Welcome to the Frederick Puzzler's Corner!
This is a monthly event to encourage puzzle solving in the geocaching community, and all are welcome.
January 1st is New Year’s Day - earn a Souvenir!
Maybe you partied a little too hard last night - maybe too much to get up at a reasonable hour today. Come on out for the regular Puzzler’s Corner and claim your Hello 2019 Groundspeak souvenir after a day of recovery!
This is the first day of the new year, according to the modern Gregorian calendar. But did you know that January 1st was not always the 1st day of the year? Or that there have been many changes to the calendar? Even today, not everyone uses the same calendar.
The early Roman calendar designated March 1st as the first day of the year, and had only 10 months at the time. This is still evidenced today with the names of the months of September (septem is Latin for seven), October (octo-eight), November (novem-nine), and December (decem-ten). Around 700 B.C., the months of January and February were added at the end of the year, making February month 12. January 1, 153 B.C. was the first time this date was declared as the start of the year, however this was not widely adopted. The Roman calendar was based on lunar cycles, and over time, it’s accuracy was completely out of sync with the changes of season.
Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar based on a solar, or tropical, cycle, aligning it with one Earth rotation of the sun. The Julian calendar declared 1 January 45 B.C. as the first day of the new year in the Roman world. This calendar had 12 months, and a cycle of three years of 365 days, followed by one year of 366 days - the extra day making this a LeapYear. For the first time in history, the solstices and equinoxes, as well as days of religious recognition such as Easter, could be given specific dates in advance. However, it still had some drift each year, and by the mid-16th century that drift had become significant.
Meanwhile in Europe, the Council of Tours, in 567 A.D., abolished celebrations of the new year on January 1st, calling them pagan and un-Christian. At this point, the new year was celebrated differently across Europe, some places on December 25th, others on March 1st, others on March 25th, and elsewhere on Easter.
It’s now 1582, and along comes Pope Gregory XIII with another new calendar, what we adhere to today and call the Gregorian, or “new style” calendar. This calendar “skipped” 10 days to re-align Easter and the spring equinox, and restored January 1st as the start of the new year. It also had an adjustment the Julian calendar didn’t - only “century” years divisible by 400 would be Leap Years (excluding 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, etc.), thereby incorporating a means to stop the drift. It was quickly adopted throughout Christian countries. Protestant countries were much slower to adopt this calendar. England and the British Empire, including the American colonies, only adopted it in 1752, bringing in the new year on March 25th until then. Most of the world follows the Gregorian calendar today.
Wherever, or whenever you are, I wish you all a Happy New Year!
BTW, it’s also National Bloody Mary Day - do I hear “hair of the dog that bit you”? Or maybe a Hot Toddy (also recognized today) would work better… Just don’t mix the hair with a Polar Bear Plunge!
And now, for the usual spiel…
This event is open to all cachers, no matter what your statistics say or whether you even like puzzles! So newbies and addicts, socialites and lone wolves, mark you calendar.
If you've got a puzzle or mystery cache that's currently got you stumped and you'd like to pick some brains, this event is for you! Zombies are not welcome here though, so please leave your pets at home - we want everyone to leave with the brains they brought, at minimum.
This event has evolved to a think-tank type gathering, with everyone collaborating on the latest tantalizing quizzler on their radar. Occasionally there may be a short tutorial on some aspect of puzzle solving, but the learning seems to come from working with others to solve a targeted teaser. You don't have to work on puzzles to enjoy this, as there are plenty of stories to be heard. However, you'll have plenty of others to commiserate with, and you might find someone who has already solved a puzzle using a similar technique. We continue to see successes and progress at each gathering.
For the puzzle junkies, bring your puzzle paraphernalia - flagged caches, laptop or tablet (Wi-Fi is available), theories, library card, worksheets, (sp)eye glasses, HTML color code charts, Enigma machine, abacus, scratch paper (don’t forget your writing instrument) - you never know who, or what, will show up, and what kind of help you can take advantage of. Maybe you’ve recently cracked a tough one and want to see the wheels spinning while others tackle it - that can be loads of fun! Yes, we have regular head-slapping moments!
If you have a specific puzzle or puzzling topic you'd like help with, feel free to make note of it in your Will Attend log.
When & Where:
Tuesday, January 1, 2019, 6pm - 8pm
Wegman's Market Cafe
7830 Worman's Mill Road
Frederick, Maryland
All food and beverage costs are your own responsibility.
Field trips not included.
(But it's a good time to plan them!)
If you drop any trackables into this event, make sure they have all been claimed or reclaimed before you leave. We don’t want them getting lost in the muggle world!