The Sphinx's Lair

n_palum

12:22 AM

@Alconja Ooo good ones.. but not sure how they'd fit

Sp3000

1:14 AM

@n_palum If it helps, feel free to think about and pick a yes/no question and I'll answer as a hint? :P

n_palum

@Sp3000 Is it a well known show?

Sp3000

@n_palum No

n_palum

;_;

Sp3000

Yeah okay, I wanted to give a hint but couldn't think of a good way, and thought yes/no would help. That wasn't a very useful hint though hmm

Alconja

@Sp3000 Wait, I think I know this one... What would n_palum answer if I asked him if your door was the right one?

5

ffao

1:27 AM

I think you got your puzzles mixed there, Alconja...

Sp3000

@Alconja "Knights and knaves are down the hallway, third right"

Alconja

:P

Sconibulus

is Star Talk tv?

I know they have a podcast, which I listen to, but it sounds like they're recording a visual show sometimes

Sp3000

Hmm I'm fairly tempted to let everyone collude for ~15 minutes and come up with another yes/no question. Kind of curious how that'll turn out :P

ffao

eh, it's hard to get new information of a yes/no question

the most we can try to do is confirm what we have

Sp3000

1:39 AM

Hmm fair point. In that case... hint: it's not a show

Alconja

(not directed at sp3k) we could ask about a specific indicator word... Seems like "starter" could refer to the initial letter of something (eg I from "is"), but could also be part of the def.

ffao

well, I got that from the last no answer

good point Alconja

Alconja

one thought i had, was maybe "program's starter" could be a def for VOID MAIN, or INIT FUNC, or something else programmatic...

ASCII-only

even on "schoolchildren" and "student" doesn't work

Alconja

what are the CC rules on indirect cluing of things like "even"? I know indirect anagrams are bad, but can even indicate even letters of a synonym of one of the words, or would it have to be "..by/school.."?

Sp3000

1:48 AM

I kind of think of them like hidden word clues - if synonyms are okay, then I'd imagine the clue would have to be very simple to compensate

ffao

2:00 AM

what about "awesome"? does it have any short synonyms?

Deusovi

2:17 AM

cool, neat, nice

awful (archaically)

Sphinx

0

Q: A Color Puzzle for the Occasion!

I know this is a bit late, but puzzling SE's birthday is today or yesterday or really near right now, so I wrote out a birthday message for the site. However, I accidentally spilled my unicorn frappuccino all over my computer screen, and the magicalness (Disclaimer: This is probably not a word....

ttotherat

3:13 AM

idk how to write cryptic clue answers, but it's COLD OPEN -- sChOoL + DOPE + childreN

Nice clue!

Deusovi

Ooooh

You're up for the next one!

Sp3000

Yup

ttotherat

wait what

I didn't realize that was how that worked

Alconja

:) too late now

ttotherat

I'll give it a shot though

Deusovi

3:17 AM

"CCCC" is a game we play here, sort of - whoever solves one clue has to write the next one. It's just a bit of fun

Alconja

Yes. To be clear, there's no pressure, we've seen (/I've made) some pretty terrible clues over the months, so don't feel like it has to be perfect (so long as you try to follow standard CC "rules" at least).

Deusovi

Yep! And don't worry about solve time either - we've had some take a few seconds, and some take weeks

ttotherat

CCCC: Scare a tossed salad (6)

Deusovi

CAESAR*

ttotherat

Yup, nice

awesomepi

3:25 AM

rip

Deusovi

CCCC: Program's commencement: "The old have the key" (4, 4)

ffao

I got COLD ***N

but I didn't know that expression

nor I got "dope" for awesome

ttotherat

PAGE DOWN -- P(rogram) + AGED + OWN

Lemme see if I can come up with one that lasts more than half a second :p

Deusovi

Yep!

ffao

this person is good

ttotherat

3:38 AM

CCCC: Mac trend setter starts Java programs (7)

ffao

4:08 AM

I'm thinking that the word might be "applets", but Mac trend setter as app leaves us with starts for lets, which I can't make much sense of

oh well, I'll go play games now

Sphinx

0

Q: Who am I? (Riddle)

I live in a quadruple, Yet prefer to be a twin. All I can do is move up and down, and left and right. You can make me jump, but only once. I will watch my sides, If you will watch my corners right. Who am I?

riddle

Alconja

@ttotherat - I think @ffao is right, it's APPLETS => APPLE (Mac) T(rend) S(etter) (def: Java programs)

ffao

ah yes, that makes much more sense

ttotherat

Correct!

I wasn't sure whether to mark it as right since ffao seemed unsure about it? But yeah it's right.

ffao

we usually only mark it as right if the person has the wordplay

which I did not

so Alconja is up

Alconja

4:15 AM

Yeah, I think the general rule is to not confirm/deny unless someone has a serious attempt with the answer and the construction

ttotherat

ok, thanks for letting me know

Alconja

(with some potential leniency at the setter's discretion)

Gimme a minute to make a new one...

CCCC: Stop hanging around tavern drunk. Go me! (7)

ttotherat

EMBARGO -- Anagram of "GO ME" is "hanging around" a BAR

Alconja

you're on fire :)

ttotherat

What do y'all do if the setter isn't around to confirm/deny guesses? 'Cause I might go to bed soon

Alconja

4:26 AM

If it's super obvious that it's the correct answer, we'll often just assume and continue... But if we have to wait, that's not the end of the world either.

As deus said earlier, sometimes clues can sit for days or more. No one expects it to be a real time thing.

Rubio

People who know they'll be gone longer than they expect their clue to survive will sometimes leave us the A1Z26 sum of the answer so it can be confirmed, but that's usually if they expect to be gone for a while

ttotherat

I heard the Messiah and drunk Ms. Upton made a greasy sandwich (11)

Rubio

can you put the "CCCC:" tag on it please

ttotherat

Sure, sorry

How do you bold it?

Rubio

**CCCC**:

ttotherat

4:32 AM

CCCC: I heard the Messiah and drunk Ms. Upton made a greasy sandwich (11)

boboquack

You can also edit within 2 mins of posting

ttotherat

Oh! Uh... too late for that, unfortunately, but thanks for letting me know

Tonight's the first time I've tried actually using the chat

Rubio

Well. Welcome :)

ttotherat

thanks!

ffao

@ttotherat CHEESES (hom.) + TEAK*

Rubio

4:37 AM

indirect anagram, tut tut

ttotherat

Yes, good job!

What do you mean by "indirect anagram?"

Alconja

(yes, when I said earlier there was no pressure to make perfect clues, I neglected to mention that you'd be hanged for using indirect anagrams)

Rubio

anagrind fodder is supposed to be literally present in the clue

Alconja

I.e. it should've been "drunk Kate"

ttotherat

Oh, I see. I tried to use something unambiguous but I'll avoid them in the future (if I remember!)

Alconja

4:40 AM

:) All good.

ffao

this case wasn't too bad because I don't think "Ms. Upton" could have been anything else

but anagramming synonyms gets quite hard quite quickly

Alconja

I had to google Ms Upton (probably not something I should've done at work), but yes, pretty unambiguous

Rubio

I was trying to make sense of LARD + (MSUPTON*) hehe

Alconja

heh

ttotherat

lol, sorry

ffao

4:42 AM

Should I be ashamed of the fact that I didn't have to google Ms Upton?

Rubio

no worries. I'm sorta kicking myself for not grasping KATE out of that

ffao

CCCC: Cover jewel for culmination (8)

ttotherat

I thought she was common knowledge but I guess that's different for everyone. Clearly we should both be ashamed.

Rubio

@ffao not STRATA+GEM i hope

ffao

indeed not, that has 9 letters

Rubio

4:49 AM

oh. good point. :)

I can count. Look at me.

Sphinx

5:11 AM

0

Q: X past X, Y to Y

While sitting in the waiting hall a wall clock caught my attention. I realise there are only 15 minutes left for the conversation that will determine my path in life. I then took a glance at my watch. I realise they show different times. In my watch it is X past X, however in the wall clock it is...

mathematics time

Sphinx

5:48 AM

0

Q: Messages I sent

"The number of messages I sent yesterday was less from the messages I sent three days ago, more than the messages I sent ten days ago." How many consecutive days can someone make this statement given that it is true?

mathematics number-sequence

Beastly Gerbil

6:19 AM

@Deusovi okay. I might go make a guide for ciphers in general. I've already started on the cryptoanalysis, so can just copy my answer and expand on other aspects and types. I think it would help the community, because some of the ciphers here aren't great, and I know a lot of people don't know how to solve or identify a cipher, especially new comers.

Rubio

What's this vigenere thing I keep hearing about?

Beastly Gerbil

hehe exactly :P

I remember I had to explain @n_palum what a rot cipher was

That can be my weekend project

Rubio

6:37 AM

CCCC: CAP+STONE @ffao

ffao

correct!

Rubio

I like that one

Beastly Gerbil

6:51 AM

Ah nice

Rubio

CCCC: She and I first admitted into fellowship, then expelled. (8)

Sp3000

7:25 AM

@Rubio BAN(I+SHE)D

Rubio

✔

Sp3000

CCCC: "Fantastic weapon: $5", our disheartened friends promise (6, 5)

I should probably have said

I+SHE ("she" and "I" first) inside BAND ("fellowship") = BANISHED ("expelled")

For more complete explanations

incesterror21

Those CCCCs are nothing for me tbh

Rubio

7:44 AM

You should solve some then, show us what you got :)

Mithrandir

@incesterror21 Do you mean that you could solve them very easily, or that you still don't get CCs, like me?

boboquack

^ (and like me too)

@Mith @Sp3000 @ffao we're thinking of starting a game of contact, are you lot here?

Mithrandir

@boboquack I'll watch - still haven't figured out how to play

But also kind of busy

ffao

Danganronpa 2 is quite interesting, but I guess I can postpone my curiosity until the weekend

Sp3000

8:00 AM

Nah, play it now :P

@boboquack I'll join if people are still around in an hour - not out of work yet

ffao

but you see @Sp3000, if I play it more, it ends faster :P

there are a bunch of dead bodies already, I don't see this lasting much longer

incesterror21

@Mithrandir I feel like a) I would need days to get them or b) they are just too weird sometimes which results in a) which then results in b) and so forth

Sphinx

8:18 AM

0

Q: Where did the extra dollar came from?

I went to the mall with my friends and I saw a shirt which I want that cost 97 dollar. but I don't have any money left on my wallet. So then I asked for my two friends 50 dollar each which is a total of 100 dollar. So I bought the shirt and I have a change of 3 dollars and that night I paid them...

mathematics paradox

Sphinx

10:48 AM

-2

Q: Can you find it?

AES Encrypted message: SdnfLGIwfAa+ADSfjIspPw== Key Hint the supreme spirit of evil's main representation

riddle cipher

manshu

11:11 AM

In a wood there's a female angler (6)

How is it FISHER?

Sp3000

"female" looks like a quite loose way of cluing "her"... not sure about the "fis"

tbh we could probably do a get-together as a chat and solve a cryptic some day. Would probably go down pretty quickly with the right people :P

manshu

where right people are Deus, Rubio, Gareth and GPR

Sp3000

Where are you getting these from again?

The kind-of-weird cryptic clues

manshu

An app I downloaded

Sp3000

Ah right, k

manshu

11:15 AM

:)

Oh... it's FI(SHE)R

How did we get FIR?

"wood"

oh...never heard of it being used as wood

Sp3000

... neither

manshu

11:19 AM

I have another if you are interested.

Sp3000

Sure :P

manshu

It may be pronounced with conviction (6)

Should I tell the answer first?

Sp3000

Yes please

manshu

Guilty

Sp3000

Hmm I think this one might just be a cryptic definition

manshu

11:21 AM

what does "pronounced with conviction" mean?

Sp3000

Something that you can be "pronounced" ("I pronounce you guilty") along with "conviction"

manshu

oh.

No wordplay here.

Sp3000

keeps editing explanation yeah no wordplay

manshu

No wordplay in CC disappoints me.

Sp3000

crosswordunclued.com/2008/12/cryptic-definitions.html

Some can be nice, but it's kind of hard to make it not annoying to solve (since usually the whole word is clued at once by the cryptic def, as opposed to letters at a time say)

manshu

11:27 AM

I liked this one in the link above:

International contest won by gifted horse (6,3)

Sconibulus

12:02 PM

I think the CCCC is Vorpal Blade, but I've only got VOR from the wordplay so far

5->V, Our disheartened->OR

n_palum

@Sp3000 I am disappointed the earlier CC was not actually a show :P

Sp3000

:P