some hidden graphics and the like, leading to an obscure and random cache location that will give you another puzzle to solve before the final, which will be in an equally obscure location, perhaps at the top of a tree.

 

So I am glad that the game is big enough for people who enjoy puzzles. Personally, give me a virtual, earthcache, Wherigo, or a letterbox with real clues and I am on my way. Those are where I get my aha moments.

Edited by mulvaney
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I suppose I'll be the first, and maybe only, to say they don't enjoy the puzzles. I want to enjoy them. I've tried a couple, but I just can't find it in me to have fun with them. I definitely admire those of you who can do puzzle after puzzle, I wish I could hang. Now, give me a nice long hike with some wicked terrain, lots of rocks, a few snakes, a large river to cross, and a broken trail? Now that's my idea of an ejoyable challenge.

 

I'll probably try a puzzle here and there in the future, but they won't be a regular deal for me in the forseeable future.

 

I'm with you J. If I wanted to solve puzzles I would go to puzzle.com. I came here to geocache! :D

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I suppose I'll be the first, and maybe only, to say they don't enjoy the puzzles. I want to enjoy them. I've tried a couple, but I just can't find it in me to have fun with them. I definitely admire those of you who can do puzzle after puzzle, I wish I could hang. Now, give me a nice long hike with some wicked terrain, lots of rocks, a few snakes, a large river to cross, and a broken trail? Now that's my idea of an ejoyable challenge.

 

I'll probably try a puzzle here and there in the future, but they won't be a regular deal for me in the forseeable future.

 

I'm with you J. If I wanted to solve puzzles I would go to puzzle.com. I came here to geocache! :D

 

This from a Trailpuppy fan????????????????????????? Somehow your credibility is in doubt.

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I suppose I'll be the first, and maybe only, to say they don't enjoy the puzzles. I want to enjoy them. I've tried a couple, but I just can't find it in me to have fun with them. I definitely admire those of you who can do puzzle after puzzle, I wish I could hang. Now, give me a nice long hike with some wicked terrain, lots of rocks, a few snakes, a large river to cross, and a broken trail? Now that's my idea of an ejoyable challenge.

 

I'll probably try a puzzle here and there in the future, but they won't be a regular deal for me in the forseeable future.

 

I'm with you J. If I wanted to solve puzzles I would go to puzzle.com. I came here to geocache! :D

 

This from a Trailpuppy fan????????????????????????? Somehow your credibility is in doubt.

 

I think Zop is the puzzle freak, maybe Dadfish is more or less along for the ride...

 

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who isn't a puzzle fan. Not that I thought that I was REALLY the only one, but everyone seems to fall head over heels for these things, and I just can't get worked up about them unless it's trying to get rid of the headache they cause me.

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Here's a puzzle for someone to figure out. The owner won't give you any hints. He won't even say how close the coordinates are if you send him the ones you came up with.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...99-97dd09e24d53

 

I just figured this one out: GC70

 

LOOK at that GC number. Impressive isn't it. This is the 40th oldest active cache and less than 10 miles from my house. I've looked at it before and wanted to do it but could not figure out the puzzle. Today I printed it out and - face plant.

 

I'm so going out there this weekend.

 

I'd be going to the 10th anniversary event for that cache if I didn't have to be at work.

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Here's a puzzle for someone to figure out. The owner won't give you any hints. He won't even say how close the coordinates are if you send him the ones you came up with.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...99-97dd09e24d53

 

I just figured this one out: GC70

 

LOOK at that GC number. Impressive isn't it. This is the 40th oldest active cache and less than 10 miles from my house. I've looked at it before and wanted to do it but could not figure out the puzzle. Today I printed it out and - face plant.

 

I'm so going out there this weekend.

 

I'd be going to the 10th anniversary event for that cache if I didn't have to be at work.

 

Me too.

 

In fact, I even considered taking the afternoon off work to make it. Unfortunately, my Calculus class at the local community college meets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. It's a lot easier to miss work than to miss Calculus class.

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I have found 285 mystery caches and have solved most of them myself or with a bit of a nudge from the cache owner via emails. I have also been with others that have solved them but not that often as I usually cache alone.

 

I must admit that I would really rather be out caching than solving puzzle caches but there is some strange demon that keeps drawing me to them. I tend to look at puzzles in the areas in which I plan to cache and try to solve them prior to my visit. I'm getting stronger now and have found that wonderful ignore button and now if I don't see the solution right away and it doesn't have a geochecker I use the button.

 

I've tried quite a few puzzles where the CO doesn't respond to emails either to give a nudge or to confirm coords and this ticks me off, although most do not fall into that category.

 

So put me in the "don't like them" group even though I do them.

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I suppose I'll be the first, and maybe only, to say they don't enjoy the puzzles. I want to enjoy them. I've tried a couple, but I just can't find it in me to have fun with them.

Would you think this one was fun?

 

That was hilarious, thank you. Yes, I'd have fun attempting that one. I'm not sure how far I'd get, but I'd enjoy it for as long as I decided to stick with it.

 

I don't like cats, but I'm still smiling...

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Would you think this one was fun?

 

That was hilarious, thank you. Yes, I'd have fun attempting that one. I'm not sure how far I'd get, but I'd enjoy it for as long as I decided to stick with it.

 

I don't like cats, but I'm still smiling...

Only 193 miles away from ya -- you could still FTF it. :(

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Would you think this one was fun?

 

That was hilarious, thank you. Yes, I'd have fun attempting that one. I'm not sure how far I'd get, but I'd enjoy it for as long as I decided to stick with it.

 

I don't like cats, but I'm still smiling...

Only 193 miles away from ya -- you could still FTF it. :(

 

My uncle lives in Livermore. My rich Uncle...

 

If I come down that way, I'll make sure to try that cache out, even if I can't get it, I'll enjoy watching the video over and over and over and over and over and.....

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I was going to do one using the Poincaré conjecture. Imagine my embarrassment when I discovered that it had already been solved. :(

 

I have the 10th anniversary party on my calendar. I'm not sure if I should go out there before this and get the smiley or wait until the party.

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I suppose I'll be the first, and maybe only, to say they don't enjoy the puzzles. I want to enjoy them. I've tried a couple, but I just can't find it in me to have fun with them.

Would you think this one was fun?

 

Oh, that is *awesome!* Yes, that exactly the type of puzzle I like to solve. I might do this one just for the LOL's. It's 1600 miles away from me. :)

 

Thanks for posting that here!

 

--Q

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I like them. I like placing them more. I just put out a mystery series and the one person to find all of them said it was a lot of fun. There are those in the area that are just plain "Where do I even start?" kind and there is one that has been out I think for almost 2 years with 1 find. That one is my personal goal.

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