When I first started geocaching in 2004, I spent just a few minutes in picking out a username, himilecyclist. I knew almost nothing about the sport at the time and didn't think picking a name was very consequential. More recently, having made geocaching an obsession, it was time to pick a new name. Matia Geodog, who needs vast amounts of exercise, pretty much single-pawedly terminated my cycling career.
This time, selecting a name was an enormous project and about as critical a task as I might have undertaken. I ended up with vast numbers of possibilities, but ultimately narrowed it down to Seawind.
Some of the names on my consideration list were not really candidates, but a lot of fun nonetheless. The title of this puzzle cache is an example.
Geonames continue to fascinate me. In some cases, it's pretty obvious why the user selected a certain name, such as 2_chemists or lovereddesert, but in many cases, the significance of a name is totally obscure, such as rerb or bktacstw. It's fun to think about what they might mean and what thought processes were used in coming up with them.
In this puzzle, I have selected 18 cachers, many of whom you probably know, and invented explanations and/or hints for their geonames. These are intended to be fun and in most cases are no doubt not the real reason a name was selected.
To solve the puzzle, you will need to match each geocacher in the list below with the explanation/hint for their name:
The Geocachers
'39 Geezer (7)
AMFM_RadioCachers (6)
daphm (10)
Fortran (14)
gotwings (12)
HikingSeal (6)
hyperheidi (7)
lesdubois (8)
Lockjaw (9)
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lovereddesert (6)
Moun10Hiker (12)
MtnPriest (7)
My Dal Leo (9)
NoBigDipper (15)
nyc-slc (5)
petersog (6)
RN+terrier (8)
WindBeneath (7)
The Explanations/Hints for the Geonames
Babelfish had a bug the day I selected my name. It was supposed to mean, "Super strong, handsome, intelligent man of the wood". I pretty much just got "the wood". (8)
Because I've ______, I follow a perfectly straight line to every cache. (6)
Born with the Grapes of Wrath. (11)
Definitely a powerhouse hiking machine! (9)
I cache with six legs. (8)
I gr8ly appreci8 the outdoors, there4 this is the name I'm in2. (5)
I have many scrambled proteges. (5)
I ♥ cherry compote after dinner! (10)
I ♥ salmon Clif bars! (13)
I pee 10 to 20 times more uric acid. Oh, and I'm not one of the CI. (7)
I'm a Black Forest ogre who doesn't like children. (9)
My bumper sticker reads, "Java is for Sissies". (9)
My geoname would be right at home in GC6VD0W. (10)
My second choice geoname was highercallingcacher. (11)
Oneeleven's fine but it ain't home, Seventyfour's home but it ain't mine no more. (12)
Stuck in a winter inversion? I can fix that (and you won't even have to leave the valley)! (8)
The Southern Cross shows me the way. (5)
The sun will set and the sun will rise; we don't have to live analytical lives.
Hold fast; hold on; nothing is a dream. (8)
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Good job, hopefully! Each name and hint are followed by a number. Multiply the number following the name by the number following the hint for each set. You will end up with a list of 18 products (the result of multiplying two numbers).
Add the first nine products (in the order of The Geocachers) to get XXX. Add the second nine products to get YYY.
The cache is at:
N 40 43.XXX
W 111 48.YYY
Click here for verification. Contact me if you get stuck!
Keep a close eye on the bushes on the way to the cache!