Nicey Dicey - 5/31/18

Today we travel to the U.K. for a puzzle that's:

Nicey Dicey 🎲🎲🎲

Tomorrow we'll ...

Conan - 5/30/18

Sometimes I see a title and it just makes me laugh.  That was the case with this Texas puzzle.  I'm just sorry there wasn't an O'Brien connection to:

Conan the Librarian

Tomorrow we'll ...

3 By 3 - 5/29/18

Today we visit an Ohio cache which employs a puzzle technique you've probably seen used before, but perhaps not in this way.  I think it's an interesting variation on a:

3 x 3 Puzzle Cache

Tomorrow we'll ...

Memorial Day - 5/28/18

I didn't have to look too far for today's thematic puzzle, since it's located in New York only a couple of hours away from me.  I'm not sure why I hadn't solved it before now, but I'm glad I came across it just in time to share it with you as a:

Memorial Day Puzzle

Tomorrow we'll ...

M*A*S*H Up - 5/27/18

Today's puzzle takes us to California.  I happened to catch several episodes of a M*A*S*H marathon a few weeks ago, following the death of David Ogden Stiers.  It's hard to believe that more time has passed since those shows were made in the 1970's and 1980's than had elapsed between then and the time that inspired them in the early 1950's.  My dad, who was in the army in Korea after the end of the war, was always fond of pointing out that the TV series lasted quite a bit longer than the "conflict" itself.  Of course, without a peace treaty in place it still officially continues today.  We can only hope that perhaps some resolution may be forthcoming, and the whole process won't:

M*A*S*H Up

Tomorrow we'll ...

GeoWoodstock - 5/26/18

I had hoped to be able to put in an appearance at GeoWoodstock but unfortunately it didn't work out.  But we can still visit Cincinatti, OH for this inagural North American giga-event via today's featured puzzle:

1) "G" is for Giga/Geowoodstock Geo-art

Tomorrow we'll ...

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Can you ... 5/25/18

I was talking with a friend recently about how I'd just about run out of the classic "Dastardly Manhattan" puzzles to solve, when she reminded me of one that I hadn't thought about in a long time. See if you can:

See the Trees for the Forest

Tomorrow we'll ...

Something Old, Something New - 5/24/18

When I saw the title of today's California puzzle, I thought it would be similar to some I've seen before ... well, it was.  But it wasn't.  I love things like that.  :)   Try your luck with this little:

Word Cloud

Tomorrow we'll be in ...

Another puzzle? - 5/23/18

Today finds us in Illinois.  Looking for another puzzle cache, are you?  Well, be sure and:

Ask Nicely

Tomorrow we'll ...

Lucky Seven? - 5/22/18

Today's puzzle finds us in Tennessee again.  I've heard of the "Magnificent" ones, but until now I'd not come across:

The Desaturating Seven

Tomorrow we'll ...

Good as New - 5/21/18

Today's puzzle from Tennessee is brand new, despite being a:

Recycled Cache

Tomorrow we'll ...

Out in the Country - 5/20/18

Driving back from PA by myself last weekend I didn't have any CD's in the car and didn't want to fool with my phone to bring up "Pandora," so I ended up flipping through the radio stations throughout the trip.  I caught a little bit of one of Casey Kasem's countdowns but in some spots about all I could find was country music.  I don't listen to it regularly, but I'll admit that some of the lyrics make me grin.  The one about "beer for my horses" is a fave.  The song behind today's Virginia puzzle (which looks to be near the beginning of a country music themed series) reminds me of those ads on TV for the "Farmers Only" dating site:

"She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" Kenny Chesney

Tomorrow we'll ...

Spring has Sprung! - 5/19/18

Today's puzzle finds us in California.  Just about every year I've lived in upstate New York I've complained about the lack of a proper Spring.  It always seems late, short, and not that much to get excited about.  This year it came later than ever, but it's been a real humdinger.  Everything seemed to start blooming profusely all at once.  The colors are more vibrant than ever, and there's a scent of lilacs in the air. Of course all that pollen leaves the allergy sufferers like me with eyes and noses that are runny and:

Red

Tomorrow we'll ...

A purl of a puzzle - 5/18/18

Today we travel to Canada's Ontario province for a:

Purl of a puzzle

Tomorrow we'll ...

Fish Burps - 5/17/18

I was working on something else for today but didn't quite get it sorted out, so let's travel to Colorado and check out:

Fish Burps

Tomorrow we'll ...

Best in Show - 5/16/18

I came across this puzzle a while back, but had set it aside.  As a quilter myself I always enjoy seeing puzzles inspired by quilts, and today's from Oregon features one that won:

Best in Show

Tomorrow we'll ...

You Dirty Rat! - 5/15/18

The CO of yesterday's featured puzzle was very complimentary.  It sounds like today's Ohio CO has other ideas:

You Dirty Rat!

Tomorrow we'll ...

"You are all the bomb!" - 5/14/18

Today's puzzle takes us to Illinois, and I love what the CO has to say about the "dynamite puzzle hiders and solvers in the area.  You are all the bomb!":

Stand Back

Tomorrow we'll ...  

Mother's Day - 5/13/18

Let's travel to Canada's Ontario province. Today's the day so:

Let's Celebrate - Mother's Day

Tomorrow we'll be in ...

Graduation Day - 5/12/18

Today's Maryland puzzle is posted in honor of our daughter's special day today.  We're super proud of her:

Magna Cum Laude, My Hat's Off to You!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Alice in Wonderland - 5/11/18

Today's California puzzle is one that was recommended to me recently, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Get ready to jump down the rabbit hole with:

Alice in Wonderland

Tomorrow we'll ...

Victory! - 5/10/18

Making it to the end of another semester always feels like quite a victory.  Hurrah!  :)  I'm celebrating the occasion with today's Ohio puzzle:

His Majesty's Ship Victory

Tomorrow we'll ...

A Fairy Tale - 5/9/18

My apologies for the late post yesterday ... the blame rests soley with pilot error.  I had it all queued up well in advance but must have forgotten to push the right button to enable it.  I hate it when that happens. 

At any rate, today's puzzle takes us to California where you'll have to see if you can follow the breadcrumbs left by:

Hänsel und Gretel in Mountain View

Tomorrow we'll ...

Puzzle Solving 101 - the Fun Continues - 5/8/18

Not long ago I heard that all of the caches except the Final in epeterso2's excellent Puzzle Solving 101 series in Florida were being archived.  If you've not done the series, the puzzles are still available and I highly recommend them.  But even if you have you have solved the puzzles remotely, there is some more fun awaiting you.  Previously, the clues for the Final Exam could only be obtained only by visiting the caches themselves.  Now they are all available online and you can collect the clues and solve the Final Exam puzzle yourself.  Check out all the details on the cache page.

This series has a long history for me. I worked on these early in my puzzling career, and discovered the Remote Solver TB  back in May of 2011.  At that time I had never taken a vacation specifically for geocaching, and had no real hope of ever logging the final.  After taking an overnight up to Canada to find a tribute "mid-term" exam puzzle in October of 2012, I started wondering if I could get to Florida and log the real thing, which I did in January of 2013.  I was thrilled to receive my Puzzle-Headed Weenie diploma and graduation gift in the cache.

As I was re-reading the cache page and logs, I noticed mention of finders who'd made the Dean's List, and I didn't seem to be one of them.  Now, I always was a very competitive student, so I wasn't going to rest until I sorted out why I wasn't eligible.  And so, more than 5 years after the fact, the fun continued ... and I finally did make the list.

I've already featured the final puzzle here years ago, so I decided to feature another tribute puzzle, this one in North Carolina.  In order to solve it, I would either have to start over from the beginning, or find my notes from 7 years ago.  One thing I've always wished is that I were better organized in my solving process so I could easily go back and check things after a long time.  I tend to fill up notebooks and scrap sheets of paper without labels, dates, or any identifying information. But I am a bit of a pack rat and didn't think I would have thrown away something so important.  I am pleased to report that after only a few minutes of mucking around in a box in the garage I found the right legal pad with the very important information for:

ePeterso2's Puzzle Solving 101 Series

Tomorrow we'll ...

Viva Venezia! - 5/7/18

Whenever any of my geocaching friends with starts planning a trip somewhere new, I always encourage them to let me know if they run across any interesting puzzles, or if there are any they'd like to work on jointly.  It's great fun for me to travel vicariously with them, and then once in a great while I am actually able to claim the finds for the caches at some point in the future.  Today's puzzle from Venice, Italy, is one that my friend The North Star sent me a couple of weeks ago.  Since one of the geocaching highlights of 2017 for me was grabbing some puzzle caches with him in Paris when we both happened to be there at the same time, it was great fun to be able to participate in this trip at least remotely.  After he inked the log last week (and sent me some nice photos of gondolas and such) he encouraged me to use the puzzle as the POTD since I already had a story ready to go with it:

Ponte della Salute

Tomorrow we'll ...

There's gotta be a story ... - 5/6/18

As you've no doubt noticed, I love coming across puzzle caches with amusing or timely titles.  Today's example from Canada's Manitoba province is one I came across recently, and as the end of the semester always makes me feel a bit frazzled, it felt appropriate to share with you this weekend.  I'm sure there's gotta be a story behind:

Dear Lord, I would like my life back

Tomorrow we'll be in Italy.

Cinco de Mayo - 5/5/18

I know some folks will be expecting a themed puzzle for today, so I'd hate to disappoint you.  I'll send you to Pennsylvania for a very happy:

Cinco de Mayo

Tomorrow we'll be in Canada's Manitoba province.

May the Fourth - 5/4/18

I know that folks in the San Francisco Bay area (and many other diehard puzzlers who follow this monthly series) will have seen this puzzle earlier this week, but I just have to share it since it has what's undoubtedly one of the best titles I've seen in a long time:

May the Horse Be with You (KPC2018)

Tomorrow  we'll ...

Downtown Columbus - 5/3/18

One last (for now) puzzle from Ohio ... another one I wasn't able to get to make the find for, but enjoyed solving while at my hotel not far away.  I didn't really get to explore downtown very much, but did drive by a pretty cool virtual at a topiary garden where I would like to have spent some time. There's quite a lot going on there:

It's All In Downtown Columbus, Oh!

Tomorrow we'll be in California.

Pinball Wizard - 5/2/18

Today's Ohio puzzle is one I solved during my trip, but wasn't able to make the find due to the poor weather conditions (over the course of the time I was there things went from 80 degrees and sunnt to overcast and damp to torrential downpours with wind, to large flakes of snow coming down.  It was really something).  If you're the age that I am, this puzzle will definitely bring back some memories:

Pinball Wizard


I also did the work the Maized & Cornfused field puzzle (see photo below) but wasn't able to get to that final location either.  I guess I'm just going to have to go back some time.

Tomorrow we'll ...

Back to Work! - 5/1/18

I hope you'll indulge me for sharing another photo from my long weekend of Ohio caching ... but if not, you can skip directly down to the puzzle from another "O" state, "Oregon."  This photo was from a little puzzlers' pizza party where I got to meet several of the people whose work I have enjoyed solving over the years (details are in my log for this cache.)

In the foreground is CounselorTroi, who I mentioned yesterday, but I neglected to say that I first met her in person here in Ithaca back in November of 2016 when she drove a couple hours out of the way to come through here just so we could have a quick lunch together.  I am fortunate that she loves to drive so much! She drove me around for two days out there, and got our little get-together organized. Geocachers really are the best.  :)  

I'm still working on getting my final logs written ... I posted quick cut-paste logs so as to be sure to earn my "Planetary Pursuits" souvenirs (it was nice of them to extend the deadline by a week!) but am going back and writing more detailed logs now.  I think I'm up to about 45 of the 59 caches I found, plus a few notes and DNF's for ones I wasn't able to log.  It's taken a severe toll on my puzzle-solving time, but I'm hoping pretty soon I'll be ready to:

Get Back to Work!

Tomorrow we'll ...