Mad Hatter 5 - In Memorial Mystery Cache

The "Mad Hatter" cache series in northern High Point was created in 2004 by francoisfillet.  This series of caches ranks among the most difficult and popular early mystery caches in the area.  The techniques used to decode these caches can only instill a feeling of respect and admiration for the mind behind their creation.  But who was he, I have often wondered.

As he was an early player in this area, very few people I consulted have been able to provide insight.  They do agree he had very innovative ideas, only some of which we can still see and appreciate in his "Mad Hatter" series.  He was tall in stature and quiet, but was a very pleasant person with whom to converse. He had a beat-up twill hat similar to Indiana Jones, so he must have been an excellent person of good taste. He must have been a fine, thoughtful individual.

Update:  I would like to thank Judy, who was his girlfriend for five years, for contacting me and providing the rest of the story.  Geocaching has been around too brief a time for us to not know one of our own, let alone to lose someone.

The large Triad was a lifelong home for William Franklin Lanning, Jr, known to all as Frank.  He grew up in Lexington and continued to be part of the community during his college years at Davidson CC.  After serving our country in the air force for five years, he returned to the Triad to work for RJR Tobacco, then Llorrilard Tobacco.  During his time at RJR, he developed and patented a machine that is still used today, demonstrating his brilliance and creativity we all know and have seen in the "Mad Hatter" series.

His personal life was just as bright.  He was married for twenty-eight years and was father to three children and three grandchildren.  Completing the family was Libby, a schnauzer, and Quintana and Roo, sunconure birds.  God was at the core of his life, witnessed by all those around.  Vacationing, he adored the beach and visiting lighthouses, regretfully missing all but one on the east coast.  When geocaching came around, it was not unusual to find him and Judy out, adventuring at all hours, in search of this new type of hidden treasure.

Judy tells the rest very well: Frank passed away October 15, 2005.  Early that morning he had left to go to Lewisville to ride bikes with another friend that he worked with from Llorrilard.  Al rode up ahead that morning and when he discovered Frank hadn't caught up with him, he worried and hurried back to find him, only this time Frank wasn't riding and the paramedics were trying to revive him.  Frank had suffered a heart attack and had fallen off his bike and someone had called for help.  Thankfully that day Frank had accomplished a lot in his life.  God took him away, but he was doing something he loved and that was riding his bike.  The hospital nurses assured me that day that Frank had not suffered.  That was very comforting.  Today I am reminded of how precious and short life is.  Frank was my soul and inspiration and will always be remembered for the kind things he did.  Yes, he was my "Indiana Jones".

The Puzzle
It was when I was thinking of the "Mad Hatter" series that I came up with the rules for this puzzle. As such, I thought it was appropriate to dedicate this cache in his memory. I hope "Mad Hatter 5" will live up to the standard that has come before.

The puzzle is completely original and, like any puzzle, one you will have to work until you discover the rules. This can be considered an encryption puzzle. Scratch paper is necessary. The hide is an ammo can and similar to that which I have seen and come to expect from the series.  After the FTF, I will post more hints.

	Mad Hatter 5 - In Memorial A U F R Y D Y U M P H H Q S F H S U M Y W X D G J A J I H V H W Y B E C T G H E D J G M H H P P S M Y D D N A O X F J R Y O S P M M F G N J H V G D X K J R G H B Y E D Q R G J Y W G Q E H F L F H I Q A C R I K C P D A W F X P D I G X E V F L L S R T T S G X S T W F H V C R Q I K A D J Y H I Z M F F I A R I E C Y Y K K K Q Z P G O N S Y Q F U Q F B W H J V C U L T W Y X O M H X R D R B N X B F X O O H S R

The Hints

The following are hints to the puzzle.  I will post one every few weeks until the puzzle is solved, after which I will post the rest to make it a little easier (because everyone is going to use PAF, anyway).  I created a program to generate this sort of puzzle and solve it, so I will be generous as to how many additional puzzles I post.

Hints #1 & #2: The following two puzzles solve to the posted coordinates.  Therefore, their resulting decrypted output is the same.

Hint #3: This sort of encryption can contain one or two key rows. To tell the number, count the rows. Eleven rows mean one key and twelve mean two; there will never be more than this. The first row is always key without exception. Should you have two key rows, like in this puzzle, your other key row will be the last one.

Hint #4: The key rows operate independently of each other. That is, content in the top key row will not relate to or affect the content and operation of the bottom key row. Instead, having two key rows is a way to shorten the message.

Hint #5: The coordinates are written out, beginning with three,six,etc. The top row decrypts the puzzle to north and the bottom to west. But you knew that last one.

Hint #6: Convert the top and bottom row letters to their numerical equivalent. The puzzle works by converting letters, doing addition, and converting the number to a letter.

Hint #7: The key letter in each column will yield either one or two letters when you solve that column. The key in the top goes down while the key on the bottom goes up.

Hint #8: When you use a key letter to decrypt a column, you will get only one or two letters. There can never be any more.

Hint #9: The following is the solution to one of the above puzzles, presented in raw output. The rows in orange represent the output from each column. Hopefully, with this, you should really begin to see where this puzzle is taking you. I think this is a major hint, but we'll see how it goes.