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Hail Caesar Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

The Rat: Vale, Caesar.

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Hidden : 7/27/2003
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

I decided to return to my cryptographic roots for this puzzle cache. The posted coordinates are where I parked when I placed it. You must solve the cipher below to find the actual cache location.


Julius Caesar is known to have used the earliest and simplest substitution cipher. This cipher is now known as the Caesar cipher. To encrypt a word or message you just shift each letter to the right X places in the alphabet, where X is the key. To decrypt, you reverse the process. For example, if the key is 2, the word DOG is encrypted FQI. If the shift produces a letter past the Z, you just continue at A, and when decrypting, if the shift goes past the A you continue at Z. For example, if the key is 3, ERB decrypts as BOY (the B back 3 spaces is a Y). That's all there is to it. The ROT-13 (short for Rotate 13 spaces) cipher used by Geocaching.com for encrypting and decrypting hints and logs is a Caesar cipher with a key of 13. It has the unique property of being reciprocal, i.e. encryption and decryption are identical. That's because going forward 13 spaces in the alphabet produces the same letter as going backward.

To find the actual cache location, solve the Caesar cipher below.

WKH WSHZAPJ WIHNUCHYL NX EPQBM

QBA UZ NBY KTWP KTWP TK F FVDBMZQUVT

I parked at the posted coordinates on a summer Sunday, but that's a private school parking lot, so it is not recommended during school days. There are closer places, and certainly there is street parking within easy walking distance, but it is not legal to park right at the cache. Part of the challenge of this cache is finding the best place to park. Park legally and stay off the private property beyond the cache.

The cache is a smallish full-size container. It has a few trade items in it.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Nobhg sbhe srrg nobir tebhaq yriry. [In order to avoid people searching on private property, I decided to make clear something that was not obvious in the original puzzle: the coordinates are hidden in the message. You should find them before starting your search.]

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)