Last week I released a series of eight "E.M.U." caches near Torquay, Victoria - seven of which are puzzles. They are of varying difficulty, but neither illogical nor impossible. However some of the physical caches involve moderate bushwalks, and none are particularly close to any large urban areas, so they are unlikely to be overrun with cachers any time soon.
Inspired to share my fun - and also to get quick feedback on the puzzle difficulty - I'm using this forum to extend an invitation to all Australian geocachers to accept my "Pathtags for Puzzles" challenge.
An information page announces the details of the puzzle-solving competition, and has links to each cache page. (You will notice that the letterbox-hybrid cache "E.M.U. 0" is not part of the competition.) Here's what it says at the bottom of the page:
For those puzzle-loving cachers that live too far away to easily visit this region (>100 km), or if you are physically unable to bushwalk: the first TWENTY FIVE geocachers who solve ALL of the E.M.U. series of puzzles (1 through 7) will be entitled to one each of my pathtags - "Mr Emu - Cache Surfer" and "The Emulator" . To make your claim, send me an email, and include three things for each cache: GC Number, calculated cache coordinates (remember, you can check them on Evince), and the difficulty rating YOU would assign each puzzle if it were yours. If you feel like adding "constructive" feedback, you are most welcome!
At the time of writing, there have been two winners: Team Rubik (VIC) and winterdragon (SA). Well done!
I'm including a rough template for your entry. Remember, do not post your answers here - email them to me. Winners will be posted on the information page and here when the competition closes.
Good luck, and have fun!
Cacher Name:
E.M.U.1 GC1K2YN S38 xx.xxx E144 xx.xxx Difficulty = x.x Comments:
E.M.U.2 GC1K2YQ S38 xx.xxx E144 xx.xxx Difficulty = x.x Comments:
E.M.U.3 GC1K2YR S38 xx.xxx E144 xx.xxx Difficulty = x.x Comments:
E.M.U.4 GC1K2YV S38 xx.xxx E144 xx.xxx Difficulty = x.x Comments:
E.M.U.5 GC1K2YW S38 xx.xxx E144 xx.xxx Difficulty = x.x Comments:
E.M.U.6 GC1K2YX S38 xx.xxx E144 xx.xxx Difficulty = x.x Comments:
E.M.U.7 GC1K2YZ S38 xx.xxx E144 xx.xxx Difficulty = x.x Comments: