The final geocache is NOT located at the posted coordinates, but they do provide a general location to park (not necessarily the closest to the geocache). The actual coordinates for the hide location are determined based on the clues given below. Permission for the hide was received from Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation..
I've often been accused by close family members of being slooooow to catch the holiday spirit. They've even associated me with the phrase Bah, Humbug!!! Well, in my defense, I simply don't want to peak too early. Starting holiday shopping in early July would have me peaking in July instead of late December. Hence, just to PROVE I am not a Scrooge in 2024, I present this hide to you as my holiday gift to the geocaching community in the form of a little fun (the puzzle hopefully shouldn't prove too difficult) and an easy smiley (pretty straightforward hide). Have a Happy Holiday, everybody!!!
One year, Santa’s elves got together during an egg nog break and discussed the fact that they work really hard making Christmas gifts for the boys and girls on Santa’s “Nice” list, yet they have never gotten a Christmas gift themselves. Concluding they must be on the “Naughty” list, they decided to live up to that reputation and hide Santa’s bag of toys from him. However, hoping to someday make that “Nice” list, the elves provided him with some clues to help him find his bag in time to make his deliveries. See if you could have helped him that year. This cache commemorates that possibility.
- Mr. Post (a mail carrier): Many people think Santa Claus’ house is at the geographic North Pole at latitude N90. Actually, Santa Claus House is located in North Pole, Alaska. Subtract 100 from the house number to get Clue A.
- Mr. Cal Q. Later (in charge of teaching elf math) decided to test his class with one simple equation: 8 / 2(2 + 2). The last digit of the answer to this equation is Clue B.
- Ms Packer (elf in charge of sack loading) has the mundane task of loading Santa’s 22 x 18 x 6 foot bag with presents, averaging 12 x 8 x 8 inches in size, ONE at a time. The number of presents she can add to Santa’s EMPTY(!) bag is Clue C.
- Mrs. Partridge (in charge of 12 Days of Christmas inventory) is leading two turtle doves in front of two turtle doves, two turtle doves behind two turtle doves, and two turtle doves in between. The minimum number of turtle doves she is leading is Clue D.
- Ms. Holly Day (Special Events manager) urged President Ulysses S. Grant to sign a bill making Christmas a legal, unpaid holiday for federal employees in the District of Columbia on June 26 of a certain year. The sum of the digits of the year divided by 2 provides you with Clue E.
- Iam Lost (elf in charge of geocaching related items), after the hectic toy building season, decided it would be great to escape to the toasty warm south in the middle of winter after Christmas and enjoy a nice relaxing geocaching vacation. Hmm, where should he go? Ah, there is a Virtual, an Earth, and a small Traditional cache at S90 00.000 W180 00 000 (or S90 00.000 000 00,000, depending on which cache listing you are looking at on geocaching.com). You certainly can’t get much further south than that! The virtual’s GC code ends with a two digit number. Subtract 4 from that number to get Clue F.
- Mr. Nav E. Gater (in charge of gift delivery routing): When Nav was younger, he decided he could use some help tracking Santa’s deliveries, so he posed as a young child accidentally calling CONAD for help. Considering the year he did that, Clue G is found by dividing the sum of the 1st two digits of the year by the sum of the last two digits of the year.
- Sir Will B. Prompt (Santa’s scheduler) has permission to visit a friend in Kathmandu, Nepal for Christmas. Still obligated to make sure Santa stays on schedule, he asked Santa to check in with him when he arrives in Cedar Rapids at 12:01 AM. What local time should Sir Prompt expect to hear from Santa? After adding the two digit hour to the two digit minutes, Clue H is the last digit of that sum.
The geocache is hidden at…
N 42 0A.BCD W 091 3E.FGH
Have a GREAT holiday!
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I hope you enjoy this year's puzzle. If you did, here are some others you may find amusing.