Congratulations to Phyzicist on being not only the first to find but the first to solve - that we know of!
The Conception
We recall hearing, at a children's concert thirty-five years ago, Sharon, Lois and Bram singing Raffi's “When you wake up in the morning, it’s a quarter to two and you want to find something to do . . . you brush your teeth!” Well, that sort of middle-of-the-night awakening happens to one of us habitually and one night, rather than head for the tooth brush, this cacher allowed a cache idea to start its development; later, sitting with pen and paper, a cache similar to the one presented here was the result.
Unfortunately, the habitat of that original cache was destroyed by gardeners of some sort shortly after its publication. We liked the concept of the cache, so have resurrected it: new puzzle, new location, but similar solution.
Introduction
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines “mayday” as an “international radio distress signal” used especially by ships and aircraft. We are informed that its origin is the French “m’aidez” which means literally “help me” and sounds much like “mayday” when pronounced by an anglophone.
We hope that your reaction to this puzzle cache will not be “OH, MAYDAY!!” We think that the puzzle will be easy for some but a challenge for others. How do you put a difficulty rating on that?! It could be a 2.5; it could be a 5.0; we’re putting it at 4.0.
In this puzzle, each digit from 0 to 9 inclusive is represented by one and only one of the ten three-letter words shown - Pay, Say, Ray, etc. Beyond that, we will say only that:
∙ 7 Hay means Hay multiplied by 7;
∙ each line below represents a single digit of the co-ordinates.
Enjoy!
The Co-ordinates
North
4 Jay - (2 Lay + 3 Gay)
5 Ray + 2 Nay - 4 Bay
Degrees
3 Way - 4 Say + 2 Bay
3 Hay - (4 Say + 6 Lay)
Decimal
5 Hay - 3(Pay + Gay)
6 Jay - (5 Way + 3 Hay)
2 Pay + 6 Nay - 5 Say
Minutes
West
2 Bay - (3 Ray - 4 Nay)
6 Lay - 5 Gay + 3 Jay
2(Gay + Jay) - 5 Lay
Degrees
2 Nay - (5 Bay - 6 Ray)
2 Hay - (3 Say + 4 Nay)
Decimal
5 Way - 3 Ray + 2 Pay
2 Pay - (4 Hay - 3 Jay)
6 Bay - (2 Way + 5 Hay)
Minutes
The cache is at: N __ __ º __ __ . __ __ __ ‘ and W __ __ __ º __ __ . __ __ __ ‘.
Notes
∙ Just in case . . . the cache is not at the given co-ordinates;
∙ Please bring your own pen/pencil;
∙The container is tethered and there is no need to remove it;
∙ Please tuck the container back as found;
∙ Please be stealthy;
∙ Feel free to use the “solution checker” below.