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Telegram From College Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

Hemlock: As there's been no cache to find for a long time, I'm archiving it to keep it from continually showing up in search lists, and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements.

When/if this cache is replaced, please email me at hemlock@geocachingadmin.com and if it is still within the guidelines for cache placement and publishing, I'll be happy to unarchive it.

Hemlock
Volunteer Geocache Reviewer

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Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

The cache is not at the posted coordinates although it is within a couple of miles.

This is a classic. It concerns an urgent message from a student to his parents. The cache is at North 37.28.XXE and West 122.12.SMX.

You will notice that there are 8 separate letters in this puzzle. You will also notice that the letter X does not appear in the puzzle. X = the lowest digit not appearing in the puzzle. The solution is unique.

A couple of notes:

**Most grownups can solve this in about 5 minutes or less. However, this is an excellent puzzle for kids. I suspect most middle-school students will take about half an hour to solve it. Most importantly, they usually will thoroughly enjoy the effort. It is also a good introduction to this sort of puzzle (and number theory in general!). You might want to have the younger members of your teams work on this and direct the search.

**I really don't think that I should have to mention any of the following, since I firmly believe that figuring this sort of thing out is part of the puzzle. However, I try to play fair, and I don't like getting unpleasant emails. You are allowed to assume the standard conventions of this type of puzzle. Namely: Every letter stands for a single digit; every letter stands for the same digit each time it appears; every digit is represented by a single letter (i.e. one-to-one correspondence between digits and letters); naq arvgure Z abe F ercerfrag gur qvtvg mreb. I put that last bit into rot-13 since realizing this fact is fundamental to solving these types of problems.

The cache is small plastic container. I probably could have found a spot closer to the nearby in-theme establishment, but I opted for something in the usual location to protect both the cache and the cachers. The FTF prize is a Sacagawea dollar. It didn't fit, so I taped it to the bottom.

If you like this sort of thing, try "SAVE + MORE = MONEY". There are three distinct solutions. (Actually six since V and R are interchangeable, so it comes down to your definition of "distinct solution.")

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[checksum] svsgl-gjb [cache] V'yy jbex ba gur pbbeqvangrf. Va gur zrnagvzr, lbh'yy svaq "gur hfhny cynpr" whfg bss gur fvqrjnyx. Hayrff lbh'ir arire frra gung fbeg bs uvqr orsber, vg jba'g chmmyr lbh.

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)