Eureka #0: Eureka Puzzle Primer Traditional Cache

This is a traditional cache and this cache description provides some explanatory notes and examples of Eureka puzzles by JWCOREY. The listed coordinates are for a micro cache which also contains a hint to Eureka #1: Land Shark.

Eureka puzzles are designed to teach teamwork and diversity of thought. To solve them you must deduce the theme by determining enough of the hidden elements that are disguised in a set of short sentences. The hidden elements could be words in the sentence, or words within words, or syllables, or letter sequences, or many other such elements. The themes span a broad range of topics that are well-known to most people and may require some web searching to determine the complete set of precise elements. There is something in each sentence that binds it to the other sentences as a set with a cohesive and well-defined identity.

The solutions to these puzzles will be obvious once you get there. You won’t have to ask if you have it right. You will know because everything will fit together in a way that could not be a coincidence. Eureka means "I have found it," and that Aha feeling should unfold in your mind when the solution appears.

Each puzzle has a title, a set of objectives, and a list of discrete sentences. The title is usually a subtle puzzle in itself, sometimes an obscure hint, or perhaps an anagram of a hint, or an obvious synonym, or even a direct hint. It usually won’t help you solve the theme, but once you know the theme, the title should make sense in some obscure way and help you verify that you have the right solution. Here is an example.

Consider the following list of short sentences. Each sentence contains a hidden element. Together, the elements from each sentence form an obvious pattern or connection to a common theme. The title is a subtle hint, but probably too subtle to understand the connection until you have discovered the common theme. To solve this puzzle, you need to:

• Discover the hidden elements in the sentences and deduce the theme that binds those elements together as a set.
• Determine the coordinates from the information in the theme.

1. Some inept, uneducated people fell into the scam-artist’s trap.
2. General Motors initiated the Saturn brand to compete with Japan.
3. There were only seven usable images in the whole batch of photos.
4. Nondescript, vague art hung in every room.
5. Opossums, koalas, and kangaroos are examples of marsupials.
6. Jupiter, Florida, is a popular retirement community.
7. If you concur, an usher will take you to your new seat.
8. The San Jose Mercury News is the primary newspaper in Silicon Valley.
9. Goofy and Pluto are the original Disney dogs.

You can stop here and reason through the puzzle, or....Continue on for the answer.

1. Some inept, uneducated people fell into the scam-artist’s trap.
2. General Motors initiated the Saturn brand to compete with Japan.
3. There were only seven usable images in the whole batch of photos.
4. Nondescript, vague art hung in every room.
5. Opossums, koalas, and kangaroos are examples of marsupials.
6. Jupiter, Florida, is a popular retirement community.
7. If you concur, an usher will take you to your new seat.
8. The San Jose Mercury News is the primary newspaper in Silicon Valley.
9. Goofy and Pluto are the original Disney dogs.

That was easy enough. Notice how some elements are in plain sight (like Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto), some were hidden within words (like Mars), and some were hidden across words (like Earth, Neptune, Uranus and Venus). The sentence numbers replace each of the planet's first letters in the coordinates. Now let’s try a more obscure one.

Consider the following list of sentences. Each sentence contains two hidden elements. Together, the elements from each sentence form an obvious pattern or connection to a common theme. The title is a subtle hint. To solve this puzzle, you need to:

• Discover the two related hidden elements in each sentence and the theme that binds these sentences together as a set.
• Determine the coordinates from the elements in the theme.

1. If the Red Sox win or the Yankees lose, we move up in the standings.
2. John’s outhouse was thirty meters down past his garage.
3. We left the brand new establishment with a poor first impression.
4. They were astounded by how right he had been all along.

You can stop here and reason through the puzzle, or....Continue on for the answer.

• If the Red Sox win or the Yankees lose, we move up in the standings.
• John’s outhouse was thirty meters down past his garage.
• We left the brand new establishment with a poor first impression.
• They were astounded by how right he had been all along.

Coordinates: The blue arrows represent N (1st), E (7th), S (3rd) and W (6th) elements and the arrows represent the Up (2nd), Right (8th), Down (4th), and Left (5th) elements. The corresponding numbers are the order of the elements within the sentences. North is first, up is second and so on with right being eighth; and since there are only 8 elements, 9 represents itself.

Coordinates:
North:    ↓ ↑    ↑ 9 . ↓ → 9
42 29.389
West:    → ↑    ↓ ↑ . ← → 9
71 31.679

Coordinates may be computed in many ways but are usually straightforward once you know the theme. You just have to correlate the theme elements with an order. For example, the planets could have been associated with their order from the sun or the order of the sentences. You have to determine the right order by making sense out of the coordinates. We won’t send you to Utah, nor will the cache location end up in someone’s back yard. So if you have multiple alternatives, you may have to look at which one makes sense. There should always be an obvious one that makes sense within your local caching context.

The other Eureka puzzles will be more challenging than these. They are usually easier to solve with multiple people with diverse perspectives brainstorming and throwing out ideas. Have fun.

Dinero after slapping his forehead with his paw and experiencing that Eureka moment.
Duh! That was easy!