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12:25 AM
A FRAGMENT is a fraction, but that's probably not the answer
 
12:51 AM
@oAlt unfortunately not
 
1:17 AM
Going to try and drop some heavy hints tomorrow so if you want to try and since it before then you should have at least 8 hours if not sightly more
 
 
2 hours later…
3:26 AM
@AncientSwordRage I see
 
3:50 AM
<s>hi this is a test of html</s>
 
<blink>đź‘€</blink>
2
 
4:06 AM
could south shields be just indicating last letters?
 
south shileds...
bottom shields -> last letters
 
so like the name of a metal band minus one letter, put that around a satellite minus one letter, plus A?
 
isn't it dropped a?
oh wait
nvm
 
i'm thinking "south shields dropped" as a unit and then A separately
 
hmm, so that can be a way or metal band around satellite, + south shields dropped a
or a fraction is the def and with south shields dropped is dropped the last letter?
 
4:13 AM
hmm
 
Metal Band: Either a music band or something like ring
Satellite: Moon, or some name of a satellite around earth or another planet
 
dropped could also mean "moved towards the end of the word" (as if in a down clue)
i'm back to scrolling through short metal band names...
Venom, Opeth, Tool, Korn, Kiss, Dio?
there was a previous c4 involving Dio but that wasn't by AncientSwordRage
geordie is a band and also a term referring to Tyne and Wear which was one of the earlier answers... not exactly metal though
i was about to correct that to "was" a band but holy cow they still exist
 
hmm
ic...
ancient sword rage's past cccc:
lets see
 
Just scroll up a page. I don't think you need to go much further back.
(But it can't hurt to see the big picture, of course.)
 
4:28 AM
im trying to find the cccc archive but then I realised it hasn
t been updated
since ages...
 
you can search for cccc and then put the user into the "said by" field on the search page
 
im trying to find the message about CCCC is crypit thingy with the archive
 
found it
 
Well, oAlt is working though it and has updated it recently, but there's a lot to catch up.
 
4:30 AM
I want to update it as well
 
more short metal band names, Sodom, Saxon, Raven, WASP
none of these look super promising as the outer part of an 8-letter word
 
sigh im so bad at ccc's
 
4:58 AM
@Stevo ok I'll give u access in a while
What email (Gmail) will u use
Probably send through onetimesecret but you decide
 
ill send through ots
but gimme a moment brb
password would be your username
case sensitive
 
(pls no one else click)
Received :))
 
k
you sent?
 
5:14 AM
Yup, can you check if you can edit the sheets now? :0
Ugh mobile glitch strikes again
but yeah see above @Stevo
 
@oAlt got it
 
Nice. :00
Btw, if anyone in the CCCC sheet sees "explanation to be added later" where the explanation of a CCCC clue is supposed to be, it's most likely me who put it there, and it means that either a) I left because I had to do something else more important or b) I became too lazy to understand the explanation so I temporarily skipped it lol. Of course, feel free to override those with the actual explanations
 
Got it
 
Sep 17, 2020 at 17:35, by msh210
CCCC: Shocking?! (2,2)
I need a bit of help understanding this clue... I'm probably overthinking it again lol
 
hmm
 
5:27 AM
I get that "shocking" and "oh my" are both used to expressed surprise, but if something is ohm-y is it really shocking?
I forgot whether electrical resistance is the one that shocks you or not, but I'm guessing not. Feel free to prove me wrong though. Also it could probably be another explanation that I'm not seeing at all
 
ohm is electrical resistence
 
Yeah
 
and i believe that eletrical resistance makes the shock?
 
Ohh
 
wait i thought
that electrical currents make the shock
 
5:29 AM
Yeah I also searched quickly and it says amperage (current) is the one that shocks
Or rather is the most important thing to consider in the phenomenon of getting shocked
 
 
3 hours later…
8:23 AM
@Jafe I've been wondering about DIO for a few days because the word DIVISION (fraction) has so many relevant components - there's either IS(-s) or S+IO for the satellite-southshields combo for one thing... but I'm just not making it work...
 
8:43 AM
you know its a tricky c4 when you get to think about a theory for multiple days
division does sound promising... hmm
i could have sworn there was a band called Dion as well but apparently that's just one guy (not to be confused with celine)
and also not metal
a visor is a shield...
btw the above spam post was deleted half an hour ago, shouldn't sphinx remove its messages after a q is deleted?
 
 
2 hours later…
10:43 AM
0
Q: An overconfident grandmaster 2

I'm NobodyThe same grandmaster from An overconfident grandmaster decides to avenge his loss and prepares for rematch. He ends up in a winning position once again. He decided to place a bet again. He gives the player two consecutive moves, if he wins the game, he wins the bet, loses if he does not. Unlike t...

 
 
2 hours later…
12:30 PM
C4 Hints: 1) The 'the' is probably superfluous. 2) the answer to a previous C4 of mine might help solve part of the current one. 3) 'metal band' and 'fraction' are units. 4) micro-hint 'south shields' is purely wordplay here, and probably a very unhelpful red herring. 5) you may need to use Metal Archives unless you are from one of the places in a previous clue
@Jafe It does not unfortunately
@Stiv there are good bits here but it's not DIVISION
@oAlt Its the difference in impedance (which is related to resistance) that causes the spark I thought
@Stevo You'll get one soon
@MOehm the start of my cryptic pattern(s) hasn't been posted in chat, and while it's not relevant to this C4, it might help show both themes/patterns
 
Another possibility I've been toying with is SCISSION, which contains both ISS in SC.ION and IO in SCISS.N, which is the part I'm not yet fully able to parse. Either way SCISSION could mean potentially both 'fraction' and the name of a metal band on the linked archive - so two possible defs...
 
1:14 PM
@AncientSwordRage (random, but i love how none of your replies tag the same person twice lol)
@AncientSwordRage ooh
 
1:27 PM
@oAlt very deliberate
I needed to reply to Jafe, but didn't want to give an advantage given the recent clue
@Stiv Sadly that is not the answer, because it's a very cool looking word
 
ah good, there are only 6617 metal bands from the uk
this should be easy then
 
> you may need to use Metal Archives unless you are from one of the places in a previous clue
 
is there a way to filter more specific geographic locations?
ah okay there's an advanced search
 
1:43 PM
0
Q: How many combinations can you make with 3 digits?

RogerASo my mom- a teacher - called me and my brother and gave us each a paper and pencil. She said: Think of three distinct single digit positive integers (0 to 9) and write down as many numbers (number combinations) you can make with those three without adding any math operations (like ^ for example)...

 
@AncientSwordRage well there's MINOTAUR from northumberland which could be MIR shielding NO TAU (ie "dropped a fraction") but that doesn't use "south"
 
What made you pick Northumberland?
 
you had a clue where that was the answer
Jul 3 at 15:45, by AncientSwordRage
CCCC: Miami garden neighbourhood containing hitchhiker, and home to Hussars (14)
 
yes, but that was a while back now...
 
so I take it the pattern(s) we're looking for don't go that far back
 
1:49 PM
That C4 matches up with another C4:
Aug 21 at 1:50, by AncientSwordRage
@oAlt CCCC: Places to hold on to broken Hadrian's wall lawlessly (9)
 
I see
 
can you see any other pairs of C4s ?
 
so if we have hadrian's wall in northumberland and the miraculous beam in christchurch presumably the metal band we're looking for is from tyne & wear
 
đź’ˇ
This was so much simpler in my head, and therefore less painful to get solved
 
it's always simpler when you know the answer :P
 
2:00 PM
that's painfully true
 
0
Q: How many digits does $7^{100}$ have?

Michael EngenI'd like to estimate $7^{100}$ without using these new-fangled computers everyone is talking about, but I think I need your help. Please estimate $7^{100}$ without the use of a computer. My friend Steven told me the value is approximately but he refused to show his work, so I'm inclined not to t...

0
Q: Find the ratio of green to red circles for given patterns

Alexey BirukovJust a small visual task. Find the ratio of green to red circles, for planes, tiled with the following patterns:

 
 
2 hours later…
4:00 PM
ok I think I've got it
@AncientSwordRage MANTAS is the band, it surrounds ISS, and without the final S (south shields dropped) we get MANTISSA
 
4:36 PM
@juicifer Correct!
figurately dies of relief
 
excellent!
not the dying part ofc
please remain only figuratively dead
CCCC: Covered with stone fruit from beginning to end? (11)
 
4:56 PM
lots of stone fruit I can think of
 
5:20 PM
@juicifer ahhh makes sense
Relatively short clue for 11 letters hahah
 
To impeach can mean to cover with stone fruit, I guess.
 
EMBASTIONED has STONE around I, and then EMBAD around that (is that EMB(A<>E)D ???)
but this leaves me asking...
is Juicifer fruit?
A<>E would be beginning (Alpha -> A) to end (E ... is that allowed ???)
 
0
Q: The four knights (rileys)

someoneinexistenceFour knights were on four hills, some on higher hills than others. The first spoke, and he said: “I begin with my “for” noun, then the one next to me is tumblin’ down, then I… um… ummmm… yeah that’s all I remember.” He had a sign with the hashtag “#MeToo” on it. … The second one spoke, “My start ...

0
Q: Missing country in a layout

chandanr777 Which country fills in the yellow cell? A cell becomes empty when no country meets the criterion that the country in a non-empty cell meets.

 
5:36 PM
I've probably had too much coffee today
 
5:49 PM
can confirm it is not embastioned
nor would I consider myself fruit lmao
 
6:28 PM
@juicifer guessing you're made of some other sort of juice
 
6:38 PM
I wouldn't consider this to be a fruit either
at least not anymore
 
 
3 hours later…
9:26 PM
0
Q: With the power to draw you in (and be swept away by the joy of puzzling)

AmozInstructions: Solve the enigmatic crossword Each answer clues a letter Take only the 9 letters which were clued more than once (to find 9 distinct letters) Apply the title and anagram the result for the final relevant answer (single word) Across 1 A cry such as "No!", "Oh!", or "Yikes!" 10 ...

 
 
2 hours later…
11:46 PM
My research toward solving the C4 led me to this, um, interesting discussion.
Anyway, one idea of mine is that the definition could be "Covered in stone?", which can be a word for buried or stone-facaded or overweight (stone as a unit of weight) or bejeweled. Not that that idea has gotten me anywhere.
 

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