Patterns exist everywhere. They exist in nature, mathematics and in the habits, rhythms and structures we create for ourselves. Many puzzle cachers will use these already existing patterns as the basis for their puzzles. Since you're generally looking for a number you'll need to find a way to apply a numerical sequence to the data you're provided with.
The pattern could be based on something which already has numbers applied such as the periodic table, streets and houses or mathematical sequences such as prime numbers. However it is also common to find cachers using patterns which don't necessarily have specific numbers, but which can have numbers applied to them in some logical way, such as daily routines, games, craft patterns for knitting or similar. Sometimes what you're looking for is not the pattern itself, but instead the parts where the pattern is broken.
When you're solving this type of cache, keep in mind that you're looking for the numbers, here in the north of Taiwan that general means you're looking for something with the format N** **.*** E*** **.***. In Taiwan, the degrees for north range from 22 up to 25 whilst the degrees for east range from 120 to 121. When you factor in that a puzzle cache will be hidden no more than 2 miles (3km) away from where it appears on the map, then you can already make a good guess at how to decode the first parts of the sequence. When I’m try to crack puzzles, I use this knowledge to test my solving strategies and come up with likely solutions. Sometimes however, you won't be given the degrees and only need to find out the ten digits which make up the minutes. In cases like these, you can start with the assumption that the degrees are the same as the listed coordinates, (but remember you may need to change them by one degree - use google maps to confirm the likely location).
PUZZLE GYM SERIES
PATTERN PROBLEMS
TAIPEI TOURIST TROUBLE
Two tourists (Basil and Sybil) came for a flying visit to Taiwan. They spent a few days in the country but they only had a single day to spend in Taipei. In order to get the most out of their time, they decided to make use of the city's wonderful MRT network and travel all over. Basil is a bit of a culture nerd and planned his part of the day around things he'd found in the guidebook, but Sybil thinks that stuff is boring and has decreed that they split the day between cultural stuff and geocaching. Unless specified, they returned to the MRT network (to the nearest station) between each and every stop on their itinerary.
On the morning of their busy Taipei day Basil and Sybil woke early and left their hotel to arrive at the nearest MRT station: Taipower Building.The first stop on their itinerary was one of Sybil's. She had her eye on one of the RSS caches, (GC7931B). It took her a while to find it because the coordinates seemed to show that it was on the other side of the road but she got it in the end. Once she'd signed the log they got back on the MRT and made their way to Basil's first pick: Bitan Scenic Area. They admired the colourful paddle boats dotted around all over the water and enjoyed a stroll over the suspension bridge. Sybil was happy with Basil's choice since there was an interesting multi in the area and after Basil had seen what he wanted to, she was able to search for her next target (GC5N21J) without having to travel anywhere. They grabbed a snack from one of the stores on their way back to the MRT station and went in search of Basil's second stop of the day: Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Both of them were impressed with the grandness of this large building and marvelled at the impressive arches. For Sybil's next find they had to jump over onto the red line, (luckily they were already at a transfer station this time). She wanted to find one of the most favourited traditional caches in the city, (GC11J18), Basil enjoyed the garden whilst Sybil sought her treasure. Indeed, he was happy to relax since their next stop was right there and they didn’t need to take the train again! He had decided that the top of Taipei 101 should be their sixth point of interest for the day. The view from the top was great, but sadly Basil found out that he’s not very good with heights so they quickly made their way back down and decided to find lunch. They’d been recommended a nice restaurant next to Da’an Station so that’s where they went.
After some satisfying snacks Basil was feeling a lot better and the two of them were ready to embark on the afternoon portion of their busy day. For the first afternoon stop they took the brown line to find a micro cache dedicated to a type of cache container (GC3ZWD0), Sybil enjoyed it but was confused about why the container used was a micro. After that it was Basil’s turn and he had got the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall lined up on his itinerary (requiring a change onto the blue line) - the two of them agreed that the architecture was interesting but they didn’t spend too long there since Sybil was itching to find her first of the KS: Unique series, (GC3A235). It was only a short MRT journey - since Sybil is an expert cacher she found it easily and they were ready to set off (still on the blue line) for Basil’s next choice, the Eslite Xinyi Store. Both of them found that they were able to get some souvenir shopping done here and the time flew past as they browsed. Finally, with heavy bags and lighter wallets they got ready to set off again. Sybil checked her app and saw that the next cache on her ‘to-find’ list was quite some way away. They needed to first take the blue line and then change to yellow - the cache (GC6M2GV) was right outside a school and Sybil took a while finding it since the hinted subject was everywhere but of course she got it in the end. Basil was itching to stretch his legs a bit and was hoping to convince Sybil to do a little bit of a walk, from his research he’d found that Elephant mountain was a little too crowded so instead he decided that he wanted a quick walk up Jiantan Mountain, (they needed to change onto the red line during this journey), Sybil agreed to give it a go but in the end they gave up after seeing the Grand Hotel and headed back to the MRT. For her last cache of the day Sybil had chosen a tough challenge cache (GC7CXRY), which she signed in the hope that she’d be able to meet the restrictions soon. (They declined to take the one stop tourist line - instead alighting and ressuming their journey from the nearest station on the red line.) By now the day was dragging to a close and the pair of them decided to go to only one more spot: Tamsui Mangrove Reserve. It was a lovely way to end a tiring day, the river air clearing their heads and the lovely colours of sunset painting the scene.
