PUZZLE UPDATED AS OF 9/17/2012 and 5/9/2023. GRAPHIC HASN'T CHANGED, JUST THE MATH TO FIND THE XXX AND YYY.
TRIBBLE IMPRISONED; KEY TO FREEDOM HIDDEN IN CRYSTAL
The Intergalactic News, Stardate 2237.9
During a recent raid on the Tribble Trove (GC1NKAP), Captain Koloth of the Klingon vessel IKS Gr'oth captured and carried away one of the Trove's small and defenseless inhabitants. In an exclusive interview with this reporter, Koloth revealed that the tribble was subsequently declared an enemy of the Klingon Empire because "Its incessant, terrified screeching got on my nerves".
The Intergalactic News has learned that the tribble has been imprisoned at a secret location on the planet SOL III (Earth) and that clues to its whereabouts have been etched into the dilithium crystal shown below. We request that all geocachers in nearby galaxies attempt a rescue using the provided instructions.
Instructions:
1. Fill in some of the dashed line segments to create a meandering path that eventually forms a single loop.
2. The path cannot cross itself or branch.
3. Each dot in the diagram must have either 0 or 2 lines leaving from it.
4. The numbers indicate how many lines must surround each cell. Empty cells may be surrounded by any number of lines (0-3).
There is one unique solution. Once you have it, calculate the final cache coordinates as follows:
N 42° 22.XXX W 84° 02.YYY
XXX = Count of numbered cells outside loop - Sum of numbers inside loop + 228
YYY = Count of numbered cells inside loop - Sum of numbers outside loop + 128
** FTF by the Paddling Pirates on 24-Nov-09. Congratulations! **
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