Bright Alkzura Carseldine, Queensland, Australia
By NyletaM on 27-Aug-11. Waypoint GC333AH

One or more of the following has occurred:

No response from the cache owner.
No cache to find or log to sign.
It has been more than 28 days since the last owner note.

As a result I am archiving this cache to keep from continually showing up in search lists and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements.

If you wish to repair/replace/make available the cache sometime in the near future, just contact a reviewer (by email), and assuming it still meets the current

guidelines, the reviewer will be happy to unarchive it.

Should you replace the cache after 28 days has passed please create a new cache listing so it can be reviewed as a new cache.

Sorry for the delay checking the cache, I've got a 4 month old baby so I've found it hard to get out of the house. [|)]

The cache is definately gone, I'll replace ASAP.

Cam by today and had a little search without luck. Afetr a fair while I noticed some other scratchings. I updated the cache logs in my cache saved list and noted that sure enough my partner in crime had been out recently searching too. After half a fruitless hour I decided enough was enough and PAF'd. PAF suggested I was on the right track, and that I should see it THERE. but no I was sure I had looked there, and its just not there! A follow up from PAF to CO agreed it must be missing. CO will apparently check it out!

There are some very bright bunnies in the geo-field and Alkzura is certainly one of them from what I've seen, but what's remarkable is how this game becomes a great equalizer whenever you step out of your own comfort zone. When I see puzzles that are word-based or need some lateral thinking, I often grasp them instinctively... but each time I read this one through, I literally could not understand it. I had no idea where to begin or how to begin whatsoever. I felt completely, laughably inept! It may as well have been written in Swahili!
Recently at a regular get-together, SwellerFungus suggested we take another look. I predicted disaster but tried to muster some enthusiasm. From what I could make out, it required some very heavy duty maths/logic application... oh dear. My little brain swirled and fogged. Those 4.5 stars are pretty scary-looking. I did this and that to no avail. Then I tried another part... hmm, something makes sense there. I sent my findings off to SF but immediately wondered whether he would find them silly and irrelevant! As it turns out, I was actually on the right track...
One thing led to another and when I got Tinda14 in on the act as well, to my great delight, we started pulling out the coordinates - amazing! I honestly thought it would take days or weeks.
SF and I conferred some more and he wanted to go straight out at night in the rain to find it... until we remembered the thing about security guards, so we held off.
Today, I suddenly found myself nearby and thought I'd give it a shot. I did the best I could, but no dice today. It hasn't been found in more than six months, and it's certainly a challenging spot. Oh well, I hope it's still there and look forward to perhaps a joint effort at some excavation or similar. I found something that reminded me of a now archived NyletaM cache, but it wasn't it. I guess this is where those 4.5 stars really come home to roost! Until next time...

had this puzzle worked out a while ago.

unscrewed a few things here and there, looked in a few places until i finally got my hands on the cache.

tftc/h

This one was heaps of fun to solve and a very original idea I must say. It took a few iterations to solve with a lot of scribbles and re-workings. Sounds like a fitting tribute - well done!

I was in the area today and visited a couple of GZs I had in the 'solved' column. It was fairly quiet at GZ today so it wasn't too much trouble. The container was a little exposed so I hid it away from curious muggle eyes.

TFTC awesome work on the puzzle!

I was out and about chauffeuring Net88 around to a few puzzle caches, with my payment being coord information. Yes, I am corrupt, but, I know there is no way known that I could possibly solve this one, sorry NyletaM I am glad to have this cache turn into a smiley!

I pulled up the monster truck right next to GZ and Net88 bailed out to find the cach. She had it spotted within seconds. A very appropriate spot for the cache! Seeing as the rains had started, again, we headed back to our vehicle so we didn't get the log wet. Net88 volunteered to replace the cache and I wasn't going to argue with her.

TFTC NyletaM

Found this one whilst out caching with Nyssaflutterby as we both had a few hours spare. I had about 4 different friends helping me on this one trying to solve the puzzle which was just in my circle of annoying puzzles. I finally got coordinates a little while ago but I was waiting for a day where i would be in the area to grab it... which turns out was today. We parked nearby and I spotted the likely place from the car, as we got out it started raining but i had the cache in my hands within a minute or so. We took it back to the car to sign and then i dashed back across and returned it to its spot. Thanks for the cache NyletaM I'm just very glad it is finally done!

Finally. This puzzle has caught my eye a couple of times and recently I decided to make it my 300th. Solving the boxes was simple enough, but the "s" part eluded me. I knew what one of them should be, but couldn't work out how until one night I sat bolt upright, ran to the computer and looked before headslapping myself. Of course, s can equal that! It's what I've taught before. The best part is, now when a student asks me why they are learning _______ I can truthfully say, "So that you can solve Bright Alkzura."

So next, after the checky thingamebob gave me two thumbs up, I headed for gz. No much of an area for a hide, should be simple enough, if there weren't so many people ducking here and there. Made every rookie error that was flagged in previous comments (isn't hindsight wonderful???) but came up empty handed. "That's ok," I thought, "I'll come back tonight."

That night, I indeed found out that security patrols the area. "Why am I here? Um, my wife told me to come and look at that..." Not long after I headed off. Mmmm, 300 is looking shakey. Maybe the CO can give me a hint as to where the hide is. So off goes a request.

The next day I figure that my 300th will have to be another cache. I've waited for a while to make the find and I want to keep caching. So I bundled the mooselings into the moosemobile for one last attempt. Same area. I understand the K8 'n' Co reference and made to it and was about to give up when a minor detail caught my eye. I uncovered it further and eureka! I took the cache to the car and made the sign and breathed a sigh of relief. 300 up!

A fav point from me for the significance, the puzzle and the fact that I completed it without hints or nudges. Cheers NyletaM, a tops puzzle.

Found with omaster & lenicka.second. TFTC.

Found it together with omaster on a short gc-trip in the morning. He solved this cache earlier and wanted to get it before we leave Brisbane. Found quickly and easily. TFTC

When first brought to my attention a long time ago I did not have time to even think about it. But at the point I knew I would be in the area then I decided to have a harder look. There were a few times I was left scratching my brain and wondering but after a short while I was able to pull green from the checker. Then it was only when to grab it. With this being the last whole day in Brisbane it was time to grab those few last caches. So off we went and this was the last of 4 for the day. TFTC

Found with lenicka.second and aerial_tennille.

Found with Bedmaker.
TFTC.

Found with Tassiegirl13.
Well this one has been months and months in the solving. It wasn’t until a recent event where someone dropped a hint and we where then able to come up with some co-ords that made sense.

In the end it was Tassiegirl came up with the numbers. I’m glad she had a handle on it because I’m still not grasping the full idea.

Loved the location, knowing Alkzura it’s a very fitting name for the puzzle.
TFTC.

What a complex little puzzle this is. Armed with some coordinates that geochecker liked and worked out the area, we parked in the area at GZ.
Quite a few muggles around and with geopartner telling me that you won't find it.
I scratched around abit here and there and then I promptly told him I found it.
Now the retrieval bit.
Geopartner stood in front of me fiddling with his phone while I sat near GZ and got down to business of retrieving, signing and putting back the cache.
All so innocently.
TNLNSL TFTC Thanks NyletaM

I have had this puzzle as closest or second closest to home for a year now - annoying me endlessly. I needed help to even get started on it, but some time ago I got through what I now understand to be the first "easy" part. Well, "easy" is a relative word, but that part was a walk in the park compared to the rest. I never really shelved this, it was always on my of interest list, but nothing progressed very far for a long time.

Then, about a month ago I noticed CrookedPete had knocked it off in an afternoon (basically), and I felt it was time to have a better look. My hint to others is to re-create the puzzle (I did it in excel, but there was no number formula thingies in it for me, just a convenient 'drawing' tool of sorts.) Did that help? Probably not at first - unless killing trees is your goal - but it did force me to work at it more often in odd places (like the train). I managed to get a step further based on cacher logic, but that still left me with a number to get that was vitally important. I could guess, and even started down that path for a bit and had around about 999 options to choose from. Not really helpful, but it did reveal that my guess as to where it might be generally was WRONG!

Guessing the location of a NyletaM hide isn't very sensible you know. The puzzle is only half the story, and even when I know the final coordinates, and have a detailed description of the container and it's location, I've been known to struggle to put my hands on it even then[:(!]


I might not have progressed much further still, but I did (eventually) notice something that was kind of interesting. Not interesting enough to immediately click in my brain, but interesting. I now know that to be the most important point of the solution, but at the time I missed it. A recent roadtrip with some other cachers brought this up in conversation, and I confess that I got a very detailed nudge that day[B)] - however my goal was to solve it properly, so I didn't dwell on everything they said. One part, though, stuck in my brain, and the bit that I found interesting before was suddenly under more intense scrutiny.

And voila, I knew what I was looking for finally - and coordinates appeared - and geochecker said Hooray! Hooray!

With Mrs Prime away today I was able to sneak out after work for a quick handful of semi-nearby caches. Having read the earlier logs, and being a local, I knew where I was going, and I knew the best time to go as well. Upon arrival I saw very few options for a NyletaM hide, although I tried the others first. I almost tried what would be a K8'n'Co hide, which would have had disastrous results if I'd not stopped myself first. But a better look finally revealed what I needed to find.

Anyone else notice that NyletaM and Nemesis start with the same letter?[:X] Now, where is that whiskey again?

Thanks for placing this cache, NyletaM. Found in good condition. You are an exceedingly clever person
{Overall find #1513}

wow

that was hard work

lots of hints from the CO
lots of working with a geo-friend
and the hugest thank you to geo-friends son who got the last bit

so got it once we got to the GZ
we visited this spot a lot a few years ago

love love love the container

Well the find on this was a long time in the making. Cryptic hints from the CO, consultation with others, many late nights and lots and lots of beers and finally Barb comes up with a set of numbers that Geocheck was happy with

Head out early this morning before everyone else starts turning up. After reading previous logs about how difficult the find was, this was where I was able to put my talents to good use. Zeroing in on GZ, I think could it be there, but knowing the way the CO hides her caches, I was onto it seconds. Having trouble opening the cache, we took it back to the car to sign log.

Cache replaced in its hiding spot. Just one more NyletaM cache to go and it looks like another doozy. Oh well, more long nights but at least there will be a lot more beers

TFTH.

This journey started about 9 months ago when we first started geocaching so it is with great pleasure that Mr and Mrs membsec announce that they have finally unearthed Bright Alkzura , and all have survived the mammoth highs and lows of this awesome puzzle. We wish to thank geoson, 'omaster [:o)]' living in Sweden for his wonderful brains and guidance at the end of the journey (but when we first highlighted this little puzzle into his direction way back, his first response was 'no idea' but now that he is returning to Oz for a visit later in the year, he had a better look, boy we are glad now that we paid for his good education). We also wish to thank our other geocaching friends [^] who have also supported us with their thoughts and ideas, great fun bouncing ideas.

We would also like to thank the CO for her amazing cache and puzzle. No kidding, this puzzle attracted me right from the beginning and I kept coming back to it but it wasn't until we met the CO at a function that we believed we could solve it. At the start we thought it may be way beyond our maths ability but persistence pays off. Meeting the CO again late yesterday at a new cache , she gave us more hope that what we had done already was sounding good and we just needed to pay attention to the numbers we already had. Mmmmmm.......have done that already but we will try again. Skypeing to geoson he once again said "I really see nothing" I could see something but not the right thing and then I get the response "Oh I see something but....." But..... then we got "BINGO".

We waited until this morning to venture to GZ, hoping that we wouldn't meet anyone including the security guard and after a short search Bright Alkzura was in our hands.

TFTC

Interesting puzzle. I grasped what was required and got most of the way there quite quickly. However, I struggled with the last hurdle. I shelved the puzzle for a few days and when I came back to it, I finished it off quickly.

It's rare that I get to go caching on a weekday. The Ekka holiday provided the perfect opportunity to collect the unfound puzzles and other caches that are closest to home. Thankfully, GZ was reasonably quiet at this time of the morning on a public holiday (and no roaming security guards!).

My cache sense immediately told me where it was hidden, though I initially searched the wrong end. After a quick head scratch, I found it. SL. TN and left a bicycle water bottle.

TFTC NyletaM. This one nicely illuminates a dark square on my DT box too.

Pete

#483

Wahheeeee!! After our last dismal attempt and scare [xx(] we had some additional information from recent finders (thanks Gunnie! [^]). With this information, we felt comfortable trying for this one again and picked an appropriate time . Sure enough we very soon had the clever cache container in hand [^]. No incidents this time! Thanks NyletaM

Oh boy, did this puzzle cause me some grief... I had stared and stared at it for countless hours and absolutely nothing came to me. Last week I had a stroke of genius and thought I know, I'll take it to work and feed it to the Engineers. They're bright guys and will have it sorted in a matted of minutes. So, that's what I did... I gave it to them in the morning and went back for the answer in the afternoon. Easy I thought. That was until the pages came back blank, just like the looks on their faces when I asked them for a solution...

Minutes later however, as I was leaving work and nipped back to grab the printed pages that I had left on my desk, I looked at something that sparked a thought. 20 minutes later as I was safely on the train and had time to kill, I pieced things together and had half a set of coords... The east coords gave me some grief for a while and I could reverse engineer the finals but that was not helping with something important that I needed. I ran my result by Lokipagan for a quick check. Yep, you have "those" right. Hmm, my calc for this bit is not quite right and sure enough, all was revealed a few minutes later...

I had arranged to catch up with LP to do a combined raid and provide them with some company after their unfortunate attempt. Alas, that didn't happen due to work commitments so I teamed up with Ghostgums who had conveniently also solved the challenge recently... [^]

At GZ, we found the container quite quickly but getting the log out was another story. Someone with superhuman strength had done the container up and it was not opening with any great ease. After a few tries, we took the container back to GG's car and made use of some equipment he had on board. I was told not to ask why he had what he had in the car, so I'm keeping quiet...

The trick worked though and we were in. Time for some names in the log. All done and dusted, it was Mr Meccano who snuck the cache back in place. It was just secured and the area cleared, when staff from the adjacent shop exited. Hmm, that was close...

Thanks for a puzzle with a difference and a few headaches. We found out just how Bright Alkzura is by getting FTF but realised how bright he really is when we hit GZ...

Cheers NyletaM.

I had been looking at this one on and off for about 2 months, and things were just not clicking. Had some ideas and that was about it.

About a week ago Gunnie69 was making noises that he was making progress, so started giving it some serious examination. Chatting with Gunnie, got a abstract hint, which made me a look again, but that didn't help. Then suddenly had a thought around a part that I wasn't giving much attention, when I would try something and suddenly had some numbers fall out. Of course the hint made sense! That last part of the puzzle fell out quickly and had some co-ordinates for which the checker agreed!

Arrived at GZ after the shenanigans down the road, and using our best stealth Gunnie, myself and MrMeccano began the search. Most of the businesses had closed so the place was quite quiet. Our attention was drawn to one spot, and after a suggestion MrMeccano pulled the cache from its hiding spot!

Well that was easy! Well that was until we tried to open the container. The rain made the outside wet and it was hard to get a good grip on the container. There was a search for something that would be handy in assisting with the opening. I found a pair of latex gloves, that made Gunnie shudder, as it brought back memories of that caching weekend in Bangkok.

After twisting and turning the container finally gave in, and we were able to put our names in the log book. Rosegums who had been hovering around the events also managed to get her name in.

All up a neat puzzle NyletaM, and a nice little hide!

Aha... Got it... Conveniently just in time for a trip out that way on Saturday... That was handy... [^]

I shall leave the cache in place for now, but if others find the location to be too difficult I will move it. The location does have significance but isn't really integral for the purpose of the cache. The puzzle is what I really want everyone to enjoy.

Solved the puzzle and that's as far as we're going to get with this one I think unless some perfect opportunity presents itself!! Had been riddling with this one since it's release and had an idea of what was required early on. But I just couldn't get everything to work . Finally decided to check with the owner that I was on the right track. That confirmed, only one number remained... but how to get that number?! So there it sat for another couple of weeks, driving me (more) nuts. Had another look a couple of days ago and... hang on....! There was that light bulb moment I'd been waiting for. If I do this, and then that, and then... Yup!
Stopped by after work that day and spent maybe 1 minute at GZ before realising no way was I going to be able to make the find then. Returned tonight under cover of darkness with Pagan and started our hunt. Within 2 minutes got busted by security. Apparently the area is patrolled from 6pm-7am... After much discussion about our lost 'keys', we managed to make our escape, cache-less and a bit shaken. We're not big ones for stealth hunts so we might leave this for those who are! Really enjoyed the puzzle. Certainly had me stumped for quite some time but oh what a feeling when that eureka moment arrives [^]. That's enough for me this time. Thanks NyletaM, and Alkzura for inspiring this one!!

I left the brain work up to Daniel-son on this one. I did try to nut it out with him when it was first published but with long shifts at work lately, my brain was not really on any level of functioning. I did, however have to endure Daniel-son's many discussions on how to nut this puzzle out.

We set off for our usual Sunday of caching and this was our first stop (so close to home). While Daniel-son and geo-son stayed in the air-conditioned comfort of the car, I sat in the hot sun trying to find this sneaky little bugger. The boys of course sat in the car watching and giving me hand gestures on where it was located. Sunday mornings are not ideal (high muggle activity) but made the search more interesting. I finally felt the cache (haven't seen one like this one before), signed the log and placed it back without being noticed.

Interesting puzzle and cache. Thanks NyletaM

Find #129 @ 22:30

I can't say I am happy with my progress on this puzzle cache. I was off to a flying start and thought I had nutted it out within 30 minutes of it being published .....*buzzer* WRONG.

It than sat at what I now know to be 80% complete for two days as I struggled my natural instincts telling me that what I had done was right. The next 15% fell into place after I realised that what I was looking at wasn't what I was looking at. Once I figured out there was more to it than what I had previously thought I believed I was home and hosed! ......*buzzer* WRONG

After many a graceful hint and devious but innocent misdirection and confusion, I finally realised that once again, it wasn't that simple.

Oh yeah, and when you are going for the cache, make sure you don't go thinking that obvious hiding spot is the cache and start pulling it apart looking for the log, once again, it is not that simple.

I left the actual puzzle solving to EngPhil, since this is definitely more his cup of tea than mine He presented me with a printout of the puzzle and said "here, solve this." Huh? I did manage to get about as far as he did before giving up in disgust!

We got to GZ with no problems at all, and the light bulb went off. There it is!

TFTC, Lefty!

Find #596 at 12:01. That was a fun little puzzle!

The first part proved little challenge, but I was soon stuck on one number. Hmm, tried several things to no avail.

Eventually Alkzura claimed the FTF (most appropriately; congratulations!) so the pressure was off and I left it alone for a while.

Returning to the puzzle yesterday evening, I suddenly had a lightbulb moment and the answer presented itself, with geochecker giving me the green tick. How did I not pick that up before? Past 10pm, with the FTF gone, I shelved the solution, knowing I'd be in the area today anyway. A glance at Google Maps combined with familiarity of the general area (not to mention the parties involved) provided a bit of a head-slapping moment, too.

And so it was that Palopinto, MissGeosie, Snoozie Suzie and I rocked up to GZ today, identified the right feature without even needing the GPS, and had the prize in hand in seconds (once the muggles cleared, that is!)

Thanks for the challenge, NyletaM. I quite enjoyed this one. Never seen a puzzle quite like that before!

I noticed, it was confusing, it also doesn't help all that much.

I am planting the tomato seeds now.

Oh dear, I hope you don't all come and tomato my house for this, but I've just realised there was a stray 1 on the end of the formula. It has now been removed above in the description and should appear like this:

1DEF (2DEF+2MNO+2PQR) (1PQR+1S-1JKL) (2S*(2DEF+2JKL)+1ABC) 2DEF 1MNO+2GHI+1GHI

Maybe that's why no one has solved it yet!

24/09/11 1:21 PM Find #639
*FTF*

Wow, Where to start - probably by sifting through the many notepads of paper scrawlings and scratchings it took to find the answer to this one. Many late nights, lack of sleep - which probably did help in the end.

The usual practice of googling and searching got me no where, so i had to resort to some creative calculations to get a starting point.

Now that this has finally been completed, I can go back to actually spending time with NyletaM, rather than ignoring her and spending time on finding a solution.

Oh and thanks for the dedication of this cache to me - it was relevant in so many ways..... I did enjoy (well mostly anyway) working it out, and finding it as well - which also added to the difficulty level.

Published