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2:22 AM
@Rubio correct!
 
 
2 hours later…
4:43 AM
CCCC: Woman I arrested has Fifth Amendment rights wrong too, almost to the present (8)
This is, admittedly, getting silly. But fun. :)
 
4:57 AM
0
Q: The Frozen Wastes

ColdFrogMy first is in Family and also in Hill My second in Circle and also in Flood My third is in Forest and also in Clock My fourth stands alone in my frozen wastes. What am I?

 
 
1 hour later…
 
1 hour later…
7:18 AM
0
Q: How many ordered pairs (a,b) satisfy a^2=b^3+1, where a and b are integers?

Siddharth Garg(A)2 (B)3 (C)4 (D)5 I got 2 pairs (0,-1), and (3,2), but the correct answer is 5. Can somebody help? Thanks in advance!

 
 
1 hour later…
8:40 AM
I'm sorting through a pile of old notes from people who've done the escape room and I've got no idea what half of them are on about.
Like this one. I didn't understand it at all.
 
9:37 AM
0
Q: Find the missing number in the matrix

user3010469Find the missing number, $x$, in the following matrix $$\begin{matrix} 16 & 13 & 9\\ 11 & 8 & 6\\ 9 & 7 & x \end{matrix}$$

 
10:30 AM
@Rubio H(I + _H<>_T)ER + TO_ = HITHERTO
 
0
Q: Finding Round Integer

JannetAn integer is round if it is greater than $0$ and the sum of its digits in decimal representation is a multiple of $10$. Find an optimal procedure to compute the $N-th$ smallest round integer. E.g. If $N = 2$ then Answer is $28$ As the first round integer is $19 (1+9 = 10)$ and the second roun...

 
10:57 AM
0
Q: Don’t let this daunting equation dissuade you to deduce the desired result

Uvc$Given$: A, B, P are distinct digits AA, AAA, ABB are concatenated Numbers. $Relations$: $P $= $A $+$ A $+ $B$ $(AA + ABB)^P$ - $(ABB)^P$ = $(AAA - A) ^P$ + $(B+B^B*B)$ + $(B^B)^P$ Don’t be afraid to make reasonable assumptions to quickly deduce A and B.

 
 
1 hour later…
12:02 PM
<vent> Why are people taking my comments so personally these days?! </vent>
Seems to be the week for it.
 
12:37 PM
0
Q: Finding numbers having exactly two distinct digits

Jim We have $10^K$ road signs (numbered 0 through $10^K−1$). For each valid $i$, the sign with number $i$ has the integer $i$ written on one side and $10^K−i−1$ written on the other side. We need to find how many road signs have exactly two distinct decimal digits written on them (on both sides in ...

 
12:52 PM
@Rub lol me being stumped on that "easy" cipher puzzle for hours and then the tag comes in... dat one heck of a length-changing cipher
 
1:38 PM
1
Q: Next date with distinct digits

rnaylorThe date today is 7th June 2019, or 07/06/2019 (using the American MM/DD/YYYY ordering). When is the next date that when written in this way has all eight digits different?

 
 
1 hour later…
2:58 PM
0
Q: Where would you place a pair of deuce, the devil, and the Lady Luck?

UvcBy examining the following cells, decide on Where (which cells), you want to place the following numbers? Give your reasoning. 22, 666, 777, 123, 147, 567, 44

 
 
1 hour later…
3:58 PM
0
Q: Attendance and proxies

Jim There are two friends Ram and Shyam who attend a course in college. In a certain course, there is exactly one lesson per day over the course of $D$ days (numbered $1$ through $D$). We have a string $S$ with length $D$ describing the lessons Ram attended — each character being 'A' if Ram was absen...

 
 
1 hour later…
5:16 PM
@jafe Aye
@EriktheOutgolfer I thought it’d be solved in like 10 minutes hehe. Actually the knowledge tag is completely unrelated to the ciphering method.
 
0
Q: Finding non obtainable numbers

RosaGiven two natural numbers N and K where N >= 2, you have a list of available numbers as all numbers in inclusive range K to K+N-1. You can sum any two natural numbers in available list to create a new natural number, which is then added to list of available numbers. How many natural number exist ...

 
CCCC: Woman I arrested half-heartedly chaperoned essential Don Juan (9)
 
@jafe WOMAN + I + se(iZ)ed + chap(ER)oned = WOMANIZER
 
Nice :)
 
5:36 PM
@GentlePurpleRain yes!
 
I had another one I wanted to post, but I can't break the chain...
CCCC: Female I arrest half-hearted, centrally mixed up in kidnapping ring, becomes method of cleaning things up. (10)
 
5:57 PM
@Rubio +8 (+9 now) is pretty high for a not-terribly-active meta, especially given that post is from two years ago. And I don't think it should matter who voted - votes are anonymous unless people out themselves like you just did, and you're part of the community too.
(sorry, I didn't see your reply for a long time because it wasn't a ping)
 
6:08 PM
@Rubio so it's misleading?
red herring alert! :D
 
@EriktheOutgolfer Me, mislead someone? Why I never
 
the song reference isn't really worthy of a tag on its own imo :P
that way I was misled and thought that the song actually does have to do something with the puzzle
 
(I suppose the knowledge tag should have been there from the start. But it came in with another edit that made it definitely necessary)
 
actually, I think the tag should be removed
 
Oh the song is totally a red herring. That was just a bit of fun.
 
6:11 PM
it's the tag that activates the possibility of the song being related to the puzzle
if the deciphering mechanism doesn't actually rely on any outside factor, I don't think the tag applies
(personally, I consider red herrings to be something that shouldn't be included in a puzzle)
and no, a cipher that changes the string's length doesn't just "get solved in 10 minutes" (at least for me) ;)
 
I’m pretty sure the tag is needed. There’s more to the puzzle than just the ciphering mechanism.
 
hm... but... I don't... see any.... refe..rence... hunts down entire puzzle
 
Free hint. Check the edit history.
 
oh lol
yesterday I was seeing the first revision
yeah... not going to be very easy...
 
 
1 hour later…
7:34 PM
@GentlePurpleRain (Dubious) the woman’s name is Jan. JAN + I + s(To)p + embrOiled + RING = janitoring ... i’m not sure if it’ll be more amusing if that’s the intended answer, or if it isn’t. :)
 
1
Q: Explain the relations between the numbers in the following pattern

Usaka87$$\begin{matrix} 22 & 12 & 0 & 15 & 18\\ 15 & 27 & 26 & 18\\ 13 & 8 & 22\\ 27 & 13\\ 0\\ \end{matrix}$$

 
7:56 PM
@Rubio Sorry; that's not it. (Not even close) :P
Just realized I left a word out of the C4. Edited.
 
@GentlePurpleRain But it does fit :) VTC: too broad. ;)
Oh dear
 
Is "janitoring" even a word?
 
I did find it in a dictionary, as an uncountable noun: the work of a janitor
 
Is it valid to use "centrally mixed up in" to clue "embrOiled"? Isn't that too indirect? I would think it would have to be "centrally embroiled", no?
 
Well ok - a Wiktionary or two anyway
 
8:02 PM
No, never mind.
The last CCCC did exactly that.
 
Yeah was just going to say that
 
Well, I guess I've invented a CCCC with two valid answers, then... :P
 
Eh. Adding awkwardly breaks mine, so ... without it, it had one solution, mine? Hehe
 
True enough.
You could consider "awkwardly" part of the definition. A janitor is "awkwardly cleaning things up"?
 
I knew it wasn’t it but durnit, I was resolved to make it fit ... and did so
 
8:06 PM
There have been quite a few women arrested in the last few days:
 
I have a couple other women to arrest still too
 
Guess you'd better solve this one, then.
 
I’M TRYING hehehe
Too many anagrinds in this. My brain hurts.
 
I think @jafe needs to make a cryptic crossword entirely out of “Woman I arrested” clues.
 
8:11 PM
careful what you wish for...
 
Oh, no, I absolutely wish for that to be a thing.
 
Ah, man! I just realized I inadvertently messed it up again. Edited. This should be the final version.
Sorry everyone. Especially @Rubio.
 
Deusovi would solve it before I ever saw it, but hey, that’s ok
 
I would totally upvote that.
 
so far, GPR has arrested 2 wrong women
 
8:13 PM
Those poor women.
Poor poor Jan.
 
Nah, right woman, wrong charges.
 
The other one we’ll never know, alas
 
pretty sure that you can't arrest her again if the charges are wrong... :D
 
Ok so - kidnapping, but not awkwardly?
 
Nah, kidnapping is never awkward! :P
 
8:14 PM
@EriktheOutgolfer sure you can. You just can’t be tried twice on the same charges.
 
yeah, so she can't be arrested for awkward stuff ;D
 
I've heard some pretty humourous stories about criminals completely misunderstanding double jeopardy, and getting themselves in loads of trouble.
She was never arrested for the awkward stuff, she was just awkward about cleaning it up...
 
Good thing. If you could be arrested for awkward movements or conversations, for example, a lot of people would be in a lot of trouble.
 
> oh hey it looks like my murder charges turned out to be wrong, KILL SPREE!!!!111
 
Hah
 
8:17 PM
@EriktheOutgolfer More or less, but not with murder.
 
I don't think I'm going to scavenge for actual quotes...
 
Well you’re no fun
 
0
Q: Make 2019 Factorial Multiplication a perfect square

OrayN is not a square number and consists of 2019 factorial multiplication as shown below: $N=1!\times 2!\times 3!\cdots 2018!\times2019!$ At least how many factorial needed to be removed from the multiplication to make N a square number?

 
8:44 PM
@GentlePurpleRain I definitely think it's too indirect.
 
So you think that just like anagrams, anything cluing part of a word should require the actual word, not a synonym?
Full disclosure: The current CCCC does make use of an indirect word part, much like the previous ones have. Only one.
 
I often struggle to find what indicators should only operate on literal parts of the wordplay. Anagrams, odds/evens/“regularly”, and the like seem to be such. We see plenty of indirect “heart”/“wings”/“endless” and those seem ok.
It would be nice to add something to the Guide that notes where indirection isn’t kosher.
 
fwiw i did feel dirty posting the last one
mostly because the word has so many synonyms that "half-heartedly" could refer to almost any letter
 
I generally err on the side of operating directly whenever it feels like indirection would provide too many options. Letter selection indicators, for example, are almost always direct, because indirection there would open you up to basically any option if the word was highly synonymizable. "Could someone feasibly come up with this part in isolation" is the guideline I generally use (but that's a personal thing rather than something I feel comfortable enough calling a general rule).
 
Makes sense. I think in a situation like this, and jafe's previous one, it clues a small-enough portion of the solution that it seems like it can be reasonably guessed by solving the rest.
I'm going to make one more edit. It's not strictly necessary, but I think it improves the surface and the definition somewhat (big hint there!)
Edited.
Okay, this is getting farcical. I should never try to create a CCCC on the fly.
I didn't realize that "female" was valid for F, but "woman" was not. (In retrospect, it seems obvious.) So editing once more, to replace "woman" with "female". Sorry. :(
 
9:02 PM
oh dear. :)
 
Should I just ditch this clue and start over?
I think it's all good now, but I thought that before, too...
 
well now I imagine it's F + I + haLT + _RAT_< + I(O)N
 
Yes, you got it. (Thank goodness!)
 
I liked the "in kidnapping ring" a lot btw
much better than "in ring, awkwardly" :)
 
Well, I realized that was an indirect anagram.
 
9:07 PM
is this where I now give your original clue, and thumb my nose at Deusovi? hehe
I have to find the other clue I had now, I think I misplaced it
@OmegaKrypton Did you (still) need something btw?
 
9:36 PM
@hexomino @Randal'Thor and basically everyone: do be mindful that there's a CodeChef coding contest going on whose current round started today and goes through june 17. We generally get brand new members posting questions here from such contests when they happen, so if you see a complete newcomer show up with an algorithmic sounding puzzle that's either a little too polished for a first-timer, or looks like it went through the Google Translate blender, or both, check around before you answer.
@hexomino @Randal'Thor and basically everyone: do be mindful that there's a CodeChef coding contest going on whose current round started today and goes through june 17. We generally get brand new members posting questions here from such contests when they happen, so if you see a complete newcomer show up with an algorithmic sounding puzzle that's either a little too polished for a first-timer, or looks like it went through the Google Translate blender, or both, check around before you answer.
Current contest questions are here - codechef.com/JUNE19B ... we've already had 3 of those posted. If you answered one, your answer is deleted until the contest ends and the questions are unlocked, so ... sorry about that.
 
10:38 PM
CCCC: Woman I arrested whole-heartedly, turned over drug and a sarcastic remark (9)
No more of this half-hearted business, I really meant it this time
 
 
1 hour later…
11:52 PM
Lol more arrests
 

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