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Leap Frog for Leap Day! Mystery Cache

Hidden : 2/29/2020
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   other (other)

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Geocache Description:


There is nothing hidden at the posted coordinates.  You must solve a puzzle to determine the cache location.  You will be seeking a magnetic nano cache, so tweezers could be useful.  Please try not to draw undue attention to the cache location, and rehide it exactly as you found it.

This puzzle was distributed on paper as part of Ithaca's Leap Day Meet and Greet and solved by two different groups of people during the event, after which all attendees were invited to claim the joint FTF.

To solve this puzzle you will need to play some games of "Leap Frog."  Instead of playing with people (although it might be fun to do that) I'd recommend either practicing playing online at this website or practicing with some physical marker like different types of coins to represent the frogs.  Some people may even be able to play the game in their heads.

The idea of the game is to switch all of the colored frogs from one side to the other.  The pink frogs should finish on the right and the blue ones on the left.  Frogs can either hop into an empty space right in front of them, or can hop forwards over one other frog into an empty space.  Frogs should not jump backwards. (Note that if you play on the website linked above it will allow you to make backwards moves, so if you play there you're trying to get the shortest number of moves possible, which would not include any going backwards.)  The game is over when all the blue frogs are on the left, and all the pink frogs are on the right.

Your goal is to determine how many moves it takes to complete the game from several different starting positions pictured below.  Record your answer for each step and perform the simple math indicated to determine the degrees, minutes, and decimal minutes in the coordinates to the hidden cache.



 


You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.

 

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Nf vf bsgra gur pnfr, tbbtyr vf lbhe sevraq. Srry serr gb zrffntr gur PB jvgu nal dhrfgvbaf.

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)