GC9NNFV Twos Day 2022 - IC #1
Type: Mystery | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: tangleforge @ | Hide Date: 02/20/2022 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 33.103 W105° 06.377 | Last updated: 06/19/2022 | Fav points: 0
                       

---

Yes it's another 2/22/22 cache. GC9NNFV is the first in an Inclusive Caching (IC) series of challenging accessible caches. The cache is NOT hidden at the posted coordinates. Solve the puzzle to find the log container. Inside are medallions for the first three puzzle-solving cache finders. Feel free to message me for additional hints.

 

Congratulations
-- icezebra11 -- FTF --  Gold  --
--  Denali41  -- STF -- Silver --
--  Cache U   -- TTF -- Bronze --

 

Terrain: The posted rating is an overall average, assuming the cache will be completed from a wheelchair. There may be shorter easier routes that are not wheelchair accessible. There may be features that cause issues for some chair users. I've tried to identify anything outside ADA guidelines. Handicaching ratings may have further details. If in doubt, double the fun by bringing a caching companion.

 

Access: There are at least four paved routes to the final. Only one start point has designated disability parking. From there it is a 3/4 mile round trip on paved trails. It's mostly flat with 6% max slope. There are some 2-inch bumps at misaligned pavers. For a steeper workout enter from the NW. If arriving by Transfort bus beware freshly plowed snow may block wheelchairs - use one of the other routes. Finally, here are this cache's Handicaching Ratings. 

OK! Puzzle time!

There are many ways to write dates. Some make more sense than others. In the US we use mm/dd/yy. What? That's silly. At least dd/mm/yyyy goes short to long. But wait, we don't write two-thousand-twenty-two as 2202. (-_-) >"

 

T:
-----++
-----++
-----++
-----++
-----++
/++-++-
++/+*-+

E:
-----++
/+**++-
++++++/
/++-++-
++++***
++++***
*+*+***

N:
/+**++-
/+**++-
*+*+***
++++++/
++++++/
/++-++-
-----++

 

Hint 1: nabgure jnl gb jevgr pbbeqvangrf
Hint 2: cbfgrq pbbeqf ner bar z sebz gur fj pbeare bs xz ol xz j uvqr vafvqr
Hint 3: ufvybC (ECA)
Hint 4: LrneZbQnl gura zngu E gb Y ba UC35 pnyphyngbe

Additional Waypoints

03/08/2022 By Cache U
Well, after several messages back and forth with the CO, finally managed to crack this one. It's less than a mile from work, so after getting the green light made the grab after work. Clever puzzle, and reminds me why I never bought an HP calculator back in the day (Texas Instruments was my choice). It was revolutionary back then, but now you can buy keychain calculators for a few bucks that do the same thing!
Anyway, nice puzzle, and looking forward to more!

03/03/2022 By tangleforge
Updated hints to clarify confusing phrasing.

02/24/2022 By tangleforge
A solver notified me that the puzzle as published did not give the right results using the last hint. I revised the puzzle to be compatible with the unusual "TOTT" suggested. There are two ways to combine the elements of the puzzle to get the solution - one way is used by the TOTT, the other (original) way is used by some online tools. Both methods make sense when solving on paper. Apologies to anyone that had trouble solving the original puzzle.

02/22/2022 By Denali41
Yes, indeed...VERY COLD! I was busy all morning observing a crew of 9 take down six huge cottonwood trees on the farm and didn't notice the new tangleforge puzzle until late morning. I immediately understood what needed to be done and proceeded through the steps--there was still a tricky component that gave me some pause. This afternoon when I was in Fort Collins I made the short walk to the cache hide location and made the quick find, signing the log in the second spot. Congratulations to tangleforge for a creative puzzle concept, and to icezebra11 for his FTF on this nice puzzle. I still have some favorite points avaiilable so am able to direct one of them to this puzzle. Thanks for it!!

02/22/2022 By icezebra11
BRRRR it's cold out there!!!

Saw the notice for this new cache this morning and checked it out. I like puzzles and I like high D/Ts and this one deserved some attention. On the first reading of the description, one aspect of the puzzle was obvious to me. Then I checked the hints and all three made sense. After a bit of sussing out some numbers, I came up with a successful geocheck. YAY!

Well did I really want to go out in this cold? I haven't had an FTF for quite some time and actually haven't been very active caching-wise for several months due to some other priorities occupying my time. So I decided I'd give it a go and see if I just might happen to get there first.

I warmed up the truck, loaded up the dog, and headed into FC. The dashboard indicated it was -1° outside. Arrived at my intended parking spot and Angel and I set out for GZ. The air was very crisp and fortunately there was no wind and we didn't have to go too far. The search at GZ was quick and I opened the container to find a blank log. Awesome!

I got the pen out of my pocket but when I tried to sign the log, the pen wouldn't write. So Angel and I got to double our walk, which she didn't mind at all. Went back to the truck and got a different pen. Then we went back to the cache, signed the log in the [FTF] position, and returned to the warmth of the truck.

Thanks tangleforge for this neat puzzle cache and for luring me out of the house on this cold February Twos Day!!! And thank you for the FTF prize! I'd give this one a fave but I don't have any available [:-(]

Edit: I earned a fave after posting my find so I've awarded it to this cache and am now back to having no faves to give out.

02/22/2022 By IgnotusPeverell
Published