For those who have not discovered Geocaching, (or have & ran screaming from the room) let’s just say there are many types of geocaches.  A traditional cache is placed somewhere and you use a GPS to find it- pretty simple. Another is the “unknown” type and in some cases (not all) they can be puzzles.  Some deal with trivia, some codes, some brain teasers… each are difficult in their own way.

Some even have pitfalls for example Cecil found a great Star Wars based puzzle the only problem was George Lucas or the folks at ILM decided to change information needed to solve the puzzle (the length of a Star Destroyer) after the puzzle had been published.  After some digging I found the number needed and hoped I guessed right (I’m Cecil’s research department).  Another based on comic book characters first appearances is really cool, but the answer to one question is dealing with a golden age hero, yet the image is of the modern age version (so a true comic geek would end up in Siberia).

There are programs and links that allow you check your solution- some people use them some don’t.  I found that when I did have a link to check people would solve a portion and then just put in numbers hoping to guess right.  As the cache owner I see every attempt.

Then you have the folks who email the owner-  the worst kind are those trying to be the first to find… My first puzzle once it was posted I started getting emails- “Is this right?”  “There is more than one possible answer for your check sum.”  I fell into the trap of helping… so the next puzzle the same cachers emailed trying to get the solution.  From that point on Cecil replies (which is rarely).

For me , puzzles are fun and give me a chance to stretch my brain… early on I once may have mentioned I was having trouble to the owner… ending up with a hint.  Since then I try to work on puzzles in private & only talk about them after I have solved them.  They are called puzzles for a reason.