I am by no means a mystery cache expert but I enjoy them very much. This Puzzle Gym series is intended as way for new cachers to build up their puzzle stamina and for the old timers to get in a bit of training to stop them becoming rusty. Please ask for help if you’re stuck, I want these to be solvable. Enjoy!

I have always been enchanted by the playful potential of words. When I was younger that took the form of bad jokes, (Q: Why was six afraid of seven? A: Because seven ate nine), and singing Mairzy Doats at music school, as I’ve grown older and acquired more knowledge this has expanded to include puns and places where my native language overlaps with other languages I’ve encountered, (I can’t be the only English speaker to think of the white condiment every time I say 沒有). Luckily for me, it seems that geocachers also enjoy a whole lot of word play.

Quite often you’ll find that a puzzle cache contains a clue to the solution or final GZ in the title, description or hint of the cache, from example a cache hidden in a tree might have the clue “stumped?”, or one hidden in the vicinity of a clock might be titled “Time to find a puzzle cache”. But the potential for giving clues in text is as infinite as language itself. 

Some of the easier to solve puzzles include those where the location or clues are given using other languages. Sometimes it’s possible to decode those by running stuff through google translate but at other times the language might be fictional or dead (think Elvish, Dothraki, Klingon, Old Norse or Egyptian Hieroglyphs). There are also a whole load of languages which are commonly used by geocachers which aren’t technically spoken or written - these include braille, semaphore, morse code, nautical flags and sign language - to solve these it’s just a case of working out which language you’re dealing with and then decoding the message. 

If you don’t need to translate or decode something you might find that the information is concealed in the text of the geocache listing. Check for anything which could be read as numbers and remember that since we’re living in a place where many geocachers are familiar with at least two languages it is common to find puzzle caches which need you to use your knowledge of both languages.

We are spoilt for local linguistic caches as it seems are several caches who enjoy playing with words. For example you could uncover Steve4nlaguage’s The Written Word (GC6WH05), Jefferyh’s Language (GC609N7), luisloco514’s A Challenge of Languages (GC5GH7H) or Haima’s Smoke gets in your eye (GC39N72).

PUZZLE GYM SERIES

WRITTEN RIDDLES

TAKE A BOW

Shakespeare: most famous of playwrights, most hated by school students in English speaking countries. But did you know that he popularised quite a few phrases which are in common use today? Match the sayings to the plays that they're found in.

N25 AB.CDA

E121 EF.CGH

A

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

事情過了頭，反而成壞事。

“Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?"

Having too much of something good or useful can be harmful or unhelpful; doing something pleasant too much might become unpleasant.

B

IT’S GREEK TO ME

完全不懂 or 一竅不通

“Nay, an I tell you that I’ll ne’er look you i’ the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me."

When you have no idea what someone means you can say this phrase. It means that what the other person says makes so little senses that you feel like they may as well be speaking a foreign language. Different cultures use different languages instead of Greek to suggest the same thing.

C

KILL WITH KINDNESS

用过分的好意使不知所措

“This is a way to kill a wife with kindness, and thus I’ll curb her mad and headstrong humour.”

To kill with kindness means to react to someone’s unkindness with so much kindness that it either makes them uncomfortable or feel guilty for being unkind. Most recently this phrase has been put to (repetitive) use by Selena Gomez. 

D

LOVE IS BLIND

愛情使人盲目

“But love is blind, and lovers cannot see the pretty follies  that themselves commit, for if they could Cupid himself wouceld blush to see me thus transformed to a boy.” 

An idiom, or almost cliché which suggests that love has the power to make your partner’s problems invisible to you.

E

FAIR PLAY

正派的比賽；公平合理[正大光明]的處理[態度]，公平；漂亮。

“Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle, and I would call it would call it fair play.”

An expression of respect for an opponent’s actions. These days it is frequently heard in sports and in certain urban vernaculars.

F

無益[無望]的追求。

WILD GOOSE CHASE

“Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.”

If you go off on one of these then you go on a foolish search for something you can never find.

G

YOU’VE GOT TO BE CRUEL TO BE KIND

有時，為了達到你的善意，你不得不殘酷無情。

“So, again, good night. I must be cruel only to be kind. Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.”

No one likes being cruel to be kind, but sometimes parents, doctors, teachers and friends need to cause short-term pain or unhappiness to someone in order to make things better for them in the future.

H

LIE LOW

不露行跡，隱藏某種意圖

“If he could right himself with quarrelling, some of us would lie low.”

To hide or stay away in order to avoid being seen or caught.  This one is used more to describe criminals and celebrities or want to stay away from the police or the paparazzi.

The Taming of the Shrew = 3

Hamlet = 7 

Julius Caesar = 8 

Romeo and Juliet = 8 

Much Ado About Nothing= 6 

The Tempest = 2 

As you like it = 0 

The Merchant of Venice = 1