scrabblecat Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Hi I am new to geocaching and I was going to search for one in Looe the other day but noticed that there is a puzzle attached. However there were Letters ABCD and then EFG and so on which did not make any sense of the Decrypting as it still wouldn't have made any sense even then. Could someone please explain how these puzzles work. thank you Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Hi I am new to geocaching and I was going to search for one in Looe the other day but noticed that there is a puzzle attached. However there were Letters ABCD and then EFG and so on which did not make any sense of the Decrypting as it still wouldn't have made any sense even then. Could someone please explain how these puzzles work. thank you Often a puzzle cache will be create such that you have to obtain a number of digits. Typically, you have to solve for all 15 digits in the set of coordinates or just the 6 digits used in the minutes portion of the lat and long coordinates. For a puzzle like this, the CO will include a "formula" such as N 42 25.ABC W 076 30.DEF For example, the cache page might display six clues that will correspond to six digits such as A: Bobby Orr Jersey Number With a little research you'll discover that Bobby Orr's hockey jersey number was 4, thus you'd make A=4 and substitute into the formula Once you've solved all the clues, you'll have the final coordinates In some cases, you have to solve for all 15 digits and in some ways that's easier and you'll see a formula such as: North AB CD.EFG West HI JK.LMN For example, if the first clue is A: Bobby Orr, 1970 The puzzle might not tell you if it's based on hockey player jersey numbers or the number of characters in the name of the team that player played on in a specific year. Using the jersey number would produce a 4. Using the team name (Bruins) would produce a 5. If you know that all of the nearby caches in the area have a 42 for the degrees in the North coordinates you'd know that you're looking for jersey numbers rather than team names. It can get trickier than this when multi digit numbers or basic math is used. For example, the pattern might be: N 42 28.XXX W 76 30.YYY with an additional equation such as (A * + C = XXX Quote Link to comment
+steben6 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 The types of puzzle caches that exist are limited only by cache hiders' imaginations. There are a gazillion types of puzzle caches. Here is a handy link that will give you some ideas on solving - Solving Puzzles It is kind of frowned upon to provide solutions to a puzzle cache in a public forum. If you get stuck, it doesn't hurt to email the cache owner for some hints, especially if you are new to puzzle caches. Many COs would be glad to give you some help on their puzzles. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
+JustJackMN Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Asking CO for help may work where you live but around here there are only two COs that will give you any help Quote Link to comment
+jellis Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 If you have Facebook there is a Geocaching Puzzle Help site for discussing ways of solving puzzles. There is also a very good book out about helping solve puzzles. I aways suggest solve the 1 difficulty ones first. Quote Link to comment
+T.D.M.22 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 The letters are probably placeholders for the unknown number. Just like in high school math; 10+x=12, where x=2. How to get what those numbers are? We'll that parts up to you. It could be anything - literally anything. Foreign language, a WWII German code, hidden text, counting windows on an office building, Now on to helping you- well we can't for 2 reasons. One is that since there are so many different ways to make a puzzle cache, we'd just be guessing without actually seeing it. But don't show us- asking for help on a specific puzzle on the forums is frowned upon and against the geocaching guidelines. Quote Link to comment
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