Highway 71 -- The Bonus was named the "Best Puzzle" at the 2012 Austin Geocaching Awards!
POSTED COORDINATES ARE COMPLETELY BOGUS! YOU MUST SOLVE THE PUZZLE BEFORE YOU GO LOOKING FOR THE PHYSICAL CACHE!
If you have found all 71 caches in the Highway 71 series and recorded the information from each one, you are ready (maybe?) to tackle the bonus cache.
The puzzle is not terribly devious, but it will probably require you to learn some new things and stretch your brain a bit. A few twisted souls who already have some relevant specialized knowledge may be able to solve it quickly, but I suspect the vast majority of cachers will have to struggle with it for a while.
Like many things that require a struggle, there is a reward for struggling through to the end. For the FTF winner, there is a special prize: a gift card for a year of premium membership to geocaching.com. For all who solve the puzzle, there is the satisfaction of solving something that few others will solve.
The bonus cache consists of two stages. You can use some of the info from the main series to get the location of the first stage. The first stage contains clues to help you use the rest of the information from the main series to find the second (final) stage. The geochecker below is for the first stage. If you are successful at solving the puzzle to get the location of the final, you will not need a geochecker; you will KNOW you have solved it and that the solution is correct.
Good luck, and happy hunting!
Major congrats and kudos to Team WATT for being first to solve this very difficult puzzle, and for Team WATT and HiDude_98 for the combined FTF! I am simply blown away by the vision, intelligence and tenacity of this group as they chased down all the leads and went more or less unerringly straight to the solution. You are truly some of the best puzzlers going.
Let's hear three cheers for our champions:
- Waterweasel
- acclanman
- TreyB
- Tygress
- HiDude_98
Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!
Cache
Number |
Black
Number |
Code |
1 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
13 |
3 |
3 |
38 |
NH |
4 |
4 |
I |
5 |
44 |
AB |
6 |
3 |
A |
7 |
12 |
6 |
8 |
36 |
YJ |
9 |
6 |
E |
10 |
1 |
B |
11 |
17 |
N |
12 |
15 |
5 |
13 |
11 |
4 |
14 |
16 |
9 |
15 |
2 |
L |
16 |
19 |
0 |
17 |
31 |
9 |
18 |
43 |
NB |
19 |
29 |
1 |
20 |
9 |
1 |
21 |
18 |
5 |
22 |
45 |
S |
23 |
10 |
7 |
24 |
34 |
AF |
25 |
5 |
S |
26 |
25 |
W |
27 |
30 |
5 |
28 |
24 |
5 |
29 |
33 |
IP |
30 |
20 |
2 |
31 |
28 |
6 |
32 |
23 |
4 |
33 |
35 |
BF |
34 |
32 |
3 |
35 |
21 |
2 |
36 |
41 |
JF |
37 |
37 |
TK |
38 |
47 |
H |
39 |
48 |
A |
40 |
60 |
L |
41 |
54 |
Q |
42 |
40 |
KW |
43 |
56 |
H |
44 |
59 |
I |
45 |
51 |
N |
46 |
53 |
L |
47 |
52 |
B |
48 |
49 |
S |
49 |
68 |
R |
50 |
46 |
H |
51 |
63 |
R |
52 |
66 |
H |
53 |
57 |
H |
54 |
67 |
X |
55 |
62 |
I |
56 |
39 |
QJ |
57 |
50 |
M |
58 |
27 |
7 |
59 |
42 |
IB |
60 |
64 |
L |
61 |
65 |
A |
62 |
61 |
Z |
63 |
71 |
N |
64 |
69 |
X |
65 |
22 |
6 |
66 |
58 |
S |
67 |
70 |
M |
68 |
8 |
0 |
69 |
14 |
8 |
70 |
55 |
T |
71 |
26 |
1 |
Sadly, the "Highway 71" series has become too difficult to maintain, given the construction along the road. Therefore I will not be maintaining it any more, starting now. The bonus cache does not seem to be in danger right now, however, so I am posting the puzzle data for the entire series in case anyone wants to give it a try.
If you are going to try the puzzle, best wishes and godspeed. Email me if you get stuck and need a hint.