The cache is not at the above location, which is a turret of the old city walls, inside New College, and which is not normally open to the public. Rev. Dr. William Archibald Spooner (22 July 1844 – 29 August 1930) was associated with New College throughout his adult life, having won a scholarship to study there at the age of eighteen. He went on to be Fellow, Lecturer, Tutor, Dean, and eventually Warden. He was an albino and thus had poor eyesight, which some have linked with his tendency to muddle words, the practice for which he is most famous and to which he lends his name. His eccentricities and occasional slips of the tongue earned Dr. Spooner a degree of celebrity which he did not welcome, and he only ever acknowledged one of the myriad spoonerisms accredited to him — accidentally introducing a hymn as “Kinkering Congs Their Titles Take”.
In keeping with Spooner’s ecclesiastical life, you will have to identify the sources of the following spoonerisms and substitute their numbers into the equation to find the final location. The cache is not available after dark; see notices near the cache for details.
| A |
they go astray as soon as they be born, leaking spies |
| B |
with lattering flips and with a hubble dart do they speak |
| C |
the land of the horde is gone out against me |
| D |
mools fake a sock at min |
| E |
spreading himself like a grey bean tree |
| F |
remember what’s life |
| G |
witches certainly make themselves rings |
| H |
it is better to go to the mouse of horning |
| I |
ye have leapt in the ears of the ward |
| J |
all shall know me, from the greased to the latest |
| K |
ye cannot serve modern gammon |
The cache is at N 51° 45.(A–B)(C–D)(E–F)’ W 1° 14.(G–H)(I–J)(F–K)’. It is a pretty small container, with a log sheet and pen, and just enough room for small travel bugs (probably only one at a time) or a couple of geocoins.
This cache and its history is also described at geo.danq.me/kinkering-congs.