The Sphinx's Lair

12:22 AM

3

As you guess, you need to find the values of question marks in the photo below: 1 2 3 5 2 5 8 3 3 3 6 9 4 4 9 3 5 3 9 2 6 1 7 8 7 4 3 1 8 5 3 2 9 ? ? 1

If I want to make a question like this, how many rows should I have? (my puzzle should be quite different, but the same format)

Gareth McCaughan

12:35 AM

I don't think there's a definite answer. Enough that it's not plausible that any simple wrong answer will match them all. Enough to give solvers something to get their teeth into. Probably better to err on the side of too many than too few. I haven't attempted to solve that question, but the number of rows in that one seems kinda plausible.

micsthepick

12:50 AM

How does this look:

0

Q: What is the unique pattern here?

Each row in this grid of numbers follows a specific pattern or rule: 10 5 3 2 8 4 12 6 4 2 14 13 15 6 11 2 14 2 16 3 6 3 8 2 22 19 8 6 11 9 There are two goals: Firstly, you must determine what the pattern is, and secondly, you must create a row of your ...

pattern calculation-puzzle

Sphinx

1:03 AM

0

Q: What is the unique pattern here?

Each row in this grid of numbers follows a specific pattern or rule: 10 5 3 2 8 4 12 6 4 2 14 13 15 6 11 2 14 2 16 3 6 3 8 2 22 19 8 6 11 9 There are two goals: Firstly, you must determine what the pattern is, and secondly, you must create a row of your ...

pattern calculation-puzzle

Gareth McCaughan

1:15 AM

Looks like possibly too little information to me. But I haven't tried to solve it; maybe after looking for a bit it would become clear that one particular pattern is obviously The Right One.

Rubio

The One? like Neo?

4

Q: Proposed policy on mathematical questions

For background, see: Should mathematics questions really be on-topic here? (about "routine" mathematics questions) What tricky mathematical questions are on topic here? (about "heavy" mathematics questions) Revisiting the 'math question or math puzzle' policy (mostly about "heavy" questions) ...

discussion question-quality scope policy

^ featured?

micsthepick

@GarethMcCaughan The only thing is that it isn't simple enough coming up with each row to make much more.

humn

1:31 AM

Thank you, Poettier, you know who you are:

Bob Marley - Work [05]

►

Soha Farhin Pine

2

Q: Red roses and emails signed by $\emptyset$

I'm a recluse who likes problem solving in every form. I look after the 7-year-old cheeky Emmy, who's my late sister's daughter. And I've got four friends, namely Susan Smith, Tina Fox, Reddy Nullivan and Kiara Voidigon, who look after me. They're the only people I actually know and care for. ...

enigmatic-puzzle

Deusovi

Yes, that is a puzzle you posted.

humn

.. not the original performance as advertiszed, but a delightful cover of problem solving:

Harry Bellafonte and Odetta - A hole in the bucket

►

humn

4:46 AM

... it just gets more unpredictable ...

... to meander through today's muses ... Poetteir began to invite me for after-dinner music ...

... what a ruse ...

... turned out that i was the pre-dinner diversion at the ends of long days for more than a handful of hungry delights...

... to dare an objectifying metaphor, the first pre-dinner "delight" at the table understands my every move, as if she knew me from birth (hers; she does) ... first comprehensible words to me: "You smell funny."

... the second pre-dinner delight is the only ever to put makeup on me (eyes on toenails) and recently offered to do so again ...

... the third delight has a wild look in her eyes, bouncing off the furniture, walls and ceiling before becoming a gymnast and cracking her spine. She asked me to have no other friends. Now she's an author. She's the only one i understand.

... each of these delights understands the previous better than themselves and has somehow made it to their 30s by now ... may you live so long ...

... good thing i go for older women or there would have been trouble ... one of these delights wanted to "punch my weenie," but i said, "sorry, didn't bring it along today." In another 20 years i might ask if the offer is still good.

humn

5:37 AM

... really? no other traffic? This place is turning into my confessional. (Don't worry, i'm not religious nor have done lasting harm. Just can't believe the real life puzzles dared and solved.)

... two other "delights" called me "horsey."

... they would stand on my shoulders while we ran around as if life were cheap.

... really, stood, not sat, and really, ran and pranced.

... turns out that humans are natural at that. Wonder why.

...our arms were exactly long enough to make the system stable.

... does take some trust as well. I later tried to show others how it worked but they were afraid to leave the ground except in a swimming pool.

What do people do to feel lucky to stay alive nowadays? (Other than to be ill.)

humn

6:02 AM

... wrong place to ask ... for those of us pathologically unafraid of the physical it's difficult to believe either way . . .

...everyone whom I've lost were to causes other than foolhardiness...

Sid

H-U-M-N!

humn

... my English muse would say, again and again that if I came back dead she'd never forgive me ...

Sid

@humn That's sad. Losing people is never great.

humn

Thank you, Sid.

Having them to lose has been a lifetime of pleasure.

And a future of reverberance!

Sid

It really sucked when I lost my grandma. Inspite of the fact that me and she always used to quarrel(:P) and she would always support my sister over me, I never cried as much as I did when she passed away

humn

6:15 AM

My grandma was my first love. She didn't know how to show gentle kindness either.

Some persons are just more beautiful than they know or know how.

Make that: All persons are more beautiful than they know, some just know how.

Sid

I have lost a friend though to foolhardiness. Two of them on the same bike were travelling like at 100 km/hr and they slipped near a bridge and fell into the bushes nearby. One died on spot. The other had to undergo brain surgery or something to survive.

humn

Sorry to touch a nerve but thank you remembering them.

Sid

The worst thing however is that on the day they had their accident(in evening), the same morning we had warned them that if they ride at such a high speed, they might die soon.

The next day, all of us were so disheartened when we learnt about the accident in school, we didn't pay any attention in school, still wondering whether our words had that effect.

humn

Don't blame yourself for others' actions!

Rubio

@humn these delights sound genuinely delightful, and your remembrances of them is pure poetry in prose. Your muses, your family, your friends, your memories - you're blessed, and in the sharing by telling, we're blessed as well. Thank you for the reminder that life isn't about puzzles to figure out, but about people to spend it with - some of them puzzles themselves to solve, and some of them solvers to puzzle with.

humn

6:25 AM

@Rubio , awww, when there a spare moments here i fill them with clues wrapped in nonsense.

Each lesson we've received, or even suspected, is something to return one way or another.

It's such a pleasure to have a medium where others openly figure things out.

Most of my in-person acquaintances have learned, the hard way, to hide how brilliant they are.

All the while they wonder why their in-person acquaintances (other than me) don't recognize their talents.

I don't recognize all of others' talents either, but as long as everyone hides them nobody has a full chance.

Too many persons i know are so unconfident in their own talents that they are threatened by others' talents.

I really hope this internet neutrality battle spills over, one way or another, to worldwide acceptance.

Sid

@Rubio Help with this CC please.

Overcook fish daily (4)

Rubio

@humn I'm not sure what's going to happen with it, but I did my part.

I'm irritated at all the bot spamming that went on with anti-neutrality support.

Sid

(Also, I don't understand the net neutrality thing at all beside the fact that the big companies are going to eliminate the competition or something like that)

humn

@Rubio , thank you!

Rubio

6:40 AM

@Sid That looks interesting

M Oehm

@Sid I think it's a triple definition: PUNE: gb ohea fb gung vg'f oynpx; n punejbzna (n "qnvyl") naq n xvaq bs svfu.

(I've rotted that, because I think this is from today's Quiptic, which I'm saving for this afternoon. And it's funny that the solution rot13s to Pune.)

Rubio

I think we just came to the same conclusion, but i haven't rotted to verify

yup.

Sid

daily=Charwoman? Is that another obscure/British thing for daily?

Rubio

that middle sense is one I'm not familiar with, but I found that specific usage in an abbreviations list

M Oehm

It's used quite frequently, often as part of the wordplay. But it seems to be a British thing.

humn

6:46 AM

(Like "daily help" or "day worker"?)

M Oehm

And I'm not so keen on charring something by overcooking it. Overfrying, perhaps, if that's a word. I associate cooking (in the narrow sense) with preparing food in or with water, but maybe I'm wrong.

humn

(Thank you for reminding me of the incidental distinction between "cook" and "chef"! And between "char" and "sear" while at it.)

Rubio

7:02 AM

I suppose I'm overdue for another hint on my C4 too

M Oehm

C4? Most of us have forgotten that it ever existed!

(But a hint can't hurt, of course.)

Rubio

Anyone have any kind of preference for what kind of hint I should give?

M Oehm

Hmm, let's see. You have already told us that the answer is a noun and that the clue is &lit. And you probably want this solved. I'd hint at (but not spoil) a part of the wordplay.

Wait! When did that "majority" creep in?

Rubio

A couple days back

2 days ago, by Rubio

After consultation with smarter cryptic setters than myself, I'm modifying the C4.

Jan Dvorak

I'm going to guess that "majority of musical act" is a wordplay atom, or a part of it.

M Oehm

7:12 AM

That's vacuously true, because it's an &lit: There's no separated definition as usual. The whole clue is or describes the answer and is also the wordplay. (Well, mayber a bit of filler is allowed.)

Rubio

And a hint: The word "lost" appears twice (duh). In only one of those instances is it an indicator.

Jan Dvorak

uh

Is this is one of the clues where we're going to hate you forever more? :P

Sid

Hmm.. this probably has something to do with definition by example thing.

But, then, it's a "common" word with 24 million hits.

Rubio

@JanDvorak I can't promise you won't. But as Sid notes, I've confirmed it's a pretty common word people should be well acquainted with

Jan Dvorak

so was "rotten" :-P

Great hint, BTW

Sid

7:25 AM

@JanDvorak We actually had a crossword for Rotating things. Let me pull up a link

puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/49180/… - That

(Of course, I remember it because I answered it. :P)

Rubio

Al C4 hints/info so far:

-> CCCC: Lost all wealth, lost musical act! (10)

I erred, perhaps, in my C4 - amending it to remove all doubt.
-> CCCC: Lost all wealth, lost musical act, perhaps! (10)

So as a hint, I will confirm some early speculation: this is indeed &lit
What part of speech is the answer? Noun

After consultation with smarter cryptic setters than myself, I'm modifying the C4.
-> CCCC: Lost all wealth, lost majority of musical act, perhaps! (10)

It's a fairly common, ordinary word. 24 million google hits.

I think that's all the information that's been given about the C4 to date, including edits and hints.

Missed the last one, so added it in.

micsthepick

7:50 AM

I think I have it, but I might have cheated...

M Oehm

What do you mean, "cheated"? Some ways to cheat are more offensive than others and the tolerance towards "cheaters" grows with the time that a clue remains unsolved.

micsthepick

Are thesauruses looked down upon?

Jan Dvorak

online research is fine

M Oehm

No, I don't think so.

Jan Dvorak

Is it not?

M Oehm

7:56 AM

No, it's fine. My last post was a reply to the original question, not to your comment, Jan.

Sorry for the amgibuity. I think that using a thesaurus isn't cheating.

So, I'd say, fire away, @micsthepick!

micsthepick

possibly not IMPOVERISH

Jan Dvorak

I will note that you should wait with using tools until after some time has passed since the post.

micsthepick

It doesn't have enough hits on google, and it only sort of works so I am very likely wrong

M Oehm

But "impoverish" is a verb, not a noun. And the clue should then have read "Lose all wealth ..."

micsthepick

thats right

M Oehm

8:00 AM

Also, how would the wordplay work?

micsthepick

Forget it

I didn't think it through really

M Oehm

It might still give us some ideas, so sharing your attempt (or"thinking aloud") is appreciated.

micsthepick

lost majority of musical act: small part of composition?

Jan Dvorak

I'm wondering if "lost majority" is an indicator to remove most letters from whatever "musical act" is

micsthepick

That is what I meant by "small part of"

M Oehm

8:13 AM

Note that the "majority" wasn't always there. My guess is that "lost majority of musical act" means to remove all but the last letter of {musical act} from what was defined before by "wealth", "all wealth" or even "lost all wealth".

Jan Dvorak

only one "lost" is an indicator

so the first part of wordplay would be "lost all wealth"

micsthepick

weth?

Sphinx

-1

Q: Contradictory ... yes perhaps literally ... but not in real life?

Which can be proper and at the same time vulgar as well ?

mathematics wordplay

Jan Dvorak

that would be "lost all weallth", but I like the line of thinking.

But it would make "lost majority of musical act" a definition

Sp3000

8:50 AM

Re: thesauruses, I think at this point in time I'd personally be using whatever I can tbh, short of physically harming Rubio :P

humn

!

Sphinx

0

Q: Who am I? I'm not really sure

Add an "e", and I'll be impure Add an "f", you'll have to be careful Reunite me with my ex, and I'll go up and down out of control

riddle word wordplay

humn

... was looking for something completely else and found this is still online ... if this doesn't remind you current events, watch Idiocracy :

MAD TV - David Herman is President.avi

►

Sp3000

9:05 AM

If Rubio decides to give a hint later on, I vote for "what is the last letter?" :P

micsthepick

@Sp3000 You would be able to find one of letters from other clues if it were a real crossword clue, I agree with your vote

Sp3000

Yeah, that and I'm just curious whether the answer ends in Y, basically

Thrax

9:26 AM

Hey guys. I'm creating a new cryptic-crosswords grid. I'm having trouble with one of the clues. Can the word "young" be used as a noun equivalent to "youth"?

Rubio

I'll give you that for free. The last letter is not Y.

Sp3000

Well there goes bankruptcy and insolvency then, good to know :P

Rubio

@Thrax Funny you should ask.

You don't want to clue a noun with an adjective.

Or vice versa.

Thrax

Yes, that's why I'm wondering if it's also a noun.

I'm not a native english speaker, and reading about it on wordreference, I saw it categorized as a noun, but only with its plural form

Rubio

Deus mentioned specifically that it would be unfair to use "child" for YOUNG.

Jan Dvorak

9:32 AM

Why?

Rubio

Those words are so close to what you're trying to do that it's kind of eerie :)

M Oehm

But it can mean children, in some way: "The swan protected her young." It does not mean youth, though.

Thrax

The word clued is actually another word, neither young nor youth but a synonym

i'd like not to give though :D

Well what, do you think about "I heard a bee within a baby bat." (4) ?

Rubio

I would argue that: YOUNG is either an adjective, or a collective (i.e. implicitly plural) noun, but wouldn't be used for a single CHILD

similarly that would militate against YOUNG / YOUTH equivalency

Thrax

oops

It's actually wrong, nevermind that clue...

humn

9:37 AM

Too good to wait: "If I don't die I'll most likely be buried alive." (If you can trace that quote, enjoy the other laughs.)

humn

9:48 AM

... another that needs chatstrips regularly ... paying attention, @Avantgarde?:

The Residents - One-Minute Movies

►

humn

10:01 AM

... for anyone who wants to know how this relates to PSE, i listen to, watch, and edit everything as if it makes sense, until it does.

M Oehm

@Rubio I'll have a stab: The clue can describe a MISFORTUNE: MISsing FORTUNE (lost wealth) minus SINGing, most of a musical act.

(At least it doesn't end in Y and it has about the right number of Google hits.)

humn

^ that's gotta be it!

... in the meanwhile, before it disappears, let this play in the background, loudly:

The Residents - Duck Stab! / Buster & Glen (1978) [Full Album]

►

(Yeah, they stick to basic intervals, but do so with the most ear-raising harmonics and the most daring lyrics.)

Sphinx

10:17 AM

0

Q: Locate the position of moon on a newmoon day?

As an amateur astronomer, I wish to locate the position of the moon on the night of a newmoon day, where I was staying - an island (on which I happended to land the same day morning), through which equator passes and where no alamnacs nor calendars/news papaers /any kind of references are present...

wordplay outer-space

humn

@Mea Culparoo, so now you admit it?! More power!

micsthepick

@MOehm Good work.

M Oehm

"Work" is the right word. :) But let's wait what Rubio has to say.

humn

@Rubio is a magic lamp.

Rubio

Solved at long last. :)

humn

10:34 AM

Now get back to solving "springtime" before summer's over.

It's so easy it's killing me.

micsthepick

you should link that

humn

6

Q: Spring is here!

Does springtime get you all wound up? If so, feel free to consult what resembles the Staff of Asclepius below. What panacean prescription therein could help you uncompress this spring? Only Os and os carry the message. 's and .s are present for anti-aliasing and should be regarded as space...

visual

micsthepick

a link in the word springtime

Rubio

@MOehm the trailing "perhaps" getting a workout as definitoon-by-example indicator for the whole &lit. A little loose but not enough to be unfair methinks.

Avantgarde

@humn Not sure what to make of it. It's a weird composition

M Oehm

10:40 AM

No, in hindsight it'snot unfair. One of my first thought was that the answer would be IMPERATIVE with act! as definition, so that's why I asked. At that time you hadn't told us that it was &lit.

Sp3000

slinks away from Rubio

humn

@Avantgarde , thank you for perking! You've provided so much needed sound in these walls that i was trying to return the favr.

(mmhm, also some unnecessary sounds, but that's how the merry goes round)

(Truly, aspiring mechanists, there's always a dead point where a boost is needed from another direction.)

(And sorry, those who already know. One of my aspirations is to not talk down.)

["mechanists" = "mechanics"]

Sphinx

10:58 AM

0

Q: Common among the common things

What is common among the following and identify one such word (which can belong to the series): Are, Below, Pines, Keen, Gel, Kins, Vine ?

wordplay

Avantgarde

@humn haha ok :)

humn

Glad that tickled! But it's also sincere.

You really oughta play sports with me, whether on a stretcher or on the run. When n_palum comes back (and if i do) there's an art to relate.

Before then, in the meanwhile, spoiler: The trick is to reduce the rules so that nobody is scared of joining in.

While having just enough rules to keep it competitive.

M Oehm

11:15 AM

CCCC: Veggie Lucia cooked, wild orchid, perhaps (11)

humn

"veggie lucia" has 11 letters

micsthepick

11:31 AM

whlie watching lovattspuzzles.com/2009/03/13/cryptic-crossword-solver: I'm starting to recognise some of the tricks used with cryptic clues

' is so close to enter

youtube link:

How To Do Cryptic Crosswords

►

Mithrandir

11:56 AM

Cool, someone put Puzzling in the Wikipedia article on SE.

Stack Exchange

Stack Exchange is a network of question-and-answer websites on topics in varied fields, each site covering a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process. The sites are modelled after Stack Overflow, a Q&A site for computer programming questions that was the original site in this network. The reputation system allows the sites to be self-moderating. As of April 2017, the three most popular sites in the network are: Stack Overflow, Super User and Ask Ubuntu. User contributions are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported...

Gareth McCaughan

12:17 PM

@MOehm The answer to your CCCC is CAULIFLOWER = LUCIA* + FLOWER (wild orchid, perhaps). Nice bit of misdirection.

M Oehm

Yes, that's it.

Gareth McCaughan

CCCC: Leave sacred ground, for the dead rest there (4,4)

I just attempted to pin Rubio's CCCC info comment. Result: it no longer appears on my starboard despite having multiple pins, and the system seems not to believe I've pinned it. Has it disappeared from the starboard for others too?

Mithrandir

not there for me either

M Oehm

Yes, it has. I see only your C4 and my (starred) answer to Rubio's C4 is next.

Mithrandir

CCCC is Cryptic Clue Chat Chains! See Deusovi's Cryptic Clue Guide and GPR's Archive & Statistics of past clues. Latest clue is ⤵ there! Join the fun!

6

Gareth McCaughan

12:26 PM

Brokenness persists for me after a browser restart. I did however successfully pin Mithrandir's copy.

M Oehm

Fixed!

Sp3000

@GarethMcCaughan GO ("leave") + DSACRE (SACRED "ground") = GOD'S ACRE ("the dead rest there")

(nice surface)

Gareth McCaughan

That was quick (as I half expected -- the 4,4 was presumably a bit of a giveaway). Yup, correct. I enjoyed the surface, and also "sacred ground" :-).

M Oehm

Yes. that was a nice surface.

Sp3000

CCCC: Force it inside cushy sort of train (7)

Yeah (4, 4) helped :P

Sid

12:37 PM

Ah, finally Rubio's CCCC is solved! Good work Oehm.

Gareth McCaughan

@Sp3000 Solution to your CCCC is GRAV(IT)Y

Sp3000

Yup

Sid

How is cushy sort of train=Gravy?

Is that a thing?

Gareth McCaughan

"gravy train": yeah, it's a thing

gravy train

Noun: gravy train (plural gravy trains)

(idiomatic) An occupation or any lucrative endeavor that generates considerable income whilst requiring little effort and carrying little risk.
1895. Courier of Connellsville, November 1895 (as quoted by Michael Quinion):
Johnston claims that Reuben Nelson and another tall negro were in New Haven the night of the escape and that they broke into the lockup. Johnson further states that the next day Nelson laughingly told him that the New Haven lockup was 'a gravy train'. "
1975. Pink Floyd. Have a Cigar (song):
And did we tell you the name of the game, boy, we call it riding the gravy train.
(idiomatic, politics) A gorging on luxuries, since someone else foots the bill.

Sphinx

0

Q: What did Louis do to measure the cardboard box?

When Louis arrived at his apartment in Europe he found a note pinned to the wall in his study. The note was pinned on a 10 Euro bill. It was from his yankee roommate Jack, who always liked to play games. The note said: “*This 10 Euro bill is yours if you confirm for me that the dimensions of t...

riddle geometry

0

Q: Don't settle for a billion

While Artur is willing to settle for a billion, I'd like a much bigger return on my two matchstick investment. Moving only two matchsticks, what is the largest number that can be created from the following pattern?

matches

Sphinx

12:57 PM

0

Q: Tricky T Tribute (or: Humble H Homage)

I made up a bunch of riddles over the weekend and wrote them on a stack of cards. Unfortunately, I dropped the stack outdoors. The cards blew everywhere and one of the riddles is missing. Can you please give me the answer to the riddle I lost? (The numbers just reflect the order in which I picked...

riddle wordplay rhyme knowledge

ffao

1:43 PM

The word "all" seems a bit superfluous in Rubio's past 4C

Sid

@Gareth you owe us a 4C, I believe.

Gareth McCaughan

I do.

Sconibulus

hmm, given that that answer was right, should the enum have been 3'1 4?

M Oehm

@Sconibulus No, apostrophes usually don't count for the enumeration, because they are too much of a giveaway. At least the crosswords in the British newspapers ignore them, but include hyphens.

Deusovi

@MOehm I see apostrophes in enumerations. But I mostly do cryptics from Americans.

M Oehm

1:51 PM

Okay, it's a matter of convention then.

Mithrandir

Hmm. MathJax doesn't work on mobile?

Gareth McCaughan

CCCC: Do without model? Keep simple one for economy (9)

Sid

If this is the answer,I am sorely disappointed. puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/53400/kept-in-hindsight/…

Mithrandir

@Sphinx Cool, that's the guy who proposed Not Programming Related on Area 51 ;)

Sconibulus

@Sid I'm pretty sure it isn't

M Oehm

1:53 PM

I don't think that's the answer. It must be more involved than that. (Most of it seems to be pulled from thin air.)

My guess is that the first four lines describe a word each and that these words have a common suffix, which is the answer. I have no idea which, however, and I can't make anything useful of the animal hint.

Gareth McCaughan

@Sid That looks very not-the-answer-like to me.

M Oehm

"Placing the money face down makes it easier to identify the bill or coin" Aha.

Sconibulus

Would it be legal to do a cryptic using a plausible alternate definition?

e.g. Side tube delays falling? (9)

Sp3000

Deusovi

I'm not sure what you're going for there.

Sp3000

2:02 PM

(for comparison - Aus apparently doesn't do apostrophes either, see 6-down)

Gareth McCaughan

Ha!

Thrax

I just posted a new cryptic grid, i'm open for questions & reviews : puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/53519/…

Gareth McCaughan

I like my clue better than theirs @Sp3000

Sp3000

:P

Sphinx

1

Q: Cryptic-Crosswords (5 x 6)

I created a new cryptic-crosswords grid : Clues Down Original lullaby-free pilule for pastry. (3) Punctuation begins miracles within an unconscious state. (5) Slime around fruits. (5) Seize you by half-surprise. (5) Two bangs replaced by ring drums. (5) Maiden name of initial...

cryptic-crosswords

Deusovi

2:09 PM

Just solved it!

Thrax

wow 9 mins

xD

Sp3000

(btw re Scon, not getting the side tubes thing)

Sid

@Thrax That was quite long by Deusovi's standards. :P

Gareth McCaughan

It would appear that Deusovi and I are almost exactly equally fast :-).

Thrax

I thought it wouldn't be that simple

Deusovi

2:12 PM

Ah, Gareth posted it.

Sconibulus

I was 30 seconds slow :(

Gareth McCaughan

Lots of equally fast people!

Thrax

I hoped the 9th one would last

Deusovi

I have to go to a meeting, but I'll post a full answer with criticism

Sconibulus

Bongs/Immune tripped me up for longer than it should have

Deusovi

2:12 PM

@Thrax you can get it entirely from crossing letters

Thrax

yeah, i'm gonna go with grids less "interlaced" :D

Gareth McCaughan

#9 wasn't the last one I got, FWIW.

Sp3000

Just got it - yeah with that much interlocking it makes it a decent bit easier :P

Gareth McCaughan

Usually the crosswords that use fully-overlapping grids like this one are the ones whose clues are exceptionally difficult.

e.g. these: theguardian.com/crosswords/series/azed

and even then they have lots of bars so that not every letter is crosschecked

Sid

duh... my crossword is taking way too long to make. Considering I am on a deadline, I should probably give up.

Gareth McCaughan

2:14 PM

(Azed aren't the hardest of the hard, but they are hard.)

Sp3000

Hey Sid, when's your deadline? :P

Sid

Friday. :P

Sconibulus

@Sp3000 side tube is supposed to be a plausible alternate def for 'parachute' but it isn't a very good one, just one I came up with to illustrate the point

Sp3000

(I wish the Azed was doable interactively online rather than print but oh well, probably wouldn't get most of it anyway)

Thrax

I'm actually having more fun creating crossword than solving it :D

I'd just wish that people write their reasoning when they solve it

It helps new people to understand how such things work

BreakingMyself

2:19 PM

@Thrax In this competitive forum, answers come first and explanations later ;)

Thrax

Yup, but on the grid I posted 4 days ago, there's only the completed grid without explainations

I'd upvote such an answer even if it comes after ^^

Gareth McCaughan

@Tha

oops

Sp3000

(Re: Scon) That's sort of like charades clues but just make sure the "alternate def" as you put it doesn't overlap too much with the actual one (e.g. "Chores are a student's task (8)" for HOMEWORK is weak IMO because the "home" and "work" aspects are basically the same)

Gareth McCaughan

@Thrax OK, writing up some explanations.

Sconibulus

This one Looks like it has answers?

err, explanations rather

Thrax

2:22 PM

oh it does, sorry x)

thanks @Gareth

@Gareth For the 5th clue, you found it exactly as I intended. Thanks for adding the explanations!

How was the global surface reading? I tried to put in less superfluous words.

Sp3000

@Sid Delayed response, but mine's also Friday :P

Sconibulus

Why friday deadlines?

Gareth McCaughan

2:39 PM

@Thrax I've edited my answer to include some comments on style, correctness, etc. I hope it's useful.

Thrax

@GarethMcCaughan Thanks, it is useful!

I like what you did with "Short break in unconscious state: a miracle begins"

Deusovi

1: "Original" means the first letter, not the first three.
2: "Begins" isn't a valid indicator - indicators must be *grammatically correct* for the instructions they're telling you. "Miracles' beginning" is fine, because it refers to the letter M. "Begins miracles" is a verb phrase, not an instruction or a description of the letter M. (Just like "is hot" can't mean SUN.)
5: "Two" doesn't really mean "the second letter of", and "bongs" doesn't mean "drums" - it means "loud noises" or "drug paraphernalia".

(@Thrax)

GentlePurpleRain

3:01 PM

Can someone explain why there are two CCCCs pinned? Did someone just forget to unpin the previous one?

Sid

@Sconibulus Me because I have to go to college. Dunno about Sp. :P

Mithrandir

@GentlePurpleRain Probably, yeah

I can only pin from mobile but not the other way around

GentlePurpleRain

Fixed

Thrax

@Deusovi Thanks a lot for your feedback. I'm sorry about the grammatical errors, I'm not that good at english yet. I'm trying to read more books :D

GentlePurpleRain

@Thrax What's your first language?

Thrax

3:09 PM

I find it hard to make sense in the clues without adding superfluous words.

French

GentlePurpleRain

Two very different languages.

I have a basic ability in French, but there are very few similarities between French and English. Both are hard languages to learn.

Sconibulus

there are a lot of shared words

Thrax

Whereas managing to be understood is easy un both languages, manipulating it to create wordplays or crosswords is not that simple :D

Sid

Guys, what should be the minimum number of clues that should be made for a crossword to be at least interesting?

Mike Q

Dunno about number of clues, but maybe something like the percentage of the grid that is fillable (vs the percentage that is black space)

Most newspaper crosswords I've seen contain multiple blocks of 4x4, if not larger

Gareth McCaughan

3:17 PM

Most UK cryptics don't have big white blocks (unless they are of the "barred" sort rather than the "blocked" sort, in which case they are big white blocks), but generally at least about half the letters of each word should be checked (i.e., part of two different words).

US non-cryptic crosswords tend to have a lot more overlap, a lot fewer empty squares, and shorter words.

(I think.)

Harder clues usually mean you should have more cross-checking. (At least if they're much harder. Especially if the answers are likely to be words your solvers don't know.)

GentlePurpleRain

@Sconibulus Vocabulary is the easy part of learning a language.

Sid

@GarethMcCaughan Well, it depends on "hard". I mean, I could make a clue that looks hard to me but if any of you could solve it in a jiffy, then, it's not hard.

It is a thin line to tread on.

Gareth McCaughan

Yup, hardness is relative to your audience.

Rosie F

@Sp3000 Times crossword clue enumerations haven't acknowledged apostrophes since about 1983 or earlier. The Times Book of Jumbo Crosswords 1, which contained crosswords from 1971 to about 1984, has a preface in which the editor noted The Times's change of practice as evidenced by an earlier clue which acknowledged the apostrophe, and a later clue which didn't.

Sphinx

3:42 PM

1

Q: Turn of a friendly card

You have a deck with the 13 cards of diamonds. After shuffling the deck, you will turn the first card and note its value $n$ (as usual A=1, J=11, Q=12, K=13). At that point, you change the order of the first $n$ cards; if for example the order of the deck is 481KJ537XA2Q6, four cards are to be in...

mathematics

Sid

3:54 PM

I have a question on wordplay of a CC. Say, I have the lines "Beginning to sing" -> Does that mean Starting letter of To or Sing?

M Oehm

It means S, because S is the beginning to (or of) "sing".

Sconibulus

It could mean either, but if it means 't' then sing has to be used differently somehow

Sphinx

0

Q: An EMIRP Game/ Puzzle for Prime enthusiasts

As most math enthusiasts know, EMIRPs are Prime Numbers which are also prime numbers when reversed. Like 17 which when reversed to 71 is also a prime number. Here is a Game or Puzzle based on 5 digit EMIRPs and borrowing part of Sudoku. It involves a Grid shown below The grid has a center ...

formation-of-numbers sudoku

M Oehm

4:14 PM

@Sconibulus I don't know. I don't like "beginning to" as T. Perhaps the other way round, "to beginning"?

Forklift

4:54 PM

@Sid Also consider a theme in addition to a number of clues. Those tend to be a little more interesting if you can work one in.

Sid

@Forklift I don't have a lot of freedom in making the clues because of one gimmick. Adding another will make things even more harder for me to prepare within my time-limit

Avantgarde

@humn youtu.be/Z7FFIVI86iQ

Lots of metal in that, but weird. And disturbing, actually. It's a concept album about a girl who suffers from autism.

I hope you like the distorted guitars and harsh vocals that are often involved in metal (particularly the metal I like), enough to continue listening to an album/song. They can be repulsive to those who don't find it too fitting.

When sharing with others, I actively try to look for metal that don't have a lot of that, haha. I realize that not many like the roughness that I so enjoy.

Forklift

5:12 PM

@Sid No worries. Everyone likes a gimmick, so one should be plenty!

Sid

5:50 PM

@Deusovi are you free now or within the next couple of hours?

Deusovi

@Sid I'm free now. Why?

Sid

I need someone to check if my cryptic clues are fair or not for the crossword I am preparing. May I send you an e-mail?

Deusovi

Sure!

Sid

Sent!

humn

... latest from my muse, who is wiser than others slowly understand: "People make stupid judgements about me all the time but the only ones that hurt are those untrue."

humn

6:11 PM

(didn't come out right)

Deusovi

I don't know what kind of world you live in where everyone speaks in profound statements, but I'd like to go there.

humn

Welcome!

My most profound muse is one i can't even quote.

Deusovi, you're one i can quote and do, elsewhere. Here you speak for yourself.

ffao

"...I'm dumb" - Deusovi

Deusovi

I'm honored to be considered one of your muses (and, to be honest, completely baffled as to why I would qualify).

Mithrandir

Some of my muses are Urania and Calliope.

humn

6:16 PM

!

I want to be the muse of typing with abandon. (Already the muse, for some, of editing with constraint.)

ffao

Today we'd need a muse for puzzles and one for video games

humn

They need names first.

Every time i harness others' writing i secretly want to open the barn doors. Secret got out here.

Sid

TIL that muse=person of inspiration

humn

6:33 PM

... until a better name, guess the muse of puzzling is Enigma ...

... and until a better name, the muse of video gaming is CarpalTunnelSyndroma ...

... please don't hurt yourselves and i won't either ...

Sid

@Deusovi Sent you the remaining words that you were confused about.

ffao

CarpalTunnelSyndroma sounds like she could be the muse of secretaries instead

humn

When i learned to type it was with a vengeance. Everyone around the office could hear it.

Much safer world now. Haven't even worn out the latest keyboard.

(Don't believe the "much safer world now" brochure. It's never been safe and never will. Just that the only way to proceed, far as i know, is as if it were safe.)

Rubio

6:48 PM

muse of puzzling: Devousi

or possibly Devuosi

humn

e i e io!

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