Note - the final coordinates for this puzzle have been changed, after the original cache was muggled. The new location is around a mile away from where it was before. If you solved this puzzle before March 2023, then you will need to re-do the numbers (all questions are unchanged). The type of hide has also changed - it should be an easy find, but it is a potentially busy location. Any difficulty, please message the C.O.
The latest in my occasional series of cryptic puzzles – a number of others are available and can be found on the Bookmark list.
Ashfield District Council covers a western stretch of Nottinghamshire It covers 42 square miles and has a population of around 128,000. Politically it is a bit unusual, at the present time, for the council is run by the "Ashfield Independents" rather than any of the main national parties.
There is no need to visit the posted coordinates, which are not relevant to the puzzle itself, and which are also rather wet!
For this puzzle, you need to solve the cryptic clues below to identify 20 place names in the district – some are sizeable places, others may be quite obscure. Local knowledge will certainly help, but if you are struggling a good map may well come in handy too. All of the answers consist of a single word.
- Andersen has a cask and a rubbish container -
- Catch the Liberal politician
- E.V. Slater makes it
- False hair made of straw
- Freshly tied
- John’s valley
- Large collars
- Meadow belonging to Henry VIII’s second wife
- Mound belonging to Mr Wisdom
- Not an empty forest
- Not over the trees
- Nutty place which shares its name with a suburb of Manchester
- Pale district
- Part of a kayak is near
- Sister puts a vehicle at the entrance
- Sounds like a cold country
- Tom Sawyer’s mate, and everyone else
- Village that seems to trade a lot
- Watch the cake fly here
- With the gold
Once you have solved them, put the 20 place names into alphabetical order, and then use this to calculate the coordinates.
The cache is to be found at N53 0A.BCD W001 1W.XYZ, where:
A = Number of place names beginning with the letter H.
B = Number of letters in the 14th place name.
C = Number of letters in the 9th place name.
D = Number of letters in the 12th place name, minus number of letters in the 13th place name.
W = Number of place names ending with the letter E.
X = Number of letters in the 6th place name, minus number of letters in the 15th place name.
Y = Number of place names beginning with the letter F
Z = Number of times the letter M appears in the 19th place name.