Introduction
There are many books, websites and Facebook groups out there to help Geocachers solve puzzles. Some do just that, some are just co-ordinate swapping portals. I thought that taking a different approach might help.
The first thing to say is that I am no expert, I do not have the ability to look at a puzzle and work out how to solve it. I will try, sometimes I fail, sometimes I'm lucky and sometimes I learn something new.
As with most hobbies/games/sports Geocaching is evolving, in a relatively short space of time the hobby has moved from placing standard caches in the woods and mountains or countryside and using a GPSr device to find them, to placing innovative and cunning hides practically anywhere and being able to also use a smartphone, a tablet and a GPSr to get to the co-ordinates.
The puzzle (unknown or mystery) cache has also developed. The initial caches were either a maths problem, a suduko, a research project, periodic table etc... Unless you had a degree in computer programming it was difficult to add images and other different things to the page.
I hope to cover some of the 'early' puzzles as well as some of the newer ones. I will assume that as you have read this far you have an interest in puzzle solving and are relatively computer literate. I hope to be able to help those people who say, 'You need a degree in computing to do puzzles'. You don't, you just need to use the tools that are available. At this point I should say that you will be better using a PC or laptop rather than a tablet or phone.
Ok, let's get started.
When approaching a puzzle I try to adopt a methodical approach, I invariably go straight in for the solve, but can often miss the obvious. I therefore find it handy to have a routine. Each bullet point is a step towards solving a puzzle, some will take you straight to the solution, some will be a step in the right direction, and some are a re-assurance that the puzzle is 'do-able'. You can follow the link to a cache page illustrating the process -
This is a run down of my tick list - not in any particular order, but I find it useful to work through ALL of the points.
This is a run down of my tick list - not in any particular order, but I find it useful to work through ALL of the points.
- Is the cache name significant (CACHE NAME PAGE)
- Is there anything 'hidden' on the page (HIDDEN PAGE)
- Is there anything hidden in the source code (HIDDEN PAGE)
- What type of puzzle is it - have I done one before (GENERAL PAGE)
- Are there any images (IMAGES PAGE)
- Are there any links (LINKS PAGE)
- Related Web Page (INFO PAGE)
- Background Image (IMAGES PAGE)
- Are there any questions to answer (INFO PAGE)
- How many stages are there (GENERAL PAGE)
- Can I ignore anything (red herrings etc) (GENERAL PAGE)
- Do I know the CO's methods (GENERAL PAGE)
- What is the surrounding area like (GENERAL PAGE)
- Does the Difficulty/Terrain rating help (INFO PAGE)
- Do the attributes help (INFO PAGE)
- Is there a Geochecker (GEOCHECKERS PAGE)
- Are there any travel bugs in the inventory (INFO PAGE)
- Has the CO been anywhere/done anything significant on the date of placement/submission (GENERAL PAGE)
- Do previous logs help (INFO PAGE)
- Why do my answers look odd (CONVERSIONS PAGE)
- IS IT WORTH SOLVING (INFO PAGE)