Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site (2024)

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Geocache Description:

Now you may be thinking, what a bizarre name for a geocache. What is it? What does it mean? and how could I possibly solve it? If you've spent any time in the puzzle section of your local newspaper you may be familiar and have an edge on figuring it out! If you are not, then the following mightbe helpful.

For those who are new to cryptic crosswords there are some rules to help crack the codes and figure out the words. Cryptic crossword questions are made up of a clue and a wordplay.

• The clue: the definition of the answer. This is the same as a normal crossword. E.g. Animal with wings = bird. In a cryptic this is usually the first or last part of the sentence
• The wordplay: this is the cryptic part of the question where you need to think laterally. There are several types of wordplay that can be used for cryptic crosswords.

Let's use the title of the cache as an initial example.
The clue for the answer is 'a conundrum' - as it is the first word of the sentence in this case.
The wordplay is indicated by 'mixed' which suggests some letters need to be mixed to find the answer i.e. An anagram. Se we are looking for a collection of 17 total letters in the sentence that when rearranged make a type of conundrum. In this case we rearrange 'Crows try cod crisps' to make 'Cryptic crosswords'

Below are listed the common wordplay rules to be aware of and what indicator words suggest a certain approach to the question.

1. Initials: Where the first letters of the words in the question make up the answer. These may include indicators that give the idea of the beginning such as start, initial, begin, first, pre, before. An example may be 'animals will begin creating art together soon' where the first letters of 'Creating Art Together Soon' = CATS.
   The initials may also be at the end of the word so be aware of this.
2. Abbreviations: where you use the abbreviated letters of words to help you in the clue. There is a long list of what these are and a quick google sometimes can help with odd ones. There are not usually words indicating you need to think of abbreviations. Examples are included below;
   1. Chemical symbols (Carbon = C, Boron = B)
   2. Phoenetic alphabet (Alpha = A, Charlie = C)
   3. Numbers/Roman numerals (100 = C, 10 = X, 5 = V, 1 = i)
   4. Directions (North = N, East = E)
   5. Genealogy (Son = S)
   6. Country codes/States (Egypt = EG, France = F, Alaska = AK)
   7. Latin terms (et cetera = etc, example = e.g.)
   8. Contextual words (score = 20, love = 0)
   9. Looks like digits (ring = 0, line = I)
   10. Positions (sailor = AB, soldier = GI, ship = SS)
   11. Musical terms (quiet = p, loud = f)
3. Deletions: This is when you delete some letters from a word to make a new one. Indicator words give a sense of removal such as absent, excluding, losing, not, dropped, cut, without or short. Letter positions can also be indicated with deletion clues such as first, head, opener, tail, end, conclusion, half, middle, centre and so on. An example could be 'Drive from the carpet losing the dog' the clue being 'drive' and you take away dog i.e. Pet from the word carpet which leaves the answer 'CAR'.
4. Anagrams; where the letters/words in part of the question can be re-arranged into the answer. Indicator words willgive a sense of being jumbled up. Examples; broken, damaged, cooked, confused, upset, edited, ugly, insane, invented, engineered, out of sorts, designed, mishandled, drunk, built, versatile, rearranged, smashed, askew and so on. An example could be 'to grab something with mixed chants'. The clue is 'to grab something' with the answer being an anagram of 'chants' which becomes 'SNATCH'.
5. Containers; This is where a word becomes split to bookend another word/letter to make the answer. These use indicator words that give a sense of one thing being put inside another. Such as acquiring, keeping, possessing, devouring, hugging, amidst, occupying, getting into and set in can be used. For example 'Royal who gets the G within the real' with the clue being 'royal' . The letter 'G' is being contained in the word 'real' to make 'REGAL'. This can refer to sigle letters or sometimes whole words!
6. Hidden words: These are words hidden in plain sight within the question itself. Indicators give a sense of something being found inside something else. They may be words like a bit of, buried in, essentially, fragment, held in, part of or sample of. A example could be 'Puffin germs essentially have the digit' the clue being 'digit'. The answer 'FINGER' being hidden at the end of pufFIN and the start of GERms.
7. Reversal words: Like hidden words, these are in plain sight but are found backwards in the question. Indicator words that give a sense of reversal such as around, backside, brought about, come back, flipped over, going west, knocked over, up, or reflected. In down clues, a reversal indicator can give a sense of rising upwards, for example held up, lifted or skyward. An example could be 'Maiden I argue with upon reflection has poured' where the clue is 'poured'. The answer 'RAINED' is hidden backwards within 'maiDEN I ARgue'.
8. hom*onym (double meaning): These are questions that the answer has two meanings. There are no indicating words for these. An example of this could be 'Getting hot with the right angle' where 'getting hot' and 'right angle' both refer to 'DEGREES'.
9. Compound words/Two part words: This where the answer is made up of two words defined from the question. Indicators include words that give a sense of joining like together, with, joined, connected. An example may be 'gambling game where colour connects john' with the clue being gambling game. Here colour = black and john = jack to make 'BLACKJACK'.
10. hom*ophones: These are questions where the sound of a word is important rather than the spelling. The indicator words may include on the air, broadcast, I hear, said, declared, audibly, outspoken, reportedly, sounds like and vocal. An example could be 'Scribble down the correct sounds' where the clue is 'scribble down'. The word 'correct' means 'right' which sounds like the answer 'WRITE'.
11. Punctuation - ?, !. Punctuation implies that the a word may be involved in the clue AND the wordplay. For example 'Cop in male form!' the clue is 'cop' and the wordplay (indicated by 'form') is an anagram using the letters of 'cop in male'. This then becomes 'POLICEMAN'.
    Sometimes even when punctuation is present this rule does not apply so be careful!

Be aware that a cryptic questions are sneaky and may incorporate multiple of these wordplays or may suggest a false one. The more practice you get at these the better you are. Even if you have to look up the answer and work backwards it can help you work out the pattern for next time.
There are more types of clues used out there but these give a good base. All of the clues for this geocache use one or multiple of these wordplays described above.

The cache is not at the posted co-ordinates.
Work out the crossword found in the cache images. Use the total number of each letter to work out the final location.
Note you cannot see a tunnel from the final location.

S 41 [E+T].[C][L][C]
E 174 [(O*M) - D].[D][G*H][Q]

Good Luck!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

1. Vavgvnyyl Cerggl Ivfgnf Pna Cebir Vg'f Cresrpgyl Rnfvyl (3, 4)2. Evfvat tnmr gb erfrnepu va raplpybcrqvnf (4, 2)