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 in the town of Harvard MA
within 2.5 miles of the listed coordinates. GZ is within 100 feet
of the trail. Parking is available southeast of the cache. This
cache should be winter friendly if there is less than 3 feet of
snow on the ground.
RASH Puzzle Rules: The clues are
mixtures of components (words or syllables) that, when verbally
replaced with appropriate counterparts, will integrate into answers
that correspond to the puzzle’s theme.
- Relatives are like things. Apples and oranges
are relatives in the fruit family; Cupid and Blitzen are relatives
in Santa’s reindeer; Mars and Jupiter are relatives in the
family of planets.
- Antonyms are opposites: black and white, will
and won’t, now and then.
- Synonyms are different words with similar
meanings: yellow and amber, cold and brisk, trash and rubbish, near
and close.
- Homophones/homonyms. Homophones are pronounced
the same, have different meanings, and may or may not have the same
spelling: merry, marry and Mary. Homonyms have the same spelling
and pronunciation but different meanings: bank (edge of a river,
carom, or depository).
Here are a few explanatory notes to help you solve:
- If you can get a part of a clue, you can usually reason through
the twisted combination of “nyms” to get the whole
answer.
- Italicized words identify homonyms that are not exact, but
close. For example, Grain-rodent might translate into
grist (synonym for grain)- mouse (synonym for rodent) or after
translating the rough homonyms: Christmas. Such rough homonyms are
denoted in italics to alert the solver to beware.
- Hyphens separate partial word (usually a syllable) clues. For
example, Pity-spinners could translate to Care (synonym for pity) -
rollers (synonym of spinners), or Carolers.
- Multiple words with no spaces or hyphens constitute a single
syllable or word. For example, dopeslap could be replaced
by duh.
- Underlined words or letters are not replaced; they are left
as-is. For example, the remains untranslated as the
in the answer.
Determine the coordinates from the following observations about
the correct answers to the 50 RASH Christmas elements.
A = The sum of all numbers represented in the 50
elements.
B = The number of edible foodstuffs represented in
the 50 elements.
C = How many times the letter “j”
occurs in all 50 elements.
D = How many times the letter “c”
occurs in all 50 elements.
E = The total number of two-letter words
that occur in all 50 elements.
F = The total number of non-human animals
represented in the 50 elements.
G = The total number of times that the most
common word appears in the 50 elements.
North:
42
E + F + G
(D + E - F) * B
West:
071
A + B - D - F
(A - B - C - D) * B * C
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.