It Begins At The Engineers Gate Mystery Cache
It Begins At The Engineers Gate
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Listed coordinates are for the "Engineers Gate," one of 20 gated entrances to Central Park. Each gate was named by Olmsted and Vaux, the park's designers, for the type of person they anticipated entering the park from that area. The cache is not there, but is a short distance away. To find the actual cache, you will need to solve the puzzle below.
"The Engineer, who provides the community with all the facilities it possesses for overland transportation, and also contributes to its welfare in many other ways. The highroad, the plankroad, the railroad, etc., are all called into existence by his skill and indomitable perseverance, and there can be no question but that the general ideas conveyed by the term 'Engineer,' deserve a ready appreciation in connection with such a public work as the Park." So says Frederick Law Olmsted in his report to the Central Park Board of Directors.
Engineers are more than roads and bridges, more than "tab A into slot B", engineering is both a science and an art. The discipline of discovering and applying the technical or mathematical knowledge needed to implement structures, materials, devices, or systems to realize an objective. Sounds a lot like solving a puzzle, doesn't it?
So, discover the methods, and apply them to this puzzle, choose your materials (I suggest something heavy), bring the structure to life, and realize your objective: the cache, and a smilie.
Good Luck.
To view the image at full size, or to download it, right click the image and choose "View Image."
You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.
This Cache was awarded MOST SATISFYING PUZZLE in the Metro New York Geocaching Society's 2009 Geocaching Awards.
And the "Gates" Series has been awarded BEST CACHING SERIES for 2009!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[Puzzle] Qvffrpg, Qvfbeqre, Qrzlfgvsl. Ab gncr, tyhr be bgure nqurfvirf erdhverq
[Cache] Gnxr Pbyyrgr'f frng. Gur frnepu ng gur obggbz bs gur cbfg vzzrqvngryl gb lbhe evtug naq onpx.