This is a mystery cache. The listed coordinates are NOT for the
final cache. You must solve the puzzle below to determine the final
coordinates. The final coordinates are within 5 miles of the listed
coordinates.This one is a toughie, but you will learn a few
things about US demography and geography.
Hidden in the contrived paragraphs below are 100 different
American city names. The wording is strange and sometimes forced,
but therein you find the clues. There are two cities from each
state. Each city is either over 50,000 in population or is one of
the top 10 most populated cities in its state. In one case, the
city is now technically a borough of a larger city. Some city names
could come from multiple states, but to solve this puzzle and get
just two from each state, you will need to pick the right
city-state pair. The first 50 cities are relatively easy, the next
40 are more difficult, and the last 10 will require most people to
spend some serious time on the internet to solve the puzzle
correctly. The official reference for this puzzle is www.geonames.org.
The sequences can be found in different hiding places.
- Some are substrings within a single word such as Mobile in the
word "automobile."
- Some span multiple words, such as St. Paul in the words
"first; Paul was..."
- Some are in plain sight, as a normal word such as
auburn.
Note that in this puzzle, punctuation is used as camouflage and
should be ignored. All 100 cities have different names and no
letter is used in more than one city name.
Paul, Lynn, Jack, Alan, Charles, Tony, Norm, and Louise drove
their automobiles to Helen’s cabin on the
lake. Charles arrived in a Lincoln first;
Paul was second in a Plymouth, and Norm showed up
last. Louise had auburn hair and was Jack’s
only daughter. Helen is from a happy home, very chic, a go-getter
and a freewheeling globetrotter. I entered the cabin that some say
is just pleasant. A few others might call it provocative or plush.
I loved the gazebo, stone walls, and garden veranda with little
rocking chairs next to a meandering brook. Lynn donated the boorish
art for display. There was a statue of a Pueblo Indian, a polished
marble bust of Fred Flintstone, and a bronze statue of old man
Chester Arthur near the pine bluff on the high point of the
property. The gazebo is elevated over water, looking out on a
barren corral, eight pig pens and rock hills. That scene seemed all
askew.
Happier, relaxed and thirsty, we drank sugary tea, scones with
butter, Columbian coffee, and cola. Then I ate a taco made of
mahi-mahi and a sandwich. I tasted the salmon roe but it had an odd
odor of fennel, ginger and rotting pineapple. Tony and Paul played
their harmonicas perfectly with Alan. Singing old Dionne Warwick
tunes about providence and frank fortitude, our voices carried
afar. “Good Night,” Tony said with a perplexing tone as
he sat up. Eloquently, he recited a poem with frank lines about
independence.
First and foremost, we wanted a real ranch or a genuine cabin.
We found one last August. After months, we looked for land on a
lake with a long beachfront. There were no cabins for sale matching
the modest options we desired: a mineral spring, fields for an easy
dock entry, and running water. Townspeople were busy unsnarling
tons of traffic on cordoned-off streets. We knew Arkansas roads
need more rule of law to neutralize the chaos. We wanted to help a
sorry set of traffic cops park some cars out of danger. “Man,
townspeople should take time out for a cinema with a nice holiday
tone,” Jack remarked.
We found a rich Monday real estate report. Land rentals required
significant one-year leases, but rent on the available lots was
very irregular. “Am I even reading this right?” Helen
asked, as she skimmed for details. Most folks we knew haven’t
been hunting. Tony had a lifetime game stamp and he was a full-time
MP. His pal Norm, a confirmed buffalo hunter and also a first rate
MP, elected to hunt bear with him, I noticed. Dressed in khaki, he
is pretty dashing. I was ill-advised by an old Vietnam pal that
hunting urban gorillas would make us heros. Well, That makes about
as much sense as this puzzle.
A= The number of cities in paragraph 1.
B= The number of cities in paragraph 2.
C= The number of cities in paragraph 3.
D= The number of cities in paragraph 4.
E= The position of Auburn when all the cities are
alphabetized.
F= The position of Mobile when all the cities are
alphabetized.
G= The position of St. Paul when all the cities are
alphabetized.
Coordinates:
North 42:
G – A – D
E * ((E * C) + G)
West: 071
B + (C/2)
(D * A) – (2 * F) + B
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.