Doris, Norris and Boris
It's time to introduce you to Norris; Ed2Ed's geocaching mascot. He's been our geocaching.com avatar since we started caching in 2010, but he's never got a look in on our hidden caches ... until now. Norris is a purple crow and he is great pals with Boris (blue) and Doris (pink). They go everywhere together. However, they always insist on playing a game with anyone they meet. One of them will always tell the truth; another will always lie and the third will strictly alternate between truth and lies or lies and truth.
Now the three friends have discovered geocaching and they are bringing their "Truth and Lies" game into hiding caches. I was visiting the Sharpenhoe Clappers the other day and near the published coordinates I came across Norris, Boris and Doris. As I approached them I realised they were playing their favourite game.
Ed2Ed: Hi guys. How's it going? Eaten any good worms lately? So, who's the truth-teller today?
Norris: Doris always tells the truth today.
Boris: Norris always tells the truth today.
Ed2Ed: Hmmm. Well that's interesting. Nothing else to add, Doris?
Doris: You will find the cache at N 51° 57.703 W 000° 28.310
Norris: You will find the cache at N 51° 59.422 W 000° 26.893
Boris: You will find the cache at N 51° 58.096 W 000° 24.277
Ed2Ed: Huh! Thanks a bunch, guys! That's three completely different directions from here.
As I left the three crows, I found a piece of paper on the ground. The writing on it was clearly crow-script and it was signed by the truth-teller of the day ... but no name was given.
"If you cannot work out with any certainty the location of the cache from our statements then go to N 51° 56.015 W 000° 26.390 to find it."
"Great!" I thought. "That's just as far in the other direction as the other three sets of coordinates!"
After a moment's thought, the logic gears in my brain started to work. I recalled the statements of each crow and re-read the piece of paper. After about 10 minutes I'd worked it out. I knew where the cache was hidden. I thanked Norris and his chums and headed off towards Ground Zero.
You don't need to visit the published coordinates. Norris and his friends will have long departed and the cache is most definitely not there.
Acknowledgements
Eric Emmet
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