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Re: Mystery vs Puzzle
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #822302 by Honeychyck
Dec 31, 2013 8:29am
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what if the starting area is known, but the clues are hidden/not known until arriving at the area?

I'd call that a puzzle. In my mind, I have always assumed a mystery box is one where the start location is unknown or extremely vague. Maybe they list the city, county, or the state. Now, if you have to solve the puzzle to see the start location, I'd probably mark it as both mystery and puzzle. But if you have the start location in the location field, it's just a puzzle. Just remember, each person perceives a "mystery" in a different way.
Re: Mystery vs Puzzle
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #822302 by Honeychyck
Dec 31, 2013 5:21pm
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Re: Mystery vs Puzzle
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #822305 by Dizzy
Jan 1, 2014 7:06am
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Thank you. This was roughly what I was thinking, too. What's driving me batty is that, since the event location is inherently known, then technically there are no mysteries... but I want there to be ;)
Re: Mystery vs Puzzle
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #822456 by Honeychyck
Jan 1, 2014 8:37am
Thread (disabled) Board
since the event location is inherently known, then technically there are no mysteries

There can be. List the box with a mystery location and make it completely necessary to solve the clue to get the start point. Do NOT list it on the event page. Use the state or county as the location (or none at all) and then only the people that do their homework will even know that such a box exists in the area. If it's possible to leave it in place after the event, that's even better because then people that couldn't make it will have the chance to find it.

But yes, if you list the box on the event then it really needs to be a puzzle not a mystery.
Re: Mystery vs Puzzle
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #822478 by Dizzy
Jan 1, 2014 10:19am
Thread (disabled) Board
Yes! That was exactly what I was thinking, but wasn't sure if it was "legal!" Oh, you wonderful boxer, you... :)
Re: Mystery vs Puzzle
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #822456 by Honeychyck
Jan 1, 2014 1:55pm
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since the event location is inherently known, then technically there are no mysteries... but I want there to be ;)

It seems to me that a mystery could also be at a unknown starting point within the event location. For example, I was running an intro to letterboxing program including puzzles and mysteries held in a hotel. The hotel was filled with all kinds of old stuff (coca cola vending machines, penny to measure your weight scales, a manual Royal typewriter, an Elvis Statue, old time grammar school desks, etc.) in the hallways, in the lounges, in the meeting rooms, by the check-in area, etc.

The clue was something like
"weigh" your fate,
3 feet up,
magnetic.

You had to have discovered somehow during your time wandering around the hotel that there was a scale that offered to measure your weight and tell you your fate, and when you found the scale, you would find a magnetic letterbox attached behind it, three feet up.

It seems to me this would be a mystery, since you don't know the starting point location, but once you get there it is clear where the letterbox is.

So I hope this is also considered a mystery, since that's what I told this group!

Just my 2 cents, since it sounds like you want to do something a bit different than this and have found a way to do it as a mystery.
Re: Mystery vs Puzzle
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #822551 by Leilanis Aunt
Jan 1, 2014 6:07pm
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It seems to me this would be a mystery, since you don't know the starting point location, but once you get there it is clear where the letterbox is.

I personally wouldn't consider it a mystery box. To me, the mystery is figuring out where to start. If you tell them it's at a specific hotel, it's not really much of a mystery--they start at the hotel! Where in the hotel is the box...? Well, that's just a puzzle. =)

As for AQ, if you list a location that's smaller than a city, it'll refuse to list it as a mystery box. If you try to list a location as something larger than a city, it'll force the box to be a mystery. If you list a location that's a city--technically, it's a mystery box, but I know a lot of people are just lazy about not putting in a specific address or location and it's not really a mystery box, so there people can choose if it's a mystery box or not and AQ will take whatever you tell it.

So if you list the address of a hotel where the box is located, AQ isn't going to count it as a mystery box regardless of whether you do or not.

-- Ryan
Re: Mystery vs Puzzle
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #822631 by Green Tortuga
Jan 2, 2014 11:58am
Thread (disabled) Board
I personally wouldn't consider it a mystery box. To me, the mystery is figuring out where to start. If you tell them it's at a specific hotel, it's not really much of a mystery--they start at the hotel! Where in the hotel is the box...? Well, that's just a puzzle. =)

As for AQ, if you list a location that's smaller than a city, it'll refuse to list it as a mystery box.

OK. If I ever do another Intro to Letterboxing program that includes mysteries and puzzles, I'll have to come up with another kind of example. If I'm instructing others, it should be what AQ and the LBNA site will accept and belong to "best practices". They'll have plenty of opportunities later to figure out if, when and where they might want to bend the "rules" on their own if they continue with this hobby. These mystery and puzzle boxes that I was using were just for the day that I was doing the program and weren't listed on AQ, so it didn't show up as a problem at that time. (The stamps were eventually planted as part of "The Puzzle Path - PSGS", now retired.)