When I was a child, I read a lot. I was an avid participant in
the Los Gatos Library's summer book club, a prolific enough member
that I would end up with dozens of free books by the end of each
summer to add to my own personal library. My collection grew
exponentially over the years.
I loved mysteries. Hardy Boys. Tom Swift. Nancy Drew. The Famous
Five (a wonderful British series). You name it, I devoured it. I
relived the exploits of these famed duos and teams as daydreams and
fantasies.
Around the same time period, in response to all those mysteries
floating around in my head, I developed a simple code I thought
unbreakable -- or at the very least extremely difficult to crack.
It has never really been tested.
Until now.
I am unleashing my revenge on fizzymagic, kablooey, the rat,
teamjiffy, marky, and other locals who have plagued my
nearest-to-home list with unfuriating puzzle caches that dared me
-- and sometimes defied me -- to solve them.
Although the code eventually evolved into much greater
complexity, the cache instructions to count this as a find located
below are encoded using the original, simple version.
Will the Penultimate Puzzle Cache -- created out of the mind
of a mere 10-year-old kid -- defeat you?
45:564 3:62 16:23 9:6120 532:33 3855:4209 86:299
179:322 221:70 92:53 407:4 265:30 31 8 92:35 4:84 92:37 347:10
92:30 342:1 112:44 41:9 207:177 178 32 402=22 16 20 2 30 16 1 54 19
7 47 20:2 371:5 97:100 207:16 181:31 216:9 41:1 204:19 403:2 11:3
299:42 196:1 10:9 186:17 86:13 59:24 365:3 200:184 128:3 425:12 5:1
100:8 125:63 174:18 20:2 201:9 97:10 146:35 90:32 123:2 48 49
69:178 179 123:50 186:17 189:3 151:16 174:151 174:152 153 111:293
4:50 111:4 316:10 236:223 269:10 174:20 111:87 290:6 403:1 299:42
169:133 174:151 93:42 43 78:307 362:3 355:32 392:183 146:10 9:252
13:3 100:6 194:9 181:6 17:3 180:17 440:369 180:16 180:119 120
181:95 174:20 180:297 77:96 29:296 262:72 185:1 392:224 381:56
145:4 357:37 261:3 278:20 146:34 410:1 56:43 408:11 158:35 86:51
69:100 101 146:77 279:35 200:363 267:7 27:248 69:138 362:3 207:16
306:51 29:223 299 29:74 86:62 417:192 193 63:70 169:157 1 111:90 51
291:1 275:6 16:1 389:24 277:290 291 10 9:252 350:35 111:90 236:207
350:13 236:100 418:15 381:100 61:20 97:100 100:7 100:1 380:7 86:102
180:55 179:320 68:245 27:15 181:2 51:63 411:1 51:66 51:6 180:55
107:5 190:258 86:127 41:9 262:156 236:227 425:12 139:1 171:71
351:54 16:5 452:84 4:119 129:81 77:12 61:20 268:210 77:12 4:119
61:35 169:152 138:28 41:182 61:20 77:12 35:188 385:31 268:210
41:182 61:35 4:119 169:3 180:55 417:11 174:19 220:105 179:321
131:31 342:11 22 51 190:39 342:64 342:263 381:15 405:1 189:125
390:127 342:235 4:87 390:30 390:306 86:6 390:309 453:187 342:22
344:10 163:7 57:235 97:128 52:10 265:25 146:7 306 200:308 100:6
97:100 86:104 194:4 180:162 194:3 180:208 443:1 179:323 146:31
86:299 100 304:283 111:87 146:292 384:16 440:257 299:29 171:23
41:136 112:25
NOTE: All punctuation marks (or lack
thereof) are placed (or missing)
intentionally.
Once you follow the above instructions, you will need to
provide two code words online before you can
log the find -- even after you find the physical cache! Clicking
the link above will open up a new browser window and take you to
another web server. If it is slow or busy, please be
patient!
Absolutely no hints on decryption will be provided. Don't even
ask. If you record this as a find without having fully completed
the encoded instructions, your log will be deleted. Period. Please
don't post any hints! However, if you have the inclination, I'd
love to privately hear your thought processes as you attempt to
solve the puzzle.