The Sphinx's Lair

oAlt

12:02 AM

@Sphinx danggg

Sphinx

1:11 AM

-1

Q: The glass puzzle

Can anyone perhaps by chance solve this pin? https://pin.it/1EXuqjb I myself do not understand it.

Avi

2:56 AM

what's Hashi? @bobble :)

North Læraðr

@JeremyDover Why haven't you solved the C4 yet? Honestly....

bobble

3:15 AM

Also known as Bridges

Avi

3:32 AM

I figured out how they work, it's a nice puzzle type :O

bobble

"they" being...?

Avi

Hashi(s)

bobble

I should make one :)

actually, I'm going to make one

just to see if I can

Sphinx

4:54 AM

0

Q: Can you help me with stack exchange features?

How do I create spoiler blocks in Puzzling Stack Exchange?

reference-request

bobble

^^^^ totally a meta site thing

Puzzling Meta

6:24 AM

0

Q: Can you help me with stack exchange features?

How do I create spoiler blocks in Puzzling Stack Exchange?

discussion

Jeremy Dover

11:59 AM

@NorthLæraðr Too busy on grid puzzles. And too dumb...

kristinalustig

12:43 PM

@JeremyDover I just came in here to reiterate what I said in a comment. That puzzle was BANANAS. Seriously so much fun, I can't believe I spent so long on it. I even forgot to eat dinner.

...now, I must retrieve coffee. X_X

Deusovi

1:03 PM

oh, if you like that, then you may like this

mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/puzzle-200

good luck!

(fair warning: I have not managed to solve this.)

kristinalustig

Oh no! I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear about that until after work.

Jeremy Dover

@kristinalustig Thanks so much for the compliments. It's really all @Stiv's fault. He mentioned using color to combine puzzles, and that started the gears turning. I wasn't going to get a good night's sleep until I got the puzzle finished.

Deusovi

some more logic mashups that will eat away all of your free time trying to understand the rules:
http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/2013/coinheist.com/get_smart/portals/index.html
https://sites.math.washington.edu/~ostroff/puzzles/fano_puzzle.pdf
https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/52899/the-ludicrous-loop-over-a-thousand-cells-of-circular-logic
(once again, fair warning: i have only done the last of these three)

also, agreed - that looked like a neat puzzle! i wish there was some cleaner way to present it, though. i'll give it a shot if i can find a way to display it nicely on a spreadsheet

gmpuzzles.com/blog/2015/11/…

here's another logic mashup that i have solved! it's a fun one

kristinalustig

1:22 PM

🤩 Thanks for all the links. I'm so grateful that all these very smart people give away their time like this for the enjoyment of others. I can't wait to tackle these.

Stiv

1:40 PM

@JeremyDover Funnily enough, that same thread gave me several ideas for puzzles too. I was working on one of them when yours was posted... then I looked at mine like a parent who's just seen somebody else's child doing something much better...! I'll finish it at some point, but it won't come anywhere close for complexity!

Jeremy Dover

@Stiv While this one seemed to go over well, I worry a little bit about making them too long. I remember an early piece of advice from Deusovi: adding size to increase the deductive content is fine, but size to make the solver do more work is just a drag.

kristinalustig

@JeremyDover it was long but it felt like there were all kinds of new leaps of deduction I needed to be making as I went.

Jeremy Dover

@kristinalustig Thanks! I'm glad it was on the good side of that coin.

Stiv

2:06 PM

@JeremyDover Agreed - big puzzles don't absolutely make for good puzzles. But limiting your grid to 9x9 made this feel like it was a small puzzle, just concealing layer upon layer of hidden complexity. Small but not-short yet sweet :)

kristinalustig

TBH the thing that tripped me up the most was that I kept forgetting which puzzle was named what, so reading the slitherlink clues had my brain swimming

the nurikabe was super fun, i'm definitely going to seek out more of those to do. I got SO stuck until I read the bit about 2x2s not being permitted.

Stiv

Goodness me, remembering how to spell 'kurasuka'... 'kukarusa'... 'karukusa'... that one... during the write-up took up half the writing time! ;-)

Jeremy Dover

The thing I like about Nurikabe is that when you first start them, it is natural to think the puzzle is all about keeping the islands separate. After you do a few, you realize it's all about avoiding 2x2s and ensuring connectedness.

kristinalustig

@Stiv SAME.

Jeremy Dover

The entire time I was developing, I called it "kakusura". Fortunately I read the link as I was putting the puzzle together :-)

Sphinx

3:39 PM

0

Q: My prefix gives off waves, My infix takes in waves

My prefix gives off waves. My suffix under a bridge. My infix takes in waves. My whole that must forage.

riddle rhyme

matt

we must abolish the pickles

North Læraðr

Yes, indeed. However, after my PreCalc class I am currently failing

matt

oh no

North Læraðr

I have zero clue on what's going on

matt

hmm

bobble

3:49 PM

do you need a Help North With Math room? :)

matt

good idea

North Læraðr

@bobble I literally might.

matt

i doubt Puzzling is the best place to put it though

North Læraðr

I mean.....

I can just make a room

But it doesn't have to just be for helping me with math XD

How about like a

Hm

The No Pickle Gang Room

Gareth McCaughan

That will deprive you of the opportunity to learn from people who don't hate pickles.

North Læraðr

3:58 PM

@GarethMcCaughan Hmm true

matt

hmm

this is confuzzling

North Læraðr

Just literally make a "Help North With Math" and see how fast it gets closed by an outside mod

matt

hmmm

@NorthLæraðr yess

North Læraðr

North's Grove

matt

mmm... idk bout that

hello Gerbil

Beastly Gerbil

4:02 PM

hello there

North Læraðr

I mean like personal rooms do exist

Beastly Gerbil

@NorthLæraðr as someone taking further pure maths right now, I understand how youre feeling :P

North Læraðr

@BeastlyGerbil No you don't. I'm struggling in PreCalc. You're doing real math :P

It's like

matt

speaking of which, why do basically all math teachers I know give out homework almost every day??

bobble

My gov teacher is salty because out of her 120 students, only 38 watched her lecture video assigned for homework

North Læraðr

4:05 PM

@bobble lol

matt

oh uh

impressive

North Læraðr

Oh, I made mock trials!

bobble

... of what?

North Læraðr

uh.. high school?

kristinalustig

awww I did mock trial in high school

North Læraðr

4:07 PM

Mock Trials

kristinalustig

I made a girl cry once, whoops

matt

what is a mock trial

North Læraðr

@kristinalustig Y I K E S

@matt Exactly what it sounds like

matt

self facpalm

kristinalustig

it's where kids pretend to be lawyers and witnesses and stuff and "try a case" in court

hey it's not my fault that she lied under oath

matt

4:08 PM

hmm
sounds boring

North Læraðr

It's more competitive than it sounds

matt

tbh

@NorthLæraðr hmm

Beastly Gerbil

Depends if your into arguing or not :P

bobble

@NorthLæraðr So you meant "I made [it into the] mock trials [club]"?

North Læraðr

True

kristinalustig

4:08 PM

it was super fun, and it gave me a LOT of confidence when I was a shy teenager

John Dvorak

Everyone is into arguing

North Læraðr

@bobble It's not a club, it's a... what did they call it? An organization

@bobble No, it's called Mock Trial

bobble

same thing

North Læraðr

There's levels

matt

@BeastlyGerbil interesting hypothesis

North Læraðr

4:09 PM

It's not a club, but it's not a sport

John Dvorak

... you can also be the judge, if you really don't feel like arguing at the moment. Or jury.

North Læraðr

@JohnDvorak you can't really argue as a witness either

Beastly Gerbil

The ultlimate sense of power

North Læraðr

@kristinalustig Ooooh

matt

dun dun dun

North Læraðr

4:10 PM

My friend was a witness, and the opposing defense counsel was basically yelling at her, so the judge yelled at them back

bobble

In 8th grade US History, we did a mock trial on whether to start the Mexican-America War (spoiler: we went), and one guy won it for the War side by doing this crazy-lawyer-yelling thing and then walking out of the classroom and slamming the door

North Læraðr

The judge is like, "This is NOT an episode of Law and Order!"

@bobble Lmao. Not how a real court case works but pretty funny

matt

rfcecvetgbhuj

North Læraðr

Yeah that opposing counsel I heard lost by like some 100 points?

bobble

There was a problem where all the "witnesses" were male, but most of the people who wanted to be witnesses were female

matt

4:13 PM

hmm

North Læraðr

@bobble Oof

kristinalustig

@Deusovi holy crap, I just started looking at that big puzzle you shared earlier on my lunch break. I don't even know where to begin!!

Deusovi

I warned you!

North Læraðr

4:32 PM

@Deusovi Another clue...?

Deusovi

right, sure

CCCC hints:
- Several words could be taken out of the clue and it would still work.
- The fourth letter is T.
- The sixth letter is R.

msh210

4:57 PM

@matt As an erstwhile math teacher, I'm qualified to answer that. It's because most students need it.

bobble

^^^ confirmed by a math tutor

matt

@msh210 well what about when they have 7 other periods? such as myself?

bobble

oof, that's too many classes at once

matt

my point exactly.

bobble

I currently have 2 homework-producing classes :)

matt

5:07 PM

two?? wh-

@bobble is that good or bad?

can't tell

bobble

I mean, I have more than 2 classes, it's just that those others don't assign homework. I like it this way

matt

as would i if we swapped places

however we cannot

bobble

no it's mine you can't have it

matt

hello Avi :)

Avi

these puzzle mashups are mashing my brain instead of the puzzles :o

matt

5:13 PM

oh no

bobble

quick, we must save Avi!

Avi

it's ok

matt

besides, we can't help since that would spoil the puzzles

Avi

i find the quickest way to save yourself is to just look the other way

bobble

It's not a problem if you don't look up

matt

5:14 PM

hmm

bobble

Rouge One was great :)

Avi

Rogue One was better

bobble

than the other prequels which do not exist

matt

wikipedia calls it a "space opera"...?

hmm

msh210

5:31 PM

@matt Then they shouldn't give a lot of mandatory work.

@Deusovi B(hASTe)ARD

yep!

@msh210 Nice!

expedition = haste?

yep, "expedition" can also mean speed in accomplishing a task

msh210

@NorthLæraðr thanks

CCCC: Shocking?! (2,2)

North Læraðr

5:36 PM

@msh210 what

OH NO??

msh210

@NorthLæraðr How?

North Læraðr

@msh210 I have zero clue that's just what came to mind

Can "?" and "!" be part of the wordplay?

Avi

i mean

North Læraðr

Hm maybe OH MY, since Ohm is like electric resistant constant thing, though idk where the "y" is coming from

Avi

FFS

i was gonna type that

OHM-Y

"like ohms"

North Læraðr

5:44 PM

@msh210 OH MY

slim-y

@Avi Yep!

:o yay

I think Avi got it, no?

John Dvorak

contender for the shortest CC and solution of all times. The zero-length solution has a much longer clue.

North Læraðr

5:46 PM

@msh210 Uh

I mean

ig so

msh210

Okay, I dunno, you can duke it out.

bobble

FIGHT

North Læraðr

I mean I want it, but you know

Avi

i mean

i don't really want it

North Læraðr

Ok cool bc I have a clue ready

Avi

5:47 PM

i just wanted to solve it xd

msh210

Not much of a fight, then. :-(

Avi

don't worry

i'm going to prep a CC now

North Læraðr

CCCC: Bush's country lost Arkansas (3)

Avi

yikes

toughie + not sure America would really mind losing Arkansas

North Læraðr

Quite proud of the surface if I say so myself

@Avi It's kind of in the middle of nowhere though so

msh210

5:52 PM

@NorthLæraðr QATar?

North Læraðr

@msh210 Yup

Avi

QAT is a bush?

North Læraðr

shrub/bush

Same thing

Avi

gardeners will fight you on this point alone

North Læraðr

Not according to Wikipedia

Avi

5:53 PM

gardeners will fight wikipedia

Rumble! Rumble!

msh210

@JohnDvorak CCCC: Wiretapper's tool, stuck in shoe on floor, initially has escaped finding – and marshal's impounding. Later, you'll get a peek into a white supremacist's home life with it. (3,2,3,6)

Avi

DON TE ATP ICKLES

i don't know the WP unfortunately

North Læraðr

Wait how did you answer so fast

Avi

it was a joke

msh210

@Avi :-(

Avi

5:55 PM

D(A->O)NTE