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12:02 AM
@Randal'Thor Re: I actually messed up by forgetting to tag the question... It should've been posted exactly 00:00:01 UTC :/
 
@Randal'Thor oh is that what that gold diamond/name is? didn't realize who Jon Ericson was
 
@Displayname I was also planning to do that around midnight. It's a good thing I wasn't quite as prepared as you, otherwise we might've ended up double-posting!
@Rubio Yep, Jon is a CM. He used to hang around Puzzling quite a bit at one point, though I haven't seen him in here or on meta for a while now.
 
@Randal'Thor That's what I'm afraid of for the next topic challenge :P As I mentioned before: If no one here posts that they want to post the next fortnightly topic post, I'll always post the next one ASAP :P
 
@Displayname I didn't realise ASAP meant quite that quickly!
Anyway, it's great that you're stepping up to the mark and doing this :-)
I posted all the FTC meta posts for a while, but now that I've got the ball rolling, I'm more than happy to step back and let you take over.
As for the next one ... 26 Dec to 9 Jan? How many people are even going to be on PSE in that period?
 
Thanks! I'll make sure to not make silly mistakes like forgetting to CW & accept the corresponding answers next time :)
 
12:09 AM
Sh*t, I'll have to get my planned puzzle done even more quickly than I'd realised.
As in, Monday or Tuesday.
 
Yep, anything after that will probably get less than 100 views :P I also just realised that I probably have to wait >= 1.5 months before I can post my largest puzzle so far... Because it perfectly fits into the tag.
Except I'd summon some sockpuppets, of course.
 
12:40 AM
2
Q: Fortnightly Topic Challenge #22: Animals

Display nameThis is the twenty-second instalment of the Fortnightly Topic Challenge described here, with topics suggested and voted on here. This fortnight's topic is animals(suggested by Gordon K), and will span from the the 12th of December to the 25th of December. During this period, we will compile the l...

 
 
1 hour later…
1:44 AM
Re: fortnightly topics over the new year period... Maybe we forcibly bump the holiday suggestion up (if it doesn't reach the lead naturally), but run it for three weeks, overlapping the current animals one, (i.e. animals runs from 12-25 Dec, but "holidays" runs partially in parallel from 19 Dec - 9 Jan) to allow some more time to get some in before the holidays, and to allow it to live longer over what will naturally be a lull/break in activity on the site?
3
 
 
1 hour later…
2:53 AM
0
Q: The Mssig Pzle - Unhelpful Clues Edition

haykamThis is part of a series. Solve this puzzle to unlock the next puzzle. The answer is in this sentence. The answer will be 4 letters, then 2 letters. Add none together. Section one, section two. Two per word. Title says it all; no articles and first section (Mssig Pzle...

0
Q: What is an Rotatable Word™?

OliverThis is in the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles. If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a Rotatable Word™. Use the examples below to find the rule. $$\begin{array}{|c|c|}\hline \bbox[yellow]{\textbf{Rotata...

 
 
2 hours later…
4:26 AM
hi guys
 
5:11 AM
Hiya!
Chat can be fairly empty a lot of the time, sorry
 
 
4 hours later…
9:02 AM
0
Q: Instead of racing I like to watch movies

oleslawI am not a great fan of racing. I never was. But one day I decided to see the race. The commentator was trying to keep up with the race's pace and did it quite well: The Black Horse of the event is leading the race. On the second position there is Golden Bull just after the leader... But wa...

 
 
2 hours later…
11:00 AM
1
Q: An animal out of matchsticks

IAmInPLSOk, I widely failed my two latest matchsticks puzzles, so here's another attempt, part of the 22th Fortnightly Topic Challenge. As you can see, you have in front of you eleven matchsticks forming the word zoo: You have to move one matchstick, and remove one matchstick to create a 4-letter wor...

 
Sid
11:38 AM
If I get an upvote and a downvote for an answer, don't I get +8 rep?
 
12:17 PM
-7
Q: One jug of Test Reload costs

maniyachiTestosterone Reload pills I can't prescribe Test Reload to use since it has many drawbacks. The fixing list given on the official site is very short, and the measures of the segments are not uncovered. In this way, you never know whether the supplement is viable or not. Mike Changs makes genuine...

 
12:38 PM
@Sid Yes, you do. Why?
 
12:56 PM
0
Q: A poem and a number sequence

LevieuxYou wake up on the floor of an empty room without having any recollection of how you got there. The room is very dimly lit and it takes a while before your eyes are adapted to the darkness. There is only one way out of the room: a big metal door that appears to be closed. As you approach it you n...

0
Q: Figure out the ? in the figure below

alDiablo Here is the link to the puzzle

 
Sid
Well, my rep first increased to 2727 then dropped to 2717. And then again rose to 2727. Surprising..
 
Maybe someone removed their upvote, then you got another upvote. What is your reputation tab showing?
 
1:16 PM
0
Q: The first in the series of 10 puzzles

Alaric StephenI've created a challenge consisting of a series of puzzles, the first of which can be found here: http://www.alaricstephen.com/challenges/2016/12/7/challenge-ii Each answer will give you a URL to the next on my website and they are made from a mixture of mathematical, word based, cryptographic a...

 
1:26 PM
@Alconja Re: This comment: I actually thought it was because the reason you described in your last comment in chat here: They wanted a challenge instead of .
 
@Displayname I also notice the animals proposal is at +17/-9, so somewhat controversial to begin with.
 
@Alconja I didn't even know that! That's probably the primary reason, then. I also think that [animals] is a bit broad for a topic challenge.
 
@Displayname I agree too
Why did you change your name anyway :-)
?
 
2 days ago, by Lukas Rotter
Mission failed. Identity leaked. Starts executing order 99
 
@Displayname I guess it's what happens when the order 66 is not followed
 
1:37 PM
If the weekly challenge is 'controversial' it still goes ahead, right?
I've almost finished a puzzle with the animal theme so it'd be a bit of a bummer to have that changed
 
I already posted one
And once the fortnighly challenge has been voted, there's no going back!
 
Ok cool!
My puzzle should be up within the next hour hopefully
Just finalising one step and making it look nice
 
2:14 PM
Hello everybody
How can I contact users directly?
 
You can't
86
A: How do I contact other users?

ArjanInstant messaging or private messaging is not available: requests to implement that have been declined to keep focus on questions and answers, and to keep those visible to everyone. Some users are active in chat, and you might be able to set up a "private" chat room for you and the user you'd li...

Best you can do is create a room for the user and you, then set it to private
 
@IAmInPLS I don't think you can set up private rooms unless you're a mod
 
@Ankoganit You're right
 
so hurry up and win an election! I hear Putin's offering discounts this time of year
 
You can change the parameters to Gallery mode
 
2:26 PM
@IAmInPLS what happens if you do that?
 
Anyone may enter, but only approved users can talk
Approved by the creator of the room
 
I see
 
wooooo my puzzle for the fortnightly challenge is up!
 
You forgot to tag it
 
Oops I'll do that now
 
2:36 PM
Looks fun!
 
Hopefully it's the right difficulty level, I never like to make puzzles too difficult
 
why does exist?
 
Because someone requested a non-existent tag in the topic challenge post, lol
 
It isn't really a puzzle type, is it?
the topic can be animals without needing a specific tag, I'd think
 
2
Q: The Baffling Birdcage

TheGreatEscaperI received a package today from a certain Mortin, and I assume that it's some sort of puzzle, knowing him. Inside the package was a board of letters, remarkably similar to one of his paintings that I'd seen before, 4 green pieces, and some very short instructions that read as follows: Hi ther...

 
2:42 PM
I think many tags aren't a specific puzzle types, like , or
 
Am I allowed to use someone's mail address if they put it in their profile?
Because that seems to be the only way
 
There's a post going on in Meta about using meta-tags like the 3 @Displayname just mentioned. Which is probably one of also. I like how consistent we are :)
 
@Avigrail may I use your profile information to contact you directly?
 
@incesterror21 Avigrail was last seen Nov 2, and I don't think mortals can ping users that weren't in chat for a long time.
 
Too bad. Anyone else makes 3D models?
 
2:51 PM
I think it should be fine to shoot him an email.
 
oh, grammar
 
3:07 PM
Just posted a new puzzle. Let's see how long Sphinx takes to bring it here.
 
Well, I found it before sphinx did...
It looks pretty cool!
 
Thanks!
 
Somthing to do with Pixar :p @Ankoganit?
 
I've got a feeling those letters are intersection points of some star path
 
@IAmInPLS Nah :D
 
3:12 PM
Hang on, they're just on a star path
Got a few ideas but it's 11:12 PM where I am
Not sure if it's the best time to make a start on a puzzle by someone very experienced xD
 
lol I'm not very experienced
It's only been a few months
 
@TheGreatEscaper I assume your puzzle is a FTC entry - you should notate it as such
 
Oops, sorry!!!! I'll make the edit now
Well @Ankoganit it's been a few days on PSE for me :P
 
1
Q: You're not feeling well. You need something

AnkoganitYou're not feeling good. Something is horribly wrong with you. You're trying hard to feign happiness, but... ...deep inside, you feel dead. ...deep inside, you are hurt. ...deep inside, you know you are hated. ...deep inside, you are all alone. Forward, and backward. The paths me...

 
@Sphinx There you are!
Took it like 10 minutes
 
Sid
3:19 PM
@Ankoganit Does that image have a size in like MB?It's taking ages to appear on my laptop..
 
@Sid Umm no, it 's just 360 kb
 
@Sid Around 360 KB
 
Is there any sort of live puzzle discussion?
I'm assuming it shouldn't be done in chat since spoilers
 
Sid
There are specific chatrooms for puzzles if you want to discuss multi-layered puzzles..
 
Actually we do discuss some puzzles here
if you're too worried about spoilers you can use rot13
 
3:23 PM
Oh yeah fair enough
 
*Rot47 please if you have to hide special characters
 
Or rot26 for doubly secure encryption :P
 
@Ankoganit Fair enough.
 
V'z nffhzvat rnpu yvar bs gur 'cbrz' ersref gb n fgne jbeq. Vg'f gnttrq jbeqcynl fb fbzr enaqbz gubhtugf V unq jrer gn'uvg'v sbe uheg, e'hu'e sbe srryvat qrnq... Qenjvat n cngu orgjrra gur jbeqf zvtug qb fbzrguvat.
Those ideas probably aren't great, but I always like talking about whatever comes to mind
 
Interesting thoughts. ;)
BTW which sounds grammatically better: "you know you're hated" or "you know that you're hated"?
 
3:28 PM
They're both fine
 
Great then.
 
Using 'that' is less ambiguous
But I like the sound of the sentence without
 
I guess I'll keep it as it is then
 
Sid
What if the stars hint at the antonyms of the poem? We have to find a solution after all which lifts one out of the gloom.
 
(it's kinda fun watching people post ideas on my own puzzle)
:P
 
3:31 PM
I'm not good at wordplay
So I'm not entirely sure what to expect!
Hmm
I'm sure 'one-eyed' really means 'one letter I'
Seems like a good wordplay way to interpret it
And One I (personal pronoun) kind of seems like it fits the lonely line
Hmm I'm never very good with riddle-y wordplay-ey type stuff I guess xD
 
3:46 PM
I think I've got the forward and backward part figured out, and I have some meeting paths, but I'm a bit stuck on what to do next...
 
Alright, I'm off now. Let me know in the comments if you need any clarification. Good luck!
 
It's almost 12 down here in Australia, should catch some sleep...
 
Sid
Does @Levieux ever come here? I liked his latest puzzle... though I am a bit short on what to do after the obvious first step..
 
4:27 PM
Don't think I've ever seen him here
 
5:03 PM
እው ሰላም ነው
 
5:35 PM
@BeastlyGerbil Do you speak Amharic?
 
@GentlePurpleRain no I just wanted to say hello in a weird language :P
 
As a gerbil, can you speak Hamtaric?
 
Cool. I don't either, but luckily Google Translate does.
 
hnub twg zoo rau koj
 
5:39 PM
Has everyone given up on the latest Cryptic clue?
 
I can't think of even where to start
 
@Rubio I've never even heard of Hmong...
 
It looks like some encryption. I may have to use that one of these days. :)
 
 
1 hour later…
7:08 PM
@Sconibulus Any hints for the cryptic clue? It seems like we're all at a loss...
Can we assume that "religious satire" is the definition?
 
7:25 PM
'in reverse' seems obvious, don't know the rest
 
Could "ten" be "X" ?
 
Is non-English cheating? If it would be well-known from English sources?
 
im guessing its french and the first word is le/la
 
As reptiles swim, Confused Uther drinks tea and the French make movies sightless (3,6,5) would probably be the translated version...
 
7:40 PM
so i'm very sure that the first word is le/la and the in the translated now, don't know the rest
 
@Sconibulus I think if most English-speakers would recognize the French phrase, then it's fair game.
 
in Mos Eisley, Oct 19 at 2:38, by Rand al'Thor
Jul 25 at 17:00, by Rand al'Thor
Apr 30 at 21:17, by Rand al'Thor
Dec 30 '15 at 2:26, by rand al'thor
Oct 4 at 21:21, by Praxis
@randal'thor : 10k is when you get instant healing, x-ray vision, and the ability to see 15 seconds into the future. 20k, you get improved stamina, and 25k you get a Starbucks gift card.
 
8:00 PM
I'd been wondering whether it was in Foreign, but I was wondering about Latin rather than French. But beginning with 3 does suggest le/la -> the. (And the letters of "the" are among those in "Uther drinks tea".)
 
@GentlePurpleRain What puzzle are you talking about?
 
@LeppyR64 the current cryptic
(Sconibulus's, see second open-starred comment in sidebar)
Incidentally, am I alone in finding this puzzle rather ... odd?
1
Q: Figure out the ? in the figure below

alDiablo Here is the link to the puzzle

Decidedly obscure, posted by an unknown user and solved rather quickly by another unknown user.
 
@LeppyR64 There's an ongoing game in chat where a user posts a cryptic clue, such as might be found in a UK cryptic crossword, and the other try to solve it. Whoever solves posts the next clue. The current clue is (as Gareth said) listed in the starred messages at right.
 
And one of its bits is wrong, isn't it? Wrong in the same way in question and solution. "The reduced Planck constant is the quantum of angular momentum of a Photon" -- that's dimensionally incorrect,
and the Planck constant has units of action not momentum.
It all just looks a little bit suspicious.
back on the cryptic clue, of course the letters of THE are among those of UTHER alone, which is probably more relevant
(this is all about the alleged translated version, of course)
speaking of which, it's hard to see how the translated and non-translated clues can be to equivalent things since there's no obvious sign of anything in one that could be defining a translation of anything in the other :-).
 
@GarethMcCaughan You just went way beyond my level of understanding. I'll take your word for it. Thanks for bringing it to attention, though. We can keep an eye and see if there is any funny business going on.
 
8:07 PM
I guess it's all perfectly innocuous, simply because most things are perfectly innocuous.
 
@GarethMcCaughan A very good point. @Sconibulus, do both the English and French versions contain a definition part of the clue?
 
@GarethMcCaughan DELETE!!!!!! :P
 
I realise that the presence of the letters of THE in UTHER is probably irrelevant -- when I wrote that, I'd somehow failed to notice the "As reptiles swim" on the front.
 
@GarethMcCaughan Perhaps there is a work of satire whose title translates as "As Reptiles Swim", or as "Make movies sightless" or something like that...?
 
@BeastlyGerbil what?
 
8:08 PM
They do
 
@GentlePurpleRain Maybe, but that seems like one definition too many somehow
Though I expect we will all kick ourselves when we figure out (or get told) what the answers are.
 
@GarethMcCaughan the suspicious question...
 
I'm certainly not going to vote to delete it. I don't know there's anything wrong at all...
(I know, I know, you were joking)
 
Yeah just jk
I did see it and think 'what?'. It didn't seem like a normal rebus or anything
 
hmm, that should probably be A Reptile Swims As Uther, Confused, drinks tea and the French sit before blind movies
sorry, I was throwing together the translation pretty quickly and didn't check all the agreements perfectly
 
8:15 PM
@Sconibulus Are all those capital letters significant? (Feel free not to answer.)
 
not really, some of them probably shouldn't be there
I think I started out doing all first letters capitalized then forgot about it
 
fair enough
 
Uther and French should be, everything else should be self-consistent
going into a planning session thingy, be back later
 
plan wisely!
 
Hi @Deusovi
 
8:23 PM
I just realized that Sconibulus never indicated whether the original clue was in French. He just strongly implied that it wasn't English. Could be anything else.
 
probably french though. Maybe a similar language
 
probably something whose definite article has two letters :-)
Sconibulus hasn't actually said in so many words that the original is in Foreign and the "translated version" in English. Perhaps it's the other way around and he's being deliberately unhelpful...
 
Maybe, but doubt it
 
8:29 PM
the le/la -> the seems too much of a coincidence
 
THE TURTLE MOVES (?) THE TUR = UTHER scrambled "drinking" T, (not sure where next T comes from) LE = "the" in French, and MOVES = "movies" without I's (eyes).
 
ahhhhhh
De Chelonian Mobile
Terry Pratchett
d'oh
so mobile = equilibrium gravitic
 
Damn. I read all his books too.
 
I would have gotten exactly none of that.
Good job.
 
So whats it in french?
 
8:31 PM
I don't understand the paratroop maneuvers yet
it isn't anything in french
it's in pseudo-Latin
 
Is "De Chelonian Mobile" a Pratchett novel? (not too familiar with his work).
 
oh oops
 
no, it's a book within his novels, as it were
a heretical book
 
He's a great author but don't think I read that one. Read all the diskworlds...
 
8:32 PM
actually, I forget -- it's used as a slogan by the Brutherian heretics (IIRC) but I'm not sure there's actually a book
 
How does "Ten dangerous paratroop maneuvers in reverse" make "De Chelonian"?
 
Well your turn GPR
No idea...
 
I am still completely confused by the paratroop maneuvers
 
Do we need to solve that first, or should we consider it solved?
 
De sounds like dix?
 
8:34 PM
I think we need to wait until either Sconibulus declares we've got it or we have understood it so completely that there's no scope for error
(not that there's really any doubt at this point)
 
"dangerous" probably clues an anagram of some sort.
 
except there isn't anything in the clue with the right letters
 
what about 'in reverse'
 
Maybe a (gasp!) indirect anagram?
 
I don't know, but DE CHELONIAN backwards is NAINOLHCED which doesn't do anything for me
 
8:36 PM
I guess we'll have to wait for @Sconibulus to enlighten us. I think if we're certain we have the correct solution, we could probably move on. Everyone agree?
 
Yeah sounds fair
 
I'm happy to.
 
I'd wait till @Sconibulus comes back, but that's just me...
 
it's actually NAINOLEHCED (you missed an E) but same difference, still makes no sense to me
 
oops, yes, mistyped
 
8:38 PM
i think the AN is literal
(AN MOBILE) = an equilibrium gravitic
 
so we're looking at DECHELONI for the rest
 
CCCC: Despite lowest-possible turnout, broken-down shelter mostly succeeds in the end. (11)
DIECHE sounds like "ten" in some language...
 
@Rubio I notice the word ECHELON in there but I don't think it's helpful :-)
 
@GentlePurpleRain can you pin your own post?
Oh yep
 
8:40 PM
The mod powers are without limit...! :P
@Deusovi New Cryptic clue!
 
Ssssh, Deusovi is here. Play nice.
 
Woo!
:P
 
Is there a countdown every year? I can't remember for the past two years...
 
@Deusovi perhaps you can help us work out how the first part of the previous one works (as you'll see from earlier discussion, there's really no doubt about the answer despite our confusion on that point)
 
Last time there were white stickman walking around... Not sure about a countdown, but I think there was one.
 
8:42 PM
Unfortunately, I'm not sure how that works either.
 
oh well
 
If Deusovi is stumped you know its tricky
 
9
A: How do I interact with people?

PythonMasterI think this is their behavior. After at least an hour of searching every crook and cranny of the website, spamming my fingers on the keyboard and inspecting the element and using everything I know about computers, the result is none. The people will move by themselves without paying any attenti...

 
@Deusovi can "broken down" indicate random selection and order of letters from something?
 
it can certainly indicate an anagram
 
8:46 PM
I hope not. Anagram, maybe.
 
ok
 
Apparently "echelon" can refer to a paratroop manoeuvre.
The DI could come from "DIX" (?)
 
Oooh ok
 
it definitely said "maneuvers"
 
Ah, I'd looked for that but couldn't find anything.
 
8:48 PM
but if "ten" can mean "dix" and "dangerous" can mean "without its last letter" and "paratroop maneuvers" can mean "paratroop formation", then I guess it works
oh, no, wait, we still have to understand "in reverse"
to be precise, "reverse"
("in" would be indicating that ECHELON goes inside DI)
 
It could be "in", reversed, which would double up the N, but would give you the I. Then maybe "ten" is meant to clue D somehow...
 
Decimal?
 
I think we will have to wait until @Sconibulus returns and can explain what's going on.
 
Ten in roman numerals is X isn't it? Well in french its DIX so DIX - X = DI?
Bit dubious
 
@GentlePurpleRain I think it's NONETHELESS = Despite (def), lowest-possible turnout is NONE, and then I get a little lost; I think, "shelter, mostly" => SHELTE, "broken down" anagrams it to THELES, and "succeeds in the end" gives the final S?
 
8:50 PM
The dangerous paratroop maneuver was supposed to be HELO, but that's apparently not a thing as commonly used as I thought
it's jumping out of helicopters instead of planes
sorry, that's what the guys I knew who were in the Air Force called it
 
Ah, alright.
 
and there is a youtube video or two to support it, but it's not as common as I thought when making it
 
@Sconibulus Your answer to the Crazy Internet Threat will be complete if you add the two I got; you may want to do that for the check
 
HELO and HALO?
 
when I put "helo parachute helicopter" into Google it says "did you mean HALO"? :-)
 
8:51 PM
DEC HELO NI< AN MOBILE
 
so "ten" -> DEC?
@Sconibulus was that a very quick planning meeting or are you reading TSL when you should be planning important things?
 
HALO is jumping from very high up, and waiting a very long time to open, it's also dangerous
It was the second half, most of it happened before Lunch
 
@Rubio sounds to me like you've got it all
 
Yep, seems good to me.
 
8:54 PM
@Rubio Oh right, I forgot about that puzzle, nice work
 
@Sconibulus I still think my incorrect answer was better than the real one :)
 
yeah, it seemed very plausible, I was completely at a loss there
but I knew the rest of it had to be right
 
@Rubio That's it. (Sorry, was AFK).
 
cool. aight now i have to come up with one.
 
I never knew that @Randal'Thor was an Andorian and had blue skin and antennae.
 
8:59 PM
I was very happy with the surface-reading of that one (mine).
 
Yeah it was nice
I'm struggling to make an even passable surface reading for mine
 
Agreed, it was great.
 
ok I'll give this a go.
CCCC: Terminate an unterminated roof's termination, or the younger sibling of a vanished civilization. (8)
Sorry, fixed.
 
0
Q: Why is my car always in the slowest lane?

IshamaelStaying in the traffic again this morning, I decided to find a mathematical motivation behind me always being in the slowest lane. Consider the following formalization: there are 4 empty lanes and 100000 cars. For each car in turn we choose one of the four lanes uniformly at random, and add the ...

 
9:24 PM
@Mithrandir seriously? 16 other people (so far) haven't had a problem seeing how the lines intersect on the invisible keyboard :) i don't really have time to make a pretty graphic for that.
 
@Rubio Ah well. The fact that it's currently ~11:30 PM locally might be influencing my thughts...
(And the fact that I was up all night 2 out of the past 5 days, so...)
 
ouch.
 
What 'ouch'? :P
Anyway, I should go to bed...
Adios.
 
@Mithrandir Andalite =/= Andorian.
 
9:42 PM
@Randal'Thor It says that you're Andoran.
 
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