Are YOU in the Puzzle ? Mystery Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(large)
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While the below explanation is a bit long, the BLUF -- Bottom Line Up Front -- is that with this puzzle, your task is to fit all of the cacher names in the attached list into the attached crossword type puzzle, then use the characters in the highlighted squares to solve for the cache coordinates. Eliminate all spaces in the cacher names, retain all special characters in the cacher names and there is only one way all of the cacher names will fit into the puzzle.
THE CACHE IS NOT AT THE ABOVE COORDINATES!
We recently saw an article in a geocaching magazine that discussed how gratified cachers can be if they see their name on or in a new cache. In the Colorado Springs area, two examples that we know of are the "Tribute to" series, and the WTG series (Way To Go). Instead of making a new series that would include one cacher name per cache, we decided to include several cachers in one puzzle. We have included several (but certainly not all) cachers that we have had the pleasure of associating with in one way or other. Maybe we found a cache of theirs, or they found a cache of ours, or we met at an event, or perhaps something to do with trackables or pathtags.
Perhaps YOU are in the below list of 158 cacher names; your task is to fit all of the cacher names into the attached crossword-type puzzle. There aren't any clues like in a typical crossword puzzle; instead, you just need to fit all of the names into the puzzle and -- there is only ONE WAY they will all fit in perfectly.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GUESS; if you get to a point where there are multiple possibilities that could fit into a particular spot, consider the different possibilities and see if another intersecting cacher name will match up. Or, move to another part of the puzzle and keep going. Here are the simple guidelines:
1. Eliminate all spaces from cacher names when filling in the puzzle, and use either all uppercase or all lowercase (so that with intersecting names, uppercase and lowercase letters are the same -- M is the same as m, T is the same at t, etc) Example: Moose Tag becomes MOOSETAG (8 characters) if you are using all uppercase.
2. Retain all digits and special characters when filling in the puzzle (such as / . & - etc). Example: 2/3 Marine becomes 2/3MARINE (9 characters)
3. To simplify finding the possible cacher names that will fit into any given crossword item, the attached list of cacher names are in order of the number of characters in each cacher name.
4. The attached puzzle is a picture file; download it and then size it however you wish and print it; if you are having trouble making it big enough for you to fill in the blocks, email us and we will send you the Excel spreadsheet, which will print out on two pages that you can then tape together.
5. All cacher names in the puzzle go left to right, or top to bottom, like a standard crossword puzzle. There aren't any diagonals, and none of the names go up or backwards (right to left).
6. There are two cacher names that don't intersect any other names; these will be the "leftover" names once you have filled in all names that intersect each other.
7. Once you have filled in all the names, solve for the cache coordinates. Highlighted squares in the puzzle will be used to solve for the coordinates; we have highlighted them to make it easy for you to locate the exact squares used to find the solution.
8. When solving for the coordinates, use the Excel cell numbering scheme (columns are alphabetical, and rows are numerical). The character in a square will either be a digit or a letter; a digit equals it's own numerical value, and letters are equal to their position in the alphabet.
For example, in the puzzle, our cacher name is in the lower right corner, with three squares highlighted in yellow. We have also highlighted in orange the upper right (UR) and lower left (LL) cells in case your printout is on more than one page. Cell AZ49 is a 3; cell BG49 is an M, and cell BI49 is a K.
We have only highlighted those 3 cells in our name to show you how you will be solving for the coordinates.
If the puzzle asks you to solve for ? = AZ49 + BG49 - BI49, the answer would be ? = 3 + M - K, which would be 3 + 13 - 11, so ? =5.
The cache is located at:
N 38 53. @ # $
W 104 57. % & *
@ = X26 - BH37 + BE44
# = Z10 + AK15 - AU9
$ = S24 - N10 - AN42
and
% = E46 + Z45 - BF18
& = N24 - AD11 - U9
* = AP4 - AI26 - AT24
So -- Are YOU in the puzzle? DOWNLOAD AND PRINT the two attached pictures to get started !
Here's the list of included names, in alphanumeric order: (and, we apologize if you are not in the list, but we couldn’t fit in absolutely everybody)
2/3 Marine ABC90D Abunai Inc. adagioboy akabumper animjason Audrey aufaa Avgirls33 Back Country Horsemen belugaboy&hm2015 Berry16 Bhob Big Bear 1 billkat brennan7 Button Buzz Lightyear I bymerkle Cache Crazed cajrrman Campcaching Caution:Redhead ceolmhor chefstern Chiggie chihuahuajill CJ Tag claudey clintara co_gps_guy colorado gypsies ColoradoOB condor1 COpackrat crumbcrunchers Cryptosporidium-623 curious kitties curlyfro CurranClan5 DAJ2 Deadmoney doc4001 duckhunter5000 DustyKat eagleday Edwards654 ernie66 estes01 estrek F3 Fluffy Ninja Fruitbat gampa&gamma gdsdizz Geocaching Colorado GeoGlena GoMRT gorillagal Halfamind Harpster68 hartsdale hikerRon hiking_fool hikymuce Hives imusttravel2000 Imyy4u2 JazzManCOS jherber Jim Reeb Joe Friday JR&B jsarche k9jayhawk kaschnigg KBOUMW Kbsta keg2006 kenyansherpa KJKlock Koalacanuck K Trackers kwbforest kyotmoon leewaydiscgolf Leodegar lesslost2 m4fun Manitou Cacher Marma mbeck99 Me & Bucky Megan Bear MikeAndJuli mondou2 MooseTag mtn_goat mwdaley NateandBrandi ngrrfan nicehice nickgatt njnplus1 nrnoodle OF-Erad OR85OR450 oscarmikeUSMC Phred Pikes Peak Ascent Finisher Pohka pookiebubba Psyberdragon psych01 Qaz Rich_Life rkster Rob14erGuy Rosecrew RPieperCO rsfixit RustyBeerCan Sasquatchandwife sassydil SeekDaCache shamrock&angel SipesFamily Sissadies sleuthers smlsteiny SnailMan1 SouthParkNHA SparrowPI Spivey Sportslane sqirts SquirtsExplorers SuperDolph Team GPSaxophone Team Redline Team w-bar-v thebobcats TheBrecks TheDisneyBugs TheFirstSergeant thegeocachekids THeSKuLL titocache Tom.dog Tsrothwell vorticity weizen Werefish & Therefish WingsAndTales WitzAbout Wolfgang Stiller youkfish zulu113
If you are just plain stuck on the puzzle, email us and we will get you on track; we want you to enjoy our puzzles and caches, not spend a lot of time getting frustrated.
Yes, it is a big puzzle, which is why the difficulty is a 4.5
Once at GZ, finding the container should be easy -- you will be looking for one of the larger ammo cans (50 cal).
Not including a geochecker would be downright mean; so once you have a solution, check it for accuracy at GeoChecker.com.
CONGRATULATIONS to SuperDolph for the FTF !
Another CONGRATULATIONS to Puzzle Master jherber for being (I believe) first to forge through the puzzle, and find my mistakes. A very close Second To Find, and our personal thanks !
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)