Tom Lehrer (born April 9, 1928) is an American songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician, and singer. As a graduate student at Harvard University he began to write comic songs to entertain his friends. His style consisted of parodying the then-current forms of popular song. By the early 1960's Lehrer was employed as a resident songwriter for That Was The Week That Was, a satirical TV show. In the 1970's he concentrated on teaching mathematics and musical theater, although he also wrote for the children's television show, The Electric Company. In the early 1980's, Tomfoolery, a revival of his songs on the London stage was a surprise hit.
1. Go to: http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html
Listen to one of our favorite songs where Lehrer sets the names of the chemical elements to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's, "Major General's Song".
2. Determine the answers to the questions listed below.
(Downloading the lyrics in PDF format will probably be helpful to accomplish this task)
3. Match the elements to their atomic number and discover the cache coordinates.
The coordinates listed at the top of this page will take you to the parking area for Village Falls Park. Although the area is child friendly, the dam area is not a place where small children should be allowed to go unaccompanied.
"Cochrane Dam is a long stone dam across the Charles River with the stone bridge of South Street as a backdrop. The water falls about nine feet at this location and can be quite dramatic, especially during high water periods. Also on site are the masonry remains of the mill which once stood on this site. These include the concrete wheel pit and raceway. A little used railroad bed borders Red Wing Bay with wooden trestle over the nearby Charles River."
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Small Cache:
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42° AB. CD
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71° E. FG
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A
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First element of the song's second set (the ones with the white letters outlined in black).
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B
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Comes after rubidium.
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C
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In good company with bismuth, bromine, lithium, and barium
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D
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The first element to fall off the bottom of the screen in the song.
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E
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Element that follows the ones that have their last two letters colored red.
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F
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The seventh element mentioned in the song.
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G
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The second element in the line that has all "s" elements.
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NOTE: This cache has been relocated! The last location allowed the cache to become frozen in place when the temperature dipped. We have placed the container in a spot where it can be found in the winter, but it is not snow friendly.
THE NEW (as of 04/12/14) OFFSET IS: Subtract .006 from the North coordinate and add .007 to the West coordinate obtained above.
In 2023, a new version of the song was written. It includes all the new elements that have been discovered since the original song was written: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwEFuqfKymw
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.