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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 You are welcome to leave comments, but comments including hints will not be published.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!

Thursday, December 31, 2020

New Year's Eve Nonsense - 12/31/20

Since it's New Year's Eve I figured I'd pull out a couple of thematic puzzles I've shared here previously.  From Nebraska, let's have a little:

New Year's Nonsense

and from Germany:

Knocking on New Year's Door

Tomorrow we'll ...

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Base Jumping - 12/30/20

Today we're visiting a brand new puzzle from California.  I have to say I don't think I ever thought I'd be advocating anyone trying:

Base Jumping

Tomorrow we'll ...

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

It All Started ... - 12/29/20

Today's California puzzle was recommended to me earlier today and happens to be perfectly themed for today, as I've been thinking back to when:

It all started...

Friday will mark the 10th anniversary of this blog and although I had seriously considered letting it go at that point, I'm willing to keep it going a bit longer.  You can expect to see a lot more reruns from the early years, but I'll do my best to keep adding in new and as yet undiscovered puzzles as I can find them.  If everyone who reads this would be willing to recommend a puzzle to me every month or so I'm sure I would have more than enough.  I hope you'll consider helping me keep things going.

Tomorrow we'll ...

Monday, December 28, 2020

Double Jigsaw -12/28/20

Today I'm rerunning a Washington post I shared in this date in 2017. I always enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles during the holidays,  and did an old favorite one with my daughter on Christmas night. We even got my husband involved towards the end.  I have lots of others I might still dig out, so this could be a holiday marked by a:

Double Jigsaw

Tomorrow we'll ...

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Winter War - 12/27/20

Today's puzzle takes us to Finland for some interesting history about a:

Winter War

Tomorrow we'll ...

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Friday, December 25, 2020

Merry Christmas! -12/25/20

My gift for you today is a pair of puzzles. First up is this one from Canada's Alberta province that I featured way back in 2012:

Christmas Morning Chaos

and this new one from California, with which I wish you:

A Very Emoji Christmas

Tomorrow we'll ...

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Reindeer Games - 12/24/20

 Let's mark Christmas Eve with a pair of timely Connecticut puzzles:

Reindeer Games

and

Holiday Sudoku

Tomorrow we'll ...

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Baseball and Horse Racing - 12/23/20

Today's central New York puzzle taught me something I didn't know, and made me laugh at the same time.  I bet you're not expecting a holiday puzzle with a title like:

Baseball and Horse Racing

Tomorrow we'll ...

P.S.  If you found that one interesting, here are a couple more:  Gavels and Greatest of All Times & 1 of Many cleaning TOTTs

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Humble Holiday - 12/22/20

I didn't realize it, but apparently in addition to being the winter solstice yesterday was National Crossword Puzzle Day.  For the last 200+ days my son and I have worked on the New York Times crossword puzzle either together or in tandem.  We make a good team and it's been a fun diversion.  Today's puzzle takes us to California for:

Harmony's Humble Holidays - December 21st

I'd also like to recommend this intriguing non-geocaching puzzle crossword that I worked on as part of a recent puzzlehunt.  It's a diagramless crossword, meaning that you have to figure out the dimensions of the grid and construct it yourself as you work out the clues. (I'll have to see if I can find a geocaching puzzle with one of those).  I've only done a couple of them, so it was fun getting this one to work out. Even when you think the puzzle is finished, there's more to do, and I found it quite entertaining.  

Monday, December 21, 2020

Follow the Directions - 12/21/20

 Today's New Jersey puzzle was recently recommended to me, and I enjoyed it.  Just:

Follow the Directions

Tomorrow we'll ...

Sunday, December 20, 2020

OOPS - 12/20/20

In the process of going back and getting all of last year's featured posts bookmarked I realized I managed to miss a day in the week before Christmas ... so this one is being posted a bit late, and backdating it.  It looks like I did the same thing back in 2016 when I first featured this Minnesota puzzle appropriately entitled:

OOPS 


Saturday, December 19, 2020

A Long Winter's Nap - 12/19/20

 I got my grades turned in so I'm just about ready for a long winter's nap.  Today's puzzle takes us to Nebraska, and would be a fun one to do with any mini-puzzlers in your life:

The 4th Day of Cachemas: A Long Winter's Nap

Tomorrow we'll ...

Friday, December 18, 2020

Word Wheel - 12/18/20

Today's brand new California puzzle was inspired by the work of Eric Berlin, whose puzzles I've enjoyed myself.  His New York Times crossword puzzle from11/29/20 was one of the better ones in recent memory, in my opinion.  I purchased his "Puzzlesnacks" book but ended up giving it to my mother-in-law as a present when she found herself without any puzzles to do earlier during the pandemic.  Take a spin at the:

Word Wheel #1

Tomorrow we'll ... 

P.S. For anyone who's interested, we did wake up to just under 12 inches of snow yesterday. The sad part is that I'm not sure any of it will actually stick around another week so we can have a white Christmas.  A foot of snow is nothing to sneeze at, but we're sure happy we're not digging out like the folks about an hour south of us who got about 40 inches(!) 

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Winter Wonderland -12/17/20

 Today's cache takes us to Missouri.  I don't know about you, but we're going to wake up to a:

Winter Wonderland

Tomorrow we'll ...

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Happy 250th! - 12/16/20

Today marks the 250th birthday* of Ludwig van Beethoven, so in honor of the occasion I'm re-sharing this central NY puzzle I first featured back in 2012:

Happy Beethoven's Birthday! -- Schroeder

(12/16/53)

*Apparently they're not positive what day he was born, but since he was baptized on 12/17/1770,  it seems like most sources think he was born within a day or two of that date.

Tomorrow we'll ...


Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Dr. Who? - 12/15/20

The choice of today's Ohio puzzle was sparked by the storm of controversy over a certain op-ed that came out recently.  If you missed the story, a quick google should fill you in on:

Dr. Who?

Tomorrow we'll ...

Monday, December 14, 2020

Check, Please! -12/14/20

Today's Georgia puzzle is one that I shared back in 2015.   It's the last week of the semester, so I'll be giving and grading a lot of exams.  If I had one bit of advice for my students about their work before turning in their math tests it would be:

Check Please!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Present company - 12/13/20

Today's Colorado puzzle is one that I featured back in 2012, and it inspired one of my own puzzles. I hope it's ok to share it in:

Present Company

Tomorrow we'll ...



Saturday, December 12, 2020

Zodiac message solved! - 12/12/20

Today I'm sharing a tough California puzzle I first featured back in 2014.  I was fascinated to learn yesterday that a long-undecoded message left by the Zodiac killer has finally been cracked.  Here is a video made by one of the codebreakers that gives an easy to follow explanation for how it was done.  I think any of us who enjoy solving puzzles can relate to the processes that are described, and be really impressed at the results they were able to achieve!  It's only a shame that the decryption doesn't lead them any closer to the identity of:

Zodiac

Tomorrow we'll ...

Friday, December 11, 2020

Despised - 12/11/20

Today we travel to Illinois for puzzle I thought was pretty cool, but apparently it's:

Despised

Tomorrow we'll ...

Thursday, December 10, 2020

Julcachelender - 12/10/20

Over the years I have enjoy seeing different versions of puzzle caches that built around advent.  The ones I am recalling have been in Sweden, although I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they are found in other places as well.  One form is a single cache that requires you to solve multiple pre-existing puzzle caches (not always holiday-related), with specifics being revealed one at a time when the cache page updates each day.   Another version is a series of caches where a new one comes out each day.  I've found both kinds to be a good source of fun.  Here's one that celebrates another Swedish tradition:

Växjö Julcachelender 2019 # 10 - Nobel  

Tomorrow we'll ...

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Hannukkah Menorah - 12/9/20

 With Hanukkah starting tomorrow I figured I'd share this in-theme puzzle from Connecticut that is part of a series:

#6 - Hanakkache Menorah

Tomorrow we'll ...

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Oh Christmas Tree - 12/8/20

Today we travel to the Isle of Man for a fun little game that's a nice exercise in logic.  You've got a good chance of beating me on the leaderboard for:

Oh Christmas Tree

Tomorrow we'll ...

Monday, December 7, 2020

Holiday Letter - 12/7/20

Today's puzzle from Canada's Alberta province is one I featured way back in 2011.  I received my first Christmas card in the mail the other day, and it's gotten me thinking about what I'll do for our cards this year.  After spending the last 9 months pretty much just sitting in the house, it's going to be a good trick to come up with enough interesting news to put together this year's:

Holiday Letter

Tomorrow we'll ...

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Saturday, December 5, 2020

Friday, December 4, 2020

Christmas Tree GeoArt -12/4/20

Yesterday was the perfect day to drive a few miles up the road to the tree farm and pick out my Christmas tree.  The sun was shining, there was some snow on the ground (and none on the roads) and it wasn't too cold. Mind you, I don't have it decorated yet, but at least I've taken the first step. So today I thought we'd travel to Michigan for the first puzzle in a series of 33:

Christmas Tree GeoArt #01

Tomorrow we'll ...

Thursday, December 3, 2020

A Christmas Carol? - 12/3/20

Today we'll be visiting a puzzle in Finland.  In the words of the immortal Tom Lehrer it's time to "drag out" the:

DICKENS

Tomorrow we'll ...

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Anxiety Salts - 12/2/20

Today's puzzle takes us to Utah.  Even under normal circumstances the last two weeks before final exams are always a stressful time for both professors and students. This year it's even more so.  We could definitely all use some:

Anxiety Salts

Tomorrow we'll ...

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Happy Cachedays - 12/1/20

I am excited to have spent some time caching this weekend. I did a newish Adventure Lab with a friend (distanced, of course) and logged the bonus cache as my first "unknown" cache since March 1st.  Who could have imagined back then what the next 9 months would bring? I can't believe it's December 1st already.  It was always a special day to me when I was little, since it marked the first day we started getting ready for Christmas.  My mother would get out the advent calendars for us to start opening and haul the "portable" record player upstairs and set a stack of  Holiday LP's for us to play as my sister and I went to sleep.  Mitch Miller and the gang always came up first.   For the last 22 years we've had another reason to celebrate today since it's the birthday of the "A" in teamajk.  Whatever you may be celebrating today, I hope you'll enjoy today's Connecticut puzzle:

#1 - Happy Cachedays

Tomorrow we'll ...