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02:00 - 22:0022:00 - 00:00

2:28 AM
@Rubio [h]UNCH + [str]AINED + MELODY = song by The Righteous Brothers
Bit of a double up on melody though
 
NICE, good job
melody isn't doubled up though
tune=melody
 
As in etymology speaking
 
Not following you.
 
The MELODY in the wordplay means the same thing as the MELODY in the answer
Just generally a thing to avoid, since it makes it less interesting when you get the answer :)
 
Oh. Well, yeah - I didn't have a lot of scope to work with, outside of maybe Melody Pond for Doctor Who fans. hehe
 
2:33 AM
fyi the only reason I was remotely able to get that was because of UNCH :P
 
That was intended to be the way in
With the musical theme at the end I figured it would be solvable without taking three weeks. hhe
 
@Rubio MODEL*+Y, maybe?
 
I was trying to play on the idea of the mob family "singing" to the cops, but yeah - something else might have played a little better there
 
Ah. I didn't get that impression from your surface reading at all.
 
Oh well. :)
 
2:53 AM
CCCC: Down's set primarily by tricky cluer? (5)
 
Ooh, great surface reading.
 
 
1 hour later…
4:12 AM
Umm no-one to pin Sp3000's CC? @Rubio @Deusovi
 
Got it.
(Pinned, not solved.)
 
great
 
Heh, whoops sorry :)
I so want that to be, like, SPLIT or something ending with (&)LIT.
 
4:55 AM
@Sp3000 SWILL
I'm dying over here
 
lol. Nice one.
 
Ha!
 
5:23 AM
Well ain't that ironic :P (yes it's correct)
 
CCCC: Perhaps tan, minute kernel! (7)
 
5:53 AM
Any RO's here?
 
What's RO?
 
Room Owner
 
6:05 AM
Hi @Anko!
 
Hi @bobo
 
@Rubio, @Deusovi, swap CCCC superstars?
 
lol.
SWILL, that's awesome :)
 
hehe
 
sorry trying to finish up a puzzle - feel free to @ping me for the next while if a C4 changes
of course it's Will's, so I think we're safe for a few hours days
that surface reading, Will.... I love it
and that "!" is just taunting me
 
6:11 AM
-2
A: Coins on a table

dev ranjan tripathimaa chod kar rakhdi tume ne launde bahut hi badiya logic lagye ho pandey ji !!! dev ranjan tripathi

???
 
Ewww
that's raw hindi swearing
 
flag it if you haven't already
 
Really? Alright, I'll change my flag type
Is the name swearing as well?
 
Nah
the name looks like a plausible Indian name
 
Why would they dig out a 2-year old question when they can just pick one on the front page anyway?
 
6:16 AM
heh
Human mind operates in ridiculous ways
 
-6?! Mods, wake up please!
 
That'll get auto-deleted if there are enough flags
I forgot the exact number
 
Added my flag
 
Yeah the Community user should get it
 
Community ♦ operates in mysterious ways...
 
6:18 AM
Careful, it might hear you. I've heard it's gaining sentience...
3
 
Posted to SmokeDetector
And deleted, yay.
 
What's 'tpu-'?
On Charcoal?
 
not entirely sure what all their directives mean
 
tan, minute, kernel are all math terms
 
6:34 AM
@Ankoganit What are you talking about?
 
the CCCC
 
@boboquack Not sure about the u or the dash but tp is "true positive"
 
Does this post need a title change?
3
Q: What kind of people can answer this riddle?

histocratWhat kind of people can answer the following riddle? Call a=1, b=2, and so on. What is the longest common English word that can be made from only prime letters?

 
I think the title's question is sort of key to the puzzle, though it makes a rubbish title
not really sure what to do with it.
 
What happened to the tag party question?
 
6:41 AM
it, and its OP, got deleted
 
Why exactly?
 
the puzzle's text was well laced with hopping and jumping references. I'll leave you to draw your own inferences.
 
Twice in a few days? Really?
You'd think someone could do some kind of IP address ban...
 
Can I nominate a kangaroo to be sliced in half? — Rubio yesterday
 
Hi @Emrakul!
@Rubio Yeah, saw that, you got an upvote from me.
 
user61230
6:44 AM
@boboquack Hello!
 
lol
howdy @Emrakul
 
user61230
@Rubio [wave]!
 
Good to see is going away, post by post...
 
ok folkks, i'm heading off for the night. goodUGTnight all!
 
GoodUGTnight! ... I suppose?
Is that a timezone?
 
@Rubio Anyway, it's morning in Chicago now if I'm not mistaken... You're up late if so.
 
It's 1AM in the Midwest :P
"night" is perfectly applicable
 
7:13 AM
And Rubio's still active...
Hi @BeastlyGerbil!
@humn, nice to see that voters think that both it is not good and it is not not good for Puzzling to post a solution without appreciating the puzzle!
-1
A: Is it good for Puzzling to post a solution without appreciating the puzzle?

humnYes.   Answering a puzzle cynically has endless important benefits. The sooner a weak puzzle is solved, the sooner it will be forgotten. A weak puzzle signals that its poser does not know the solution and needs to be rescued as quickly as possible. There is no guarantee that someone else will e...

-3
A: Is it good for Puzzling to post a solution without appreciating the puzzle?

humnNo.   Solving a puzzle unenthusiastically can cause more harm than good. A casual solution generally has lower quality than would result from allowing the puzzle to wait for an interested solver who would put more time into writing a fuller answer that is more likely to address nuances of the p...

 
7:38 AM
(stolen moment, wish I had time to really chat about this, and , right now)
@boboquack , yes oh yes, I just wanted people to think about the subject and got tired of whining in comments here and there.
It was a coin puzzle by Rubio that started me going. I'm still amazed that answerers and voters didn't recognize what a fine history puzzle it is while they were quite impressed with their own and each others' answers.
(back to sleep, of all things)
 
Hi @boboquack
 
 
1 hour later…
9:00 AM
0
Q: the Queen's Orange Curd

Soha Farhin PineHer yogurt is orangish. Why 'Oh!' of you comes not to you? The queen's queue is insignificant; Its successor is what that matters. HINT:

 
9:21 AM
0
Q: What is a Bind Word™?

LevieuxThis 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 Bind Word™. Use the examples below to find the rule. $$\smash{\lower{28px}\bbox[yellow]{\phantom{\rlap{rubio.2017...

 
 
2 hours later…
11:08 AM
@Sphinx broken MathJax in OB!
 
Bad Sphinx, breaking stuff. :)
 
Seriously easy riddle I was asked last night: If you have a horse with two black legs and two white legs, and it goes into a river, what does it look like when it comes out?
 
11:27 AM
Wet
 
A horse
 
12:09 PM
I endorse the answers by @Sp3000 and @Will. Is there supposed to be something cleverer?
 
12:32 PM
@GarethMcCaughan no. That's why it was so easy.
 
... OK.
Oh, did _/ mean "tick"?
 
Yes
 
12:49 PM
0
Q: What number should be the answer to this question?

mkinsonNow that my first puzzle's done and gone it wont be so easy to solve the rest. I've begun to write with reestablished rules. If I've not got your attention I'll start trying harder. So weigh the options and look closely, It shouldn't be hard for you to tell me what number I'm thinking of...

 
1:16 PM
Good Aftermornight folks
 
aaah, hey dcfyj
just got in myself
same timezone and all
 
1
Q: Rematry oshkabus

Sp3000I just got another picture in the mail, and can't for the life of me piece together why I've been getting such unusual letters...

 
Well, I was in/on since 8, but not paying attention to chat
 
I got off the bus a little after 8, don't get to the office until 8:15ish
 
Ah, I leave home about 7:50ish and get in at 8ish
 
1:24 PM
lol
I leave at 6:50ish
 
0
Q: Analytical puzzle

Khushbu_siplYou have twelve coins. You know that one is fake. The only thing that distinguishes the fake coin from the real coins is that its weight is imperceptibly different. You have a perfectly balanced scale. The scale only tells you which side weighs more than the other side. What is the smallest numb...

0
Q: Did you hear that JLo is shooting a new movie in Africa? It’s called:

puzz_aldrin Crazy robots: we want you to dance for Miss Evan. “How I want a drink,” thought Akira, getting himself primed. You’re high, mom- they don’t have TV on the moon. Oh mercy, my darling cokehead’s latest x-ray image is ideal! Oscar dashed off a message: “Eight? Noooo. Three. Angst. Oaths.” Pick a te...

 
I clearly live much closer to my workplace lol
 
(that "Analytical puzzle", unless I'm missing something, is a dupe of the oldest "weighing" puzzle on PSE)
(and the most famous weighing-type puzzle there is, I think)
 
agreed
 
Huh, I notice that none of the answers there mentions the solution in verse by "Blanche Descartes", which yields the easiest-to-remember algorithm I know of. (It turns it into a story about little Frankie, whose mother is all flustered because she knows she has a fake coin but doesn't know which one it is. F. writes on each coin one letter of "F AM NOT LICKED" and then says: "MA DO / LIKE ME TO / FIND FAKE / COIN".
)
(I attempted to put more spaces between weighings, but of course that didn't work)
Ah, actually I misremembered slightly: not "little Frankie" but "Professor Felix Fiddlesticks". I think I thought it must be a child to fit with the ungrammatical stuff.
 
1:45 PM
blurred photo of my in progress entry into the 'rebus' fortnightly
(Lots of the empty space has already been designed, but I'm eager and lazy so I haven't done the visuals for them yet)
 
2:02 PM
@GarethMcCaughan That's really cool! By any chance, is the journal accessible online?
@Sphinx Nowadays I'm suspicious of every puzzle posted by a new user.
 
2:15 PM
No, I don't think it is. Alas.
 
2:48 PM
ugh.. how many of the last 10 C4s included the word "perhaps"
 
Two.
(but #11 had one too.)
 
oh. seems like more :P
perhaps because the ones using the word tend to linger a bit
 
@GarethMcCaughan Ah ok. nvm.
 
@boboquack The Law of Excluded Middle is for cowards.
2
 
Sid
3:28 PM
Hey all!
A little help please..
Is there any way to prepare a XOR gate using switches and bulbs only?
 
That's probably a better question for the engineer chat room
 
it probably depends on the behavior of the switch
two two-channel switches are basically an XOR
(I think that's the name of the kind of switch where you have one at each end of a hallway)
 
Sid
@dcfyj That chatroom is inactive for like days.
I have only 5 hours with me, right now..
 
No idea, I didn't look
 
3:37 PM
And there you have it
Sconibulus saves the day!
 
Sid
@Sconibulus Thank you!
 
I think those might be special switches though... often the 'dead' channel is obscured
 
@Sid So why do you only have 5 hours?
 
but you could always take the switch partially apart to access it
 
That sounds safe :P
 
3:39 PM
my guess is it's homework due at midnight :)
 
If that's true then he probably procrastinated and should have done it earlier :P
 
Sid
@dcfyj Here's a count. It's 9 PM here, right now. So, I need to sleep at midnight. And I have an exam at 9 AM tomorrow.
 
A headcount?
 
Sid
Oh, sorry, wrong word. :P
 
I think you meant summary
 
3:41 PM
Well 12AM - 9PM is only 3...
 
Sid
I did a project on Logic Gates, I prepared NOR,AND,NOT,OR, NAND Gates, but struggled with XOR. So, I thought, I would do that later, and later became "never".
 
So you procrastinated then :P
Never push off for later, it rarely turns out well
 
Sid
Well, in my defence, I really got busy with exams and other stuffs. So, I actually forgot about it, till the beginning of this month.
 
If you hadn't pushed it until later you would've had it done before your exam, and when you remembered you would've been like "Oh, it's already done"
Procrastination brings unnecessary stress in my opinion
 
Did you forget XNOR?
 
Sid
3:45 PM
Yeah, that too.
 
lol, trying to stress him some more?
 
_/=\_
 
?
 
XNOR diagram :)
wire switch, two wires in parallel, switch wire
 
Sure
The music man is here!
 
Sid
3:47 PM
Yeah, I knew XNOR once XOR is done. All NOT gates will be in Parallel..
 
 
1 hour later…
5:01 PM
Hi @Deusovi can I email you a couple of questions about a puzzle I'm making? If I do you won't be able to solve it though
 
You could send it to me, I doubt I'll be able to solve the puzzle anyhow. Unless it's a Deusovi-specific thing...
 
Yeah cryptic-clues
 
I can sort of help with those hehe
 
:P
I'm trying to work out whether the puzzle I have created are actual cryptic clues, or something completely different
 
Feb 2 at 16:08, by Rubio
"He knows when you are speaking, he knows when you're awake, he knows if your cryptics are bad or good, so make them good, for Deusovi's sake..."
 
5:06 PM
:P thats goog
 
Sure, go ahead and email me!
 
Thanks!
 
I'll try to respond quickly, but it may take me a bit to get around to it.
 
:P
 
nice.
 
5:10 PM
I know someone that actually has a round tuit
 
Okay @Deus sent
 
No, those aren't cryptics. (Not even variant cryptics.)
 
That was quick
 
Damn
Oh well
 
Use the guide, Luke!
 
5:17 PM
I'll have to make up a name for them...
 
5:35 PM
that's ominous
 
mwa ha ha!
 
Sid
puzzling.stackexchange.com/posts/48881/revisions - Someone explain to me what is the point of all these edits?
 
Looks like mostly the poster refining word choice and applying styling
 
Sid
Is that fine? I thought we aren't supposed to uselessly edit questions to bump them to the top?
 
I have rejected several edits from her. Not sure if she's doing them to bump up to top of active or for the two rep
 
Sid
5:47 PM
Either way, I don't think that is how edits are supposed to be made...
 
6:23 PM
0
Q: Should Unnecessary edits be stopped?

SidI have recently observed edits being made in a puzzle, which make no contribution to the puzzle as a whole but are made only to style it. I mentioned a recent example in The Sphinx Lair, The official Chatroom of PSE. Low rep users can make earn +2 rep for each edit that they suggest and which is...

 
YES!
But we can only rollback still leaving them top of the active list
 
Well, there could be some restriction on edits, but how could you determine what is "unnecessary"? :)
 
I think newish users making multiple edits in a short period of time are probably just trying to refine their post, not necessarily looking to game the system re: visibility on the active list. that it earns them rep for doing it makes it a little ticklish; if it's becoming excessive in number of edits, justified or not, maybe a note asking them to batch it all as one is in order, but it's not like we have scores of users trying to march up the rep charts +2 at a time.
 
6:38 PM
You don't earn rep for an edit on your own post
because it isn't a suggestion, it just happens
 
In that specific case it looks like the edits are relevant, though minor; they're something a good pass or two of review before posting should have caught, but it's not like they're just tweaking spacing or formatting/fonts as your Meta post suggested, so the poster could argue for their "necessity" to get the puzzle the way they intended it to be worded. But if these are all accepted without comment by reviewers, maybe someone needs to say something to avoid mass revision logs and "activity".
And @Sconibulus I'm pretty sure you cannot edit your own posts without them going through review until you hit 2k rep. I seem to remember being annoyed at being unable to edit my own posts early on without someone's blessing.
 
2
Q: The Definition of Insanity

Wu33oYou wake up, still dizzy from the blow to your head. You have no idea what they want from you, where you are and how you got here, but you know one thing: you want to get out! Looking around you see four walls, one with a poem and three with dots written on them (click on the images to see a larg...

 
well maybe not 2k, but some threshold anyway
 
I actually think you could edit your own posts. Just not the ones you posted before joining the site. Then you would need someone else's approval.
 
hmm
It all gets hazy. hehe
At any rate, I think this blurb is the most relevant to the topic of edits:

Tiny, trivial edits are discouraged - try to make the post significantly better when you edit, correcting all problems that you observe.
If you are at revisioin 12 within 9 hours of posting, I think you've probably failed at that.
 
6:46 PM
Yes, you almost certainly have, but the appropriate response is a comment
@MariaDeleva just tested it, you can edit your own posts well below 2k rep
 
you can edit your own posts with any rep
there are voting and rep caps. Maybe there should be an edit cap?
 
Ok then I sit corrected. Cuz, like, I'm too lazy to stand. I could swear I remembered being annoyed at having to "suggest" edits for things that should have been automatic.
I wonder now what those things might have been.
 
Maybe community wikis
 
7:07 PM
Thanks, @Sconibulus. I thought so, too.
 
7:32 PM
Hmm, two audits in a row
 
@BeastlyGerbil that edit confused me at first haha. He's hiding the answer (I had to look at the markdown to even see that)
 
Oh, it looked like there was no difference, was it actually a helpfl one?
 
Putting the answer in a spoiler tag (I consider that useful, what you think of it is up to you)
This was the comment he put on it "Added spoilers with hackish markdown / HTML. Please fix if possible; I don't know how."
 
I have approved this edit as well.
 
I saw :P
 
7:44 PM
:P
 
The only downside I'm seeing to it (I'll be thinking of how to fix it) is that practically the whole answer is spoilered now...
 
Uh markups need to show spoilers in that case. I feel bad now.
 
Well, I suspected this was the case, so I checked.
 
I think by default rendered output is shown, so you have to click markdown to see the little details. It doesn't help that the text is highlighted so hiding doesn't work in the audit preview.
 
7:59 PM
Are CCs allowed to use punctuation for surface reading value only? i.e. question marks that don't clue alt defs?
 
yup
 
0
Q: A rather odd Crate of Haikus

Melkor1: If you're positive, I'm so super attractive- My flow is current. 2: I am high spy, Or a big help on the road. I can be for Sky. 3: Typical package, You can do me in a ring, But I'm just a square 4: Rock, or metallic? Holder of keys, or y...

 
idr, but a few C4s, ago, using "indeed" to cue DE____ED was okay?
 
I think it needed a ? but yeah
 
@Matt That wasn't a c4
I wrote that lol
 
8:06 PM
wow, I remember less than I thought I did
 
2 days ago, by dcfyj
Criticized before domestic pet indeed! (10)
A: DEPRECATED
The exclamation was just for the surface reading
Deusovi said nothing of it, so as far as I know, it's ok
 
I'm having second thoughts about a similar word
but it's not as clear as "in deed"
 
How do you mean?
 
... it's really hard not to be specific here
let me try to find something similar that's not the word I have in mind
 
Some people may be sniffy about INDEED but it's generally regarded as OK even without question marks and the like. I would say the same about things like INSIDE or INDOORS, though they're probably harder to use. I'm not so sure about e.g. ONTO in a down clue, but it's probably OK.
 
8:13 PM
Let it be known that as soon as I get more pretzels, I will post a puzzle for the FTC.
 
@Matt You can send it to me directly if you like
You and your pretzels >.<
 
what's wrong with pretzels?
 
thanks @dcfyj but screw it. I have another metacryptic on the way
I like the surface too much to change it :P
 
@Mithrandir Perhaps someone could send you some? :P
 
@Rubio absolutely nothing
@MariaDeleva hmm. Are you willing to ship pretzels overseas? :P
 
8:15 PM
@MariaDeleva They might be a bit stale (of course, that's only a problem if he eats them after the fact)
 
@dcfyj are you kidding? Of course I eat them
 
@Mithrandir Why not? :D
 
@Mithrandir Aren't the two of you relatively close? (globally speaking)
 
@dcfyj no idea
 
I have no idea
 
8:16 PM
I almost bought pretzels yesterday
 
Who cares? The world is not that big. :P
 
I'm situated in the Middle East.
 
And I am in Bulgaria. :)
 
@MariaDeleva as an SFFer, I agree
 
I'm pretty sure I remember @MariaDeleva saying she was in Bulgaria, and I seem to remember @Mithrandir saying he was in India or some such (clearly that's wrong as he just said middle east)
 
8:17 PM
@dcfyj right. Never been to India.
 
I have an interesting memory...
 
that makes two of us haha
 
Well, I am pretty sure I can find a way to ship them cheap to anywhere. Not sure if they would arrive in an edible condition, though. Hahaha. :)
 
Do you? Cool. Funny, I don't know where you are. You tell me where? Just kidding... Possibly...
@MariaDeleva definitely not rebus condition :P
 
Haha :)
 
8:19 PM
Well, that was random, just got an upvote for a 5 month old post
 
For some reason I thought Maria was Italian and you were Israeli, but I could easily be thinking of other people
especially because Maria just said she was Bulgarian
 
Well, I won't be able to send them quick enough for the rebus challenge.
 
or, at least in Bulgaria
 
@dcfyj so did I or some thing like that
 
clearly my brain stopped working at lunch hours ago
 
8:20 PM
 
@Sconibulus I am in Bulgaria and I am Bulgarian :)
 
@Sconibulus Oh of course, @Mithrandir has a keyboard with hebrew on it...
 
I'm getting too hungry. Let's change the subject :P
@dcfyj כן
 
Clearly the puzzle pretzels are to be eaten post-puzzle setting
 
Yes. Exactly.
 
8:21 PM
I'd forgotten your keyboard had Hebrew on it until he mentioned Israel
Not sure why I thought India...
 
But he won't give any to the solver - so what incentive would a solver have to answer his pretzel puzzle?
 
Purely fictional points with no meaning to them, BAH!
3
Valueless!
 
oh lawdy
 
Interesting?
 
8:24 PM
I decided to not use that picture.
 
it's raining!
 
Snowing, actually, but...
 
If pretzels fell from the clouds that would hurt, a lot
 
hahaha - I just found an "israeli" shop that is actually in UK, that ships pretzels. That's hilarious.
Well, better pretzels than giant ice balls.
 
and pretzel-filled clouds would look like black-brown death floating around
4
 
8:27 PM
@dcfyj just catch 'em in your mouth
 
This happened about a year and a half ago - most cars needed repairs and the repair shops were booked for months...
 
I mean, pretzel fragments like that probably have a fairly low terminal velocity
 
see, I bought a pretzel for a car, so when it rains pretzels, I don't even notice.
 
@Mithrandir Considering the speed at which they would be falling, no
 
I imagine the salt crystals that fall off from midair-colliding pretzels would suck the most
 
8:29 PM
Wait, why is there an IOS tag on Android?
 
oh, right, a Fire Emblem phone game came out
 
@Sconibulus could get blinded
 
@MariaDeleva o_o those are the ones that I use
 
@Mithrandir See? I found them! :P I can be creative :P
 
:D
@Maria That sudoku puzzle is awesome, BTW
 
@Mithrandir Thanks. :) I haven't gotten up to the wrap-up post yet, though.
 
9:04 PM
CCQ: for an &lit can the solution be a sort of response to the clue?
 
9:26 PM
for &lit, I believe the clue in its entirety, parsed as wordplay, gives the solution; and simultaneously, the clue in its entirety is the definition for that solution.
 
I'm going to try to get more specific ...
can the definition part cue a sort of response instead of being, well, literal?
 
I don't think you can give wordplay that parses to "who's there" in a clue whose surface reading means "knock knock", if that's what you're asking.
 
okay ... so
that's a no, then
 
Probably :)
 
you could probably do it for a clue that parses to knock knock response though
 
9:34 PM
Yeah there's other things you can do
 
oh, there are tons of possibilities
but I was looking to consolidate the surface reading because I noticed the two halves were redundant
well, it's out there now :P
thanks for answering
 
"A double-beat at the door" - surface meaning suggests knock, knock, but this is a reference to the two hearts that Dr Who has. A little too obscure, though.
 
9:57 PM
2
Q: Metacryptic ep. 4

MattYo dawg, I heard you like cryptic clues ... Solve these cryptic clues to reveal (and solve) the final clue. Well-built steam ship heads East with subtlety (7) Cost catches new net tournament (7) Begins amidst messy trash twist (6, 4) "[Green light objectives incomplete, chief (2, 5)]?" (5) ...

 
02:00 - 22:0022:00 - 00:00

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