This cache is not at the posted coordinates.
Instead, solve the puzzle to find the cache
"What are you so happy about?" asked my old friend Abe Normal
with his usual grumpy frown.
"I just finished Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and it was a great
book!" I say to him. His scowl only deepens.
"Bloody thief, that Dan Brown" he mumbles under his breath. With
a shake of his head, he takes a long draw off his beer.
"You know Dan Brown?" I ask in disbelief. He looks right at me
with an odd look.
"Know him? I sure don't. Met him once, but I thought he was a
decent type. I obviously didn't know him at all!" Another long, sad
pull of his beer. I consider whether or not to press. My old friend
has told me many tales which sound way to crazy to be true, but
they always turn out to be real - at least to some degree. Finally,
my curiosity gets the better of me.
"Tell me all about it" I say as my beer arrives. He stares at a
point somewhere over my shoulder for a moment, considering his
words. Finally, he begins his tale.
"Met him a few years ago in this very pub. A few of the lads
were talking loudly about the "Davinci Code" and about how great it
was to have such a code master and historian in our midst. I wasn't
too impressed, though. Seemed a little smug and had no problems
drinking beers that other people bought for him. But then again,
neither would I!" With that, he finished his beer in one last pull.
I took the hint, flagged down our server, and ordered him
another.
"As you know, I like puzzles and had made up a real difficult
one as part of a geocache I was hiding. The idea came to me like a
clap of thunder one night, and I started doing some research and
put together a real head scratcher. It was then that I decided to
hide a coded message within a coded map."
"Sounds real tricky!" I say, encouraging him to continue. Abe's
last puzzle cache had me learning all about bee hives and a
Reverend who discovered something called "bee space" in the mid
1800s (GC1QM60).
I shivered at the prospect of Abe Normal trying to make a puzzle he
himself classified as 'a real headscratcher'. "What kind of code
did you use?"
"The code? Don't worry about the code. It's just an old cipher
that has long been cracked and doesn't offer much protection. It's
what the code hides that's so interesting." His eyes sparkle for a
moment as he digests his own genius. Finally, he continues. "You
ever heard of a fellow named Albrecht Dürer?"
"Of course!" I exclaim. "He's the German guy who in 1514 did the
Melencolia I engraving with the weird numbers on the wall. They
talk about him in Dan Brown's book." Abe's face scowls once again
at the mention of the author's name.
"I Know!" he suddenly exclaims a little too loudly. I can tell
he's a little upset. "I told you he's a thief! That was MY IDEA!
And he took it from me!" His face reddens and I'm worried that he's
going to jump out of his seat. Luckily, the server arrives with his
beer and a long draw seems to douse the fire inside him. After
putting down his glass, he continues in a calmer tone. "I showed
Mr. Brown my cache idea right over there at the bar. He laughed at
me and told me everybody was making up silly codes now that his
book was so popular. Bloody arrogant thief! Takes my idea and
writes a novel about it - and doesn't even bother to give me any
credit!" Another draw off his beer.
"Wait a minute, Abe" I say, unable to hide my disbelief. "Are
you telling me that the Masonic Pyramid was your idea?"
"No, no, no. Of course not" he says, shaking his head. "It had
nothing to with a pyramid! It's all about the two squares showing
the way. But that's not the point." Another long pull from his
glass. "The point is, it was my idea, and he took it. I oughtta
sue." he grumbles, finishing his beer again. "Anyway, kid, I gotta
go. Thanks for the beer." He stands up to leave.
"Wait a minute!" I exclaim. "You can't just leave! What about
the cache? Did you finish your code? What about the..." he cuts me
off by raising his hand.
"I never did publish this thing, so it's probably still out
there." He reaches into his inside pocket and pulls out a tattered
little scroll of paper. "The container is tricky enough to get open
if you can find it. Give it a try if you want - though it won't be
much of a challenge now that Brown has told the world how to break
it!" With that he shakes his head in disgust, drops the paper on
the table, and leaves without another word.
Author's Note(s)
Obviously, having read Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" will make this
much easier. For those who have not read it, I will be happy to
offer more clues via email to help crack this.
I have set the difficulty at 4 but welcome feedback on this
rating.
To open the container, you will need to figure out the primitive
puzzle box. It does not require any force to open, save for lifting
the cache.
Because of how the cache is intended to be open, please do not
place fragile or extremely heavy items into this cache. There are
detailed instructions in the cache on how to reset the puzzle box
once you're done.
This cache is on the Glengarry Trail System and was
placed for the event
(Don't) Fall in the Fen. Please do not find this cache until
after 12 noon on October 4th, 2009.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.