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Hexaflexagon Fun Mystery Cache

Hidden : 3/30/2022
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:


Birth of the flexagon

You might think a simple strip of paper is an ordinary and boring thing. If you are a Geocacher, you would see it as useful as a micro-log, but not much else. But if you were a bored mathematician, you might discover that a single strip of paper can be transformed into something incredible. This is exactly what mathematician Arthur Stone did one day in 1939. A Brit studying at Princton, Arthur found himself having to trim American leaf paper to fit into his British-style binders, This left many thin strips of paper. Instead of tossing these out, he found himself playing with them, folding them into shapes, twisting them into mobius strips.... what any self-respecting mathematician would do. One of his paper-strip creations was particularly unusual. It was a rather simple looking hexagon, but by pinching and folding it, it could be revealed to have 3 different "sides", not just a regular "front and back". The hexaflexagon was born. With friends like Richard Feynman and Bryant Tuckerman, this curious folded shape was soon explored in depth, with interesting mathematical properties, and a whole family of fun variants. To this day, people are still playing with and discovering the joys of flexagons. Easy to make, surprising to discover.

Your first hexaflexagon

The image below can be used to make a tri-hexaflexagon. This is one of the simplest types of flexagons, and a good one to start with.

Click image for larger version suitable for printing

Careful cutting and folding is key, but if you are having trouble, I suggest this helpful Youtube video. When you have properly constructed your hexagon each face should be a different color (white, green and blue. Note that on the blue face, all the circles should be concentric. If they are not, the maze will not work properly and you should adjust your creases accordingly.

Your goal is to draw a path from the  to the . Encountering a letter transports you to the other instance of that letter.The coordinates for the final are in Mt. Storm park.

If you thought the flexagon fun was over with the puzzle, you were wrong, because once you fin the geocache, you will see that the logbook is another hexaflexagon! This time, it is a hexa-hexaflexagon, which has 6 revealable faces and a total of 36 triangles. Perfect space for 36 finers! I STRONGLY encourage finders to sign the triangle with the number corresponding to your find. For example, if you are the 5th geocacher to find this cache, you sign triangle #5, which is conveniently labeled. Feel free to flex this hexa-hexaflexagon and explore all the different faces. 

This puzzle cache is a slimmed down version of a puzzle I made when living in New Mexico that I thought was good fun (HEX FLEX VEX). That one involved the same initial puzzle, but then another field puzzle involving a hexahexaflexagon, and the final was a dodecahexafleagon. 

 

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

pbagnvare vf nobhg 5 sg bss gur tebhaq

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)