Using the calculator
Type a word or a phrase. Each word is laid out with its letters over their values, then summed, and the total gets its digit sum and digital root. GEOCACHE is 7 + 5 + 15 + 3 + 1 + 3 + 8 + 5 = 47, whose digits add to 11, and 1 + 1 gives a digital root of 2.
The Values setting covers the variants puzzles use, A = 0 instead of 1 or the alphabet reversed so Z = 1. Accented letters count as their base letter, and digits and punctuation count for nothing.
The other conversions in the picker handle the rest of the arithmetic. Number → Digit sum and root works on any number. Coordinates → Checksum adds up the digits of a coordinate. Letters → Keypad digits types a word on a phone keypad.
Where word values turn up
A common puzzle cache gives the final as a template, like `N 32° 4A.BCD W 117° 0E.FGH`, and a question for each letter. A might be the digital root of the word value of a street name, B the number of letters in it. The arithmetic is easy and the mistakes are in the counting, so let the calculator count.
A letter sum is A1Z26 added up. To see the numbers for each letter without the sums, the A1Z26 cipher page writes them out one by one.
Coordinate checksums
Owners often give a checksum so you can test a solution before walking to it. It's every digit of the final coordinate added together: `N 32° 42.123 W 117° 09.456` has 3+2+4+2+1+2+3 = 17 in the latitude and 1+1+7+0+9+4+5+6 = 33 in the longitude, 50 in all.
The calculator reads the coordinate in any format and takes the checksum of its degrees-and-decimal-minutes form, which is how listings write it. Leading zeros add nothing, so 09.456 and 9.456 give the same sum. To convert the coordinate itself, use the GPS coordinate converter.
Q and Z on the keypad
Older North American telephones had PRS on the 7 and WXY on the 9, with Q and Z left off or moved to the 1. The ITU's standard, E.161 from the mid-1990s, settled on PQRS and WXYZ, and that's the layout this calculator uses. An old puzzle that seems to be missing letters may have been written with the older dial in mind.
Questions
What's the difference between the digit sum and the digital root?
The digit sum adds the digits once: 47 gives 11. The digital root keeps adding until one digit is left: 11 gives 2.
Does it count spaces or punctuation?
No. Only the letters A to Z count, and accented letters count as their base letter, so é is 5.
How do I get the value of each word separately?
Type the words separated by spaces. Each gets its own line and sum, followed by the total.
What does a checksum prove?
Only that the digits add up. Two different coordinates can share a checksum, so treat a match as a good sign, then confirm with the cache's own checker if it has one.
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