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2:18 AM
1
Q: 9-5=5? Matchstick problem

Culver KwanMove one matchstick to make a correct equation. Question made by me (Is this too easy?)

 
2:28 AM
@AlwaysConfused this has been answered already, but no, that is not the latest :00
It is easiest to see on the computer, but you can access it through phone as well
Press the three lines on the top left, then press "Starred"
You will then see the top message being the latest CCCC, maybe including hints if it hadn't been solved for a while
 
2:44 AM
Can anyone explain this cryptic clue to me? Even with the answer I'm lost as to how to construct it.
this month disturbance is caused by training (11)
Answer is 'instruction'
Obviously (I... Think) training is the def
 
Where's this from?
 
A cryptic crossword app unfortunately. I've traced this clue at least to the Nagaland Post in 2017, which isn't helpful to me
OK, found it in this puzzle: 7 across:
 
3:40 AM
Wow. Thank you! It was driving me crazy. I knew neither of those
 
apparently there's also prox. and ult. for next and last month
 
 
1 hour later…
4:44 AM
1
Q: Everyone have me

Culver Kwan Everyone have me; Without first two letters, I am not here; Without last two letters, I am a story; What am I?

 
 
1 hour later…
5:55 AM
In anagrams, if I draw a line behind the moving letters, the lines may cross or may not cross. Sometimes these lines can be drawn in an way so that the lines does not cut. But is it possible to develop a method for every anagram that these lines never cut each other?
 
6:20 AM
1
Q: Playing the Square Chess

TSLF On an ordinary chess board (8x8) without any pieces on it as a starting position, two players will alternately place a pawn on any square (unoccupied) so that the first player that form a square (upright or tilted) with his 4 pieces on the board wins the game. This question mainly search for t...

 
 
2 hours later…
7:57 AM
0
Q: A fairy tale in a golden toy

AnonOnce upon a time, long long ago, in the days when good stories were far more beautiful and far harder to come by, a king was asked by his spoilt but beloved princess daughter to give her a fairy tale. In answer to her request, he bestowed upon her a mysterious golden toy. Below you will find a pe...

 
Avi
Blast! Ernie's hidden in the back (6)
 
Astern eyy
 
Avi
Yup :)
 
8:22 AM
hmm could "maybe" somehow be an anagram indicator in the c4? there don't seem to be that many good options left
 
8:33 AM
on the other hand, tor is a variant of the scandinavian first name thor so maybe there's a way to make MODERATOR work?
 
 
1 hour later…
Avi
9:58 AM
Maybe we have to look at Gareth's last C4?
Also, is [def] to [wp] acceptable? seems sketch
 
user435118
@Avi Gareth's last C4:
 
user435118
>
CCCC: Fissure in carboniferous rock yields red dye (9)
 
user435118
Answer:
 
user435118
> CO(CHINE)AL
 
Avi
hmmm
I'm stumped :P
 
user435118
10:05 AM
Maybe something on the lines of CH+...+AL...
 
user435118
Or CO+...+AL
 
user435118
Ooh. CH+OR+AL
 
user435118
OR is from maybe
 
user435118
CH+OR+AL+IS but that's only 8 letters
 
Avi
Maybe Cochineal?
 
user435118
10:11 AM
lol, probbaly not
 
Avi
like, not as the answer
but as a maybe
 
user435118
Choralist, if that's a word?
 
Avi
person who sings
are they gotten by rand al'thor though
 
user435118
CH from chine + OR from maybe + AL from al and from Rand al'Thor + IS from is + T from Rand al'Thor - CHORALIST
 
user435118
Probably wrong but that's my logic
 
Avi
10:15 AM
I just can't help but notice
initials of " by Rand al'Thor" are By Rand Al' Thor = BRAT
 
user435118
Oh yeah, you have a different answer?
 
Avi
no
I just noticed something interesting and thought it might lead to different possibilities
unfortunately I don't know anything that ends with IGBRAT lol
 
user435118
Nope, no scrabble words end with IGBRAT
 
user435118
@msh210 Do you mind checking my answer please? ^
 
10:40 AM
@Daniil It's not correct, I'm afraid.
 
user435118
Ok, is it close?
 
@Daniil In a manner of speaking.
 
user435118
No idea then
 
user435118
Is the wordplay wrong or the answer wrong or both?
 
@Daniil I'll let you know as soon as someone gets both right.
 
user435118
10:50 AM
CH from chine + O first letter from or from maybe + RAL Rand al'Thor + IS from is + T Rand al'Thor - CHORALIST
 
user435118
Another wordplay idea ^ @msh210
 
user435118
I guess not then...
 
@Daniil Indeed, not, sorry.
 
user435118
I can think of 2/3 other posssiblities to get CHORALISt but I won't since it's probbaly wrong :)
 
10:55 AM
OK, so perhapas it's my suggestion on an earlier clue that "Rand al'Thor" might mean ALTHOR*, so we have: C (C4 initially) + (IS (is) inside (gotten by) HORALT (Rand al'Thor)) making CHORALIST, def "maybe Gareth McCaughan" since until an unfortunate injury I was a pretty serious amateur choral singer.
 
the only thing invalidating it is if msh210 didn't know that beforehand, hehe
 
@GarethMcCaughan Correct!
 
user435118
I was so close but so far... :(
 
Apparently he did know it beforehand, hehe.
 
And I didn't know about the injury or that you're no longer a choralist. Sorry to learn it.
 
10:58 AM
:0
 
It's OK. I fell down some stone steps and I think the corner of one of them got me in the throat. The only lasting consequence is that now if I talk or speak for very long I get hoarse and sore. So singing a concert, or indeed a rehearsal, isn't really an option. But there are so many ways it could have gone worse that I find it hard to feel too aggrieved.
It means I have a bit more spare time :-).
 
@GarethMcCaughan a good attitude
 
11:48 AM
late reply, but agreed
 
 
2 hours later…
1:35 PM
1
Q: Triply English or Triply American

hexominoThe following list of words divides evenly into two groups of words which I describe as Triply English and Triply American. American Assault Citation Common Count Diamond Fleet Flying Lord More Rock Sand Sir Slew War West Can you tell me which words belong i...

 
 
1 hour later…
2:48 PM
1
Q: My First Riddle - What am I?

ReibelloAmber, leather, fruit, or pine. Whiskey, crackers, never wine. White and red across a sea. Or clad twice in sable, burgundy. Hidden, swung, hooked, flown. Suited, bottled, jumping, thrown. You'll never get me if you're slow. Who I am? Well, "You don't know..."

 
 
1 hour later…
Avi
3:50 PM
Men trailing tight-knit group in field of operations (6) - how is this SECTOR?
I see "tight-knit group" as SECT, possibly
 
4:07 PM
OR apparently means "other ranks", and "soldiers" is also used to clue it?
according to the Big List of Questionable Abbreviations at least
(that's gross though - I wouldn't use it)
 
Avi
4:27 PM
yeah...
does "approaches" have any meaning as a charades indicator?
 
I guess I can imagine it meaning concatenation?
 
Avi
ok, great
 
Avi
4:47 PM
22 more clues to go :(
 
0
Q: Defeating the deleteriousness of time

Always Confused What thing I'm talking about? Hint-1 Hint-2 Hint-3 Hint-4

1
Q: Hill cipher with 100x100 matrix?

Voldemort's WrathIs it possible to decrypt/encrypt something using a Hill Cipher whose key matrix has a size of $100\times100$?

 
Avi
5:18 PM
I'm going to be slightly evil
don't mind me
 
5:58 PM
Puzzler ace with evil heart (3)
 
Avi
6:13 PM
A+_VI_ :O
btw, dough gown -> go down is/isn't a spoonerism?
 
6:25 PM
0
Q: A prolific nine-letter word

Bernardo Recamán SantosFor the purpose of an arithmetical puzzle I am devising, I require a nine-letter legitimate (i.e. acceptable to Scrabble players) English word such that at least one combination of as many as possible of the 511 permutations (without repetitions) of one or more of its letters is itself a legitima...

 
@Avi pretty sure it is
 
 
1 hour later…
Avi
8:00 PM
cry
I'm becoming devious :(
need advice:
is this inappropriate for this site
although not grammatically correct/solvable in current state, just the theme-wise
 
Sure, that's fine.
 
Avi
great :)
17 clues to go :O
 
8:26 PM
1
Q: Random walking on a board

Display maths There’s a pawn starting in the center of this game board. At each move, it can advance randomly towards any of the adjacent squares sharing a common side with equal chance. What’s the probability of landing on the crossed spot on the ninth move?

 
Avi
8:45 PM
Indirect every-other-letters are banned, right?
I can imagine it would be near-impossible to solve
 
Avi
9:29 PM
If you take every other letter out of cystic fibrosis
starting at the y, you get csi fboi :O
ef bee oy, open up
crime scene investigation incoming
 
@Avi Offhand, I think the only manipulation allowable indirectly is reversal.
 
Avi
oh boy
isn't subtraction allowed as well
 
Oh, or homophone.
Oh yeah, subtraction of specific letters ("with no point") or of head or tail
I may be missing some more....
But extraction of specific positions can't be on indirect.
 
Avi
think that matches to my understanding
 
2
Q: Take Two! (an Around-the-Bend)

bobbleHere's another around-the-bend. I felt like putting a hidden word in, but I couldn't think of anything good... there's still a word, though. Just unscramble the highlighted letters. Rules Each word goes from left to right on its numbered line, and then continues from right to left on the next ...

 
Avi
9:54 PM
@Randal'Thor for 18 onwards
it's probably SHALLOT, TOONS, SNORES
17 is probably mullahs/mollahs
 
Avi
10:19 PM
hmm
the puzzle was fun
now back to headcracking
 
Avi
10:36 PM
now it's time to selectively target dyslexic users
and those who read too fast, such as myself :P
alternatively, I can write a better clue >.<
ooooh
got it
 
Mar 16 at 21:37, by Gareth McCaughan
Further to Deusovi's remarks above, I suggest the following general principle: TSL is a place for conversation, not for thinking out loud. The reason for writing something here is that you have reason to think someone else here might want to read it.
 
Avi
11:08 PM
everybody absolutely wants to know the progress updates
they are crawling in anticipation
the crypticity is oozing from their eyes
 
0
Q: How to test a sudoku solver?

Tahmid RafiI have created a standard sudoku solver using my own algorithm. It relies on a continuous scanning with occasional tuple/pair searching. I am looking forward to test if this works properly. I have hand tested it one some Evil puzzles. Is there any source where I can get extremely hard standard s...

 
11:29 PM
I totally understand wanting to record one's stream of consciousness when composing cryptic clues. I do it too. But I do it in a separate text file that contains my attempts at composing cryptic clues, where I can look back at it later to see whether I can salvage any of the ones that didn't work out. That's much more convenient for me than using the TSL chatroom as my scribble pad.
 
Avi
I mean
these are more generic comments on the process
building anticipation for the letdown
 
11:46 PM
CCCC: Fitting the pattern of other clues, I follow my earlier answer with ... a name for Rand al'Thor (13)
 

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