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Historical Tidbit #4: One Bad Apple Mystery Cache

Hidden : 10/27/2025
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


 

There is nothing at the posted coordinates.  Thank goodness, because they're on a set of train tracks.

I will lightly sketch out one of my favorite historical moments below. 

To solve the puzzle, find the word that was needed to end it and enter it into Certitude to get the true coordinates.

I'll remind you of that at the end.

Good Luck!

Once upon a time....

We all enjoy being safe.

And usually we are.

Though danger is always a possibility.

And it's good to be ready.

Are we ready if we're ever truly tested?

At one point in time, we found out.

It all began with something tossed.

Good news! It worked.

Nary a problem.

Eventually it was replaced with its next iteration.

All stayed fine for quite a while until one day....

The test began.

Oops! A mistake was made!

The wrong message sent with the correct word!

A bit of a panic was set off!

The most famous surviving piece of this panic involves.....

We know this from the (What would be Merlin's widest spell?) of: 

All in all, it was a total mess.

Some followed the directions, some didn't.

Some stopped following directions early, some ignored the entire thing.

Police were called, people were in the streets trying to figure out what was going on.  

Nobody had a clue as to what was really going on.

Except maybe, possibly?

Clearly, it was...

Thankfully though, it wasn't.

Phew!

To end it, the correct message was sent but with the wrong word.

Over and over and over quite a number of times until finally.....

The correct message was sent with the correct word.

Peace and calm resumed.

The result?

We were tested, and overall, we failed.

Solutions were put into place to keep this incident from ever happening again.

And it hasn't.

Yet.

Eventually that iteration gave way to the current one.

And we live today.

Waiting for the next test.

Will we pass it?

The end.

Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted

To get the coordinates of the cache container, which is tangentially related to the puzzle, enter into Certitude what the correct word was on the correct message that ended this debacle.  One was needed to start it, one needed to finish it.  You want the finish word.

FTF will find a book in the cache related to one of the subjects of this puzzle. It's tattered and worn, but it's yours for the taking.  Cache is large enough if you'd like to leave anything.

You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[puzzle] Ybbxvat ng gur pbeerpg ovyyobneq pna aneebj qbja jura guvf gnxrf cynpr terngyl. [cache] Orgjrra n ebpx naq n uneq cynpr. (V.R. nabgure ebpx) [another puzzle] Jr trg grfgrq dhvgr n ybg, vg'f whfg gung guvf gvzr fbzrguvat jrag jebat.

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)