Puzzle Academy: Freshman Year Challenge Mystery Cache

THIS CACHE IS AT THE POSTED COORDINATES, BUT HAS A SPECIAL LOGGING REQUIREMENT.

Take your seats, ladies and gentlemen! Please slide all the way in from the aisles so that everyone can find room on the benches. We'd like to welcome you to Puzzle Academy and the beginning of your journey to puzzling fun!

We founded this school because so many of you have asked how you might get started finding puzzle caches. It seems like not a week goes by without one of us hearing, "How do I get started in puzzles? I have no idea where to start!" or "I tried doing some puzzles, but they made no sense!" or "Puzzles suck! Give me the answers!"

Several of you have asked for lists of easy puzzles to get started on, and we thought this was such a splendid idea that we have compiled just such a list. We hope that this might help interested cachers get started in learning how to solve puzzles. But hear us well. This task is not for the faint of heart! You will need resolve and effort, and great courage!

This is your first year of study. There are fifty possible courses to choose from. To graduate from freshman year and be elegible to claim a find on this cache, you must successfully complete 20 of the more than 50 courses offered. Each "course" is one puzzle cache from the following bookmark list of caches of over 50 of our favorite, easy puzzle caches. Once you have logged finds on any 20 of these caches, you may find this cache and log your find. Good luck!

Clicking on this coursework link will take you to a handpicked list of over 50 courses to choose from. Each one of these courses is a puzzle cache that one or both of us have found and enjoyed as an easy, interesting puzzle cache. In essense, this is a great place to get your feet wet in learning how to solve puzzles. To find this challenge cache, you must find a minimum of 20 of the caches on the list. Previous finds do count, so veteran cachers will likely find that they already qualify. Once you have logged 20 of the caches on the list, you may come and find this cache to graduate to Sophomore Year.

To prove your readiness, please include a list of your finds and the dates you found them in your log, or create a bookmark list if you prefer.

Keep in mind that from time to time we may add a course or two to the academy, or drop a course for various reasons such as archival, etc. To claim the find you must have found 20 of the caches currently on the list at the time you claim this find.

Good luck in the pursuit of your degree!

In addition to graduating, we wanted to offer a special honor to those rare individuals who are driven to excel. If you can complete all of the freshman level courses, you can earn a select place on the Wall of Honor. To claim your spot, please post a note here listing or bookmarking all of the caches and the dates you found them. Who will be the first student on the Wall of Honor?!?!

Note: If you are the cache owner of a puzzle on our list, you are excused from finding your own caches and may still qualify for the Wall of Honor. All you have to do is find all of the puzzles you don't own.

Also, if you do not like to find Premier caches for whatever reason, you may skip any of those on the list and still qualify for the Wall of Honor. Just make note of the exclusion in your note.

Here are the honored graduates of Puzzle Academy who have reached a level of excellence well beyond that expected of them in Puzzle Academy. The following students have completed all 50+ courses included in the freshman year curriculum. Congratulations to you all!

1. pfalstad (4/4/11)
2. goldribbon (11/27/11)
3. Ms. Sunshine (12/11/11)
3. proutkat (12/11/11)
3. RyanLisaKayla (12/11/11)
6. Hal-oween (3/13/13)
7. PackADad (7/12/13)
8. Quilting is Fun Too (7/25/13)