NCSSM Multi-cache Series Puzzle #9
This is one of a series of puzzle caches dedicated to the North Carolina School of Science and Math located in Durham, NC. There are eleven preliminary caches and a Final Cache. Each represents a class a student at the NCSSM may take, and a potential question that may (or may not) appear on a test given at that school. Links to all twelve caches can be found at the bottom of this listing. For each preliminary cache you find, you will earn access to a jigsaw puzzle piece which will be used to help solve the final. Note that each preliminary cache can be found independently, however you will need to find all of them in order to solve the final. When you put the jigsaw pieces together, clues on the Final Cache page will help you find the last cache.
NOTE: The Cache is NOT at the Above Coordinates!
None of the caches are on school grounds but are located within 2 miles of the above location. Some of the caches are located on park property and others on public property. Please do not trespass on private property when accessing any of the caches. Note that you may need tweezers to obtain the logs for a number of these caches.
If you are a current student or alumnus or NCSSM, please put that in your cache log below. Go Unicorns!!
Puzzle For The Geocache Coordinates: Genetics
A group of observant students hypothesized that certain genes controlled how well one did while playing on the PlayStation. They were able to track it down to the following traits:
- Playing with your mouth closed vs. open
- Number of eye blinks per minute: many vs. few
- Thumb speed: quick vs. slow
Additionally, they believed this tri-hybrid cross resulted from genes that were independent of each other. After much debate and discussion, they decided to send their findings to Francis Collins, who was in charge of the human genome project at the time. Sure enough, genes were found to control each of these traits. The amazed students, each of whom received multiple grants and invitations from numerous schools across the nation not only to attend their university but also to teach as well (we're so proud of them), decided to see what would happen if a perfectly dominant PlayStation player (closed mouth play, few eye blinks per minute, and quick thumb speed) married someone who sucked at the game (open mouth play, many eye blinks per minute, and slow thumb speed) and then had children. Use the traits of their children to determine the coordinates for this cache:
- If their children married others who had the same composition of alleles for these traits as they (the children) did,
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- If their children married others who played PlayStation exceptionally poorly (i.e. had no dominant traits),
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- CC = Number of combinations that would result in a phenotype of mouth closed MINUS two
- D = Number of combinations that would result in a phenotype of playing with their mouth closed, few eye blinks, & quick thumb speed PLUS one
Use your findings to determine the location of the geocache:
N 36 01.ABB
W 078 55.CCD
Note: The description of the students above is purely fictional...
Jigsaw Puzzle Piece for This Cache
To obtain the jigsaw puzzle piece for this cache, follow these steps:
- Solve the problem above. A Geochecker link is given above to help you verify you have the correct solution.
- Go find the geocache. Etched on the outside of the geocache is the password for the jigsaw piece file.
- Click this link to download the puzzle piece file, which is in pdf format.
DISCLAIMER: Downloading files from the links shown is necessary to obtain details needed to find the final geocache. As the cache owner, I represent that these files are safe to download, although these files have not been checked by Groundspeak nor by the Geocache Reviewer for possible malicious content. As a result, downloading any files from these links is done at your own risk.
- The password you obtained from the cache container will allow you to open the jigsaw piece. All passwords will be in upper case.
HELP!!
If you get stuck trying to solve a puzzle or need a hint on where a cache is located, fear not! Hints are provided with each puzzle piece. You just need to obtain the puzzle piece that has the hint for the one you are stuck on. The grid below will help you determine which cache to obtain in order to get your hint:
Cache Links and Hint Locations
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Hints given in this puzzle piece
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Where to find hints for this cache
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Cache |
Cache Name |
Puzzle |
Cache |
Puzzle |
Cache |
GC4J7CA |
NCSSM-1 |
NCSSM-6 |
NCSSM-11 |
NCSSM-8 |
NCSSM-10 |
GC4JCPG |
NCSSM-2 |
NCSSM-3 |
NCSSM-5 |
NCSSM-6 |
NCSSM-8 |
GC4JCPR |
NCSSM-3 |
NCSSM-8 |
NCSSM-6 |
NCSSM-2 |
NCSSM-4 |
GC4JCQ0 |
NCSSM-4 |
NCSSM-7 |
NCSSM-3 |
NCSSM-9 |
NCSSM-11 |
GC4JCQ4 |
NCSSM-5 |
NCSSM-9 |
NCSSM-8 |
NCSSM-11 |
NCSSM-2 |
GC4JCQA |
NCSSM-6 |
NCSSM-2 |
NCSSM-7 |
NCSSM-1 |
NCSSM-3 |
GC4JCQF |
NCSSM-7 |
NCSSM-10 |
NCSSM-9 |
NCSSM-4 |
NCSSM-6 |
GC4JCQM |
NCSSM-8 |
NCSSM-1 |
NCSSM-2 |
NCSSM-3 |
NCSSM-5 |
GC4JCQQ |
NCSSM-9 |
NCSSM-4 |
NCSSM-10 |
NCSSM-5 |
NCSSM-7 |
GC4JCQX |
NCSSM-10 |
NCSSM-11 |
NCSSM-1 |
NCSSM-7 |
NCSSM-9 |
GC4JCRA |
NCSSM-11 |
NCSSM-5 |
NCSSM-4 |
NCSSM-10 |
NCSSM-1 |
GC536C4 |
NCSSM-12 |
Final - Hints provided on cache page |