The Sphinx's Lair

@bobble When you pop in, I can ask what you feel today and I'll make sure to refer to you as that for the day :)

matt

8:09 PM

go right ahead bobble :)

I don't actually always stay as one gender for the day - I'm more likely to slip into being male at night than start that way in the morning.

matt

hm interesting

Gender is weird

But currently I'm definitely not female, and I don't feel male, so I'm defaulting to non-binary.

I find a lot of the recent research on genderfluid people's brains super interesting, because there are biological signals associated with the gender changes on each day. Which shows there is a clear neuro-biological basis for the identity changes

8:10 PM

:55979303 could you stop posting messages and immediately deleting them? it breaks the flow of conversation

I own two Time special issues: the one on Harry Potter and the one on gender

The best two issues

@bobble Hehe, I am very much decided on the subject of religion

Sphinx

1

Q: Don't cry for me

My prefix tells me when you cry. My suffix tells a story to my eye. Tell my infix, why be in despair? With my whole, I genuinely care.

D:

already answered by the time sphinx posts it

8:14 PM

I was decided, then during the summer I biked to a nearby church a lot (nice empty parking lot) and now I'm undecided

shouldn't it be more prompt so that we can actually address problem questions as they pop up

@bobble hm, you could do that but i would worry about the updates being a bit of an interruption, depending on how frequent they are and how much is currently going on. is there any way you would prefer for us to refer to you in the case that you haven't mentioned it (yet/recently)? singular they, or just rephrase to avoid pronouns?

@bobble interestingly, a lot of people these days are spiritual, over believing/atheist

@Deusovi she/her is safe

@bobble Curious, did you do from no God to undecided to yes God to undecided?

8:15 PM

that is, they believe there may be some higher power, but aren't exactly certain what that higher being/self may be

alright! will default to that and you can just let us know if it happens to be inappropriate at any point

@PrinceNorthLæraðr the former

@bobble Huh, interesting

@Avi "spiritual" seems to me to be used in very different ways by different people - i'm not sure it really makes sense to treat it as a single category

sure - most of these terms end up personally defined, anyways

that's why I clarified what I meant by saying that

8:17 PM

I'm reluctant to believe in an all-powerful God, but I do fervently hope in an all-caring God who could listen to me rambling to myself. Not sure where that puts me.

@bobble Hm, interesting.

Do you disapprove?

Not necessarily

I don't know. For a God to be not all-powerful doesn't really make it much of a God

"god" is another word with many different meanings

^

8:19 PM

Right

let's all tread very carefully on the topic of religion

Yes

It is interesting though, in a setting like this, so many different types of people are here

I trust us to be curious and civil about it without devolving, I love hearing about what people believe

the japanese "kami" are often translated as "gods", but the concept of kami is much different from the judeo-christian-islamic concept of God -- i find that to be really interesting

we're here for the puzzles

@Deusovi deity-like?

8:21 PM

@Avi yes puzzles

If this was strictly, always a puzzling chatroom, we'd never get to learn more about each other :p

:P

@Sciborg agreed

Plus learning about other people's viewpoints on things just fascinates me

Religion included

but I'm waiting for a Bermuda Rectangle

8:23 PM

Right. Because I'm a Christian and there are certain things I inherently disagree with, but I'm definitely not going to try to shove religion down y'alls throats

@Avi sort of a very "localized" deity, from what i know -- it could be translated as "spirit"

(Partly because it's rather counter-productive)

@Deusovi makes sense

We respect you for being open-minded

For what it's worth, I am subscribed to a Christian woman's email list, so sometimes I get random uplifting messages.

8:25 PM

One of my best friends who is Christian constantly sends me adorable, uplifting Bible quotes on Discord and it always warms my heart. Most of the young Christians I know are super wholesome and nice

Japan: Where Gods Aren't Gods and Worshipers Aren't Religious (Shinto Explained)

in shinto, many objects and locations are considered to have kami, and because of that they should be treated with respect -- it's very similar to animism in a lot of native american religions

►

@Sciborg I try to set philosophy aside from personal interactions. That's why I wrote that I would refrain from making further comments because it's not really the appropriate context

this video is a pretty neat one explaining it - i thought it was fascinating

That sounds like it would be more interesting to learn about in world history instead of every single Chinese dynasty.

@PrinceNorthLæraðr That's fair, deeper discussion is definitely for another chatroom :p

8:27 PM

@Sciborg Heh, I'd probably bore you guys to death

@bobble i took a world religions class back in high school, and it was a lot more interesting than my history classes (and than my other religion classes that i was forced to take)

@Deusovi I wished they offered world religions in my school :((((

When you guys get to college, find a good, non-boring World Religions class because that stuff is super interesting.

well, as of right now, I would either go to a music conservatory where that's probably not going to be learned, or end up going elsewhere where I could skip religion because I got my history credit already

@bobble I know, right?

Dissecting the Bible was one of my favorite things to do in college when me and my friends got ~~high~~ philosophical.

8:31 PM

oof, this conv reminded me I have to pay 140€ church taxes now because I forgot to cancel it

@PrinceNorthLæraðr depends on the elective requirements - you may be able to take one anyway to get some gen ed credits

You could try to use the religion class to find people interested in a discussion

@Deusovi Mm, true

Mine gave me a Cultural I Gen Ed credit if I remember correctly, so they can definitely count for credit.

Such a diverse culture in this chatroom. Very fascinating

8:33 PM

@Sciborg oh, for me it was other parts of philosophy - one time at board game night we stayed up until 5 am ~~arguing over~~ talking about newcomb's paradox

We can all agree that Puzzles Are Good, though, yes?

@Deusovi That's probably one of the things I miss most - the 5AM discussions in the dorm common area :p

@Deusovi How appropriate since this seems to be related with game theory :P

@bobble Yes, Puzzles Are Good

Puzzles Are Good

#NotAll

8:34 PM

But those aren't puzzles.

Jk

Not rileys, for one. Grid deduction are great though.

I liked the original riley.

I liked Rileys the first 50 times I saw them, then it just got too much :p

... there was an original Riley? :P

Back in my days

8:35 PM

I've been considering editing in affix-riddle to the original Riley, and then leaving a note saying that tag should be applied to all copycats.

Somebody in my meta post brought up the concern that editing all those old questions to have the new tag will bring a bunch of old Rileys to the Active page.

"Only Religion" by Burr N. Helle

"To Serve Man" by Han I. Ball

That would make the front page hell for a couple of days

@Sciborg Oh gosh

Sphinx

0

Q: Crossnumber Puzzle

Other notes: Heavy lines indicate the beginnings and endings of entries. No answers have leading zeros.

number-theory crosswords

8:38 PM

Just imagine

@Deusovi Thanks for the video - just finished watching it :P

Interesting stuff

All around me, I see only Rileys

as in, there's only one religion that claims that people stay conscious forever while aflame?

Worn out templates, darkened tenets

@Sciborg All around there are only Rileys

8:39 PM

Bright and early on the daily active page

When people solve in circles, it's a Mad World

Is there any way to edit and not have it bump?

Imagine all the puzzles, it's only Rileys. Youuuu

@bobble unfortunately not

(also, my mom is going to get me the W-2s so I can do the FAFSA)

I wish there was an option for non-bumping edits, but there might be abuse potential in that option

8:41 PM

silent edits Lol

i.e. you could potentially shadow-edit an old question into something horrific

Only mods & maybe high-rep users should be able to, if this is ever implemented (which it will not)

Don't mods have the ability to shadow-add and shadow-remove tags without editing the actual question, or does that bump?

Hello Riley, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again. Because the front page softly creeping, left your seeds while I was sleeping

it still bumps

8:43 PM

@JohnDvorak They call that Rileygion - you have two choices: solve endless Riley riddles, or burn in flames. Everyone chooses burning in flames

@Avi ouch, that's scary

yup

Let's not make too much fun of the format now, ~~except we will continue to do so because it deserves it~~

hey, i like the format! it's condensed all of the bad riddles into one easily-ignorable category

6

"easily ignorable" lol

8:47 PM

Is there an easy way to ignore a tag in the chat?

There's still the occasional other bad riddle. (I remember a recent one that was just a bunch of separate clues, not rhyming or with meter or anything)

@JohnDvorak i dont think so

@bobble so, a hodgepodge soup riddle?

@bobble true but nowhere near the level that there were before this format

I guess I'm making one then. Any interest in hiding anything else than Rileys?

8:48 PM

nope

Good. Making a UI takes time :D

I like making UIs except when the client wants to make 3,488 small changes after we show them our sprint prototypes :p

@JohnDvorak what do you mean by that?

like, ignoring certain riddle types being spoken by the Sphinx?

@Sciborg so, never?

@bobble basically never, yes

8:50 PM

@Avi as in, not have a onebox on the screen each time a new Riley appears on the site

what's a onebox?

now, should I tinify it, remove it entirely, or unonebox it? Or any other treatment?

Add an explosion

i'd say remove it entirely

@LukasRotter YES

KA-THOOOOOOM

8:52 PM

no, if it explode then I can't make the next C4

"tinify" would be most useful for me personally (because i unfortunately still need to check them)

I was trying to be nice and not insult them too much, but now that I know a mod also hates them, I can speak freely :p

can somebody explain what is a onebox on the screen

first amendment, folks

is it that pop-up that tells you "1 new riddle"?

8:53 PM

@Avi the question/answer boxes the sphinx posts are an example

images & wikipedia & any stackexchange link are the triggers I know about

@Sciborg don't be actively malicious or insult particular people, but go ahead and make fun of the format all you want

13

Q: Honeybee Hangover

A drunken honeybee lands on a completely random hexagon of a large triangular section (depicted below) of its hive, and then every second afterwards, takes a step to a completely random adjacent hexagon. How long on average will it take for the honeybee to escape this region? This is my own tran...

no-computers probability

the first iteration of it was neat but so many of the copycats that are posted are just awful

@Avi that is a onebox

8:55 PM

this is technically math, but it's very very nonintuitive

definitely a puzzle in my eyes - check it out if you're interested

@Sciborg Please tell me an integer between 50 and 500

@Deusovi for sure

Uhh, 273

k

445

thanks

8:58 PM

87

= 250 bounty for Stiv's detective answer

It certainty deserves it

on which question?

tubariphobia is still unanswered

Q: Chain Puzzle: Tabletop Games #04 - Mansion Massacre

25

This is the fourth Chain Puzzle in the Tabletop Games series, in which all puzzles are themed around board games, card games, tile games, and the like. The answer to this puzzle is a thematic word or phrase. The solver whose answer is awarded the green checkmark has first refusal on the opportuni...

enigmatic-puzzle visual mystery

Chain Puzzle

9:00 PM

aha :)

thanks

I have no homework tonight!

hooray!

@bobble nice! :)

what'll you spend your time doing then?

Currently, catching up on political news. I'm perpetually one day behind

hm

i'm browsing r/facepalm and noticing all the trump posts

9:04 PM

Also, anyone have ideas for a grid-deduction to combine with slitherlink? I want to try making a mash-up

i would advise not using reddit, especially large subreddits

@bobble uh nope ... sounds interesting though

r/writingprompts is very nice

will check out

/r/writingprompts is decent but a lot of the prompts are "here's a short story idea i have, write it for me yourself"

9:07 PM

will not check out, then

Reddit is fine in small doses, i like r/programmerhumor and r/wholesomememes

I enjoy reading the short story ideas, despite having no motivation to write one myself lol

oh yeah they can still be fun to read -- the posts are just not really "prompts" anymore

anyway, there is exactly one good genre of subreddit and that is "absurdly specific animal pictures". /r/stolendogbeds, /r/birdstakingthetrain, /r/bunnieswithhats

r/dogswithjobs is my favorite of that category

hm

9:08 PM

they promise one thing and they deliver flawlessly

I can't watch that video of the blind person letting his helper dog pick out a toy at the pet store without crying

reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/jjpf0z/seems_legit

argh

I'm dying

@Avi ah yes, my pain with finding a job in a picture

@Sciborg haven't seen that one but it would probably just emotionally wreck me too

(and yeah that's what i've heard the programming job market is like)

@Deusovi It's not the exact one I remember, but here's one of somebody letting her guide dog make a Build-A-Bear:: reddit.com/r/dogswithjobs/comments/er3tfn/…

The little happy eyes at the end while he carries it around destroy me

9:22 PM

I think Stiv just invented the term "crack sleuth". At least, I've never seen it used before

books.google.com/ngrams/…

nope, according to ngram it was around ~1900

You know, Sciborg, now is the perfect time to post the crossword. hint hint

0.0000000140% of natural English usage... darn

Whoever was looking for a word with ejtʃ, paycheck.

Thanks!

np

9:30 PM

Not sure how to integrate that into a name with H., unfortunately

@Avi An author?

Yeah

Was hoping to replace ""Growing a Nest Egg", a book by H. E. Ken" with an author that has only 1 letter (H) in the name

H. Eck doesn't get the p sound

I'm so confused

Pauperdom, by Mipe H. X. Mall

Ape H. Eck? (A paycheck)

9:32 PM

@Avi H. Icken

"Be Dreamy" Hop E. Ful

@msh210 nice!

Then, the ones that have been criticized so far are

"Italian Dining", a book by P. Tsa

"Work Hard", a book by Parr T. Harder

Someone posted a partial answer to that number crossword. Seriously?

but otherwise the list is pretty finished

@Avi "Family Values" by Mark Ist

9:34 PM

@bobble I would be more interested in a partial answer

if it were way less partial than that

They don't even put a picture in.

@Avi "Italian Dining", a book by Pete Za

@PrinceNorthLæraðr All author names should contain exactly 1 letter, and the pun should be apparent from pronunciation, not spelling

@Avi What do you mean 1 letter?

like one letter

9:36 PM

"Escape Artistry", a book by Ron A. Way
"The Art of Uncertainty", a book by Kood B. Wright
"Finding the Unfindable", a book by Still C. King
"On Religion", a book by D. Vout
"The Nature of Fate", a book by Dustin E.
"Pure Productivity", a book by F. E. Shent
"Avoiding War", a book by Rev. Hugh G.
"Growing a Nest Egg", a book by H. Icken
"Atlantis", a book by Sunk I. Land
"Small-Time Fines", a book by J. Walker
"How (not) to House Your Dragon", a book by K. Jess
"Back in my Day", a book by L. Derr

Ah, I see

the F E Shent one needs to be fixed

@Avi "Perfect Diet", a book by E. Normos

I don't really like Dustin E. tbh

E. Normus

"Dietary Delights", a book by E. Normus

Yesss

@Avi "Morality", a book by Phil O. Sofer

9:45 PM

ehhhh

mm idk

"Life's Biggest Questions", a book by Phil O. Sofer

2 hours ago, by bobble

I still think that "The Most Important Part of College" by Parr T. is better than the one in that list

^I second

Hi @Xnero!

It like starts really funny, and then gets watered down

@PrinceNorthLæraðr how do you pronounce "philosopher" though?

9:48 PM

@merrybot Trueee

google translating is confusing me rn:

> In the symbolism of good governance, three walls with many symbolic symbols are carved in carved shapes. In the other two opposing committees, Ambrogio sells the results of good governance in urban and rural areas, as well as poor government and panoramic views of urban and rural areas (also called “unorganized urban and rural areas”).

very repetitive

"Dealing with Break-Ups", a book by T. Osik

machine translation does that

also "The first glass is found in the wallpaper"

I think my favorite from that list is "Avoiding War" a book by Rev. Hugh G.

9:52 PM

yeah same

@PrinceNorthLæraðr explain?

@Avi Toxic, as in toxic relationships? It's not as good as it originally looked

I read that as "Tee Oh Sick"

Hm

"Love Rules Over All", a steamy novel by T. Ronnie

"Staying Single", a book by U. Nik

@Avi Okay, I'm proud of my last one

You Nick

not Unique

9:58 PM

How do you read Nik as "neek"

I never read Nik as neek

U. Neek might work

59 secs ago, by Avi

not Unique

@Avi I meant as Eunuch

oof

It's perfect

then why not just U. Nick

10:00 PM

Idk, bc Nick looks too much like a first name

But sure

anyways, that one was good - it's on the list now

"Who?", a book by M. Teehed

how about Cel. E. Bette?

Ooh, that's good too. But U. Nik sounds funnier

@JohnDvorak "Getting Married", a book by Cel. E. Bette

@Avi Ohhh, "Of Crime and Punishment", a book by P. Null

10:15 PM

will be gone for a while