The Sphinx's Lair

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Stiv

06:08

CCCC hint: The intended answer has only one vowel.

2 hours later…

Stevo

07:40

seems easy but im stupid

Stiv

I think 'seems poorly constructed' might be a better description here...!

Daniel S

@Stiv I'm scrolling through thesaurus.com, how about PICK = HARVEST/CROP and PICK = CHOICE/SELECT/TOP (guessing that's not what you mean...)

Stiv

@DanielS That is the exact answer I had intended, yes. I knew it was a risk going for such a short ddef (I liked msh210's 'whip' as an alternative) but this is what I'd hoped might come out. Anyway, over to you!

'PICK' being both harvest/crop and top/choicest

Not my finest, but let's move on!

Daniel S

CCCC: DC circuit (shorted) is... (8)

4 hours later…

Stevo

12:12

Columbia manages to be 8 letters

Jafe

american appellate courts have those numbered names like "eleventh circuit" etc but apparently the DC one is just the DC circuit

TakingNotes

12:44

ELLIPSE (DC circuit - see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ellipse) - E (shorted) + IS = ELLIPSIS (...)

samm82

Wow! What a clue!

oAlt

Ah, nice spot. I had a feeling the "..." was the definition but I had no idea how to build the wordplay from there

~~Even though the "is" was right there at the end~~

Jafe

13:00

ah, nice!

juicifer

yeah well done both of you

TakingNotes

i spotted the Ellipse when i was looking at a DC map for this clue earlier - don't know how i didn't spot the connection instantly from there but at least i figured it out later!

Daniel S

13:45

@TakingNotes Correct! Well done!

TakingNotes

CCCC: Now I mix, mix, mix! (7)

juicifer

@TakingNotes ha, this is MMXXIII*, aka the current year

TakingNotes

yep!

clue will be outdated in a few months but who cares

juicifer

CCCC: Now point, point, point at a glowing lump of coal (9)

TakingNotes

S (point) + E (point) + PT (point) + EMBER (a glowing lump of coal) = SEPTEMBER (now)

first two are compass points of course

juicifer

13:56

absolutely

that clue will be outdated even faster

TakingNotes

14:07

CCCC: Now end, end, end algebra by period's conclusion (4, 6)

this clue may be outdated depending on where you live - i'm in australia for anyone unaware

Jafe

great time to say that when it's monday in perth and tuesday in sydney

TakingNotes

this clue has actually become outdated for me since i started writing it

i've definitely made a very good clue here

Jafe

very reusable

Sphinx

Q: A Trivial Pursuit #11 (Science and Nature 2/4): The Search

This is part 11 of A Trivial Pursuit, a 25-part puzzle hunt. Each part is solvable on its own, with the exception of the meta-puzzle at the end. Okay, let me tell you a story... I’ve got a terrible pest problem at home at the moment – a proper infestation – and so one afternoon last week I made ...

juicifer

I know quite a few people who would like to end algebra

TakingNotes

14:18

i have been doing non-stop exam practice for my final maths exams coming up and i would actually like to never integrate anything ever again in my life

3 hours later…

GentlePurpleRain

17:23

@TakingNotes Could this just be DAY'S ENDING? "Now" being the def., and then D ("end" end) + AYS (end "algebra by period's") + ENDING (conclusion).

GentlePurpleRain

17:40

(of course, it's somewhere between 1:00 and 4:00 a.m in Australia right now, so, I don't expect an answer anytime soon)

Daniel S

18:36

Stylistic query: are "playword" clues considered fair game in the CCCC? (e.g. Shakespeare play AOD. (4,3,5,7) = MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING)

#askingforafriend

msh210

I think we had one recently. Lemme see if I can find it....

Aug 1 at 1:08, by Jafe

CCCC: Wordplay giving how to make a long-running show? (6,3)

Though, come to think of it, that isn't what you're looking for. That one is really a direct cryptic, a ddef, because "doctor 'who'" really does mean "wordplay giving 'how'".

Similar was

Dec 1, 2021 at 8:54, by M Oehm

CCCC: Hunter god of the Aztecs could be a clue for octal (8)

juicifer

I had one a while back that was similar but a little bit less explicit

Dec 5, 2021 at 6:26, by juicifer

CCCC: Mad scientist cops out, in a way (6 7)

those two are remarkably close together chronologically

msh210

@juicifer Yeah, that one's a good example.

Sep 9, 2022 at 22:04, by AncientSwordRage

CCCC: Make teary departees leave quickly? (4, 1, 6, 7)

juicifer

yeah that's another good one

msh210

So to sort-of answer your friend's question, @DanielS, I guess it's considered legal at least; whether it's considered fair, I dunno.

The archive has all the clues and answers to date, if you wanna refer to them. (Well, it's slightly out of date.)

GentlePurpleRain

19:06

There have definitely been quite a few of these over the years.

Daniel S

TVM

(All of the above are very nice clues btw)

Sphinx

Q: Cryptic Division 4: Oops! All Math!

This is a word division puzzle which uses cryptic clues. If you're unfamiliar with either or both of those, you can click the associated link. In order to solve the alphametic, you'll first need to fill in the dividend, divisor, and quotient by solving the cryptic clues. I've left the enumeratio...

cryptic-clues alphametic

Q: What is the longest period without a Friday 13th?

A straightforward question. What is the longest period of time between Friday the 13ths that there ever can be?

time

GentlePurpleRain

I'm not sure if this one fits the bill exactly, but even if not, it's worth drawing attention to for its cleverness.

Daniel S

@GentlePurpleRain That is a thing of beauty

GentlePurpleRain

There are lots of chestnuts if you peruse the archive.

2 hours later…

TakingNotes

21:33

@GentlePurpleRain this goes to show how bad this clue was lmao - i had D (end end) + A (end algebra) by Y'S (period's) + FINISH (conclusion) to make DAY'S FINISH but it was clearly very bad and i shouldn't've used a synonym of FINISH to clue it both times

kids, don't try to continue C4 themes if you can't make it any good

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