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1:04 AM
@boboquack Indirectly, yes:
Put your user ID into that query and sort by comment score.
 
1:40 AM
 
2:11 AM
Got it, thanks for letting me know!
 
2:33 AM
@Deusovi Thanks!
 
 
4 hours later…
6:41 AM
0
Q: Arrange numbers to 3x3 square with concentric (Addition and Difference)

Jamal Senjaya2 Similar questions: I. Difference Arrange numbers 1 to 8 to replace the letters so: A = (abs B – D) C = (abs B – E) F = (abs D – G) H = (abs E – G) To eliminate duplicates by rotation and reflection, let’s set the rules: A > C, A > F, A > H and F > C There are 2 solutions II. Addition Ar...

 
7:34 AM
@Sphinx Back to normal, now, are you?
 
Looks like that :)
 
7:49 AM
I think it was the quickly-closed question that was the problem.
 
 
2 hours later…
10:01 AM
For anyone around, the author of this question is saying that it's not a duplicate, presumably because it has 5 brackets not 3. However, they've gone on to accept an answer which doesn't even make sense. What does everyone think?
 
Am I missing anything or is the answer accepted correct? I don't see any rules in the post to make that answer invalid
It says. pick any number..that's it.. how many times, unique or not..nothing mentioned. So, seems fine. Not sure if I am missing anything
 
Well, there's nothing about minuses in the post, and you have to pick some number, not some numbers
 
Well, the question is too broad.. with no rules yet
But well, I think he didn't had any other choice. You could have left your answer.
New user issue probably
 
No, mine had only 4 things, not 5
 
Oh..
 
10:12 AM
You know what? Maybe that makes more sense.
 
Hehe..Yes. To me it did :p
 
Is it good practice to VTRO to have the question closed for the correct reason?
 
But, if not duplicate, its not well explained
 
If so, I would VTRO to VTC 'too broad'
 
If he goes with (5+1) ... 5 times.. he gets 30 :p
Hmm.. Yup. Sounds fine
 
10:15 AM
I'll ask Deus when I next find him active in the room.
 
As a matter of fact, the marked dupe was closed as too broad as well :)
 
10:40 AM
1
Q: The Mystery of the Unknown Performer

128-UpIt's your first day as an assistant in the new Puzzle Arena, and you've immediately been taken to an important task. Later today, a well-known artist will be taking to the stage to perform in front of several thousand fans. It's your job to deliver the setlist to them, so they have enough time to...

 
11:33 AM
1
Q: Recondite key locked another puzzle... - Clue Twenty Nine!

Techidiot<<---First clue <---Previous clue ACROSS 1. Los Angeles, operating system(4) 2. Back, if around climbing unfinished odd juice(1) 3. Most of the men within Chinese currency(19) 4. Hollow, idea covering starts newly designed internet(16) 5. Weird, crane following after(11) 9. Hidden strategy...

 
11:50 AM
GaMen
 
GamEn
 
12:28 PM
@Tech I have one of the clues. Probably because those enumerations are messing with me!
 
:) Things will start coming up..
BTW, I hope you watched The Warner Show last night :)
 
Nope I was out :(
 
Oh, you should watch a recap.. He destroyed the opposition
 
(And yeah I noticed the enumerations go 1-19 )
 
Nice..
 
12:31 PM
well Sunrises did need to beat kolkata to try and catch up with them. One point behind now
 
Hmm, wasn't the mod question collection supposed to be posted today? goes to check
 
Yeah.. @BeastlyGerbil They might win this time. It was a flop show from RCB today as well
Something is definitely wrong with them
 
Mumbai are in a strong position though
 
And I am guessing Buttler will get this match..
Yup. They are..
 
He's 2 for 3 right now
 
12:33 PM
He has failed almost everytime.. Lets see..
There's a boundary :p
 
scrap that 6 from 4
:P
 
Haha
Grab some popcorn..It might be his day today
 
I kind of want him to do well for england, but at the same time I want him to flop for Sunrisers
 
Sunrisers?
 
has no idea what you are talking about
 
@Techidiot (so mumbai don't do well)
 
Oh.. :p
 
...ah.
 
That's a nice thought. I am with you on that
 
@Mithrandir The mod election stuff?
 
12:36 PM
@n_palum yes
 
has the election been confirmed yet?
 
? What do you mean?
 
has a date been announced
 
The question collection was supposed to start today
Where we collect questions for the candidates to answer
 
thats done on meta right?
 
12:38 PM
Yeah.
 
whos supposed to be posting the question?
 
"Will you or will you not provide us with cookies if we elect you"
 
CMs
 
hmm bit late
 
@n_palum Come to the dark side. We have cookies.
 
12:39 PM
Exactly!
 
But will the new mods have cookies, is the question...
 
Ew raisins
 
1:01 PM
@Tech buttler out. Ha;f decent innings there
 
Oh yes
My sixth sense was half good
:p
@BeastlyGerbil This is how my team looks like.. If you know about Fantasy
 
I don't play but that looks pretty strong
 
I had warner as a captain last game.. Gave me 700 pts alone :p
 
rank 3236. out of how many?
 
Out of millions.. Around 5000000 are playing this season
 
1:04 PM
wow you are doing well
 
I got lucky with a few games..
Like in one of the games I made Manish Pandey(KKR) as my captain and he scored close to 100
This is a local league I am in
 
well good luck to you!
 
Thanks. . Just for fun anyway. Nothing to win nothing to lose :p
 
And ahah!
I worked out how to do your crossword
I suppose there was kind of a clue in the name.
 
Hehe.. Nice.
@BeastlyGerbil : Yes
 
@tech on a roll with your puzzle now. There are some nice clues I can't believe I didn't get until I realised the gimmick
 
@BeastlyGerbil :) Awaiting ...
 
Are you sure 4 across is right?
oh wait ignore me got it
I'm literally watching the place on tv right now! :P
 
:) I have like double and triple checked them.. So, sure on them(unless there is an exception)
Haha.. I have my ears on the commentary :p
 
The one unfortunate thing is that sometimes you can guess the word just from the starting letter or whatever and backsolve. Apart from that great puzzle!
I'm off for lunch for ten minutes. Will finish when I get back.
 
1:32 PM
@BeastlyGerbil That was intentional. Didn't wanted to make it harder. When I make harder, they turn out to be bad or unsolvable...
 
*races to solve and post answer before BG gets back from lunch*
:) GaMen all
 
GamEn :) Dan already started. Feeling bad for Beastly
@DeepakMahulikar Welcome to the Spinx!
 
@Techidiot that sounds like we got eaten...
 
@Mithrandir Eaten by whom? :p
 
@DeepakMahulikar Howdy! Someone I've hoped to see in chat, for a while now :)
 
1:38 PM
@Techidiot Side note: China uses yuan, Japan uses yen :)
 
@Sp3000 Oh yes. Fixed
Thanks
 
@Sp3000 I'm pretty sure Taiwan uses a similarly named currency as well
 
Hah let's not get into that territory :P
 
Today I learned when posting a puzzle that if you think something is obscure-ish to most people, it's not gonna prevent quick answers. :V
Hi.
 
@Techidiot the Sphinx, of course :P
 
1:45 PM
Today you learned that Puzzling Stack Exchange is full of people who know lots of obscure things. :)
 
@128-Up o/
 
Yes, yes I did.
o/
 
@Rubio too late :P
 
I wrote the Unknown Performer puzzle, since I noticed new puzzles get auto-posted here.
 
0
Q: How does the Kangaroo cross the Highway?

Deepak MahulikarA Kangaroo wants to cross a 3 lane highway, all cars going in same direction. All lanes are 7 feet wide. In lane A a car passes every 4 seconds In lane B a car passes every 3 seconds In lane C a car passes every Prime Number seconds (2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23 etc seconds) The Kangaroo can only d...

 
1:46 PM
as if on cue
But yeah, I was trawling Meta before posting and I remember seeing a bunch of posts that was like "Things that don't get solved for days are normal, don't worry." Then the one I post gets solved in 2 hours and I thought "????????? what"
 
@BeastlyGerbil (I wasn't actually trying to do that hehe)
 
I know, you aren't that mean :P
But you probably could have done that if you wanted to :P
@Tech 4 clues left...
 
All the best :)
 
@Sphinx I find this puzzle amusing in a few ways.
 
1 left...
 
1:59 PM
@Techidiot Call in QRNQ (rot-13)
 
@Sp3000 Are you sure? Not its not :p
But you secretly solved it? :p Interesting..
 
I guess the fun secondary puzzle is why I thought that was the answer :P
... oh nvm, now I see
 
Haha..
 
@Techidiot YRNQ - and the two things I just did were completely unrelated
Wait
Scratch that I can't count
nvm I can count but can't transcribe, that looks right
 
:) +1
 
2:08 PM
tfw the best puzzlers on the site struggle with counting
 
wait sp3000 solved it?
 
Hah Scon did the same thing I did
 
uggcf://ra.jvxvcrqvn.bet/jvxv/Tebhc_bs_Sbhe
 
@Sp3000 what has that got to do?
 
2:18 PM
Then index letters, basically
 
Oh wait I got it
 
The fact that the first answer was close was just pure coincidence :P
btw Beastly you might want to drop the comment with the answer in it :P
 
Whee!
 
done, I didn't realise how you got the answer, I thought it was just a mis-decipher :P
@Scon well done. (And did you mean to say sid in your answer)?
 
Sid?
 
2:26 PM
oh yeah you updated :P
you initially wrote @Sid when it was Sp3000
 
That would have been silly of me, so of course it never happened
 
@128-Up Hah, I just saw your puzzle and am amused :)
 
Thanks. :3
oh hey you got the Extra
 
See CCCC archive row 207 :P (ignore the typo)
(and ping @GentlePurpleRain about said typo)
 
When writing that puzzle, I started to wonder if Vocaloid was too obscure a subject to touch on. I guess not?
 
2:40 PM
Well... not necessarily, I think there just happens to be a few in this room familiar with Japanese culture. (it'd be best to assume people don't have that knowledge anyway, to make it more accessible)
 
Originally I straight up said that the "mystery act" was in Room 39 but when I gave it to a friend to test, he used it to short-cut to the answer, so I changed it. :P
 
Added an extra comment as a fun fact
And hah yeah, I could see that happening :P
 
huh, that's neat
gonna upvote that too because why not
apparently "room 39" and the fact there was a computer in the dressing room was enough to make the link
oh by the way, did you notice 2 extra songs I hinted at in the closing paragraph of the puzzle? :P
 
@GarethMcCaughan @Sconibulus this kangaroo problem seems to have some arbitrary and unspecified rules. :)
 
@Rubio I also think that enigmatic doesn't fit because it's clearly just a math puzzle as they stated
 
2:48 PM
@Rubio yeah, it's very odd
 
can you claim it's lateral thinking and have the kangaroo stunt jump across moving cars?
:P
 
I don't think that makes it any easier though...
 
makes for an amusing mental image though
 
You also cannot because it states they can only just forward and back. and no lateral tag.
 
well. unless half the puzzle is figuring out the rules. like, it can't be what someone's comment suggested, that it stays at the starting position until the jump duration elapses, or you'd never survive lane B
 
2:51 PM
@Rubio you'd have to jump into lane B, back out to A, back into B, and then to C
 
@128-Up I'm guessing one is "No Reason", but I wouldn't have known it was one if you didn't tell me (I actually only recognise 3/7 on the setlist)
 
But if you're in one place for three seconds, you never make it through A, unless entering/leaving on the same tick as the car is safe
 
since they have literally no bearing on the puzzle, I'll just say them
 
technically no. Car arrives at t=3. you land in lane B at t=3.000000001, just after the car. you stay in position for 3 seconds, so you'd be leaving at 6.000000001, just after the next car smacks you in the head.
 
"You leave the magazines in front the computer for them to find, hoping they didn't vanish or strain their vocal cords from singing too much, then leave the room and head back to your desk." (The Disappearance of... / The Intense Singing of...) Hatsune Miku. :3
threw them in at the end because I could
 
2:53 PM
@Rubio oh, wow, I confused A and B somehow
 
but yah same diff
 
@128-Up Hah, of course. Makes sense in hindsight.
 
now to spend forever thinking how to make another good puzzle. used most of my creativity on that one, heh.
 
3:05 PM
@Rubio Yes, doesn't it. (But if the collocation of words in your comment is deliberate, my answer to the implied question is: probably not though of course it's hard to be sure. And my answer to the obvious followup is xkcd.com/810/.)
 
Deliberate but only for comedic effect, as the hinted conjecture seems quite unlikely.
 
I do wonder if it was intentional
 
New Hot Network Question detected:
7
Q: The Mystery of the Unknown Performer

128-UpIt's your first day as an assistant in the new Puzzle Arena, and you've immediately been taken to an important task. Later today, a well-known artist will be taking to the stage to perform in front of several thousand fans. It's your job to deliver the setlist to them, so they have enough time to...

 
wait what
what does that mean
is that good
aaaaa
 
Look on the right side of the main site.
Your puzzle is showing up there.
 
3:17 PM
It got a certain amount of views, in a certain amount of time so it shows up for other sites to see even if they aren't on the original SE it came from
 
...well then!
*flails*
 
@128-up, it means it is on the list of questions which the network has detected as good questions. It means more people see it and you'll get more upvotes and views
 
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
*flails faster*
 
@n_palum thats not the only thing HNQ is based on
 
3:19 PM
Well it is a big proponent
 
not really actually
Otherwise a more active site will get more HNQ questions
 
It's also how many answers (unanswered questions can't HNQ), and votes on the answer.
 
I think multiple answers are one of the biggest parts
 
Less views/question votes.
 
there's only 1 answer on my question though
 
3:20 PM
180
Q: What formula should be used to determine "hot" questions?

Jeff AtwoodRight now the front page Popular tab is fairly broken -- it's a simple descending sort by views. As Joel said in podcast #18, it is "a self-fulfilling prophecy." But this is not intentional, it's only because we haven't had time to improve it yet! As I sit down to write a better algorithm, I tho...

 
are comments on answers counted?
 
Multiple answers certainly helps a lot, which is why codegolf questions tend to be near the top
 
The formula is there ^ tells you whats involved
 
interesting :o
 
(log(Qviews)*4) + ((Qanswers * Qscore)/5) + sum(Ascores)
--------------------------------------------------------
((QageInHours+1) - ((QageInHours - Qupdated)/2)) ^ 1.5
 
3:22 PM
So views in a certain time does play a part.
 
a small part yes
but the views aren't all of it
 
I didn't say all, just a big part - and views/time are almost half of that formula
 
apparently 200 views in 5 hours is a lot
/shrug
 
log(views)/time
 
oh, log, right
I'm blind, good job me
 
3:25 PM
it looks like answers count it the biggest part of that numerator... it's multiplied by the question score, and the scores of the answers are summed
 
4:12 PM
0
Q: Hexagonal Iso-Path ~ the board game

VepirI have stumbled upon this new board game, and was wondering if it is possible to find out if it favors either the first moving player or second moving player, if both play perfectly? I'm also not sure how far could a brute force approach reach out. The rules are explained in the video, and also...

 
5:08 PM
yes, by far the most significant part of the HNQ calculation is answers, which historically does not make a lot of sense in Puzzling
(MIN(AnswerCount, 10) * QScore) / 5 + AnswerScore
-------------------------------------------------
MAX(QAgeInHours + 1, 6) ^ 1.4
 
A few things don't make sense in Puzzling.. like the wording of flags, or question posting which pertain moreso to SO or other QA heavy ones
 
or the fact that they still let me log in here
 
I'm afraid they haven't settled on a ban reason for defending too well at Contact
 
5:32 PM
I think 'antisocial behaviour' is a ban reason?
 
Hm? What's going on?
 
We're figuring out a way to ban Rubio
;)
 
I'm sure Deus can think of a couple hehe
"Just being you" perhaps
 
6:08 PM
1
Q: Riddle! Can you figure me out?

Kaylee WoodallNever say never to a broken puzzle when there is snow in California

 
 
3 hours later…
9:00 PM
@n_palum Puzzling kinda puzzles the rest of the network.
 
1
Q: 2017 Moderator Election Q&A - Question Collection

Grace NotePuzzling is scheduled for an election next week, May 8th.In connection with that, we will be holding a Q&A with the candidates. This will be an opportunity for members of the community to pose questions to the candidates on the topic of moderation. Participation is completely voluntary. Here's...

 
0
Q: Transport Networks - An Introduction

BmyGuestThis is a new type of puzzle and I don't know yet, whether or not they are fun to solve. So what better to do with them, than throw them at the best puzzlers out there and see what happens? Feedback welcomed. Here are the first few "Transport Networks" puzzles for "warm-up" and testing the "fun-...

 
9:18 PM
@Sp3000 Typo fixed. And the CCCC archive has been updated. Sorry for the slow updates, everyone. See my message on the starboard if you don't like it. :)
 
9:31 PM
@GentlePurpleRain I just did
 
 
2 hours later…
11:40 PM
...Type-by open question, possibly to develop into a Meta Puzzling question:
(or, has this been asked/answered already?)
What guidelines should we consider in making puzzles as perceptible as possible to the most solvers?
Ready examples related to vision:
- Many color-oriented puzzles could be (and have been) redisplayed with textures.
- Many picture-oriented puzzles could be (and have been) accompanied by equivalent verbal descriptions.
- Many puzzles incorporate colorful and picturesque elements unnecessarily (and delightfully).
- Some illustrations are just too darn small.
- Some illustrations are just too darn large.
- Did you know that many solvers view illustrations with a tactile interface that burps every time a border or recognizable symbol is crossed?
- Some illustrations are just too darn just right!
...Had this been better thought out or researched it would've already been a meta post, but this room was just sitting here at the moment...
 
I would add ASCII art to the part that needs a verbal description, because it does not show up nicely on mobile at all
 

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