Once in a blue moon - 1/31/18

I've been saving today's Colorado puzzle for a while, and I'm glad I did.  Today there will be supermoon, a blue moon, and a lunar eclipse, a trifecta that's even rarer than:

Once in a blue moon.

Tomorrow we'll ...

Let's play two! - 1/30/18

I have a pair of game-based puzzles from Oregon for you today. I've had fun playing these and found myself laughing out loud at my efforts ... I'll tell you up front that I've only been able to beat one of them, but I'm going to keep trying.  You'll need to:

Stay Calm and Balanced

if you want to:

Knock 'em Off!

Tomorrow we'll be in Colorado.

Who would have thought ... - 1/29/18

I recently stumbled across today's archived puzzle from Canada's province of Prince Edward Island.  In addition to being an interesting little exercise in decryption, it made me stop and think.   Whatever your political leanings, you'll have to agree that a lot has changed since the publication of this cache:

Chump Towers

Tomorrow we'll ...

Happy Australia Day - 1/28/17

I'm a little late with this thematic puzzle, but since geocachers all over the world are marking the holiday with events all weekend long I figured you'd allow me the chance to visit Australia for a puzzle wishing everyone a belated:

Happy Australia Day!

and while we're at it, here's another, from Canada's Ontario province:

It's OUT BACK, mate

Tomorrow we'll ...

Back to Schoool - 1/27/18

Today's puzzle takes us to California.  You couldn't prove it by the weather, but I'm back at school for the "spring" semester.  My students seem to just keep getting younger and younger ... I don't stop to consider that actually:

I'm Getting Older

Tomorrow we'll ...

Miss Leeding - 1/26/18

Today's Arizona puzzle could be considered a little:

Miss Leeding

Tomorrow we'll ...

Ready, Set! - 1/25/18

I spotted another new puzzle in Oregon that I enjoyed, since I have good memories of playing the game it is based on with my family:

Ready, SET!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Chenzira and the Buzzard - 1/24/18

Today's Arkansas puzzle landed in my inbox a while back.  If you've been thinking about sending a puzzle my way (either your own or someone else's that you've enjoyed), I hope that you will.  It's always a treat to see what will turn up.  Have some fun with:

Chenzira and the Buzzard

Tomorrow we'll ...

Pick a Cache, any Cache! - 1/23/18

Today's two-part puzzle from the U.K. includes what sounds like a fun and challenging field component.  I only have a little experience with the required skill, but have never used anything more sophisticated than a bobby pin (I taught my college room-mates how to get into our bathroom when our suite mates would forget and leave the door locked on our side).  Here's your chance to:

Pick a Cache! 

Tomorrow we'll ...

ABC - 1/22/18

Today, from Oregon, we have a nice little exercise in logic to kick off the week.  Don't worry ... it's:

Easy as 1-2-3

Tomorrow we'll ...

20% - 1/21/18

Today we travel to Rhode Island.  Since this puzzle has a difficulty rating of just 1.5, I'd say your odds of solving it should be better than:

20%

Tomorrow we'll be in ...

Great Minds ... - 1/20/18

Today's Arkansas puzzle landed in my inbox a while back, and it made me laugh because I almost put out a cache of my own using the same feature.  It was just such a cold and nasty day that day that I shelved it and didn't go back.  We've definitely had a good taste of winter here ... the other day I absentmindedly found myself whispering "Ohhh ... brrrr..." and then I cracked up, realizing who I sounded like.  If you need a hint, you can catch his wanna-be-evil grandson in:

The Last Jedi

Tomorrow we'll ...

Toy Blocks - 1/19/18

For today's Washington puzzle you might want to get our your:

Toy Blocks

Tomorrow we'll be in Arkansas.

Tangled Web - 1/18/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Colorado.  You can hardly look at the news these days without seeing somebody else tied up in their own:

Tangled Web

and a little something extra for your enjoyment:  The Puzzle Cache Owner - A Geocaching Text Story

Tomorrow we'll ...

Minneapolis Miracle - 1/17/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Minneapolis, Minnesota.  If you're not into sports, you probably don't understand how much we fans are affected by the ups and downs that our beloved teams experience.  Players get traded, coaches get fired, but year after year we fans suit up in our team colors and cheer our hearts out.  There we were on Sunday, all decked out (including the dog) and almost unable to watch as it looked like the season was coming to an abrupt end after a promising start to the game.  We had muted the TV so we didn't have to listen to the announcers recounting all the other heartbreaking last-second losses our team has had over the years (and that we have never forgotten). Then, with 10 seconds left in the game ... it happened ... and we went completely bonkers.  So now, along with every other Vikings fan, we truly know the answer to the question:

Do You Belive in Miracles?

Tomorrow we'll be in Colorado.

Within Barking Range - 1/16/18

Today's Oregon puzzle is posted in honor of my neighbor's dog, and her enthusiasm for playing with our cockapoo.  Since she has a fenced in yard, she is often outside and lets us know when she sees us that she'd like us to come over.  It's really great having her:

Within Barking Range

Tomorrow we'll ...

Guess What I'm Thinking - 1/15/18

Usually saying a puzzle is a "guess what I'm thinking" puzzle is a harsh criticism ... but with today's Rhode Island puzzle, it's just the name of the game.  As with so many things, the this particular theme was something I'd never heard of before spotting it in a geocaching puzzle, and I had fun checking it out.  If you like this one, the CO has a whole series of puzzles where you get to:

Be Akinator

Tomorrow we'll be in Oregon.

Olympic Rings - 1/14/18

We've had several big doses of winter already this year, so it looks to be a long one in upstate NY.  I don't find much to like about the season, once Christmas is past, but at least this year I can look forward to the Olympics, which will officially open on PyeongChang on 2/9.  I've always been a bit of an Olympics-TV-junkie, although the sports these days are a far cry from the ones I remember watching growing up.  I'm not sure how long I've had today's puzzle from Canada's province of Quebec in the "to be solved" pile, but I don't think it's been sitting there ever since:

RIO 2016.

Tomorrow we'll ...

TV Graveyard - 1/13/18

Today's puzzle is from upstate New York.  I am just old enough to remember the gigantic TV's that used to operate with long glass vacuum tubes. Whenever the TV wasn't working properly, we called the repairman (named "Junior") to come out and work on it.  I was always fascinated by the gigantic case of different tubes that he brought along, and he was able to keep those TV's running for years and years.  Today it seems like when a TV malfunctions it is immediately consigned to the:

TV Graveyard

Tomorrow we'll ...

Plinko! - 1/12/18

Today's cache takes us to Tennessee.  Way, way back in the day I was a big fan of "The Price is Right."  I don't know if I actually saw the debut of "Plinko" (which was just a few days over 35 years ago) but if it happened to be a snow day from school, then it's a pretty good bet that I did.  I know I thought it looked like a fun game, and the cash prize seemed a lot more appealing than a new living room suite.  Try your luck with:

Plinko

Tomorrow we'll ...

P.S. Here's one last plug for my readership survey. I really appreciate all the responses so far.

A Perfect Match - 1/11/18

Today we travel to Oregon for a puzzle that includes "An Ode to the World's Finest Geocache Container":

A Perfect Match

Tomorrow we'll be in Tennessee.

P.S. If you've been tuning in all week, you can ignore the following:  Responses to my readership survey are still coming in.  Thanks to those who have participated so far.  If you haven't yet, you still can.  Also, you might like to check out the new location-based POTD cache bookmarks.

The Mystery Machine - 1/10/18

If you ignore the raindrops on the window you can see the "mystery machine" I spotted while out caching today with my niece and nephews.  What an awesome puzzle cache-mobile that would be!

Here's a puzzle from Utah for you about:

Nancy and Woody's Cachemobile

Tomorrow we'll ...

P.S. Responses to my readership survey are still coming in.  Thanks to those who have participated so far.  If you haven't yet, you still can. 

P.P.S.  Check out the new location-based cache bookmarks!

Well - 1/9/18

Today's puzzle finds us in Washington state.  I've featured several of this CO's puzzles in the past, so it shouldn't be surprising that I'm going back to that:

Well

Thanks to those who've already taken my short readership survey! If you missed it yesterday or weren't able to take the time then, I'm providing the link again. It should only take a minute or two to answer the questions, and you'll help me get a better idea of the blog's readership and your feelings about some ideas for possible updates that I've been considering.

I've already spotted a great suggestion in the comments for the survey, which was to have a way for the Geocaching Puzzles of the Day to be searchable by location.  The best solution I could come up with was a series of location-based bookmarks you can check out here (there is also a link on the right hand side of the main blog page).  Let me know if you find these useful.

Iron Horse 1/8/18

Today's Australian puzzle landed in my in-box before Christmas, but I had set it aside until I had a little more time to explore:

The Iron Horse

I hope you'll click here to be directed to a short survey.  It should only take a minute or two to answer the questions, and you'll help me get a better idea of the blog's readership and your feelings about some ideas for possible updates that I've been considering.  

Tomorrow we'll ...

Primal Scream - 1/7/18

Today's puzzle takes us to the U.K.  I headed south from NY at the end of last week just in time to escape the really nasty cold weather that has struck (the wind chill was -33 degrees on Friday afternoon).  I'm enjoying a visit to my old hometown in Tennessee, where it's at least warmer, if not actually warm.  Every time I come this direction I take a look at a particular puzzle that I've been trying to sort out for over 7 years now.  Why, oh why can't I just leave it alone??  I have 3 pages of notes that I've saved since 2010 and I keep going back to them over and over again, but this one just defies all my efforts.  It's enough to make me want to let out a:

Primal Scream

Tomorrow we'll be in Australia.

On the 12th day of Christmas - 1/6/18

Today we travel to Colorado, where on the 12th day of Christmas I'm giving you:

Twelve Shades of Gray

Tomorrow we'll ...

Three Colors - 1/5/18

Today we travel to California for a fun little game with:

Three Colors

Tomorrow we'll be in Colorado.

Dinner for One - 1/4/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Arizona.  I'm obviously a little late with this post featuring a German New Year's Eve tradition, but didn't want to wait another 361 days before inviting you to:

Dinner for One

Tomorrow we'll ...

Resolutions - 1/3/18

Well, here we are in January again, and that means tying up loose ends from last year and getting the new year off to a good start.  For me, that means making sure the 2017 Geocaching Puzzle of the Day bookmark is up to date (I had gotten *way* behind on that, but it's all shipshape now) and getting started on a new one for 2018.  I've been working on adding to the list of puzzles I'm preparing to share with you, checking in with some of the ones on my "go back and try this" list, and thinking about any ways I might change things up here in year 8 of GPOTD. (That's 2,559 days so far, for anyone who's counting).

One thing I want to do soon is put together a little survey to get a sense of how folks are using this blog, and if there's anything more or different you'd like to see.  Watch for that next week.

I haven't figured out all of my resolutions for the new year - but as far as caching goes, I'm hoping I'll be able to cache in some new states and I'm looking forward to some caching milestones (which will naturally involve getting out and finding some good puzzle caches).  I'm also hoping to start placing another series of puzzle caches, but haven't figured out exactly what I want to do.

I want to thank you for taking the time to be here, and I hope you'll enjoy today's Rhode Island puzzle featuring:

Dog New Year Resolutions

Tomorrow we'll be in Arizona.

New Year, New Puzzle - 1/2/18

Today we travel to England for:

New Year, New Puzzle

Tomorrow we'll ...

Happy New Year! - 1/1/18

With today's California puzzle I wish you all the best for:

A Good Year

Tomorrow we'll be in England.