Unlike for other puzzle caches, experienced puzzlers are invited to add their own suggestions and hints in logs. They will be added to the description to create a more comprehensive and collaborative teaching tool
First Principles
The aim of a puzzle is to give you the coordinates for the location of the cache. Always read the FULL cache description CAREFULLY, taking note of anything that is unusual on the cache page. The title and description may give you hints on how to approach the puzzle. Don’t forget any related web pages and the background pictures. Sometimes the puzzle has nothing to do with the cache page, but is located elsewhere.
The most commonly used coordinate string is associated with WSG84 and is in the format SXX XX.xxx EXXX XX.xxx or degrees minutes and decimals. Puzzles using this format will usually require you to find 15 (the full string), 10 (minutes and decimals) or 6 numbers (decimals only). Some require you to find 17 items - the numbers plus South and East.
Geocaching.com allows the final location to be up to 3km from the given location. Where you have puzzles around Adelaide requiring you to solve the full coordinate string the degrees will be either S34 or S35 and E138 or E 139, the minutes will be -/+ up to 2 from the given coordinates. When looking for a full coordinate string you can use this knowledge to confirm your workings for degrees and minutes.
Armed with this knowledge, you should look at the cache description to see if there are 6, 10 or 15 objects, items, words, phrases, lines, etc. This may be where the answer is hidden. For example, if the fake coordinates are S34 24.509 E138 02.677 and you need to solve AB CD.EFG HIJ KL.MNO, you can reduce this to S34 2D.EFG E138 0L.MNO and that D is 3,4,5 or 6 and L is likely to be 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4. If the puzzle uses repetition – such as AB BB.ACA – this will help you even further.
Translation
The simplest puzzles are those that require you to substitute an element in the cache page for a number or letter. You may be looking for the coordinates in numbers or spelt out in letters. You should be able to guess this from the length of the translation.
A large variety of items may be used to hide coordinates. The most common are:
Alphabet systems – real (including hieroglyphs, Ogham, Babylonian) or invented (Sherlock Holmes’ Dancing men cipher, Klingon, computer game languages). Websites such as Omniglot will be helpful to identify what language the puzzle is in. Image search engines are also handy. If you have any clues from the cache page, google these and look at the image section. You may also be able to find someone who recognizes the particular alphabet or symbols you are trying to decipher. Also try the fonts on your keyboard, such as Wingdings.
English letters – The two most common are translated using a phone key pad (both from numbers to letters and letters to numbers) or the position of the letter in the alphabet. You may also have to look at the value of letters in particular circumstances, e.g. Scrabble values.
If you cannot make sense of the letters it may be encoded with a cipher. This is a topic all of its own and will not be covered… yet! However, you could try doing a simple ROT (Caesar Cipher) conversion.
Colours – These may refer to a variety of sources, including resistors, rainbow, PMS numbers, even welding temperatures.
Now for a simple practical example.
See if you know this common language. (Google translate may help, but remember that it sometimes jumbles the words. Try the words one by one.)
Sud Tre Quattro Cinque Uno Sette Quattro Due
Est Uno Tre Otto Quattro Zero Sei Due Sette
Then go find the cache!
Variations
More difficult puzzles will require additional steps to get the final coordinates. This may be as simple as arranging colour clues in the order of the rainbow mnemonic ROYGBIV. It may require coordinate conversion (more on that later) or other calculations.