There is nothing hidden at the posted coordinates. Solve the puzzle below to find out where the cache is hidden (it's within 3 miles of the posted location). Please rehide the cache exactly as you found it. BYOP and be as stealthy as possible. There is no need to disturb anything to locate this magnetic cache. New information added to the geochecker on 4/1/14, so you may want to run your answer through the checker again. Please use care in opening the cache so that the log-extraction device doesn't get lost. If it does disappear, future finders will need tweezers to extract the log.
During 2012 we put out a monthly puzzle series "Puzzled: Ithaca Edition" (PIE) that culminated in geo-art in the shape of the Greek letter π. Over the winter I began to regret that we hadn't included a puzzle about π (or even a puzzle about pie, for that matter) and decided we should mark the occasion of Pi Day with one more piece of PIE. I also thought it would be fun to celebrate the occasion by making the coordinates of the 2012 PIE series briefly available to non-puzzlers. For at least 24 hours following the publication of this puzzle, the final answer to each of the 13 puzzles in that series will be revealed as an additional waypoint on its cache page. You are encouraged to put the answers into the geocheckers on the cache pages for parking information and hide hints.
In searching for a fun and different spin on a π-related puzzle, I came across a crossword puzzle by Peter A. Collins that was a lot of fun (see related web page above) and was inspired to try to create one like it. Click on the photograph below, which links to the web page for our puzzle, then print it out and complete it with the following twist on a usual crossword: whenever the letters "PI" would appear together, instead of taking up two squares in the grid, they will only take up one square, which you should label π. Just for fun, we've also spelled out the clues using the same method. There are a lot of clues to fill in, but all of the answers should be attainable through google searches or a little thought. The green squares spell out a special message. Sharp-eyed solvers point out two minor edits that do not affect the puzzle solution: The number 46 should appear in the square to the lower left of square 38, and the number 74 should appear in the square above square 77. Once you have the puzzle solved, use the following information to calculate the coordinates to the cache:
The cache is located at North 42 SS.TUV West 76 WW.YZZ
where SS = the # of A's in the puzzle grid; T = the # of M's; U = the # of D's plus 1; V = the # of B's
WW = the # of N's multiplied by 2; Y = the # of K's, ZZ = the # of π's minus 1.
SS, WW, and ZZ are 2 digit numbers. Checksum: SS + T + U + V = 42; WW + Y + ZZ = 52.
Notes about this puzzle: A million thanks to The Rat
for making it look so spiffy. Crossword purists will note that this puzzle does not conform to the standards employed by puzzle publishers. I learned a lot in creating it, and if I ever do another one I will have a much better idea what I am doing.
