There are
two methods to solve this puzzle - just so you can fallback if you
get stuck, there is a backdoor method.
The method I would
prefer you to use is brute force puzzle solving. Seasoned puzzle
cachers know brute forcing like the back of their hand. However, if
you are not too into puzzle caching, the concept may be completely
unknown to you.
Brute forcing a
puzzle is pretty simple. Without giving specific local examples, I
will just list a suitable Wikipedia definition:
In computer
science, brute-force search or exhaustive search, also known as
generate and test, is a trivial but very general problem-solving
technique that consists of systematically enumerating all possible
candidates for the solution and checking whether each candidate
satisfies the problem's statement.
Basically - we
have several givens in a puzzle. example:
#( #$.%^&
)*$ !#.(##
What we have above
is a VERY easy to solve set of coordinates in this area. The
#( HAS to be 39 when given a format like this: 12
34.567 123 45.678 - This is logical because most of this area is
39.
Therefore
)*$ HAS to be 084
So what we have
eliminated in the puzzle are the numbers 0,3,4,8 and 9
This ONLY leaves
1,2,5,6,7 - You've solved half the puzzle without even
thinking.
So, given
#( #%.#^& )*$
!#.(## we've narrowed down the solution to 39
3%.3^& and 084
!3.933
The next easiest
number to grab is what ! is.
Given the area the caches false coordinates are, which has to be
1-3 miles away from the actual cache tops we know that
! HAS to be 1.
Now we have 39
3%.3^& 084 13.933
Nothing left but
2,5,6,7
Again, if the
cache's false coordinates have to be less than three miles from the
actual, $ could be any of these numbers.
Now we do the
easiest thing. Guess.
Put in the
coordinates you already have in google maps and substitute the
remaining numbers in.
Through guesswork
with google's satellite view, we can most likely see a viable cache
location
Let's say the
caches false coordinates are 39 33.000 and 084 12.000
I would first
start with 5 as my guess for % since it's the
closest remaining number to the false coordinates.
This gives me 39
35.3^& 084 13.933
Two numbers till a
solution and only 2,6,7 remain.
Again, substitute
the remaining numbers until you get an accurate solution.
With geochecker
only allowing ten attempts in a ten minute period or something like
that, we will only need to use 6 attempts at most to get a solution
to this puzzle.
Anther way to
solve the above example: type those symbols without holding shift.
;)
I hope this has
been a decent tutorial on brute forcing a puzzle.
Now, on to my
puzzle. Don't bother using google to find out how the following
words equal numbers. I'm making up the language as I type
this.
ptrevian
vrextor ptrevian ptrevian.repr ungorsk triskor
ungorsk qmer nralox swerq.orsk orsk nralox
Again, if you get
stuck, there is an alternate method to solve this puzzle. I won't
disclose it here, but if you use the alternative method, please
indicate in your logs you didn't brute force but solved it in
another way.
As for parking -
this cache can NOT be accessed from the highway. you will see a
street east of the highway with a hotel due east of the cache. I
parked there when I placed the cache. Parking anywhere else is at
your own risk.