FC1Z3U5: Some Puzzling Roman Columns ANSWER

Feeling a bit like a "doric" because you can't solve this week's Mystery Monday puzzle? The answer is after the break!

FC1Z3U5: Some Puzzling Roman Columns HINTS

Still roamin' in the wilderness looking for help with this week's Mystery Monday puzzle? Here are some hints!

I will give you five hints, each getting progressively more revealing, but they will be encoded in ROT13, just like the hints on geocaching pages. You can copy and paste the hints here to decode them. HINT 5 will be nuclear level, so only look at it as a last resort!

HINT 1: Gur chmmyr vaibyirf n pvcure.

HINT 2: Gur nafjre vf va gur sbez bs Ebzna ahzrenyf.

HINT 3: Gurer ner frireny hfrshy pyhrf va gur qrfpevcgvba.  Gur jbeq "beqre" pbhyq or vagrecergrq va zber guna bar jnl.

HINT 4: Fvapr gur yrggref gurzfryirf ybbx ernfbanoyr sbe na nafjre va gur sbez bs Ebzna ahzrenyf, ybbx sbe n pvcure gung bayl punatrf gur beqre bs gur yrggref. Gur birenyy gurzr bs gur chmmyr vf n pyhr gb gur pvcure glcr.

HINT 5: Gur nafjre pna or sbhaq ol qrpelcgvat gur grkg nf n pbyhzane pvcure jvgu gur xrljbeq QBEVP.

Answers tomorrow!

FC1Z3U5: Some Puzzling Roman Columns

We've had an easy couple weeks. I think it's time to turn up the heat a little bit and tackle one that's a bit tougher. There are still plenty of clues to be found, but I expect it might give you more of a workout than the last few. But we can take it after the last few days of chocolate and ham, right?

This week's puzzle was written by Jennifer Kidder of the Geocaching Puzzle Of The Day Blog.

If you need a closer look at that cipher text, here it is: --C--IXXDIXCVIXXIIXVCILDXIC-IV

The checksum for this puzzle is 52. (Remember, the checksum is the result of adding all the individual digits of the coords.)

At the end you should discover a thematically appropriate item. This one is best viewed on Street View.

Please don't spoil the answer in the comments! Hints published tomorrow, and the answer on Wednesday.

Happy Puzzling!

Resource Friday: PLU Codes

Like many things in our modern world fruit and produce is shipped from the far corners of the Earth to get to your home and your table. To aid in this shipping and handling, fruit growers and grocery stores have devised a method of numbering fruit and giving beleaguered cashiers a simple way to tell the difference between a small organic Braeburn apple and a large conventionally grown Pink Lady apple without going crazy. These numbers are called PLUs, or Produce Look Ups, and can be either four or five digits long. They typically start with either a 3, 4, 8, or 9. PLUs beginning with a 3 or 4 are typically four digits, while ones starting with 8 or 9 are usually five digits.

On this page you'll find a list of PLU codes that could be used in puzzle building.

FCD3NTL: Sonny's Challenge: ANSWER

Hop you haven't ground your teeth too much waiting on the answer to this week's puzzle. It's after the break!

FCD3NTL: Sonny's Challenge HINTS

Still chewing on this week's Mystery Monday puzzle? Here are some hints to help.

I will give you five hints, each getting progressively more revealing, but they will be encoded in ROT13, just like the hints on geocaching pages. You can copy and paste the hints here to decode them. HINT 5 will be nuclear level, so only look at it as a last resort!

HINT 1: Gur grrgu ner gur xrl, gur sybff vf gur thvqr.

HINT 2: Gur sybff sbezf n "J" naq na "A" gb uryc vqragvsl juvpu bar jvyy tvir lbh juvpu pbbeqf.

HINT 3: Gur ynlbhg bs grrgu vf n "Qragvfg'f ivrj"

HINT 4: Ubj qbrf n qragvfg ersre gb fcrpvsvp grrgu?

HINT 5: Ahzore gur grrgu pybpxjvfr, fgnegvat jvgu gur cngvrag'f evtug erne zbyne (erzrzore guvf vf sebz gur qragvfgf'f ivrj) rnpu gbbgu pvepyr ol gur sybff tvirf lbh gur ahzoref lbh arrq, va beqre.

Answer tomorrow!

FCD3NTL: Sonny's Challenge

On last week's episode of the Podcacher Podcast Sonny mentioned how ingenious all the geocaching puzzle writers out there are and how they seem to be able to make a puzzle out of anything. He pulled an example out of the air of something that he probably thought would be impossible: a puzzle based on dental floss.

I took it as a personal challenge. About an hour later, I had created this puzzle.

The checksum for this puzzle is 34. (Remember, the checksum is the result of adding all the individual digits of the coords.)

At the end you should discover a thematically appropriate item. This one is best viewed on Street View.  

Please don't spoil the answer in the comments! Hints published tomorrow, and the answer on Wednesday. 

Happy Puzzling.

(PS I'm publishing a little early this week so that Podcacher listeners will see the puzzle, and not a broken link, we'll be back to the regular time of noon, next week. The hint and answer will publish at the regular noon time.)