The Sphinx's Lair

Anonymus 25- Reinstate Monica

12:03 AM

@Jafe So, more appropriattely, the correct clue is "Drop notes in parts", right?

Jafe

12:25 AM

i think it would be "drops notes in parts"

HTM

1:25 AM

@Deusovi The (7) is probably SLOGANS = (GLASS ON)*, def "platform," don't have any clue about the (2, 5)

bobble

Thoughts on on-topic-ness? puzzling.stackexchange.com/q/109237/69582 Personally I feel like it should be closed, though I can't articulate why exactly. Too broad, perhaps, similar to how Lit.SE closes "are there any books with this trope"

HTM

@bobble To me, it sounds like a listing question - the question is basically "What are some ways that I can use this mechanism in a puzzle?" - which I know in some communities isn't allowed

bobble

@HTM I thought it might be "to <homophone of 'women'" = "on train"? somehow

HTM

But we do sometimes field questions about creating puzzles with specific features - we have the puzzle-creation tag for that purpose

If the question was asking about using this mechanism in the context of a broader project, like a puzzle hunt, then perhaps it would be OK

bobble

I'm just annoyed someone bumped it out of the close queue for GRAMMAR FIXES, my goodness, only Edit in a queue if you can fix ALL PROBLEMS fyodydit

The answer to "has this idea been used to make a puzzle" can always be "yes see this puzzle I just made" or "yes nothing new under the sun" etc.

HTM

1:35 AM

True, the wording of the question makes it seem like it's asking whether something like that's been done before in a puzzle

Which the answer is obviously "yes"

We'd have to seek clarification on what the OP means then - if they're just wondering if it can be done, or if they want specific examples of how it can be used

bobble

Could you do that? A comment along the lines of "What's the question here? Could you clarify whether you mean <insert options here>" etc.

HTM

@bobble One step ahead of ya :)

Clarification: are you asking whether it is possible for a puzzle to use this mechanism (in which case, the answer is, of course, "yes") or how this mechanism can be used in a puzzle? — HTM 1 min ago

bobble

Also, unless there was some pretty clear cluing that exclamation marks were important, then I'd consider this mechanism completely unfair and downvotes a puzzle that relied on it. "Guess what I'm thinking' and all. Not really related to that question though

HTM

(To be fair, I just started writing that comment when your message came up, so technically I was one step ahead, but it was a incredibly tiny step)

@bobble I know of at least one MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle that uses that mechanism effectively

And there's at least one PSE puzzle that involves connecting characters in a piece of text, though in this case it's not punctuation marks

(Spoilers for both puzzles BTW, shoulda pointed that out beforehand)

Deusovi

i think it's a reasonable question about "puzzle history", and linking those two puzzles would be a good answer to it

bobble

1:50 AM

It's currently tagged puzzle-creation, though

Deusovi

yeah, i think that's a mistag

they might not realize that "puzzle creation" means questions about hypothetical puzzles yet to be created, rather than questions about puzzles that have been created before

or they just may not have been aware of the appropriate tags, so they found the closest one they could think of

HTM

We'll just have to see what the OP says. Personally, I think they're simply looking for examples of past puzzles with this mechanism, so the puzzle-history tag would definitely be more appropriate

bobble

But that would make it an open-ended list question

Deusovi

no, it wouldn't

it's a yes or no question - "has this been done before"? and the answer is "yes, it has [and here are a few examples]"

Jafe

the previous revision actually says " If so, can you provide examples?"

Deusovi

1:57 AM

it's not asking for every single possible example

HTM

@Jafe OK, so the OP was definitely asking for examples, not looking for help with creating a puzzle with this mechanism

Maybe a rollback would be in order?

bobble

Sorry, I'm just familiar with other SEs where "are there any examples of X" is considered an open-ended list question because even after the first good answer saying "yes" people inevitably come along to add their cool special example. Puzzling can be different if it wants

Deusovi

if people do that, then in my opinion it's the new answer that doesn't add any value, not a problem with the question itself

HTM

I don't think the intent of the OP is to gather every single puzzle that uses connecting punctuation marks as a mechanism, they just want to know if it can be done at all

Anyway, I'm just gonna wait for a reply from the OP before doing anything

bobble

(oh oops it's not exactly "open-ended list" that's why Lit closes this stuff, but their "no recommendations" reason)

Deusovi

2:04 AM

yeah, that makes sense in the context of Lit

considering we don't really get flooded with the same type of question, though, i think it's not necessary to rule out. and imo there's value in having that type of question here

HTM

Ah, the OP edited the question

bobble

Title probably needs a rewording

HTM

@HTM, my question is how. I have edited the question. — Nick 34 secs ago

bobble

> How this mechanism can be used in a puzzle?

Deusovi

huh.

bobble

2:08 AM

That's indeed puzzle-creation and quite answerable, if a bit open-ended

Deusovi

well that's more open-ended

but still answerable, yeah

examples would work well there too

HTM

OK, lemme whip up something with those two links

Also might wanna remove the lateral thinking tag

bobble

I think they were trying to indicate the type of puzzle they wanted to create

And puzzle type tags should be used on puzzle-creation questions, for searchability if nothing else

Deusovi

i don't think [lateral-thinking] is a good descriptor for that, though - and i'm not sure there is one in our tags?

bobble

stenography?

I'm not as clear on what the "soft tags" mean

Deusovi

2:13 AM

you mean steganography?

yeah sure, i think that fits

bobble

huh, I just went with what the spellchecker suggested

thanks computer

Deusovi

two different things

bobble

sorry for being stupid and not double-checking, though

Deusovi

stenography is the practice of quickly typing something being spoken, for things like court transcripts and subtitles

steganography is hiding a message in an entirely different message, ideally one made to look nonsuspicious

bobble

While editing, is the bit about the movie they watched at all relevant/can I edit it out as "fluff"?

Deusovi

2:17 AM

i don't think it's necessary to edit it out, because i believe it's meant to give context to the question (guessing that something similar happens in the movie)

but it would be nice if someone who was familiar with the movie could edit it so that it actually does give that context

HTM

2:29 AM

Aight, answer posted, let me know if there's anything I can add or improve on

Sphinx

2:50 AM

0

Q: Steal my infix, I am a type of python

It is 5 characters. Remove one, my meaning does not change. Remove two, I am a cat. Remove all of them, I am a empty spot. Remove all but one, I am a number. Steal my infix, I am a type of python.

Sphinx

3:38 AM

0

Q: Manual tiling with 8 dodecadudes

Here are 8 dodecadudes. (Drawn from the very numerous dodecadrafters, made from 12 half equilateral triangles, dodecadudes are a subset of 770 pieces with sharp points and narrow necks excluded). Arrange them into a symmetric dodecagon with sides (1 triangle edge)(2 triangle altitudes) alternati...

combinatorics no-computers tiling

HTM

4:05 AM

BTW Deus, you still need to update your answer to my red herring puzzle - the comments have almost all the missing information (not pinging out of courtesy)

Sid

4:58 AM

CCCC: Denied at sea as a matter of fact (6)

HTM

@Sid This is INDEED = (DENIED)*, def "as a matter of fact"

Sid

5:17 AM

That fell quickly. Correct.

HTM

CCCC: Power for a twirling pair (7)

Sphinx

6:02 AM

0

Q: A crispy, yummy connect wall

A connect wall is a 4 x 4 grid, Each has 16 words inside it. They are broken into 4 groups of four words, Each has a relationship. The four words defining the relations are themselves related, And the relations are defined by a single word as well. More information on Stiv's excellent post. Here ...

word connect-wall

Sphinx

8:02 AM

0

Q: A beautiful connect wall

As usual, a connect wall is a $4\times4$ grid, which has 16 words inside it. They are broken into 4 groups of 4 words,and each group has a relationship. The four words defining the relations are themselves related, and the relations are defined by a single word as well. You can find more informat...

word connect-wall

Sphinx

9:39 AM

0

Q: A Very Special Crossword

While sorting through things after a move, I came across my first ever crossword made without use of a computer. It was just me, sitting at my family table with a piece of paper and a dictionary. After I found it, I spent the rest of the day (rather than unpacking more boxes as I should've been)...

wordplay crosswords

Jafe

10:41 AM

it's uniform titles day here at Puzzling, i see

Sphinx

10:52 AM

0

Q: MATHEMATICAL HARD SEQUENCE

13, 20, 7, 5033, 22, 20, 2, 0, 23, 115, 17, ? This sequence seems impossible to solve because it might even contain two or more parallel sequences. I would appreciate any help.

mathematics

Jafe

12:18 PM

batman's fists say "pow" in the tv series (and i assume in the comics?) but i doubt HTM would use pow-er without a question mark at the end

if the clue refers to baton twirling the only notable pair i've found so far are the Nash sisters who won a bunch of competitions at some point... alas, ANASHES doesn't seem to be a word meaning "power" or anything else for that matter

i don't really watch a lot of sports so don't know how "common knowledge" baton twirlers are... i would presume not very

msh210

@Jafe "twirling pair" can refer to people waltzing or tangoing, or to DNA

or to a twisted pair of wires

Jafe

12:35 PM

yeah

hmm maybe it indicates reversal and it's like A plus a word for pair backwards

msh210

@Jafe does ytilib mean "pair"? :-)

Jafe

maybe "lity" is a twirling thing and it's a bi-lity for a twirling pair :P

Jafe

12:55 PM

"power for a" could mean changing an A to P in a word for twirling to make a word for pair

Sphinx

1:19 PM

0

Q: Odd numbers to Even numbers

Remember the old puzzle? Can you take just one letter out of an odd number and make it even? Note the clever wording. It just says make it even; not "make it an even number" So here is my version. Find the smallest odd integers and remove "n" letters. The remaining letters must be an even number...

lateral-thinking number-property

Sphinx

2:08 PM

0

Q: Fillomino: Number Attack!

This is my first time making a Fillomino. Hope you enjoy! Fillomino (taken from Nikoli): Fill in all empty cells with numbers under the following rules. Divide all of the board into blocks. Fill each block with the same number horizontally or vertically. Each block contains as many cells as the...

logical-deduction grid-deduction

Jafe

it's funny when two words with opposite meanings are both synonyms of a third word

e.g. thesaurus.com lists both "spring" and "fall" as synonyms for "jump"

i suppose they're still opposite since one means jumping up and one down, which kind of fits the seasonal definitions as well

Lukas Rotter

2:29 PM

Stupid question: Fillominos have to have a unique solution, right? Because I'm pretty sure the latest one here does not have a unique one

Yep, it definitely has multiple

bobble

Just post an answer showing the multiple solutions

Wrong thing in my clipboard

5

A: Shikakui Hebi: Similarities

There are a lot of solutions, the puzzle is not unique. I am only showing 2 of them. Solution 1:- Solution 2:-

There we go

Anonymus 25- Reinstate Monica

3:04 PM

@LukasRotter NOOOO

Deusovi

4:43 PM

@HTM ah, my bad - will do, thanks

msh210

5:13 PM

I wonder if the C4 is PATRICK as an &lit. There's an opera singer Patrick Power, so that's the definition half (Power for a twirling pair of dancers). I'm getting stuck on the wordplay half. If "for" can clue concatenation or AT (which could be, maybe) then we just need "a twirling pair" to clue ATRICK or RICK. Which I don't see. So I'm probably wrong.

Gareth McCaughan

7:23 PM

How is "Power for a twirling pair [of dancers]" a definition for an opera singer?

HTM

8:41 PM

Mar 9 at 1:57, by HTM

BTW for any future clues I pose here, whenever I put a question mark at the end it will almost always mean that something tricky is going on in some part of the clue

And vice versa, although in this case I was debating whether I should include one or not

Mar 31 at 7:05, by HTM

@msh210 Oh man, that's really clever, but it's not the intended solution - if I had intended the clue to be an &lit, I would've marked it as such with an exclamation point

Second half of that statement

@Jafe Consider "spring forward, fall back"

msh210

8:56 PM

@HTM Ah, right.

HTM

Gentle reminder, that's all :)

msh210

@GarethMcCaughan Because his name's Power, and he's (singing) for dancers.

Gareth McCaughan

@msh210 sorry, where/when is he "singing for dancers"?

HTM

I assume this is the Patrick they're talking about?

Patrick Power (tenor)

Patrick Maurice Power (born 6 June 1947) is a New Zealand tenor. He has sung nearly all the lyric tenor repertoire in most of the major opera companies and festivals in Europe and North America. He was educated at St. Patrick's College, Silverstream, University of Otago, University of Auckland, Auckland Teachers' College, L'Università per Stranieri, Perugia, and the University of Waikato. He is currently lecturing in voice, languages for singers and vocal pedagogy at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide. In the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours, Power was appointed an Officer...

Gareth McCaughan

I assume so. Maybe I'm just being super-dim, but I don't see in what sense he's "singing for dancers".

msh210

8:59 PM

@HTM I am, at least.

@GarethMcCaughan Part of an opera is dance, to the music.

Gareth McCaughan

Huh? Most operas involve no dancing at all.

And if they do, there's no particular reason why it would be specifically a pair of dancers.

And if they did and it were, there's no particular reason why one tenor soloist should be singing for them (I'd expect them to be accompanied by the orchestra).

msh210

(I'm not saying I'd describe an opera singer as "singing for dancers" under normal circumstances, mind you.)

@GarethMcCaughan I know some do. I thought most do. I guess not.

@GarethMcCaughan True.

@GarethMcCaughan I didn't say he'd be alone.

Sphinx

10:40 PM

0

Q: Sudoku + Slitherlink

I like combinitions of puzzles, so I decided to combine a sudoku and a slitherlink. Below is a 6 by 6 grid. This is filled in with numbers based on the usual rules of sudoku. All of the numbers from 1 to 6 must appear in every row, column, and block. (Blocks are 3 wide and 2 tall.) The shaded squ...

grid-deduction sudoku slitherlink

bobble

11:22 PM

@Sphinx I'm so close on this, just stuck on a logical path for the end

(though I've been stuck in this spot for ~20 minutes now; there are 7 more Sudoku numbers to place and only a few disconnected line segments for the Slitherlink up)

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