The Sphinx's Lair

@Techidiot Thanks for the work on my puzzle. You'll see @wildBillMunson noted that he gave (some? all?) of the bounty to you. @Will You also nailed the key from Newton.

@Jim I don't think I did, because even with Bill's answer I can't get it :)

Oh, you're right, I didn't see your order

@Will BIGVOYR

@Will Those were the colors projected onto his chair rather than in their traditional order.

@Will It was tricky where Indigo fell, and that was meant to be one degree of freedom. I try to be aware of the DoFs

@Jim Ah, I guessed the PS meant Orange and Indigo were supposed to be adjacent. I'm getting less nonsensical ASCII with the new ordering, but still (mostly) nonsense nonetheless. D:

2:14 AM

@Will remember that the key I used was that, when you reverse a transposition you have to start with labeling the columns according to my key and "un-transpose" them.

@Will my guess is you transposed the bits once more from where they ended up instead of the reverse. Remember there never was an 8th bit. Hope that helps.

Yup, that was why I tried four things originally - I tried both directions each with two different Indigo placements

My most recent attempt at decoding yields wjAT amlmp kq cv 6;0thx[US] -- which appears to be quite close.

2:30 AM

So you transcribe the colors to binary and grouped 8 bits at a time and then choppped the MSB @Will?

Q: The Autonumerigram Challenge

0

Some phrases both refer to a number, n, and are comprised of n alphabetic characters. I call any such phrase an autonumerigram. For example, four has 4 letters seven plus seven has 14 letters fifteen times one has 15 letters one followed by six has 16 letters one before two has 12 letters T...

wordplay formation-of-numbers open-ended arithmetic

@Jim Yup, that was my first step!

And reversed the I and O streams ?

Q: The Autonumerigram Challenge

-1

Some phrases both refer to a number, n, and are comprised of n alphabetic characters. I call any such phrase an autonumerigram. For example, four has 4 letters seven plus seven has 14 letters fifteen times one has 15 letters one followed by six has 16 letters one before two has 12 letters fou...

wordplay formation-of-numbers open-ended arithmetic

Opinion-based?

2:53 AM

It seems relatively objective, if open-ended

"(provided that it's not cheap)"

What counts as "cheap"? It seems "cheap" just means "something I don't like".

I read that as "no recursion"

I suppose "extraneous additions" is somewhat subjective

Yeah.

For instance, I could complain about all the "raised" in your answer.

that's just being thorough (I thought it was pretty)

:)

"Extraneous addition" and "cheap" are both inherently subjective.

3:01 AM

1

Q: More Rebus puzzles Part II

I have some more Rebus puzzles: Seeing how the first lot were a bit easy I decided to make these a bit harder. Good luck!

rebus

Q: What's the policy on answers without explanation?

4:21 AM

@Will That was a smart puzzle!! :)

Puzzling Meta

4:36 AM

0

I was wondering what's the puzzling policy on answers which are correct but dont have any explanations? If someone posts a puzzle, and I post a correct answer, but without any explanation first(so that I dont get ninja'd) and then later add all the details in an edit, what's the policy on that. I...

discussion

4:58 AM

I feel CCCC stooopid lately. Have they been difficult?

Not sure how difficult mine is. (The definition may be a bit unfair...)

:)

Oi. nice to be home again. :)

Well I don't like this one so I'll consider it cheaty and cheap, deal?

(Also I don't really know what you guys have been referring to but I scanned the recent messages a while ago)

@Jim Hm? What do you mean?

5:14 AM

I just skimmed and saw you all were talking about something being subjective

Q: The Autonumerigram Challenge

The puzzle I linked.

1

Some phrases both refer to a number, n, and are comprised of n alphabetic characters. I call any such phrase an autonumerigram. For example, four has 4 letters seven plus seven has 14 letters fifteen times one has 15 letters one followed by six has 16 letters one before two has 12 letters fou...

wordplay formation-of-numbers open-ended arithmetic

That one.

Wow, really? 2 upvotes?

then saw some comments about things being cheap

In the question, it says cheap things aren't allowed.

Gotcha :)

Anyway I'm bad at CCCCs again. I blame Christmas.

@Deusovi so I take it you don't see merit in said puzzle?

Nope, none.

Q: Sharing and rewarding what went into making a good puzzle

5:19 AM

@Jim You may write a typical wrap up for your puzzle

21

I'd like to put forth an idea which I think could simultaneously address two heavily discussed topics on Puzzling.SE:- Adding more content about puzzle creation itself (in addition to being a repository of high-quality puzzles) Rewarding good puzzles by awarding the questioner more than +5 per ...

discussion questions self-answer reputation

Q: Longest arithmetic expression where the answer is equal to the number of letters

Also, it's a duplicate.

11

You can use any mathematical operations represented by English words. These English words must be found in a commonly used dictionary. Spaces are neither letters nor words. You can not use the same word twice. No numerical digits are allowed. Example: Five plus eight Is 13, and it h...

open-ended arithmetic

@Techidiot where are the cliff notes for that? I kid.... is there something easy I can do on mobile to fix what I did?

@Deusovi I applaud your memory and/or passion

@Jim Warspyking posted a lot of those types of puzzles.

Most of them were closed as too broad. For some reason, that one wasn't.

@Deusovi were they enjoyable? They aren't my thing.

@Deusovi that's what I'd have expected

Warspyking used to be notorious for posting bad questions. He posted 209 questions in total, many of which were heavily downvoted.

5:27 AM

@Jim You can add that once you are back on your PC. Using mobile will be a brutality! ;)

@Techidiot is the basic presime there's a specific header to add to the self answer? I skimmed what you sent but will read it more later.

There's a meta post that covered how wrap-up posts work, why they are done, and what they should look like. If you find other posters who have supplied wrap-up answers, you'll see the template in use (and it links to the meta post as well, so you see where the template came from)

puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/46493/… for example has a wrap-up post

as does its predecessor, puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/36256/…

@Rubio Ok, wonderful. I simply added it because someone asked to clarify and I figured I'd just write up the entire thing from my side

meta.puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/5420 is the meta post in question

Ah. Yeah, I mean, you can do a basic self-answer on any question; I've done that as well

But your post on that question is pretty much exactly the material people generally put in the wrap-up posts, so yeah you probably should make it look like the template. Also, that was a really cool puzzle - I wish I had had the time to work on it.

@Rubio Kudos apprrciated. I'll track down the template tomorrow for certain.

5:38 AM

@Deusovi You still around?

Yeah, why?

puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/47208/… removed by author; it's a dup of puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/47311/puzzle-for-u-guys

Volatility

While we're still on the topic of warspyking (well, maybe not), can anyone explain how the $500 clue in One of Us for this old puzzle ("Exciting; eating; excited; eaten") might be a wordplay for him/her?

same author? If not, it is probably another contest riddle being posted here

actually google cache tells me "samba" posted the first.

Volatility

The first part could clue WAKING around something, but I don't see how "excited; eaten" could clue RSPY

The closest I get is an indirect anagram of SPRY, although AFAIK "eaten" is not a synonym for "spry", nor an anagram indicator

5:45 AM

I guess it could be an anagram indicator?

(I was actually thinking it was supposed to be GentlePurpleRain, with some sort of indirect anagram.)

6:07 AM

I think you're right though.

Volatility

I guess "eaten" is ~"chewed" or something?

7:42 AM

OK, I'm not sure if it is OK to create such a new tag, but may the mods be with me

Or... @Deusovi, you here?

AFAIK, this type of puzzle is called a dingbat: they are visual word puzzles from which a well known phrase or saying has to be identified. They are derived from the board game that was devised by Paul Sellars. They generally rely on text rather than pictures, the picture style being known as a rebus.

Is it worth a tag creation though

?

Dingbat? Never heard that. o_O

The papers / books / magazines / etc. I've seen them in all call them wuzzles.

Ha, yeah word+puzzles = wuzzles

kensquiz.co.uk/table-top-quizzes/word-puzzles/dingbats

This is a site full of these

So I thought it was a popular term

In French, there is even a Wikipedia page for them, though I rarely heard the word dingbat

Oh, wow. This is weird. We even had a TV programme: youtube.com/watch?v=aXphsQk0Cdc

8:00 AM

Hey! I'm here now.

I've heard both types referred to as "rebuses".

Alright, I guess it's not as popular as I thought then :-)

9:39 AM

Hello!

Is anyone on?

Yep!

'Lo!

Is a "competition"-type puzzle on Puzzling acceptable, or does there have to be one solution that the poster of the question has beforehand?

Questions from ongoing competition are forbidden. But if the competition is over, then you can post it, giving the right sources

No, it doesn't have to do with an actual competition

Oooh, sorry, misread

9:43 AM

It's just a mini-competition set up here

I think I should just post the question idea...

Yes, alright, I got you know.

Post your question on Meta

Oh

@Qwerp-Derp There was something like this: meta.puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/5588/…

It was not a competition, more of a community puzzle

True

So I am unsure about a competition one

9:45 AM

I came over from PPCG, and there was a sandbox for these types of questions

I think the right step to take is to post your idea on meta

But there isn't one here, so I have to ask over here

Yes, the sandbox on PPCG

I can't see how you could do a competition puzzle though

Be sure to explain well your purpose on meta, then you'll see if the community agrees or not

Puzzling Meta

10:07 AM

0

Q: Competition puzzles?

I'm thinking of posting a challenge, which is like so: Generate an equation which approximates as many digits of pi as possible. However, you are only allowed to use: the digits $1 - 9$ once and ONLY once $+,-,*,/$ (basic operators) $!$ (and its cousins, $!!$, $!!!$, etc.) exponents (e.g. $2...

discussion

flag this as spam ! puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/47322/…

flagged, VTCed, and downvoted. whee!

@Qwerp-Derp Your question is clear now :-)

@IAmInPLS Ah, cool. The main reason I'm asking is because there aren't many challenges like this on Puzzling, at least none that I could find.

@Qwerp-Derp That specific question is more math than puzzle, but presumably a well defined puzzle with specified best-answer criteria and a finite time limit would be acceptable. I seem to remember seeing others, but they were in the long-distant past.

More recent puzzles of similar type have been closed for not being narrowly enough defined or for not having objective criteria for determining the best anwer.

See, for example: puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/23666/… and puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/23656/…

(in particular, see the comments under the main question)

10:14 AM

Yeah, those questions are way too broad

Those types of questions would get closed immediately on PPCG

I would like to see more of these challenges on Puzzling, mainly because I'm no good at puzzles...

Well, puzzles are challenges themselves :-)

I have to agree with Rubio that this looks more like a math challenge than an actual puzzle, thus making it too broad for PSE. Did you ask this question on PPCG?

Nope, because it would result in brute-force programs, which aren't that interesting TBH

Btw, your question would still benefit from a little more tightening. "digits of pi" should be "consecutive leading digits of pi", otherwise it's likely that just about any random sequence of digits could be found in pi if expanded far enough :)

How would a maths challenge be too broad for PSE?

it's not that it's too broad

it's that we specifically have a vote-to-close reason that is "this is math, not a puzzle"

10:20 AM

Would my problem be closed as that?

"This question is off-topic as it appears to be a mathematics problem, as opposed to a mathematical puzzle. For more info, see "Are math-textbook-style problems on topic?" on meta."

It's technically a mathematical puzzle...

Yeah, I mean - we have puzzles looking for how to arrange digits and operators to give a max/min/specific result

They're accepted but I think they're not all that well received. They're kinda borderline between puzzle and math exercise.

I might as post it, and see how it goes.

That's the word, borderline

IMO, it's too broad in the way that this will attract too many possible answers

10:25 AM

Possibly. I mean, it would, by design, but there is a finite limit to the scope of the contest eventually.

I don't think the fact that it's open-ended is strictly grounds for closure, though. else, why do we have a open-ended tag?

Yes, you're right. I would argue that open-ended coupled with this type of challenge won't get well

puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/46166/… is a pretty good example of a well-received, open-ended puzzle which saw a small number of incrementally better solutions until one was found that has yet to be beaten. Is it provably optimal? Probably not, but by the criteria given ("using as few moves as possible"), one answer can be objectively ruled "best".

Of course, the accompanying word of caution would be that looking at all open-ended puzzles shows a distinctly high percentage of them are closed. :)

0

Q: What's the passcode?

It's … it's symbolizing some splashes of ink. Should I stop this moment, dat they say that for everyone in the world [redacted] has made [redacted] or the other selfishness of yours, that you don't take the sun, nor take the shade. Coming in the sunshine, or slipping in the shadow, wherever I g...

pattern

10:45 AM

0

Q: Connect 4 Recursive

Here is a variant of the standard connect 4. There are seven connect 4 grids (size 6 by 7) numbered 1 to 7. Each grid has the columns numbered 1 to 7. The person who starts selects any one of the seven grids and plays a single move in any column of that grid. (Gravity obviously exists in each gr...

strategy game

Q: Are there any good online puzzle sources which doesn't requires trivia/cultural preknowledge?

11:14 AM

0

I am a newbie to Puzzling SE. Around 60~70% puzzles seems to me requires lot of trivia/cultural preknowledge to solve them. I also checked MIT Puzzles hunt puzzles and recent puzzle hunts (like SUMS) (there does exist good trivia or knowledge less puzzles) majority requires hypergoogling up. Fo...

puzzle-creation

0

Q: Post-Christmas - Christmas Movie Rebi (Rebuses?)

You wait all holiday for a Christmas movie rebus and three come along at once! Can you deduce the films from the images?

rebus seasonal

Q: Are there any good online puzzle sources which doesn't requires trivia/cultural preknowledge?

0

I am a newbie to Puzzling SE. Around 60~70% puzzles seems to me requires lot of trivia/cultural preknowledge to solve them. I also checked MIT Puzzles hunt puzzles and recent puzzle hunts (like SUMS) (there does exist good trivia or knowledge less puzzles) majority requires hypergoogling up. Fo...

puzzle-creation

Out of topic?

11:28 AM

@Sid I think so, but I am not sure. I answered anyway

12:16 PM

Woah, Really?

@BeastlyGerbil I told you, don't accept too early :-P

Just accepted :P

Nice!

You must have got a load of rep too! :P

Yeah, repcapped yestaerday, and maybe today as well ^^

12:23 PM

Just two upvotes for silver badge now :)

Q: The Revenge of the Post-Christmas - Christmas Movie Rebuses

1:17 PM

0

Rather enjoyed my first outing as a poser in Post-Christmas - Christmas Movie Rebuses so I have made some more. Hopefully these should be a little trickier! Deduce the three movies from the images. N.B. All movies are Christmas themed or set at Christmas.

rebus movies seasonal

Sp3000

1:45 PM

@Sid Really tempted to reply to that, but not quite sure what to say. Most puzzle hunts try to strike a balance, so if you wanted the logic-only ones you'd have to pick and choose...

2:38 PM

Huh, we don't have a Shopping Rec close reason here?

Shopping?

Q&A is Hard, Let's Go Shopping!

I think that's what it was referred to in the blog

Jeff Atwood on November 23, 2010

Over the last 2.5 years, we've identified a few problematic classes of questions that tend to get asked on our sites. Many of these are documented in our standard set of close reasons: exact duplicate, off-topic, subjective and argumentative, not a real question, and too localized.

I 'member! But for what question, the one I unfortunately answered?

yeah

I'm pretty sure SF&F has one, and I know Arqade does

Yes, SO has one too

That was I said in a comment that I was not sure if this question was off-topic or not

So, what to do? VTC?

2:43 PM

It seems to me like a good candidate for the "this may invite speculative answers" reason.

0

Q: A tricky (or not) code

This code requires one half to solve the other. This shouldn't be too difficult. Kpprvugdnoavwugzjdvwqswwcvoburnxvlqqrktduhvkkvkvobhltvvwkpgdpbydalylnovuawqoqrmiquusgonlpjgutrtvdxvlcpprvsguhhewcqflowaskqirpdrkqqgdpgvkkvkvconrphuwtlpjurcxvrertugfvluxuhnhuvkjwhuvkfqxngjdxhyukwvhplvrwwprtpconbcqfwj...

cipher

@Sphinx Argh! When will they learn? ;-)

heh

Wow I can't find the link for him, for anything, today. Not having any luck searching meta.

puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/47338/… please close

+VTC

Q: What goes around comes back around?

2:56 PM

-1

off course a boomerang. Can we think of more creative and suitable answers for this question?

word

Damn you for posting that comment the exact moment I finally found the link @Sconibulus

lol

Bookmarks link

puzzling.stackexchange.com/review/reopen/26494

I always find it amusing when there's a re-open vote, but nothing has changed in the puzzle to cause anyone to want to reconsider it.

Q: When is it worth to use Hexadecimal over Decimal?

3:24 PM

0

How many bits does a number need to have, to make it worth using hexadecimal notation of the form 0xHHH...H over its decimal representation of the form DDD...D? Here, "being worth" is defined as "giving a shorter average length for uniformly distributed values in the range $0$ to $2^N-1$", where...

mathematics computer-puzzle

3:53 PM

@Khale_Kitha Yeah, why would rand al'thor like to reopen this?

TrojanByAccident

4:55 PM

Greetings, everyone

I am back from the dead

(aka suspension e.e)

Q: First attempt at movie rebus puzzle

1

As a first attempt at Rebus puzzle, here is an image containing rebus puzzles about movies. Have fun solving it. I'm also open for feedback.

hmm, I'm slow

lol

Uh my brain hurts. Been thinking up too many mathematical proofs for my homework...

TrojanByAccident

5:11 PM

Stop proving it then

Done now :P

TrojanByAccident

nice

5:32 PM

Anyone knows how to get the clockwork orange hat? It looks pretty cool

I know it's a secret one but

If you have a start of a lead

Q: What comes next in this number sequence?

-3

What comes next in this sequence? 1, 4, 3, 11, 15, 13, ?

number-sequence

I was going to make a puzzle, but just don't have time. You can guess on it, here.

Today has been an active day..

@Khale_Kitha That is some puzzle? Jack the Ripper?

Just a rebus that I was going to make into a puzzle - but after making the image -- and disliking the result -- don't have tie.

time*

And no - to your guess.

Some movie or quote?

5:47 PM

Movie, or Song Lyrics, or Person.

It looks cool though..

Thanks - I just wish that I had a drawing tablet, because trying to do it with a mouse really ruins the effect.

Q: Another number sequence puzzle

-4

2, 3, 5, 11, 31, 127, 709, 5381, ? What are the next three numbers in the sequence?

number-sequence

@Sphinx you sleepy beast! That thing has been answered for like, 5 minutes already..

And still an awful puzzle... lol

5:54 PM

Yeah, I have got the strange feeling that awful puzzles have actually increased in the last few days..

They come in waves. People see them, then think to themselves: "Pah. I can do that"

No one ever thinks: "Wow, that was awful. Let's not copy that."

@Khale_Kitha First thought is Jack Frost

Correct, Sconi

That's why I didn't make it into a puzzle - would have been part of a larger, but image took me too long, and was too easy, alone.

Ok, Google tells me it is a movie... Hadn't heard of that earlier.

I didn't know about the movie, but I think he's a fairly well-known character

5:57 PM

Yeah - two movies, in fact, afaik

He played a bit part in a book I read recently, although I can't remember the name

story steganography seasonal

6

Q: A Christmas Tale for 12

Winter holidays were in full swing, with exxcitement all around. FriEnds and family were eager to shkare the gifts that they had found. Befoqe they could commence with gift giving, however, it wbs the time for the meal they would all share together. They all gathered around and each sat in the...

I find part of that hilarious...

"mistyped as next letter in the alphabet"

Because I find it funnz to believe that anzone would accidentally type the next letter in the alphabet.. :P

Someone using an old-school phone?

hah

Yeah, but then they couldn't type Q or X, iirc

perhaps it was Q and Z

J'n hpjoh up tuasu uzqjoh amm nz tfoufodft cz njtuzqjoh uif mfuufst at uif ofyu mfuufs jo uif amqiacfu.

Ju xjmm cf uisjmmjoh!

J gfas ju xjmm hfu pme, gatu, uipvhi.

@Khale_Kitha Code stuff. What (not) to do: meta.puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/1717/…

6:07 PM

:P

To be fair, it wasn't out of nowhere.

It was in context to the conversation, haha.

Amusing idea for a lyric rebus. A bunch of ghosts, standing outside of a doorway, with the words Rain, Snow, Fog, Cloud, written on them.

7:10 PM

Don't think I'd get that one

"The weather outside is frightful."

ahh, right, ghosts are spooky

7:28 PM

Perhaps, or perhaps not, but frequently considered 'frightful'

8:03 PM

I'm glad someone finished the Tale for 12. i had originally done my answer on the mobile app, and lemme tell you, that was a colossal pain. I know I had some omissions but only got home yesterday and didn't feel like revisiting it at that point.

no one got the CCCC?

I've disliked them ever since Hughes introduced them to our site. I immediately disregard, sry.

No worries (and Alconja introduced them) :)

knowledge crossword-clues word-game

8:19 PM

I'm thinking of something else, sorry - can't remember the term, offhand.

The SOO's are what I disliked.

26

Q: Spaced Out and Obfuscated

In this puzzle I took an English phrase, spaced it differently, then replaced the resulting words with synonyms or definitions. This is an example to show you what I mean. Spaced out and obfuscated: that man tape player button self-esteem Just spaced out: he (from "that man") rew (fr...

well. Those look . . . annoying . . . .

I find them such - the author is a great guy, so I don't hold it against him. I just dislike the puzzles.

An explanation of the CCCC needs to be pinned (@Deusovi), so that people have some idea of what's going on. Because even with research, I don't have any idea what the intent is.

wordplay puzzle-creation cryptic-clues cryptic-crosswords

34

Q: Cryptic Clue Guide

This post is not a puzzle. There is nothing puzzly hidden inside it or the self-answer, posted at the same time. What exactly is a cryptic crossword clue, and how do I write one?

I've starred the definition of CCCC and the brief explanation that Alconja gave, but they can't be displayed due to age.

They're a real thing, though I'd never heard of them before encountering them here

8:26 PM

That doesn't help, Rubio, unless you ALREADY know the answer.

I'm.. .not sure what you're asking, then. The pinned CCCC is the current entry in the ongoing Chat Cryptic Clue Chain - whoever solves it, then posts the next one, and so on.

Nov 15 at 3:53, by Alconja

New chat game: the person who answers the most recent chat cryptic clue has to pose a new one.

Nov 15 at 6:00, by Alconja

(PS: I've named the game "Cryptic Clue Chat Chains")

Yep, but that's my point. There's nothing that tells anyone that. It simply says "CCCC" which doesn't magically explain itself.

we haven't solved it yet.

Oh. Well. That's mainly because if you come in and ask, someone will quickly explain what's going on. As I just did. hehe