Toby Visits the Arctic Circle Mystery Cache
Hidden : 6/8/2017
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

The cache is not at the posted coordinates. Instead you will need to solve a mystery to get the real coordinates of the cache. This mystery cache is intended to be fun, so if you get frustrated, you are welcome to email Toby's biographer and ask for further hints on this or any other Toby Mystery.


#8  The Dogliest Detective and the Case of the Latitude with an Attitude


Toby finished working a case in Fairbanks for the Alaska Consulting Detectives Agency and used some time off to book a bus tour "To the Arctic Circle".  A group in the back of the bus seemed to know each other but talked in code words like "FTF" and "Micro or a nano?"   Toby figured they were probably Canadian. Nonetheless, he chatted them up and they liked his stories.

 The tour guides were 20-something college students with New York accents recently arrived in Alaska for summer jobs with the cruise ship tour companies.  Toby had held his tongue around his ACDA colleagues for so long that he suddenly felt the impulse to have some fun at the expense of the tour guides, so he played the "dumb tourist" asking questions to the "expert" tour guides.  He received the following answers to his questions:

 (1) The Arctic Circle marks the line where permafrost starts and north of which the ground doesn't completely unfreeze each summer.

 (2) The Arctic Circle marks the line where north of the sun never rises in the winter and never sets in the summer.

 (3) The Arctic Circle marks the territorial line between the polar bears and brown bears.

 (4) At the Arctic Circle, the sun does not rise above the horizon for one day each year, on the winter solstice.

 (5) On the March and September equinoxes, all latitudes of planet earth receive about 12 hours of direct sunlight.

 (6) The Arctic Circle marks the line where rain falling south of the line drains to the Pacific Ocean and rain falling north of the line drains to the Arctic Ocean.

 (7) At the north and south poles, the sun is above the horizon for six months and below the horizon for six month.

 (8) The Tropic of Cancer marks one-third of the way between the equator and the North Pole.  

 (9) On the summer solstice, the sun reaches its highest above the horizon at the Arctic Circle, and the sun is also directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer.

 (10) The earth is closest to the sun on the summer solstice.

 The other passengers on the bus got a chuckle out of many of the answers and seemed to be much more knowledgeable than the tour guides about geographic matters.  When the tour guides asked Toby why a group of passengers spent every roadside stop wandering around with their cell phones, Toby told them they were searching for an ATM machine with their cell phones to get "cash" for tips. 
_____________________________

To find the cache, go to Certitude and report the numbers of the statements that are correct in ascending order, separated by a dash and no spaces.  So if all the odd-numbered statements are false, then report the even numbers to Certitude (i.e. "2-4-6-8-10").  If you are correct, then Certitude will give you the coordinates of the cache.


You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.

Extra Credit for Puzzle Masters:

A.  Use Google Maps Street View to find a sign on US Interstate Highway #5 that marks the halfway point between the equator and north pole.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gur Nepgvp Pvepyr tbrf nebhaq gur tybor, obgu ynaq naq frn, fb vgf zrnavat zhfg gbb. Sbhe bs gurz ner pbeerpg.

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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