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Strimko Conundrum Mystery Cache

Hidden : 1/14/2016
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the coordinates above. I'm sure they would take you to a very nice location where you could enjoy God's creation. However, if you want to find this cache, I don't recommend going there; I recommend solving the puzzle instead.

Note: This cache is being published in conjunction with GC5Y35R, The Miami Valley Caching Conundrum #21, hosted by VPPLAYER.

This month's topic is Strimko. I mean, who thinks up these names for games? Strimko is kinda like Sudoku on steroids. The rules are pretty simple. You have a grid of numbers; the size varies with the difficulty. Like Sudoku, each number (1 .. size) must appear exactly once in every row and column. But Strimko also has the concept of a "Stream," which is simply a set of numbers connected by a line. The length of each stream is the same as the length of the sides; e.g., a 5x5 puzzle will have streams of length 5. Within each stream, each number must also appear exactly once.

For example, consider the sample puzzle below. The grid is 4x4, so only the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 will be used in the puzzle. Consider the circle containing the ?. Note it cannot be a 3 or 4, because these numbers already appear in the same column or row. It also cannot be a 2, because this number is used in the same stream. Thus, the circle marked with a ? must contain a 1. Easy peasy!


The coords for the cache will be N39 46.UVW W84 04.XYZ. To determine the missing digits, you must solve the 4 puzzles below, and then plug the values obtained into the formulas below. Go forth and conquer!

U = A + B - C
V = D + E - F
W = G + H - I

X = J + K - L
Y = M + N - O
Z = P + Q - R










You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

YCP

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)