This is our fourth hide and our first puzzle cache.
The puzzle is a combination of the board game Scrabble and the
sport of geocaching. The container is an ammo container filled with
trinkets and other items (described below).
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FRIENDS
OF THE FOREST
Two tourists from the mainland,
Jacob White and his fiancée Deborah Pink are engaged in a highly
competitive game of Scrabble on the tenth night of a two-week visit
to the province of Newfoundland and
Labrador.
After ten days of hiking, whale
watching, mountain biking, kayaking, and otherwise exploring the
picturesque island of Newfoundland, Jacob and Deborah have, in
rather remarkable fashion, managed to spell out on the travel
Scrabble board before them, the names of many of the fascinating
animals and birds they’ve encountered so far. After recalling the
weasel-like mink he’d spotted near a fallen tree on one of the east
coast trail hikes, Jacob had led off the game with
WEASEL for 18 points.
Without so much as batting an eyelid, Deborah had
unloaded CARIBOUS for a score of
39 points and the game was on! Now, after some
pretty inspired wordplay on both sides, Jacob holds a slim 16 point
lead and is next to play. Your task is this.
Using the 7 tiles located at the top of the board
(ELRI_QU), find Jacob’s HIGHEST SCORING
PLAY. Then, using the 7 tiles located at the bottom of the
board (AEBSV_E), find Deborah’s subsequent
HIGHEST SCORING
PLAY.
Why do this, you ask? Well, you
see, the cache co-ordinates
are:
N 47° 34.ABC;
W052°46.XYZ
where
ABC is Jacob’s HIGHEST SCORING PLAY +
299
and
XYZ is Deborah’s HIGHEST SCORING PLAY +
45
You’ll DEFINITELY have solved the puzzle if EACH
player’s highest scoring word maintains the overall puzzle
theme. ENJOY!!
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
SCORING:
Each word formed in the play is
scored this way:
1. Any tile played from the
player's rack onto a previously vacant square that is a
"double-letter" or "triple-letter" premium square has its point
value doubled or tripled as indicated.
2. Add the normal point value
of every other letter (excluding blanks) in the word (whether newly
played or existing).
3. For each newly played tile
placed on a "double-word" premium square, the total is doubled (or
redoubled).
4. For each newly placed tile
placed on a "triple-word" premium square, the total is tripled (or
re-tripled). Premium squares affect the score of each word made in
the same play by constituent tiles played upon those
squares.
5. Premium squares, once
played upon, are not counted again in subsequent
plays.
If a player uses all seven of
the tiles in his rack in a single play, a bonus of 50 points is
added to the score of that play (this is called a "bingo" in Canada
and the United States). These bonus points are not affected by
premium squares.
While having no individual
point value of their own, the blank tiles may be substituted for
any letter of the alphabet and must retain that letter designation
for the duration of the game.
SOLUTION:
Please rest assured that this
puzzle has been very carefully analyzed. While there are many word
options, there is
only one acceptable
solution which you can now check using the Evince co-ordinate
verification tool at the bottom of this listing.
DICTIONARY AND 2-LETTER
WORDS:
The reference dictionary used in the creation of
this puzzle was the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
(4th Edition). However, with the possible exception of
some of the 2-letter words, you should be able to find all of the
words used in this game in any decent American English dictionary.
Since they’re often of vital importance in making big scores,
here’s a complete list of currently acceptable 2-letter Scrabble
words:
AA AB AD AE AG AH
AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY BA BE BI BO BY DE DO ED EF EH EL EM
EN ER ES ET EX FA FE GO HA HE HI HM HO ID IF IN IS IT JO KA KI LA
LI LO MA ME MI MM MO MU MY NA NE NO NU OD OE OF OH OI OM ON OP OR
OS OW OX OY PA PE PI QI RE SH SI SO TA TI TO UH UM UN UP US UT WE
WO XI XU YA YE YO ZA
CACHE DESCRIPTION AND LOCATION:
You are searching for an peanut butter jar covered with camouflage
duct tape. The container is hidden in a grouping of young evergreen
trees, surrounded by older trees located just off a short trail
near the Trans Canada Highway in St. John's. The trail itself
intersects a set of power lines and can be accessed from one of two
directions, either the TCH or via Groves Rd. We withhold all other
information to keep the cache as fun and exciting as
possible.
INITIAL CACHE CONTENTS:
The initial contents include a log book, pencils,
animal related items and three travel bugs: 1. Momma Quackers TB,
2. Moose Drule TB, & 3. Tortoise TB. While not required we
would appreciate that you try and maintain the animal theme of the
cache by leaving appropriate trade items... we think you'll find
its easier than you think.
FEEDBACK:
Any advice or feedback you'd like to offer about
this cache listing is welcome. We'd especially like to know your
views on the difficulty and terrain ratings we chose ...
thanks!
