I’m on a particular self-imposed geocaching quest – to complete the Florida-Style Alphabet Soup Challenge using nothing but puzzle caches.

I mentioned this quest to lorriebird and that I had no caches (neither found nor unfound) that I could use for the letters K or Z. Since she knew that I would be traveling to her area soon for an event cache, she graciously hid two appropriately-named puzzle caches for me to find – Ken(Ken) Moves to Naples and Zany Brainy Word Nerd (aka ZBWN).

I zipped through KenKen fairly quickly and took a cursory look at ZBWN. I tried a few ideas that have worked in other caches, but I couldn’t discover a pattern that made sense to me. I put it aside and went onto a few other caches, returning to ZWBN every now and then.

But as the weeks went by, I started to panic: “What if I don’t solve it before the event? Unless I figure it out, I’m going to be the laughing stock of every puzzlehead south of I-4!” And yet, other people seemed to be cracking it in mere seconds – every Found It log entry on ZBWN that claimed how easily each cacher solved it deflated my oversized ego more and more.

Finally, after the event cache and just as I was about to leave, one of the other cachers asked if he could give me a hint for ZBWN. I finally broke down and said yes, only to discover that I had the solution in front of me the entire time – it was one of the very first things I tried – and I was too blind to see it.

In my defense, I had a very good reason – it was because I’ve attempted too many puzzles like it in the past and they clouded my opinion of what the solution would be.

Below are 12 examples of just the sort of puzzle that kept me from solving ZBWN without a hint. I would strongly recommend that you solve ZBWN first before tackling these, or you will be as lost in the weeds as I was.

Good luck!

The Last Word

Each of the 12 sets of words below has a common denominator, some unusual factor that is shared by the six words in the set. It’s up to you to determine what that factor is and identify which one of the three words after the list has it, too.

For example, given SEXES, MOM, DEIFIED, LEVEL, POP, and REDDER, with choices DIVINED, ROTATOR, and STARTS, you’d pick ROTATOR: All the words are spelled the same forward and back.

For how many of the following sets can you get the last word?

1. SETTEE, RACCOON, EMBARRASS, APPELLATION, BASSOON, SUFFRAGETTE
a. BEDROOM   b. PROPELLER   c. EGGSHELL   Show Answer ▼

2. TEA, EYE, SEA, QUEUE, ARE, WHY
a. YOU   b. ATE   c. WEE   Show Answer ▼

3. MUSEUM, EARLOBE, YEARLY, SEAMSTRESS, WILLOW, DOODAD
a. COCOON   b. ERASER   c. TABLET   Show Answer ▼

4. YOUTH, THEMATIC, USHER, SHEIK, ITALICS, MEDIUM
a. THEATER   b. WEEVIL   c. DOMESTIC   Show Answer ▼

5. GIGGLING, REARRANGER, ASSESS, MINIMIZING, DIDDLED, PIZZAZZ
a. DEEDED   b. INTERMITTENT   c. CANDIDACY   Show Answer ▼

6. REVILED, STRESSED, REPAID, STAR, DRAWER, PARTS
a. VILE   b. REGARD   c. STINK   Show Answer ▼

7. PREVIEW, TALLOW, SELECTION, GOLDEN, BRAIDED, CLAMP
a. TRACING   b. CASHEW   c. CONVERT   Show Answer ▼

8. CIVIC, LIVID, MIX, MILL, VIVID, DILL
a. MIMIC   b. LICIT   c. MINIM   Show Answer ▼

9. BANANA, DEMONIC, FICKLE, HUMBUG, JABORANDI, LUCK
a. NEMESIS   b. NUDISM   c. MEGATION   Show Answer ▼

10. GEL, GROUP, PLACE, FIXED, RESOLUTE, ADJUST
a. USELESS   b. COLLECTION   c. AFGHAN   Show Answer ▼

11. RING, TOPS, MANATEE, WINDLESS, EARTH, ANGER
a. MATTER   b. TUNES   c. OUGHT   Show Answer ▼

12. ACCEPT, BEGINS, ABHORS, CHINOS, BILLOW, EFFORT
a. ALMOST   b. BEFORE   c. CENSOR   Show Answer ▼

Cryptic crosswords are a fun variation on the basic crossword puzzle concept. The most important difference between a traditional crossword and a cryptic one is in the clues: in a cryptic, every single clue is a lateral thinking puzzle unto itself.

In essence, a cryptic clue leads to its answer as long as you read it in the right way. What the clue appears to say when read normally (the surface reading) is a distraction and usually has nothing to do with the clue answer. The challenge is to find the way of reading the clue that leads to the solution.

A typical clue gives you two ways of getting to the answer, either of which can come first. One part of the clue is a definition, which must exactly match the part of speech and tense of the answer. The other part (the subsidiary indication, or wordplay) gives you an alternative route to the answer. One of the tasks of the solver is to find the boundary between definition and wordplay and insert a mental pause there when reading the clue cryptically.

Either the definition or the wordplay can come first, and they never overlap. As a further hint, the clue is followed by a number in parentheses that indicates the number of letters in the answer.

There are a number of different but reasonably standard techniques employed in the wordplay, including anagrams, charades (breaking down larger words into smaller components), containers (inserting one word within another), reversals (spelling words backwards), homophones (different words that sounds alike), deletions (removing letters from the beginning, middle, or end of a word), double definitions (two different interpretations of the clue give the same answer), and more.

This can sound terribly daunting, but it’s a lot easier than you might think. For example, take the following clue:

Returned beer fit for a king (5)

The phrase fit for a king is the definition and returned beer is the wordplay. Beer is LAGER, returned implies a reversal which gives REGAL, and the definition of REGAL is fit for a king.

Here’s another example:

Power plant lacks a spiritual leader (6)

A power plant is a REACTOR, and a REACTOR that lacks “a” is a RECTOR.

How the heck were you supposed to know all of that? Trial and error, experience, and lucky guesses … that’s what makes cryptic crosswords fun! Here’s a few guides to help you solve cryptic clues:

• National Puzzlers League
• Wikipedia
• The Guardian (newspaper)

Ready to try your hand at an entire puzzle? Although not as common in America, newspapers throughout the British Commonwealth regularly run them. Here are a few online sources for good puzzles that serve them to you absolutely free:

• The Guardian
• The Independent
• The Herald

As a final note here, try solving this one:

Obscure shout before headless lens (7)

Show ▼

“A cleverly crafted puzzle is a work of intellectual art when the simplicity of its solution is beautifully hidden by the complexity of its design. Such art requires imagination and creativity on the part of the creator and requires the solver to walk the fine line between inspiration and insanity.”

Brian Smith, Author/Creator of the Cerebral Codex

Part novel, part puzzle, part quest … it is difficult to find a single description that adequately describes the Cerebral Codex.

The Novel

The story begins with the protagonists Bret and Jon fighting for their very survival swimming through a rough sea in a raging storm. Sighting an island in the distance, they manage to avoid drowning and swim to the safety of the shore. After recovering on the island, they discover hidden deep within an old stone library the Cerebral Codex, which told a unique and intriguing tale.

In this mysterious environment, the two friends find themselves in a strange place with only the Cerebral Codex to help guide them. They find that the Codex is riddled with mind bending and mysterious mental challenges, which when solved lead them on an adventure like no other.

The Puzzle

As the characters in the novel encounter puzzles, you are given similar challenges to solve. Work to solve the puzzles and uncover hidden information in the codex and begin your own adventure.  This is a multi-stage challenge which has several levels each consisting of a mental challenge (puzzle) followed by a physical challenge.  Can you unlock the mysteries encoded deep within the Cerebral Codex?

The Quest

There are two ways to claim credit for solving the Cerebral Codex. As a cache finder or as a distance solver.

If you choose to find the cache in person, you’ve got quite a trek ahead of you. The Cerebral Codex geocache is set in the heart of the Wharton State Forest in New Jersey, USA. With over 100,000 acres, Wharton is the largest New Jersey State Forest and provides a great backdrop for this challenge.  While the cache itself is located in Wharton State Forest, this adventure will take you well beyond it’s boundaries in search of the puzzle pieces that you need to access the final cache container, the logbook, and the Codex Bonus Cache Travel Bug.

If you decide to tackle this as a distance solver, you’ve got a different sort of trek ahead of you. Download the novel, and read the entire thing. Solve the first ten puzzles to unlock the twenty Meshulash pieces. Use the Meshulash pieces to solve the final puzzle.  When you solve the final puzzle, you’ll be given the tracking code for the Codex Distance Solver Travel Bug.

The Cerebral Codex  was not designed to be tackled in a weekend – it will take thought, time and (if you attempt to find the cache) several trips.

Getting Started

If you are ready to tackle the challenge of the Cerebral Codex, click on one of the following links:

Geocache Hunters: Visit the cache page for GCVJXQ
Distance Solvers: Download the novel and begin solving from home

Directed by New York Times Crossword Puzzle Editor Will Shortz, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is the nation’s oldest and largest crossword competition. Solvers tackle eight original crosswords created and edited specially for this event. Scoring is based on accuracy and speed. Prizes are awarded in more than 20 categories, including a $5,000 grand prize. Evening games, guest speakers, and a wine and cheese reception allow solvers to meet each other in a relaxed and entertaining atmosphere.

If you enjoy wordplay (and, frankly, who doesn’t?), then you’ll love the National Puzzlers League. The NPL is a self-described eclectic crowd who enjoy all forms of wordplay and are continuing the traditions of “The World’s Oldest Puzzlers’ Organization”.

I am on a quest to become a contestant on the Puzzle on the Air segment of National Public Radio‘s morning news program Weekend Edition Sunday. During this segment, New York Times crossword puzzle editor and NPR puzzlemaster Will Shortz leads one lucky contestant on an on-air challenge of wordplay.

It’s remarkably easy to enter. Just solve the listener challenge given on the program and submit your answer to http://www.npr.org/puzzle before 3:00 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday. The contestant is chosen at random from all of the correct answers received before that week’s deadline.