Insecticross
(Bug Race!)
The cache
is not at the posted coordinates. Please solve the puzzle below to find
the actual cache location.
This is the 2022 edition of
Battle of the Bugs, a bug-related puzzle and a race between 12 travel bugs.
A HUGE congratulations to
Geo Dogs for winning last year with over 32,000 miles!
I am releasing 12 travel bugs in conjunction with this
cache. Their mission is to compete for the most miles traveled.
You can track
them and cheer for your favorite:
Click Here to view the list from my
Profile. The 12 competitors should appear at the top of the default alpha
order sort.
Each bug is the avatar of a
cacher active on the North Coast of Oregon. Instead of the marine
creatures featured in 2021, this year features travel BUGS!
Critters of Adventure - Their grand total of 0 miles in the 2021 race earns them
another attempt!
eyekwilt2 - Another non-starter last year with 0 miles. You can bet she
will double...or triple!...that in 2022!
katsurian - New and dangerous!
klossner - Attack of the Hermit!
Knitgurl - Off on a whurlwind tour of the globe!
lwestbroetje - Soon to be lwestbroetje, leastbroetje, lnorthbroetje and lsouthbroetje!
Map2Find - A roadmap 2 finding victory!
mudder91 - Udderly certain to win!
nebrevod - His leap to #1 will leave you nebrevawed!
NoBucksRanch - An obvious winner in 2021 (other than having 0 miles).
Vengeance is on the horizon!
Trekks - Her competitors are mere spekks of dust!
zursch - Beware! Z-crush has begun!
The twelve bugs were released on
the same day along the North Oregon Coast, with
an attempt to make them equally likely to be found.
The cacher whose bug has the
greatest number of miles at 8:00 AM PST on December 31, 2022, will be the winner.
GRAND
PRIZE for the lucky traveler: I will extend your Geocaching Premium
membership for one year!!
Query:
Can a cacher retrieve their own bug and move it along? Yes! Please
do so if you have the opportunity. You can even take it on two
round-the-world cruises and guarantee your win, but I question the return on
investment you might earn.
Query:
Can I retrieve and move another cacher's bug along? Yes! But, please
be fair about it.
I will
occasionally post Notes to this listing regarding the race, and invite you lot
to do so as well. Or anyone who helps one of the bugs on their journey.
So, you might want to watchlist this one.
We wish all
the travelers a bug-free journey!
--------------------------
The puzzle
this year is far from bug-free. In fact, it is an online crossword all
about bugs! Correctly solving the crossword will earn you the cache
coordinates.
This is a sort of Hinky Pinky puzzle. I'm not referring to it as such,
however, since I fear the basic structure of that game has been severely abused
in this instance!
The answers to the crossword are in the form of two (or more) rhyming words.
For example, a clue of, "A very self-satisfied trackable" might be answered
with, "Smug Bug". Don't include spaces between words when you enter your
answers.
Many extra one-word clues are included to help provide more letters for the
rhyming words. Also, the rhyming word clues are followed by numbers which
indicate both the number of words and letters. For example, "Smug Bug"
would be (4/3).
The clues follow in this listing.
Notes on the solver applet:
Keep the cache
listing open in one browser tab and the puzzle in another and switch back
and forth. To do this, right-click on the Puzzle Solver link below and
select "Open link in new tab".
-
Click the clue you
wish to enter an answer for. For example, click "2 Across" in the
column on the right and the cursor will be placed and ready to enter an
answer.
-
To change direction
of typing, press the right- or down-arrow keys.
-
Click "Revert" to
clear your entries and start over.
-
Click "Save" to save
your progress so far.
-
Click "Check
Answers" to
have your work checked. A new page will load with each answer
marked either right or wrong. Click
the browser back-arrow to return to the puzzle. Feel free to use this
button as much as you would like while working on the puzzle.
When the puzzle is
complete, here's how to get the cache coordinates:
-
When the last letter
square has been filled in, click "Check Answers".
-
If any of your
answers have red X's, they are incorrect. Click the browser back-arrow
(page back) to return to the puzzle and make corrections.
-
Repeat until all the
answers have a green check mark.
-
Click the browser
back-arrow (page back) to return to the puzzle.
-
The URL (Internet
address) of the puzzle contains all
of your answers. Make sure you are on the puzzle page and not the
Check Answers page, then click in the URL line and copy the entire
line (Ctrl-C).
-
Click this
Checker Link and paste
(Ctrl-V) the URL with your answers into the Solution box.
-
Click "Certify my
Solution". If correct, you will receive the cache coordinates.
Since the solution string is loooooong, you may need to scroll horizontally
to see the coordinates!
You can solve the puzzle online by clicking the following applet link.
Note: The server no longer supports automatically opening
in a new browser tab, so please right-click the link and select "Open link in
new tab".
You can solve the puzzle online by clicking the following applet
link:
Insecticross Puzzle Solver (Right-click & Open link in new tab)
No registration is required.
No personal information is required.
The applet is supplied by a well-known and respected publisher and is widely
used in education.
---------------------------------
5 Across
A body wave for my annelid (4/4)
6 Across
Tiny, sanguivorous and no fun at
all (3/4)
8 Across
King with the ability to turn
anything he touched into money
11 Across
Exclamation used to surprise
someone or to show disapproval
12 Across
Popular Chinese dog breed with a
pushed-in face and curled tail
15 Across
Capital: Suva
16 Across
"The sun's down and the moon's
pretty - it's time to..."
17 Across
Something really bugged my elementary teacher, which he demonstrated by writing
a big “128” on the chalkboard and asking for a student to read it. “One
hundred and twenty eight” was the response. “Nope! How about...” and he
wrote “279”. Another “Nope” for the response of “Two hundred and seventy
nine”. The correct answers, he said, are, “one hundred twenty eight” and
“two hundred seventy nine”. I guess you could call this rule... (3/6)
18 Across
"What?" (Spanish)
20 Across
Capital of Afghanistan
21 Across
A hermit Loxosceles (7/7)
22 Across
Bug Dad (6/6) ("Bug" being a
verb)
23 Across
Too many to count, as in, "there
are _ _ _ _ _ _ numbers of caches on Tillamook Head"
24 Across
A little _ _ _'ll do ya!
25 Across
Fit or suitable to be eaten
26 Across
When
these guys attended the 2016 Olympics, their geocache finds were documented
online as... (3/4/3/4)
30 Across
Mom's sister lives in a hill (3/4)
31 Across
Capital: SLC
33 Across
The measure of a person's reasoning
ability
35 Across
This neighborhood has no problem
with bugs. COVID bugs, anyway. (9/8)
37 Across
Tactical Operations
38 Across
A steel blade attached to a rifle
39 Across
Extreme fear of computer bugs (5/6)
1 Down
The queen, sheltering from the wind
(3/3)
2 Down
A popular box used in geocaching,
but prone to rust
3 Down
The best part of the U.S.!
4 Down
An unborn coleopteran (5/6)
5 Down
As a geocacher, the _ _ _ _ _ is
your oyster
7 Down
NoBucksRanch have the bug race all
wrapped up this year...but I wouldn't bet the _ _ _ _ on it!
9 Down
What
GeoGatesHunter was in April of 2017, based on the hides of that month (6/5)
10 Down
A yashmak for my gastropod (5/4)
13 Down
The Most Noble Order of the
Laudable Larva (4/4)
14 Down
An easy-to-transport TB (8/9)
15 Down
My grasshopper is fixated on
preparing for this year's swarming phase (7/6)
18 Down
Ecuadorian, hematophagous and no
fun at all (5/8)
19 Down
Capital: Washington, DC
21 Down
Trekks' bug is a _ _ _ _ (Rapid And
Favored Traveler)
26 Down
My Lepidoptera wears eyeliner,
leather and nail polish (all black) (4/4)
27 Down
Geocachers who are people-_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ are particularly likely to enjoy caching events
28 Down
"Ew! The cache is full of
water and the log is all _ _ _ _ _!"
29 Down
Type of snowman celebrated in
GC9GNPZ
32 Down
Type of dance celebrated in GC2XEK5.
Use the common and likely correct spelling, which differs from the cache title!
34 Down
Spicy Indian dish
36 Down
Flashlight (UK)