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Welcome! If this is your first visit, please read the introduction at the bottom of the page. You are welcome to leave comments, but comments including hints will not be published. If you have a puzzle you'd like to recommend, please contact teamajk through geocaching.com -- Enjoy the puzzles!

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Treehouse of Horror - 10/31/18

Today's puzzle finds us in central New York, where it seems like the perfect day to pay a visit to a:

Treehouse of Horror

Tomorrow we'll ...

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Tea for ... more than Two - 10/30/18

Today's puzzle takes us to my neighbor to the north, Canada's Ontario province.  My own maternal grandmother was Canadian, and I recently mentioned that I'd come into possession of her teacup collection (photos of some are below).  Even more recently I've gotten the cabinet in which to display them, so now I'm all set in case any:

K4: Grannies Come to Tea



 

Tomorrow we'll celebrate Halloween with a central New York puzzle.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Somewhere! - 10/29/18

Today's puzzle takes us to a puzzle from a series in Oregon that I'm sure I'll look into more deeply.  I remember one day last summer I walked quickly past a clock on the wall (one I had walked past repeatedly, as it happens) and thought to myself, "That time doesn't look right. It's not 5:00."  As I walked about ten steps further, I realized two things:  It wasn't an actual clock ... and it was a bar that I'd just walked past.

I had my own "five o'clock somewhere" moment on Wednesday this week.  What a day!  But don't worry.  I limited myself to one Fuzzy Navel flavored wine cooler, and Thursday was much better.  Enjoy: 

CS: It's Five o'clock Somewhere!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Sunday, October 28, 2018

40 - 10/28/18

Today we visit a puzzle from Central New York.  The other day my students were discussing having a small Halloween party in class this coming week, and I mentioned that I might be amenable to a little celebration, since I had a birthday coming up as well and it was a big one, with a zero in it.  As class was ending, one of them kindly said to me, "Don't worry, 40 is the new 25, right?"  And I had to say, "Well, that may be, but ... it's 50."  So here's a puzzle in honor of at least one person thinking I can still pass for:

40

Tomorrow we'll be in Oregon.

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Hindsight is 2020 - 10/27/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Canada's province of British Columbia.  Whatever your political leanings, I expect you can appreciate the clever word/number play on this bumper sticker that I saw on a car in front of me this week:



B10: Hindsight is 2020



Friday, October 26, 2018

Baking Bad - 10/26/18

Today's puzzle take us to the UK.  I mentioned yesterday that I'd been watching some Halloween baking shows.  I enjoy them, but they make me hungry.  I'm getting an urge to do some:

Baking Bad

Tomorrow we'll ...

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Stingy Jack - 10/25/18

With Halloween less than a week away I've found myself watching the Food Network's "Halloween Baking Championship" and "Halloween Wars," so I figured I'd serve up a puzzle with a Halloween-related theme for you today.  This one is from Canada's Alberta province.  I'll warn you that when he archived it the CO did give away the secret, so if you don't want a spoiler don't scroll down too far.  But if you do ... well, you'll know where to look for your treat.  Maybe you'll learn a new trick with:

Stingy Jack

Tomorrow we'll ...

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Lucky Day? - 10/24/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Rhode Island.  With the mega-millions lottery jackpot up to $1.6 billion, I couldn't resist putting in my $2 on a quick pick ticket just for the fun of it.  I know the odds are (ridiculously) long.  But they're 0 if you don't try, right?  Talking it over with my son led to an interesting conversation about the odds, and why someone wouldn't just buy up all of the combinations (assuming they had over 600 million dollars lying around to do so, and it was even possible to get all those tickets printed for you).  I bet someone could write a pretty interesting puzzle looking at the possible payouts, and the taxes(!) in such a scenario, depending on how many other people were lucky enough to have the winning combination.  At any rate, as I'm posting this I'm wondering if someone is going to wake up tomorrow as one:

Lucky Dog

Tomorrow we'll ...

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Crazy for Cats - 10/23/18

A previous logic puzzle in this series in France had us placing rabbits and trees in a grid.  Today, it's cats.  A whole lot of cats:

42 - Grilles Logiques : facile

Tomorrow we'll ...

Monday, October 22, 2018

Secret Agent Man - 10/22/18

Today's central New York puzzle will put you on the trail of:

Secret Agent Atwater Meadows

Tomorrow we'll ...

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Blue vs Red? - 10/21/18

There's a lot of talk about blue vs red these days, and it looks like baseball's World Series will be no different.  The Red Sox made it in on Thursday, but today we travel to California for a puzzle in celebration of last night's victory clinching a spot for:

Dodger Blue!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Saturday, October 20, 2018

A Blonde Moment - 10/20/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Canada's province of Quebec.  I think we all have the occasional "blonde moment," but I feel like maybe I've had more than my share lately.  Maybe I need one of these:

Clavier pour blondes 

Tomorrow we'll ...

Friday, October 19, 2018

Winter is Coming - 10/19/18

Today's puzzle takes us to New Zealand, where they're lucky enough to have winter behind them already. The fall colors have been a bit delayed here, but there's no doubt that winter is on its way.  There was actually a good deal of ice on my front and back windshields this morning that had to be scraped off before I could go to work.  Given the time, I will just sit and wait for the defrosters/windshield wipers/windshield washer fluid to do their thing, but I hadn't left enough time for that today.  I guess it's about time to get the garage cleaned out so we'll have some:

Frost Protection (Hawkes Bay)

Tomorrow we'll ...

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Czechia - 10/18/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Czechia (which, in case you haven't heard, is what we should have been calling the Czech Republic for a while now, but it took some time to catch on).  I heard on the way to work that this is National Pasta Month, and yesterday was actually National Pasta Day here in the U.S.  So in celebration of the occasion (and because it's one of my favorite food groups), I give you:

PASTA, PASTA... 

Tomorrow we'll ...

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Tanks! - 10/17/18

Today's Arizona puzzle was recommended to me recently and I found it a fun exercise.  I've got a birthday with a 0 in it coming up soon, and I've been feeling introspective. I keep finding myself looking back and wondering where the time has gone and thinking:

Tanks for the Memories

Tomorrow we'll ...

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Open Secrets - 10/16/18

When I've been lucky enough to visit the San Francisco Bay area, I've made it a point to venture a bit to the east to find some of the caches by today's featured CO.  Not only are the puzzles fun, but they are without a doubt some of the most amazingly clever hides I've ever seen.  If you're ever in the neighborhood you owe it to yourself to give them a shot.  I was tickled to see recently that after a seven year hiatus, some new ones have started appearing.  See if you can solve the mystery of the:

Open Secrets

Tomorrow we'll ...

Monday, October 15, 2018

Impress Me! - 10/15/18

How about kicking off your week with this puzzle from Colorado.  Come on:

Impress Me!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Saturday, October 13, 2018

All is Vanity - 10/13/18

I spotted this picture in a video I watched the other day, and was intrigued.


Lest you think I'm a little early for Halloween, look a little closer.  The title of the picture is "All is Vanity," so I was inspired to find this Illinois puzzle to go with it:


Tomorrow we'll ...

P.S.  Halloween will be here before you know it, and then Thanksgiving and all the winter holidays will follow quickly right after that.  If you have holiday-themed puzzles you've written or solved that you think others would enjoy, please send them my way!

Friday, October 12, 2018

Family Matters - 10/12/18

Today's central NY puzzle is one that caught my eye recently, and I found the subject to be an interesting topic.  After all, it's very true that:

Family Matters

Tomorrow we'll ...

Thursday, October 11, 2018

The last thing ... - 10/11/18

I hate to admit it, but I'm definitely a caffeine addict.  Diet Mountain Dew is my usual delivery method, but I can definitely understand the sentiment behind today's Illinois puzzle:

The last thing you need is another cup of coffee

Tomorrow we'll be in New York.

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Hobby? Or addiction? - 10/10/18

Today we travel to California where it appears the CO of this puzzle might have a geocaching:

Stats addi¢tion

Tomorrow we'll ...

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Don't Forget These! - 10/9/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Minnesota.  Sometimes a puzzle just nags at me ... I keep looking and think I have an idea but it heads absolutely nowhere.  So I put it aside and come back, often, repeatedly.  I find it hard to just let them go.  I wonder why it is that I:

Don't Forget These!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Monday, October 8, 2018

Fall Break - 10/8/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Vermont. The semester is flying by, and we've made it to Columbus Day. That means it's time to:

Give Me A Break!

Tomorrow we'll be in Minnesota.

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Money Talks - 10/7/18

I recently happened across this Ohio series (which makes a spiffy little geo-art), and am looking forward to checking out more.  Try your luck with:

2 - Money Talks - Vroom, Vroom

Tomorrow we'll be in  ...

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Apples! - 10/6/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Michigan.  One of the best things about upstate New York in the Fall is apple season. I've got a new little quilt up on the wall, and  I'll be making a trip to the Cornell Apple Store this weekend (the one run by the orchard, not the one that sells computers).  I'm looking forward to coming home with cider (which is excellent either hot or cold), crunching some crisp tasty apples, and baking some sort of brown-sugary sweet dessert to be topped with vanilla ice cream.  Yum.  The fall colors are really late this year, so what would we do if there were:

No Apples?


Tomorrow we'll ...

Friday, October 5, 2018

Crouching Panda, Hidden Venona - 10/5/18

Today's puzzle (from a part of down-state New York where I've never cached) was a serendipitous discovery for me, as it allows me to talk about a couple of different things.  I was actually looking for a puzzle with a "panda" theme, so I could mention a non-geocaching puzzle magazine called "P&A" which I was introduced to recently.  I'm working on the current issue and finding it to be a fun (but quite challenging) exercise.  I love seeing what's out there in the wider puzzling world beyond geocaching.

The Russian angle to this puzzle was a fun surprise.  I recently watched a bunch of episodes of "The Americans" and it made me grin seeing them copying down rows and rows of numbers and using their one-time pads to decode them.  I have remarked in the past that I would have made a terrible, terrible Russian spy.  All the cursing and moaning as I frantically erased my mistakes and started the decode over and over would have surely alerted the neighbors that something was up.  The story of the actual Venona codebreakers has been in the news lately, and I just wore my official 2017 Order of Venona Member T-shirt while out puzzle caching the other day.  If you're unaware of the (San Francisco) Bay Area's Venona Activities, they are super fun to participate in during real-time, even long distance.  I'd love to see the "activities" resume.

Without further ado, I give you:

Crouching Panda, Hidden Venona

Tomorrow we'll ...



Thursday, October 4, 2018

Cheat Sheet - 10/4/18

Today's puzzle takes us to California.  Time is flying by and we're almost half way through the fall semester, which means it's time for a short "fall break."  To give myself the maximum grading time, I'm giving either a test or quiz in all my classes today.  I hope nobody tries to get away with using a:

Cheat Sheet

Tomorrow we'll ...

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Conkers - 10/3/18

Sorry about the delayed post ... I got distracted and didn't get it queued up.  Today we travel to the UK for a little puzzle about:

Henry's Obsession IV - It's Only a Game!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Something new - 10/2/18

I learned something new yesterday, and of course I wanted to share it with those of you who may not have seen it yet.  So let's travel to Texas for:

A new kind of code plus a cache!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Monday, October 1, 2018

Accentuate the positves - 10/1/18

I can't believe it's October 1st already.  Where does the time go??  With today's puzzle we return to the series of logical puzzles in France that I've found very entertaining.  Despite the similarities there are always differences that provide an interesting mental workout.  This particular one will have you accentuating the positives ... and the negatives:

39 - Grilles Logiques : moyen

Tomorrow we'll ...