The Sphinx's Lair

AncientSwordRage

1:54 AM

C4 hint: a) "Female singer" is not a unit, b) the singer has a famous brother

Stevo

2:55 AM

@LukasRotter um yes please the last time FTC were there I wasn't here so... Love to have a try :)

Sphinx

5:40 AM

-1

Q: How far did both People travel?

Person A is on the Ground, Person B is 10 KM exactly right above in the sky. Both are travelling 5 km/hr . Who travels most further and how much.

Stevo

@Sphinx this will need to be closed, deleted or migrated. As it is right now, it is NOT SUITABLE for Puzzling, as it is not a puzzle at all. If a mod or someone can deal with that, that would be good. (I would have done it by myself, but I cant so). I have flagged it as well. This could be able to be migrated into physics.

well no ones online so i might as well ping a mod

@Deusovi @GarethMcCaughan (sorry for the ping)

Avi

5:59 AM

I mean, it could be a snarky thing where they're both going the same speed so the distance is equal over same amounts of time

but that would be suchhhhh a letdown

especially if the one in the sky goes 5 km/hr straight into the ground 👀

Stevo

It's not a puzzle anyway, so...

it should be closed, deleted or migrated to physics stack exchange.

Avi

It could be a poor attempt at a puzzle, is what I'm saying

but it's highly likely to not be suitable as a question here

Stevo

that is a possibilaty, but either way I have flagged it as needs improvement. At this standard it could be closed.

Avi

what's that one grid solving software?

used for nurikabes and the like

and slitherlink

Stevo

puzzlink?

or penpa

Avi

6:09 AM

thank you!!!!

Stevo

which one was it?

Avi

penpa

Stevo

oh

k

Avi

6:26 AM

;(

i'm just gonna uh

not set this

eeeeee

i need

Avi

7:46 AM

.-. well in a year you can except me to be done i guess ;-;

expect*

or maybe over thanksgiving

oAlt

12:28 PM

@LukasRotter Yes, and I'm more on board for monthly topic challenges than fortnightly ones

Sphinx

1

Q: Where did he go?

"You are here to report a missing person sir?" "Yes. My brother" "I am sorry. Can you describe him? Photo?" "He is my identical twin brother" "Oh well. That's good. Any distingushing marks?" "We both have this birthmark right here" "Looks like-hmmm- a wing or something?" "That is what they all say"

riddle humor

Parcly Taxel

1:24 PM

For Stiv: my magnum opus puzzle is nearly solved, but I was surprised that the labelling is wrong in one place

oAlt

@JerryDean "reprimand" seems to be out of place in your current bounty notice; to reprimand someone means to scold/rebuke them. :0

Jerry Dean

1:51 PM

@oAlt Oh no

Parcly Taxel

I once did an MLPFIM commission for someone I met on an RP site called Nonce Equitaur

After seeing the email address I was shocked. After further inquiries I sussed out that the one who commissioned me was Ed Pegg

AncientSwordRage

@ParclyTaxel ...I get the pun but.... 😬

Parcly Taxel

Yes, yes. After showing the finished picture to one Adam P. Goucher he immediately commented on the risque name

AncientSwordRage

I don't recognize the names...

Parcly Taxel

Given that I had worked with Pegg on some MSE questions this was something to really ponder about

like this one

5

Q: Bracing a polygon without triangles

The following Laman graph braces a square without triangles. Stated another way, this is a unit-distance rigid graph without 3-cycles. It seems to be the smallest example of a triangle-free braced polygon. This happens to be a subgraph of the unit sticks cube graph. What other regular polygons ...

geometry graph-theory coloring rigid-transformation

Adam P. Goucher is also someone I've worked on, particularly with regards to Conway's Life. He made the Catagolue, and it incorporates my Shinjuku project

I only knew the cryptographic meaning of nonce when I made the picture

AncientSwordRage

2:01 PM

@ParclyTaxel ahhhh yeah

That tracks better

@ParclyTaxel this is definitely over my head compared to my usual maths questions

Stiv

2:45 PM

@ParclyTaxel I see exactly what Amoz has done wrong and have commented on his post as to how he can fix it :)

Parcly Taxel

3:03 PM

@Stiv That is OK

oAlt

3:18 PM

@JerryDean lol

Happens to me sometimes as well

Sphinx

5:09 PM

0

Q: Integers containing all ten digits

It is known that most positive integers contain at least one copy of each of the ten digits. What is the largest n such that at most 50% of the integers in the set [1,2,3,...,n] contain one copy of each of the ten digits?

mathematics combinatorics

Taco タコス

6:51 PM

Not a fan of the answer for the Far East puzzle

bobble

why? I'm not trying to be difficult but, who does this bother? and why? (The question was not closed as off-topic when I answered it) — ExtraFishness 5 hours ago

Can someone answer this with tact?

Mithical

done

M Oehm

7:19 PM

@Tacoタコス And why not?

M Oehm

7:59 PM

That answer isn't a random guess, as you seem to imply in a comment on that question. It makes a good observation and backs it up with data. It doesn't explain all the details, for example how "Far Eastern" relates to the puzzle or how the front-and-back rhyming pattern applies, but it's a good answer. When you read it, you know the poster is on the right track.

Compare this with your answer: You guess the word correctly and make some obvious observations about the poem's structure. Then you tell us how you investigated letter counts and Asian poetry styles, but without result, that information isn't really interesting. It is all very loose.

Or is it the puzzle's mechanic that you're not a fan of? If so, I'd find that funny, given your username. :)

Sphinx

0

Q: What number is this?

The digits of the cube of a certain 3-digit number X are, left to right, the square of a 2-digit number, followed by the square of another 2-digit number, followed by one digit. (Everything is base 10.) What number is X ?

calculation-puzzle

Taco タコス

8:16 PM

@MOehm don’t get me wrong, it’s brilliant; but, there are many different scripts in the Far East, why is Japanese more prevalent than the rest? Especially given that the typical understanding is that dragons are more prevalent in Chinese culture (not entirely true, but common conception). It’s not that I don’t like the answer itself; more that I don’t like that it is the answer.

There aren’t any clues in the puzzle to indicate that we should look at Japanese specifically, and it feels like the enigmatic puzzle tag was slapped on there to cover the “guess what I’m thinking” issue.

Something about that being the why just deeply bothers me.

It’s a great puzzle and great answer, but I feel like the puzzle could done a bit more to direct us towards Japan versus other Asian cultures

Just felt like it could’ve been a bit better

Sorry it took so long to respond, had to run some errands lol

AncientSwordRage

@Tacoタコス I think if there weren't the question of equating "far east" to one culture/language it would be fine as an enigmatic puzzle? Let me know if I'm off base though, I'm only drawing parallels with other languages/cultures that get 'lumped' together

Taco タコス

That’s my point entirely, there are many Asian languages, and each has many scripts. Japanese alone has hiragana, kanji and romanji, and those are just what I’ve learned.

It just feels that even as an enigmatic puzzle, there could have been a tad bit more info towards which culture we should look at.

AncientSwordRage

@Tacoタコス the Wikipedia page even says it originally included parts of India

Taco タコス

8:35 PM

Dragons?

They have roots all over the world with presumed originations in Europe, Asia, America and even Australia.

It wouldn’t surprise me if all roads lead back to India though

Sorry if that was a bit ranty

Trying to multi task and not doing a great job lol

Ah, yeah author of the answer said it was a guess in their answer.

That’s where my problem is mentally. You essentially have to guess to get this answer.

*correction, in a comment to their answer.

Sphinx

0

Q: This diagram needs a name!

This puzzle is a spin-off from the 'This new puzzle type needs a name' series. I have devised a new diagramming style. The examples below have been deliberately selected and ordered in a way that conceals the name I have given it. I need you to tell me: What is its name? The answer is 13 lett...

word knowledge enigmatic-puzzle visual

AncientSwordRage

8:57 PM

@Tacoタコス I do feel most enigmatic puzzles are like that

Taco タコス

There’s usually a good balance though?

I’m not saying it’s a bad puzzle either, just perhaps a little disappointed in how the why has to be found. The why is great and for that along it’s a great puzzle. Also happy my bounty didn’t go to waste lol

AncientSwordRage

9:14 PM

@Tacoタコス agreed, not sure where that lies though

Taco タコス

@AncientSwordRage from my understanding (due to creating bad ones in the past) enigmatic puzzles should convey enough information to solve them, without readily conveying it. For example, my clock puzzle doesn’t tell you how to solve it, but once you think of the how the why becomes apparent.

It’s hard to find that balance though, to be completely fair.

Most enigmatic puzzles are either too hard or too easy due to the lack or excess of information.

I think I have one that’s unsolved for the lack of information, and if so, I likely wouldn’t remember the answer unless I saw it, which is a bad thing.

Nope, I know the answers to my unanswered ones lol

This is the one I was thinking of, but it was answered:

9

Q: Do you like puzzles?

I hope this isn't too easy, nor too hard; this is my first enigmatic puzzle! Good luck to you all, and have fun! I like puzzles. What Do you like puzzles Yes That is why you came Well I have a puzzle just for you today Solve it It is not all that hard ...

enigmatic-puzzle knowledge

Sphinx

10:04 PM

0

Q: Which come next in these visual logic sequences?

I found this bunch not that obvious to answer. Can you help me find the right choice for each sequence and explain your reasoning? I am going to share the solutions with you afterwards.

visual sequence

Gareth McCaughan

10:50 PM

^ on the one hand, OP has told us where the questions come from, so I suppose it ought to be reopened. on the other hand, if I never see another "please explain the answer to these IQ test questions" question on Puzzling again, it will still be too soon.

(I reopened it)

Avi

11:22 PM

@Sphinx Mind. Blown.

bobble

11:52 PM

67

Q: Profile image changes (Gravatar images won’t be recoverable after email change)

TL/DR: You won't be able to switch back to your old Gravatar image if you change your email (or have changed your email in the past). Please save and re-upload your Gravatar image if you want to keep it going forward. Hi, everyone! I’m Felippe Rangel, a software engineer at Stack Overflow, and I...

discussion featured gravatar announcements email-addresses

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