The Sphinx's Lair

2:50 AM

:enter:

:exit:

Lol

3:32 AM

abacs, byway, awork, carle, syker
aalii, azyms, lysis, imide, issei
aargh, azury, rutin, grind, hynde
abaca, byway, awner, caese, ayres
aahed, azyme, hyson, emote, denes
aback, byway, awful, cause, kyles
abaka, bytes, atoms, kembo, assot
aband, byway, awork, narre, dyked
abaci, bytes, atmas, cease, issei
abamp, byway, awing, manga, pygal
abash, byway, awork, saree, hykes
abase, byway, awoke, saker, eyers
abate, byway, awoke, taker, eyers

Made a word square generator

:)

Powered by YAWL

Now, to let it create a database :D

3:52 AM

Disclaimer; it's not meant for solving, nor useful for it lol

Designed for building

4:25 AM

@Avi what if 'be' is a pun of 'beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' a buzzy bee. Not sure how to proceed :) meanwhile, @Tacoタコス im just going to start puzzling making.

5:02 AM

```
feast
angle
union
lusts
tithe
```

sad

code blocks never work

lol

@Tacoタコス thought it was gonna be about 12am in your time, but hi neverthenless

took me forever to find this in the mass of sadness

Wait, did that chunk I made post it?

@Stevo 1203

i c, i have one full page of my planning

5:04 AM

If so, I have a bug lol

its really messy :(

@Stevo Early phases usually are :)

thats what I thought...

@Tacoタコス from quinapalus

query is

I hope its going to be as creepy as I hope it is

5:04 AM

ABCDE;FGHIJ;KLMNO;PQRST;UVWXY;AFKPU;BGLQV;CHMRW;DINSX;EJOTY;|A|=1;|B|=1;|C|=1;|D|=1;|E|=1;|F|=1;|G|=1;|H|=1;|I|=1;|J|=1;|K|=1;|L|=1;|M|=1;|N|=1;|O|=1;|P|=1;|Q|=1;|R|=1;|S|=1;|T|=1;|U|=1;|V|=1;|W|=1;|X|=1;|Y|=1;ABCDE=feast;AFKPU=fault

dictionary is UKACD

So that's supposed to be a word square then?

ENNUI?

yeah but it has different (hopefully different) words going down than across

searches

ennui is a general feeling of dissatisfaction

arising from a sense of uselessness

Oh nice lol

5:05 AM

or not uselessness

that's another japanese word

from lack of occupation or excitement

which is basically the same

frantically searching Alconja's newspaper

@Avi Boredom? lol

um no for inspiration

Q: This is important. I need you to listen…

414

Look, you don't know me. We've never met. But, like I said, I need you to listen... I had the most disturbing dream the other night... Woke up in a cold sweat and couldn't get back to sleep. It wasn't a nightmare as such, just ... eerie, I guess? I don't even remember the details, but it left me...

aha

thanks

5:07 AM

no problem

scrolls down to answer

when are we gonna have a This is important. I need you to listen... (2)

but actually getting 400 upvotes as well

?

oh

(2)

me?

Q: You have prepared. You are determined. You approach the door

no

don't do it

248

Hints:

enigmatic-puzzle visual

another one of his brilliancies

alconja the puzzle maker. Deus the puzzle sniper. (its like puzzle is refering to a gun)

alconja the gun maker. Dues the gun sniper (still makes sense)

5:11 AM

yo uh

does anybody know the puzzle

that had a 3d rendering

and a u-turn symbol

yes?

no

i don't

Q: The brain-curdling eldritch horrors and the third dimension

106

We're in the year 2016 so it's finally time to take puzzles to the 3rd dimension! So let's see what those beautiful times bring us today: (click to enlarge) Everyone of you clever sods could as well have a look at the real thing (please give it some time to load). PC controls: ...

riddle three-dimensional

ahhhh

this one was sick

yes

that was

me rickrolling humn in 'the troll'?

I had an idea for a sudoku but uh

too much homework so

toodles

have a nice day!!

ok... bye!

loved the company though

5:54 AM

uh dang it. Only an idiot like me would forget to ask Avi about any more hints... At least Stiv's here. Well, when its 7pm over here...

uh

the current hint should get you to the next parts of the puzzle

to be or not to be that is the quesiton

how does that help? shakespeare

to be or not to be, that is the question

-hamlet

its about hamlet?

no

5:57 AM

oh, well,

uh

i feel like an idiot trying to blindly search for the next part

although, to be or not to be that is the question has the same amount of words as the cipher/2.

@Stevo yes, search based on the relevant clues

relevent?

which clues are relevent lol

i.e., the clues which haven't been used and are most likely to be applicable right now

number 2 or 6

i think 2

or 4

6:02 AM

um

so its 4?

it definitely not 4

no comment

um

well

lets say its 6

sure

then what

um

idk

agreed

6:09 AM

so

its 2

sure

then what

idk

agreed

lol

so its 4

sure

then what

6:09 AM

sure then what idk

idk

figure it out

uh the hint is a sub puzzle itself

nooo

no, although that would've been funny

it's just stated in a non-obvious way

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm why is ' shake' 'spear' here?

@Stevo no

6:12 AM

um

ok

rack brain

maybe look at the current progress again

in the slitherlink?

sure

im not sure how that heps

5 mins ago, by Avi

figure it out

the clues are all there now

6:16 AM

right

and I've given enough information that it should be somewhat straightforward to get the next clue given the current clues, once you realize how it's working

ok?

6:37 AM

well that was a bummer to work through -_- still no ideas of what to do next

believe i need to wait for stiv, again

7:20 AM

git.io/J2mbt

this has all the progress made so far

you can fiddle around with it a bit and see if you notice anything

ok

at least it's easier to work with than a static image

but, I gotta run

toodles!

ive noticed each square has one gray line passiing through

Popping in very briefly, but @Stevo it may be worth rewriting the clue as '2B or not 2B' and think along the lines of ciphers (i.e. in A1Z26, 2=B; in A0Z25, 2neB). Perhaps one of these is relevant to interpreting some of the numbers, either in the loop interior or Clue 6. Gotta run for now, but I'll check back in later!

our

or

Stiv you are very smart

thats impressive

i will have never thought of that

@Stiv i found something else that MIGHT be useful in the slitherlink cube. See how there are some lines missing? fill that in and you get 5 and 2 horizontal lines and 2 and 2 vertical lines

7:48 AM

im tired, so im resting for now

and thinking of my next puzzle

oh we need photoshop to pixelate...

@Stevo yes!!! to be (no) or not to be (yes!!) gives you the next clue

so the lines that weren't shaded were the key

it was?

Well o lucky me!

yup :)

it also corresponds to hint 4

aha

i c

only empty lines INSIDE the cube should be counted

7:54 AM

and then?

@Avi no and yes?

and then start applying other clues lol

what does that exactly mean?

@Stevo means the lines that "be" (exist) or "not to be" (aren't filled in already) are the question

or rather, they are what you need to find

OH

that... well... was obvious

kind of

it's hard to tell just how obvious a hint will be when you release it

7:56 AM

wait do I add up the lines there or do i take it as a shape?

5=2||

or

S=2^11

as 14

@Avi oh

;)

2048

2^11=2048

I was waiting for someone to find it so I could make sure nobody thought that 5 = 2

alright

best of luck, I'm out for real this time

7:58 AM

ok?

now im stuck again.

that was useless as I don't know how to apply that information

@Avi when i did that it said hurray the solution is correct :)

(should have not told stiv)

8:16 AM

@Stiv help

Ch,r=65+2048%(n+1)

Well, now that you've found S, isn't it obvious what to do?

(Kudos for spotting that, by the way. That wasn't at all obvious to me.)

ok

is that applied onto 2

?

clue 2?

If we plu the formula into the numbers of clue #6, we get the string 3'$83..*3'$"4!$1.43$

wait what?

which formula?

uh im getting confused

@MOehm well thats me fiddling around with it for 3 hours

So the first number is n = 1996 -- the Euros in England, remember? :)

8:22 AM

oh yes?

Now S % (n + 1) = 2048 % 1997 = 51 and that's the ASCII code for the digit 3.

it is?

omg

well i better get writing a partial answer then

or a full one

Yeah. I've used Python to calculate that and the formula looks like this: chr(S % (n + 1)).

Where chr is a function to get a character from its ASCII code.

aha

well don't mind me is if go writing a partial?

is that allowed?

3'$83..*3'$"4!$1.43$ looks like gibberish, but all the symbols except the dot can be typed with shift and a digit.

8:25 AM

?

Okay, that's not quite true. The US and UK keyboards seem to put the single and doble quotes on an extra key, but the keyboard I'm typing this with has " as Shift 2.

im not sure what you mean

@MOehm ic what you omean with the 3'$..*3 after ive converted it. Lets try something else?

That string I just printed, 3'$83..*3'$"4!$1.43$ has digits, dots and the symbols single quote, double quote, dollar sign and exclamation mark. Exclamation mark is Shift + 1. Asterisk is Shift + 8.

mhm

i c

So these symbols might be numbers in disguise.

8:30 AM

ok

let me try answer it (after all i found this major breakthrough and it would be my first at these puzzles)

The string is five line, actually: 3'$8 3..* 3'$ "4!$ 1.43$

yeah

the question is now what?

Which way did the sneaky sweet snatchers go, and why didn't the evidence square up? ;)

um

where did they go?

The clue we haven't used yet is #7: A different kind of candy from the store on each possible route.

8:35 AM

WAIT, look see the clues? try base 16, and we see its all numbers and letters. Thats a lot better

then $"'.*!

Q96V

QFFB

Q96

4R36

IVRQ6

Any help with base 16?

Yes, that looks better, but where's the hint for base 16? I guess we are looking for five words here and we are missing something.

yeah

If I we solve this can I wanna post the answer

This is definitely the last part of the puzzle

You know what we're missing: The 65 from the formula.

oh

i forgot about that

That gives letters!

So: they took the cube route.

8:42 AM

um

thats what i was about to say

im going to post the answer

So the different kinds of candies (truffles, sugar cubes, macarons, cotton candy and more) were strewn along each route. And we now know which one thy took.

Well done, Detective Stevo!

yippee

finally

solved it beat stiv

typing really fast

@MOehm do i have to write the sugar cubes thingy?

I think that is the answer to the overall question.

ok

Or don't you agree?

8:55 AM

the question was where did they go

but we can write that as well

pls help me with markdown

And done

The question was which way they went and since each path has a different kind of candy on it, we can identify the path: It's the sugar cube path.

ok

so i write they took the path with the sugar cubes?

what have i missed out?

turning in for the night

Leave it as it is, but the dark green strokes don't stand out enough in the sketch of S = 2^11, at least not for me. And you don't connect the cube with the "inside" hint.

(Thanks for the acknowledgements, but I'm wondering why you capitalize the H in my name instead of the O.)

oh

sorry

just edit as you like

BYE! im tired

Jafe

9:20 AM

clearly your name is Moe and the Hm is "His majesty"

Q: Find the most unfortunate compact combination of coins to have in LOLandia

9:33 AM

Hehe. (I'd prefer His Modesty, though. I'm not so majestic.)

Sphinx

10:16 AM

0

You live in LOLandia. It's currency is called lulz. Its currency comes in form of coins and paper banknotes. The smallest paper banknote has nominal value of 500 lulz. There are six types of coins, each with different nominal value. 200 lulz coin 100 lulz coin 50 lulz coin 20 lulz coin 10 lulz c...

combinatorics coins

12:59 PM

Regarding Avi's Candy puzzle: It's funny that the function to get the characters and the codes themselves were given verbatim. With a bit of brute force, the puzzle could have been solved without doing the Trichain and the Slitherlink.

(But one would have to notice that S is a constant and that the n in the divisor is related to the codes. I didn't see that and supposed it was the other way round.)

Q: See You Again with a one-line wonder

2:01 PM

@MOehm yes, that would've been very mean :<

ideally don't do that, next time I could make it 3^22, depending on the ciphered text :P

or something similarly intractable to notice

but ideally my next puzzle won't be using the same mechanic(s)

Sphinx

2:43 PM

0

I have three faces, two sides and one rear end. What am I? I haven't been on Puzzling in a while. After my 100th post, I took a break. But I thought now I'd come around again. The riddle might be easy, but I'll find out soon enough. Enjoy :P

riddle wordplay

3:09 PM

@Avi It's just an observation in hindsight. I think I got the nature of the fomula early on, but I failed to see that n is the number to decode, not S. I also didn't know that the numbers from evidence #6 should be taken as they are. Only Stevo's discovery of the hidden 2¹¹ made me see that.

(But I confess that I sometimes try to bypass the Correct Way of Solving [tm] to get ahead and retro-solve it. It rarely works out.)

3:44 PM

Noooooo, we're read only lol

5:27 PM

C4 hint 2: The first letter is C.

Q: A partially obsolete word square?

5:58 PM

@msh210 I wish this helped me more than it does...

Sphinx

0

I'm slowly working on my next word square puzzle, and during the process, I crafted a partially obsolete order 5 square: The clues, in no particular order are: A guarded hedge for deterring cattle. Roses are red, berries are black; woody and thorny, they might just attack. The first rising sun ...

crosswords word-square

0

Q: All about position

Try solve this puzzle below. The answer consists of two words with 15 letters in total.

enigmatic-puzzle visual rebus

6:20 PM

@msh210 CHARLIE MCGEE = CHAR + LIE + M_ + C_G + E_E = female sinJer (in book)

@bobble did you add crosswords because a word-square is a form of crossword?

If so, then I should add acrostic too because it's technically a special form of acrostic puzzle.

bobble

I'm rather confused how it would be an acrostic

But yes, a word square is a crossword

6:40 PM

@Stiv yep!

Haha, I had been planning to use this definition of 'singer' myself in this run! Ah well, nicely played.

What did your first hint refer to?

@Stiv McGee was correct, but then looking for sinGers was wrong

Aha, that makes sense :)

nicely solved

@Stiv my memory is that she does a lot more than singe

6:55 PM

@bobble word squares by definition are a special form of acrostic: "A word square is a special type of acrostic."

@Tacoタコス I don't think they count Inthe same way we use that tag on the site

So they're acrostics but not acrostics

> A puzzle in which certain letters, e.g. of each word, line, or paragraph, form a meaningful word or words when put together.

I think they do to be honest

Each new word is an acrostic of another

Well, the rows and columns form acrostics

Probably not in the sense that they've been used so far, but I think the tag covers it

bobble

7:19 PM

The solve method is more crosswordy than acrostically?

@bobble I think it's a mix between the two, but heavy on the crossword side typically yes.

7:50 PM

@MOehm :3

@Tacoタコス I think it's odd to lump them together? I think it'd be clearer to edit the acrostic tag wiki to soft exclude them?

I tried to make sure that it would be easier to solve forwards than backwards

kind of surprised that no people upvoted once it was finally solved

guess it was too uh

clever at the beginning and straightforward near the end or something

I have no idea shrug

8:08 PM

easysurf.cc/squares.htm

Looks like you can get acrostic and non-acrostic word squares

8:24 PM

@Avi Hey, it's the weekend. Nobody's here. (tumbleweed) Wait for the Monday catch-up crowd :)

Mithical

SE sees most of its traffic on workdays, yep

9:48 PM

@Stiv oh, yeah (tumbleweed) forgot about that.

10:12 PM

CCCC: Common place to chat late or cower distractedly (5,6)

@Stiv water cooler*

10:39 PM

ayyy

pro

uh

does anybody remember how to make a code block in spoilers

10:58 PM

:)

The one on the bottom was the tricky one tbh

after that everything started to fall into place

Well, that was a good nights sleep…

@msh210 Yup :)

11:26 PM

4 upvotes only… hmmm let’s wait until tomorrow