The Black Hand Gang - The Smugglers' Tunnel Mystery Cache
Hidden : 12/7/2016
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This series was designed with young cachers in mind. If you have young cachers in your family, you may wish to encourage them to help solve the puzzles, as well as attend the final locations of each cache. Advice concerning the suitability of the terrain for young children can be found by scrolling to the end of this cache listing or by clicking here.

Grown ups may remember that the Black Hand Society was instrumental in the assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, an incident that triggered World War I in 1914. This series has nothing to do with that. Young cachers can read more about that important event and the Black Hand Movement in websites like this one.

This series, rather, is inspired by a book from my childhood by Hans Jürgen Press. It was first published over fifty years ago and is now out of print. It has since been converted into a simple game you can search for on the net, which helped me reconnect with the book. I hope that by presenting this geocaching series, cachers might encourage children to become involved in reading the book, solving the simple puzzles and searching for the caches in the series. Grown ups will have to help with final calculations of cache coordinates.


Instructions
In order to complete your tasks you will need to download the clue books for each cache, in PDF format. I have created these PDF files myself on behalf of the Black Hand Gang. The gang assure me there should be no security issue with them. However, I am required to provide the following warning from Groundspeak:

Warning: You are about to download a file that contains further details needed to find this geocache. As the cache owner, I represent that this file is safe to download although it has not been checked by Groundspeak or by the reviewer for possible malicious content. Download this file at your own risk


Once you have downloaded the PDF file, read the text on the left side of each page. Use the clues in the pictures on the right to solve the puzzle below. Some information has been redacted from the pages due to the Top Secret nature of the material you are working with.

Next, complete the answers to the questions below. You will find it easier if you print the questions and grid while you work to solve this puzzle. Each question has a sentence that follows to help prompt the correct answer, with spaces that indicate the number of letters required. Some have a letter added to avoid ambiguity. Once you have your answers, enter them into the grid below the questions, taking care to place only one letter per space. Some answers have two words, indicated by a dark space in a line where you will leave a space.

You will use the answers in this grid to help you complete a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) which you will enter into the Address Bar of your browser. This will link you to a web page that will give you instructions as to how to find this cache. There is a colour code below the grid indicating which squares are uppercase letters, lowercase letters or numbers. The URL is case sensitive, so use capital letters and lowercase letters where indicated by the colour key. The final URL should contain no spaces.

Where a number is required, simply convert the letter in that square into a number by using the Conversion Table below the colour code.


1. How did the traveller give himself away?
The Traveller’s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ was upside down.

2. Where had the man left his case?
The man left his case in the _ a _ _ _ .

3. What was in the tin?
There were _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ in the tin.

4. Where was the cupboard?
The cupboard was hidden in the picture of the _ _ _ _ _ _ .

5. What was the substance in the cubes?
The cubes contained _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

6. What was the first word of the message?
The first word of the message was _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

7. Which day had the men chosen?
The day the men had chosen was _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

8. What was the proof that someone had been in the cave before them?
They saw a _ _ _ _ _ _ which proved someone had already been there.

9. What had the missing tourist been carrying?
The missing tourist had been carrying a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

10. Which way had the smugglers gone?
The smugglers had gone towards the _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ .

11. What had the smugglers done?
The smugglers had switched the _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ .

12. What did Ralph point out to Mr Boller?
Ralph pointed out the _ _ _ to Mr Boller.

13. How did Frank know Fred had escaped?
Frank knew Fred had escaped because he saw the _ _ _ / p _ _ _ _ had fallen from the window.

14. What had Angela seen?
Angela had seen the _ _ _ .

15. Where had Fred hidden?
Fred had hidden under the _ _ _ _ _ _ .

16. How did they recognise Fred?
They recognised Fred because he was _ _ _ .

17. Where was the suitcase?
The suitcase was in the _ _ _ _ _ .

18. Where was the gun?
The gun was amongst the _ _ _ _ _ _ s .


Letter to Number Conversion Table:
A B C D E F G H I
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

NB: "Given South Coordinates" and "Given East Coordinates", as described in the final calculation on the web page you find, refer to the coordinates at the top of this page - the given false coordinates for the cache page
Please Note: the solution to this puzzle gives you access to a YouTube video you will need to view to complete the last step to finding this cache. In that video you are asked to find three numbers represented by A, B and C. Since this cache was published the number you will need for A has been destroyed through vandalism. To make it possible for you to solve the puzzle I am giving you the value of A. A=62



Other Caches in this Series




Terrain Suitability for Children
I have rated this a three terrain. The final location of the cache is closer to 1½ terrain. However, once you solve the puzzle you will find there is something else to do before you get there. That may involve climbing up a short slope and will require walking next to water. Children might find it easier to walk in the water, so gumboots would be a good idea for them. Care should always be taken, but children should be fine in these locations under adult supervision.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gerr. Ng gur onpx arne srapr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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