This puzzle cache is number 3 of the 2016 Advent Puzzle Series from mrGreen317 and SageHippo. mrGreen317 and SageHippo have exchanged small gifts on alternating days during the four weeks of Advent (leading up to Christmas Day) for many years. It was in 2016 that SageHippo surprised mrGreen317 with a geocaching twist on her gifts to him. Instead of just putting them in boxes or bags and giving them directly, she decided to hide them around town in an ammo can, hidden in different pre-selected locations that mrGreen317 would have to search in the afternoons to get his gifts. But the real fun was that 7 different puzzles were created for mrGreen317 to first solve, and these puzzles were printed in a booklet given to him the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was a fun December of puzzle solving, and SageHippo came up with some good ones.
In this series, mrGreen317 and SageHippo would like to share these puzzles with the geocaching community, hiding legitimate, published caches throughout the winter using the same puzzle ideas that SageHippo first concocted for mrGreen317.
This third puzzle requires first solving a "kakuro", a kind of crossword puzzle with numbers. After the puzzle is solved, follow the instructions to select the correct numbers to get the coordinates.
In a "kakuro" puzzle, each block (row or column) has a target sum. All the digits in a row or column must add up to the target sum specified on the edges. For example, in the puzzle above a number put in the E square added to the number put into the V square must equal 14, while at the same time V, N, C, and all of the squares down to R must be summed to equal 41. You will also take advantage of the following rules during the solving:
- Only the digits 1 through 9 can appear in any single square (cell) on the puzzle
- Within a "block" (row or column), the digits never repeat. For example, in a block with two squares and a target sum of 4 (such as the block with the G and Z squares above), you will never see the digit 2, because 2+2 = 4, but you cannot repeat 2 in the same block. In this case you know the digits must be 1 and 3, even if you don't yet know into which squares of the block each belongs.
To get to the final coordinates once the Kakuro is solved, substitute numbers from the puzzle solution that are in the squares with the red letters into the following equations...
((((A * B + C) * D * E + F) * G + H) * I * J + K + L) * M * N * O * P
((((Q * R + S) * T + U) * V * W + X) * I * O * Y + Z) * D * V + C
The cache is a large bison container in a festive Christmas color hanging in an appropriate spot considering the Christmas theme.
Parking suggestions to access the cache will be revealed by the geochecker, which is also useful to verify that you have the correct solution before setting out on your hike. The terrain rating was chosen based on the possibility of a longer hike depending on which parking option is selected or available.
Congratulations to r.e.s.t.seekers and ted28285 for braving the snow up on the Allegheny Front to log this cache FTF.
Based on the areas surrounding the "?" for 2 miles, it is likely obvious that you will be taken onto state game lands, so PLEASE observe all state game land rules and wear orange during hunting seasons. During the primary hunting season, finding this cache is recommended on Sunday only.
Kakuro Puzzle was generated by Kakuro Online, redrawn by mrGreen317 using custom Python code to resemble the easy-to-read format used by KrazyDad.com; letter overlay added to puzzle for geocaching use; this puzzle itself is not under copyright
This is a Green-Hippo cache