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A Non-geocaching Puzzle....


rutson

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Not totally wasted, I did find a cache there, it was quite by accident since I negelected to take any waypoints.

 

On the way down I resoned that the points were a line of fence posts and the wavy line a loose piece of fencing wire, and I did in fact find a feature in the field that matched this idea.... with a hole at the base of one of the posts!

 

And there were no logs in the cache today other than mine, a couple yesterday but that was it so if there was a GC'r there he didnt bother grab the cache

Edited by -Phoenix-
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Good thinking that person!

 

I can think of a charity close to the hearts of many geocachers that could benefit. This way there would be no arguments

 

If that's too subtle then think of a very big wave!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

 

The Tsunami appeal closed ages ago, there were several reports in the news that they had received more money than they were able to use/distribute and were looking into ways of holding it for future disasters or returning it to donors.

 

If anyone has a few quid they really want to give to charity then I would urge you to give it to a cause where it will make a difference rather than jumping on the bandwagon. There are many charities out there to whom a small amount of money would make a difference, rather than just being a drop in the ocean, if you will pardon the pun. Hearing everyone still going on about it like it was the worst thing to ever happen is really starting to get my goat.

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Well done, Phoenix, on making the run for us. Sorry you didn't strike gold. Can you describe the site a bit? Is there an obvious footpath meeting the road? Anyone else there? I will be in Birmingham next weekend but everything must surely be resolved before then.

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Its a field roughly rectangualr with no obvious footpath and few features of any interest, the fence alternates between hedge and post and wire fence.

 

The whole area is flat with no signifigant contours, and on the horizon there is a steeple at a place called something begining with L (I looked, there is no steeple at a place begining with Y)

 

The most signifigant features in the field are posts in the hedgerow and indeed there are a row of unusual posts alongside the road/downstroke of the 7 in that they are reinforced with 6 inch square posts which I feel is probably VERY signifigant and worth a through investigation with a metal detector......a tree or two, and a style at the start of the footpath, and no visible style at the other end of the footpath

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Good thinking that person!

 

I can think of a charity close to the hearts of many geocachers that could benefit. This way there would be no arguments

 

If that's too subtle then think of a very big wave!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

 

The Tsunami appeal closed ages ago, there were several reports in the news that they had received more money than they were able to use/distribute and were looking into ways of holding it for future disasters or returning it to donors.

 

Oi, I didn't say that, Cancer research charities get all my charity money. I have been misquoted! It was Hornet.

Edited by Alibags
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I've been away for the weekend so did not see how this topic developed but since it seems that the treasure has been found, unless I have missed something the only way we will find out if the surmises are correct is for one of us to join the Armchair Treasure Seekers Club and get the April Newsletter or read it online.

It seems from some of the postings that some of us could be interested?

 

Anyway congratulations to Phoenix and Beer Monster for getting out there and trying.

Edited by John Stead
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I've just visited the Quest4Treasure forum and found the following posts that I think you should know about.

 

Both were posted yesterday and are from the Archimagus (who set the hunt).

 

The forum can be found at Quest4Treasure

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The gold is one of the coins from the Galaxy FM hunt - but there is no intentional link between Lucky 7 and that hunt (other than the treasure, of course!)

 

Having read the posts on the board to date, one thing I can say (which will probably eliminate a few theories) is that no part of the solution has anything to do with a river.

 

Good luck and happy hunting!

 

Archimagus

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

and

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

...or any other sort of waterway

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hope this helps, good luck to all hunting, I'm stumped! :rolleyes:

 

JackieC :unsure:

Edited by JackieC
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hm.... I guess the question is how warm are we...

 

There are a few elements of this puzzle that we can satifactilly say we have cracked, that being the stuff that leads us to this particular field.

 

There are still a number of elements that are unsolved, these being the L and Y, the wavy line, the Points (including the one under the C) and lets not discount the colours of the letters.

 

The field could just be the starting point, with the wavy line and other clues directing us from there...

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Phoenix,

You could well be correct: I have reason to believe that the puzzle should lead to

 

"within an inch or so (without the need for metal detectors)".

 

That should help quite a bit - at least we know not to go randomly digging around the field, and we also know that there is more to solve in this puzzle yet as we haven't pin-pointed the spot for sure!

 

The colours may be significant - perhaps in that the grey ones (greyed-out) are merely "filler" to make the clue spell something ("LUCKY"). The U and K are green (land?) and the sea a sort of sea-blue. I could be wrong about all this, of course!

 

HH.

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... perhaps in that the grey ones (greyed-out) are merely "filler" to make the clue spell something ...

My thoughts exactly.

 

My reading of the clue is that the treasure is furthest from the C in the UK. The roads and footpaths at the cache site exactly match the 7 on the picture, so I don't think we're wrong there. I think the wiggly line simply implies a long way (furthest). I think the diamond-shaped 'full stop' after the 7 could be the cross-section of the signpost for the footpath, which is just outside the field on the road side of the stile. The alignment is pretty much perfect. Those after the other letters are just there to make it less obvious. There was a soft piece of ground about 20cm across just to the north-east side of the sign that looked recently dug. It was filled with leaves and a red drink-bottle cap. Needless to say I had a nose around in there and poked about with a stick, but to no avail. :unsure:

 

If anyone has a metal detector, I'd give it a crack. Also, I don't think the goodies would be buried on private ground, so not in the field.

 

The other thing to remember is that the finder might not have let anyone know. :rolleyes:

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I don't suppose you considered uprooting the footpath sign? Or is it too well fixed? Obviously I'm not advocating vandalising the sign if it's well-rooted, but sometimes they can be pulled out then re-inserted quite easily, without any noticeable disturbance. If it was a geocache, I'd look carefully at the sign to see whether it had a craftily-concealed hiding place in it (just like GCXXXX - I'd better not say which one, but it's not too far from the place in question!).

 

I meant "and the C a sort of sea-blue" earlier, by the way.

 

HH

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I know Im reitereating a lot of stuff (thinking on ones feet), but those marks may just be 'points'

 

in which case the clue literally says

 

 

the furthest point from the C in UK, about here.

 

 

The arrow on the footpath points to the style, so, its quite likely in the imediate area of the style

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I'm sure you're right as far as that, so I think we're looking at the correct general area on the ground. But I'm convinced that there's something in the puzzle which gives a clue good enough to allow the exact position of the treasure to be deduced - to within an inch.

 

What is it? :rolleyes:

 

Could it be something to do with the Parish boundary marked on the map?:

 

ChurchFlatts.jpg

Edited by Happy Humphrey
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Hi,

 

I've been reading the postings with interest for the last few days, as I'm the setter of the puzzle. However, I'd resisted posting anything so far as I had not seen a complete solution...until now.

 

The solution as detailed in Beer Monster's post is pretty much word perfect. I felt it only fair to interject here, to prevent people from wasting their time with other theories.

 

One thing which isn't clear from the posting is if all sides of the footpath signpost were searched. It should (hopefully) be clear from the clue which side to check, hence the comment about 'within a couple of inches'.

 

If all sides were checked, then I'm afraid it would appear that the gold has been found previously, and that the finder remained silent.

 

If not, then the gold is potentially still there.

 

Whichever way it is, congratulations are in order to all members of the 'team' on this board who contributed to finding the solution so quickly. I hope that you've enjoyed it & that the gold is still out there for someone to find.

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Thanks for letting us know - don't tell those on the Other Forums just yet, please - I think they're just about to "twig"! It's very frustrating - I'd have been out studying the footpath sign tonight had I been within 2 hours of the area! I don't think anyone has yet had a really good look at the signpost, although perhaps someone will tomorrow...

 

HH.

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Because I was stupid enough not to take the picture with me when I visited! :ph34r:

 

Didn't make the same mistake twice though. :):D:):huh::huh:

 

4fdc6a4b-a229-484c-8569-6054e7892f5c.jpg

 

Thanks, Archimagus, an excellent puzzle. And thanks to all you guys too. A generous cheque will be winging its way to my pet cause - leukemia research. And any of you who find yourselves in my area (Solihull), drop me a line and I'll buy you a beer! :D

 

For info, the box was well hidden under long grass right against the south-east side of the sign, and only just covered with topsoil. There's a small-box-shaped hole there now.

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No - that's the chair by my pc! I drive a Megane cabriolet - it does have leather seats though.

Leather upholstery in the car AND at the computer! Looks like you'll need the coin to pay the overdraft! :ph34r::D:huh:

 

Seriously though, well done! I went and looked last weekend as I was close by doing some photos for a Cross country event. I didn't even think to look at the sign post :)

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Excellent, BM! :ph34r:

 

Superb cache box, as well - thanks for the entertainment, Archimagus.

Thanks are due to Rutson for alerting us to this.

 

How about someone leaving a Lucky 7 puzzle (micro?)geocache in place right just there, so others can enjoy the same search and find? If Archimagus will give permission to use his puzzle, that is.

 

Once this forum topic disappears, the answer will become obscure again...

 

HH

Edited by Happy Humphrey
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Fantastic news! Really pleased to hear that the gold was still there & hearty congrats to Beer Monster for retrieving it.

 

A Lucky 7 cache at the site sounds like a great idea - I'm happy for anyone who wishes to set this up, unfortunately I'm likely to be busy setting other treasure hunts in the near future :)

 

Glad you all enjoyed the hunt, keep a look out for another hunt soon in the same vein. However, having seen the speed at which Lucky 7 was dissected, I'm thinking that the new hunt may have to be just a tad more taxing!

 

If anyone's interested, I am working on a more complex hunt with a colleague which will be published by the Armchair Treasure Hunt Club later this year (www.treasureclub.net). You will need to join the Club to participate (details on the website), but the hunt carries a much more valuable treasure than Lucky 7, and it will be buried gold.

 

Happy hunting!

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Having been presumptious enough to act as self-appointed treasure-hunt forum "spokesman" for the geocaching team on this venture, I received several congratulatory messages from the denizens of the two treasure hunt forums.

 

I won't bother quoting them, but they offered sincere congratulations and expressed their astonishment at the speed and precision of our puzzle-solving.

 

They took "defeat" with good grace and dignity too - no sour grapes. Good for them!

 

I hope Archimagus's next one is buried on the Isle of Man so I can have a go...

 

HH.

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