The concept behind GoogleEarthing.com is very simple: imagine a scavenger hunt akin to Where’s Waldo whose search space consists of the entire visible surface of the Earth. Seriously.

The rules of the game are very simple:

1. Download and install Google Earth.
2. Identify the location of the image by name, longitude and latitude, or very specific description. Enter your guess using the comments feature for the image in question.
3. Send an email to info@googleearthing.com so we know how to contact you.
4. Tell all your friends about GoogleEarthing.

The first person with the correct coordinates, name, or otherwise completely specific description of the location will will a valueless prize chosen by the site operator.

Just for grins, here’s an idea of the sort of image you are tasked to find:

The above image is actually puzzle #92, posted November 12, 2006. As of this blog entry, this puzzle has not been solved … will you be the first to crack it?

If you’re a geocacher, you’re probably a geography buff.

The 50 U.S. states contain a wealth of puzzle opportunities. There are so many different pieces of data available about all 50 states that making brainteasers and puzzles based upon them is fairly easy. There are a number of brainteasers in the widget on the right that deal with the U.S. states.

Listed below are the 50 U.S. states in order – in twelve different orders, that is! The first five and last five states in each list are shown, and it’s up to you to figure out what rule determines the ordering in each case. For example, one of the lists is ordered by population, another by land area.

This puzzle was originally published in Games Magazine, October 2002.

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