Wash Your Hands! - 3/31/20

Today we have a California puzzle that's hot off the presses, and very timely.  Enjoy the puzzle, stay safe, and don't forget to:

Wash Your Hands!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Down Letting - 3/30/20

Today's puzzle takes us to California.  Just in case there was any doubt that people can make a puzzle out of anything, I give you:

OIAL 070: Down letting

Tomorrow we'll ...

Tossed Caesar Salad - 3/29/20

If you're like me you've been cooking a lot more than usual since eating out has been pretty strictly curtailed.  Even our delivery options around here are pretty limited, and I'm hoping that the restaurants we love that are closed now will be able to reopen again when we're through all of this.  Let's travel to California for a nice:

Tossed Caesar Salad

Tomorrow we'll ...

Mmm, pie. - 3/28/20

Today's puzzle takes us to Minnesota and features a dessert that I somehow must not have even tried during my first 50 years.  I had a preconceived notion that I didn't like it, and when I ended up receiving one at Thanksgiving I sort of grudingly tried it.  What a surprise. I love sweet things but I admit that I had to limit myself to small pieces or the sugar rush was just too much.  It's not really a very spring-like dessert, but I hope you'll enjoy this:

Pecan Pie

Tomorrow we'll ...

Peace and Love - 3/27/20

Well, darn it. I did it again.  I had the post ready to go and had the time set wrong.  Sorry!

Today I'm featuring a brand new geo-art from Texas.  The puzzles aren't too difficult, but since there are 63 of them there's plenty to keep you busy if you like.  I figured it might be a nice break from the news to spend some time thinking about:

Peace & Love #1

Tomorrow we'll ...

Brain drain - 3/26/20

Tonight I'm feeling like I've been puzzling all day, but it wasn't nearly as much fun as that usually is.  The puzzles I've been solving are trying to figure out how to learn the different technology I'll be using in moving to teaching, tutoring, and testing online starting next week and in some cases trying to make the programs do things they weren't really designed to do (think of having a hammer when what you really need is a screwdriver).  I think I'm making progress but it's slow. Fortunately I already had the right background for today's Virginia puzzle:

Music Theory 101: Scientific Pitch Notation

Tomorrow we'll ...

March Madness - 3/25/20

When I looked back at today's Indiana puzzle, which I first shared in 2013, I hadn't saved the coordinates so I ended up going through it all over again.  I had just as much fun the second time, so I thought it was definitely worth a re-run, as we look forward to the time when we'll be able to once again enjoy the more welcome kind of:

March Madness!!!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Census Questions - 3/24/20

I took the time to do our census form today, and was surprised that it didn't actually take that long.  I think one year we got one of the "long form" versions (which apparently aren't used any more) and it took forever, so I was glad that it went quickly.  It got me thinking about sharing a census-related puzzle with you today, and I found this one from Virginia, which shares some interesting background information on census data, and is part of a larger series you might enjoy trying out:

Be the Genealogist-Census

Tomorrow we'll ...

Spatial Relations - 3/23/20

Spatial relations has never been one of my strong suits, and I have noticed over the years that there are a lot of puzzles out there that give me trouble because of that.  I've had to train myself to really look for aspects relating to drawing or visualizing shapes because I tend to overlook them.  Even when I'm looking for them, though, I'm much more likely to interpret them backwards, upside down, or inside out than to get it right on the first try.  Such was the case with today's Oregon puzzle:

3-D Blocks - a Visual Puzzle

Tomorrow we'll ...

Scarecrow - 3/22/20

I've been doing a lot of non geocache-related puzzling lately, and one of the things I've been introduced to is a site called "Scarecrow's Field."  Each puzzle is self-contained guessing game, in the form of an image.  You proceed by making guesses and receive feedback limited to "nope," "maybe," and "almost," with an occasional extra bit of verbiage thrown in to help you fine tune your guesses.  I've found some of them to be sort of straightforward (others are real exercises in lateral thinking) and I've been exposed to some remarkably wacky tidbits of random information while learning about the puzzles' themes along the way.  If you decide to check them out I recommend keeping careful track of all your "maybe" and "almost" guesses in case you end up leaving one and returning to it later.  The good news is you'll have more than one puzzle available to work on at a time. 

When I started looking for a puzzle with some kind of scarecrow connection, I didn't have to look any farther than one that I wrote for another Ithaca CO back in 2014, but which I haven't shared here before:

Captain Scarecrow's Golden Ammo Can

Tomorrow we'll ...

A Little More Pi - 3/21/20

Today we're paying a virtual visit to downstate New York.  Perhaps you know someone with some extra time on their hands right now that might enjoy getting more involved in puzzling.  If so, here's a nice series of 15 puzzles that cover a wide range of puzzling techniques. Why not see if you recognize them all?  The fun starts here:

Happy Pi Day 01

Tomorrow we'll ...

Sew What? - 3/20/20

Today's puzzle takes us to California for a puzzle I featured way back in 2014.  I thought I might take a break from reading all the bad news on the computer today by doing a little sewing.  I think I made every possible mistake that I could ... mis-measuring, mis-cutting, sewing crooked, hitting a wrong setting on my sewing machine and not being able to figure out how to undo what I had done, royally goofing up a zipper and then just when I thought I had it all done right I ironed on part that wasn't supposed to be ironed and wrecked it.  It just wasn't my day, but I guess in the greater scheme of things I should just say:

Sew What?

Tomorrow we'll ...

For the Love of Spock - 3/19/20

Today's puzzle takes us to Minnesota.  I was poking around on Netflix last night and happened across a documentary about Leonard Nimoy that I was aware of, due to its association with The Big Bang Theory, but had never watched before.  I found "For the Love of Spock" quite enjoyable and decided to share a Spock-themed puzzle with you today.  So here it is:

In Memory of Ambassador Spock

Tomorrow we'll ...

Off-Center - 3/18/20

Sorry for the delay ... forgot to hit "publish."

Today we travel to California for a puzzle that came out earlier this month.  I've been thinking a lot about all of my many caching friends in the San Francisco Bay area, which is experiencing some of the most restrictive conditions in the country so far.  I hope everyone is doing well and coping OK and that it won't take as long as some people are predicting for things to get back to normal.  It's definitely enough to keep us all feeling:

Off-Center

P.S.  At least one of my friends is writing some puzzles, although they're not geocaching puzzles (yet?)  Check out the first installment here.

Tomorrow we'll ...

Happy St. Patrick's Day - 3/17/20

Today we travel to Maine to revisit a thematic puzzle I shared way on this day way back in 2011.  Hope you can sort out the story of the Leprechauns':

Pot of gold.

Tomorrow we'll ...

PIE - 3/16/20

Although pi day is now behind us, I thought you might tolerate one more piece of "PIE" in the form of one of my own puzzles I shared back in 2012. It was from a series of puzzles I put out called "Puzzled: Ithaca, Edition."  They came out one per month, for two years.  While I found working on a deadline to be tough, it did inspire me to do a lot more puzzling.  I may have to commit to another such series to get myself going again.  At any rate, I hope you'll:

Have A Ball! (PIE 2.6)

Tomorrow we'll celebrate St. Patrick's day.

A Can - 3/15/20

Today's puzzle is one from Arizona that was passed along to me recently.  With all that's going on in the world right now puzzling seems pretty trivial, I guess.  But at least it allows us a momentary mental break from the ever-changing news that just keeps getting worse.  We're all adjusting to things that would have seemed unthinkable even a week ago.  I hope everyone stays healthy and that if you're out of your normal routine that puzzling could provide some distraction, and even some fun.  I suppose you might even consider accompanying your puzzling with a nice glass of wine or some other adult beverage that comes in:

A Can 

Tomorrow we'll ...

Me, oh my ... - 3/14/20

Today we have an Ohio puzzle that I first featured back in 2012.  It's perfect for today:

Me Oh My, I Love...

(Be sure to check out the final location on google maps).

Tomorrow we'll ...

Ready for pi? - 3/13/20

With pi day just one day off I wanted to re-share a puzzle I featured 3 years ago.  One of these days I really want to spend "pi day" down in the tri-state (NY-PA-NJ) area and attend the longest-running geocaching celebration of the day held by my good friend (and CO of this puzzle) captainmath.  Maybe I'd even have:

A Slice of Cherry Pi?

(link repaired)

Tomorrow we'll ...

Puzzle Street - 3/12/20

 It seems like there are new developments related to the coronavirus almost hourly.  I'll be having to teach the second half of the semester all virtually, and am going to have to put some effort into figuring out what that's going to look like.  I hope everyone out there is staying healthy.  If you're looking for a nice juicy puzzle series to keep you occupied, I'm happy to suggest this one from Nova Scotia, Canada, that I first featured way back in 2011.  It all starts here:

PS01: Welcome to Puzzle Street!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Pi Day is coming - 3/11/20

Today finds us in Wisconsin with a look back at the first puzzle I featured in honor of pi day, all the way back in 2011: 

Slice of pi(e)

Tomororw we'll ...

Pie Slices - 3/10/20

Today's puzzle takes us to Texas.  With just a few days until "pi" day, it seems like a good time to start thinking about:

"pie slices"

Tomorrow we'll ...

One Last Leap - 3/9/20

Today's puzzle takes us to California.  Sharpen your pencils (and have an eraser handy) for one last puzzle in honor of:

Leap Day 2020

Tomorrow we'll ...

Only Time Will Tell - 3/8/20

Today's puzzle takes us to California.  With our clocks moving forward today I figured a clock-themed puzzle was appropriate.  How long do you think it will take you to get used to the time change?:

Only Time Will Tell (KPC2010)

Tomorrow we'll ....

Almost Spring! - 3/7/20

I know it isn't really almost Spring, but my friend did see a robin yesterday and with the clock change this weekend the extra daylight at the end of the day is going to put a spring in my step.  Today's puzzle is one I solved very early in my puzzling career, and I featured it back in 2011.  Enjoy the celebration of Spring in:

03.20.09, 7:44. Nascence

Tomorrow we'll ...

The Gauntlet - 3/6/20

Today I'm taking you to Rhode Island for the beginning of a challenging series I first featured way back in 2013.  It starts here but things will get harder as you work your way up from:

Puzzle Gauntlet 1.0: Certitudity

Tomorrow we'll ...

Superghost - 3/5/20

With Super Tuesday just behind us, I thought maybe it was time for a super puzzle.  So here's one from California that I hope you'll enjoy:

Superghost

Tomorrow we'll ...

Forest Chess - 3/4/20

Today's puzzle takes us to a country that's not yet had a puzzle featured here before: Ukraine.  If you enjoy this little exercise there are several others in the series:

Forest Chess (#6)

Tomorrow we'll ...

Lego - In Memoriam - 3/3/20

Since I've been watching the Lego Master series lately, this new cache from Germany caught my eye.  I enjoyed reading the history discussed in:

Lego - In Memoriam*

(*be sure to read the hint to get the formatting correct)

Tomorrow we'll ...

The Original 29 - 3/2/20

I hope everyone had a fun Leap Day and was able to attend and event or find a cache to claim the souvenir.  We had a nice meet and greet event here, with a couple of thematic puzzles for the attendees to work on.  Here's one of them:

The Original 29 Code Talkers

Tomorrow we'll ...

First of the Month - 3/1/20

Going back to 2011, I've enjoyed the monthly series that is celebrated in today's featured California puzzle.  If you're unfamiliar with it, I highly recommend that you check it out.  There are a lot of great puzzles in the:

KPC First of the Month

Tomorrow we'll ...