Please Note
- The cache is not at the coordinates listed above.
- During wet weather Staceys Rd becomes soft in places. Please drive carefully, and attempt to minimise damage to the road and surrounds.
- Please put caches back the way you found them – don't move them or make them harder.
- Be mindful of traffic – park and approach caches safely!
- The cache is a 200ml Sistema. BYO implement of writing.
- The cache contains a clue for another puzzle in the series.
- There is a winner's medallion for the FTF.
The Series
This cache is one of a series offering a variety of "easy" puzzles. They are all (meant to be) puzzles that can be solved either using clues provided or online resources readily found using Google. The hides themselves are relatively easy – the key feature here is you are meant to use your energy on the puzzle, not the find.
In part, this series pays tribute to TR!'s "It's Puzzle Time" series, which is another great introduction to puzzle caches (thank you heaps, TR!).
Spider
And then he took another look and he saw something that made him set his pail down. There, in the center of the web, neatly woven in block letters, was a message.
- E.B. White, Charlotte's Web
Spiderweb Cipher
A Spiderweb Cipher, also known as a Grille Cipher, uses two square grids of the same size. Some of the cells are cut out of one of the grids (now called the "web" or "grille"), which is then placed over the other grid. The message is written through the holes of the web into the cells of the grid. Empty cells in the grid are then filled with random letters.
For longer messages, before filling with random letters, a carefully chosen web can be rotated, giving more locations in the grid to be filled with message characters.
The Puzzle
- Print the following web and message grid.
- Cut around both to separate (leave a few mm margin).
- Carefully cut out the black squares from the web.
- Place the web over the message grid, with the caret (^) pointing up.
- Read off the message, letter-by-letter.
- Rotate the web 90° clockwise, and continue reading the message. Repeat as necessary.
