There is nothing hidden at the posted coordinates. You must solve a puzzle to determine the location of the cache. This cache is only available during daylight hours. Solving this puzzle requires the solutions to the previous 10 puzzles in this series. Cache contains a lucky elephant dollar as an FTF prize and starts with three pieces of emergency supply swag I won in a raffle at a geo-event in Rochester. Please note that the route to the left is easier than (but not as pretty as) the route to the right. I'd recommend it in very wet conditions.
Fans of George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series (better known by the title of its first book Game of Thrones) have become experts at playing the waiting game. We've been anxiously awiating the next book since the previous one published in 2011, but have kept our appetites whetted by watching the HBO series inspired by the novels. The first few seasons of the show followed the books very closely, but as time went on (and the books each season was inspired by got longer and more complicated) there were a lot of plot lines that were dropped, some were condensed or tweaked, and a few more were newly invented. Since last year's season would have been based on an as-yet-to-be-published book, we are left wondering how much the plots are diverging.
George R.R. Martin, the mastermind behind "A Song of Ice and Fire"
While we wait for the next season of the show to start and for the new book (which we are hoping will publish later this year) we re-read the books, re-watch the shows, talk or blog about them, and play games or puzzles with a GOT theme. Without any new material to work with, fans have gone to great lengths going back and analyzing the stories and coming up with their own theories as to how the plot will develop. The ideas get pretty far out, but I bet at least a few folks have got some of the answers pegged. It's fun wondering which elements that we might have overlooked will turn out to be important pieces. Which ones that we thought were relevant to the resolution will turn out to be unimportant after all? Do we even have all of the pieces in front of us?
To find the location of this cache, you will need to go back and pull information from the solutions to the previous 10 puzzles. You will play two games of Mastermind to determine the final 3 digits of the North and West coordinates. Click here for an explanation of the game if you are unfamiliar with it. Instead of using colored pegs placed in holes on a board, our game uses numbers in the left, middle, and right positions.
The cache is hidden at N 42 25.ABC W 76 30.DEF. The first game will allow you to determine the hidden number ABC. The second game will allow you to determine the hidden number DEF. In each game the numbers you will be testing against the hidden number are predetermined. You will use the last three digits of the North coordinates for each of the previous 10 puzzles as trial numbers to determine ABC, and the last three digits of the West coordinates for each of the previous 10 puzzles as trial numbers to determine DEF. For example, "N1" means use the last three digits of the North coordinates from "Game On #1" ; do not rearrange their order.
You are then given feedback in the form of "White" and "Black" based on how your trial number relates to the hidden number (in the actual game black and white colored pegs are used). The number of white pegs indicates how many of your numbers appear in the final answer, but are not in their correct positions (left, middle, or right). The number of black pegs indicates how many of your numbers appear in the final answer and are also in their correct position (left, middle, or right). Work with all ten clues in the game and use logic to determine the actual values and their positions in the hidden numbers.
Here are your clues:
Game #1: Hidden number: ABC
N1 1 White, 0 Black
N2 1 White, 0 Black
N3 0 White, 1 Black
N4 0 White, 1 Black
N5 0 White, 0 Black
N6 0 White, 1 Black
N7 1 White, 0 Black
N8 1 White, 0 Black
N9 1 White, 0 Black
N10 0 White, 1 Black
Game #2: Hidden number: DEF
W1 1 White, 0 Black
W2 1 White, 0 Black
W3 1 White, 1 Black
W4 0 White, 0 Black
W5 1 White, 0 Black
W6 2 White, 0 Black
W7 0 White, 1 Black
W8 0 White, 0 Black
W9 0 White, 1 Black
W10 1 White, 0 Black
Parking information and detailed information about the hide are given in the geochecker.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Many thanks to DeltaDelta1 for beta-testing. If you enjoyed this puzzle, you might enjoy GC354R4, which inspired me.
Congratulations to jdkieup for the FTS & FTF!