The Sphinx's Lair

oAlt

1:11 AM

These Rebels, perhaps?

oAlt

5:11 AM

wrong press

Jafe

7:10 AM

EARL GREY is the name of a tea, and also the name of the british commander-in-chief in the revolutionary war (so an opponent of the rebels)

but that leaves the "so i've heard" unused, and "at the tea party" isn't really a valid def for the name of a tea anyway

msh210

@oAlt Greg Knox coached Ole Miss rivals MSU recently.

and "knox" is a good word for homophony… but I don't see it

Jafe

eg knox sounds like eggnogs, which is what rebels at a tea party might drink

Lukas Rotter

12:10 PM

tea could be cha, maybe someone familiar with american sports knows a Chad [4]?

PolygonPotpourri

I can think of only one; Chad Ochocinco.

juicifer

12:37 PM

which ofc is (4 85)

Lukas Rotter

lol

oAlt

2:13 PM

@LukasRotter a word for party starting with D is do, but that's too short for a homophone

If "or" is part of it then that would give Chad Uwor. But have fun pretending that's a real person because it isn't...

Jafe

i mean if chiwetel ejiofor is a real person's name how can chad uwor not be

Stiv

Hmm, yes it was Alice, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse, and the Rebels - that's how I remember that particular Tea Party...

Sphinx

2:34 PM

0

Q: What is the expected time this will take?

There are n white balls and m black balls in a bag. Select 2 balls randomly, if they're the same color, repaint both balls white, else repaint both balls black, then replace both balls in the bag. Keep on doing this once per minute until all balls in the bag are the same colour. What is the expec...

192927376337929292283737373773

3:59 PM

0

Q: I have an illness

I have an illness. It all started one day, although I only remember so much. I remember I was in a nation which you'll recognize from red and black, a legacy of what it left behind. Then I was in a state whose odd and repetitive in it's year. Then in an island nation whose capital's first letter...

word knowledge geography

I think this will fare a bit better than my last one.

I am open to (constructive) criticism.

Sphinx

0

Q: I have an illness

I have an illness. It all started one day, although I only remember so much. I remember I was in a nation which you'll recognize from red and black, a legacy of what it left behind. Then I was in a state whose odd and repetitive in it's year. Then in an island nation whose capital's first letter...

word knowledge geography

192927376337929292283737373773

Well thanks.

First downvote.

192927376337929292283737373773

4:41 PM

Two downvotes now!

Also added a tag that might be useful.

Also for downvoters, it is welcome to explain what makes them downvote.

Ankoganit

it's hard to judge without knowing the solution, but I don't see anything clearly wrong with the question, two downvotes this early seems a little harsh in my opinion

192927376337929292283737373773

Alright.

I have made sure that there is only one unique answer.

Although my language could be a little unclear or abstract.

192927376337929292283737373773

5:00 PM

Maybe it's the fact I posted the question before Sphinx leading to two oneboxes showing the question.

Or maybe the theme isn't that good.

I do remember one — and only one — occasion where a puzzle I posted was initially heavily downvoted but turned to be upvoted afterwards.

msh210

5:38 PM

@192927376337929292283737373773 The language and spelling are peculiar and I don't know whether that's meant as part of the puzzle or not, which makes this a very hard puzzle to figure out. Of course, a puzzle's being hard is not a reason to downvote.

192927376337929292283737373773

Peculiar?

Could you cite some examples?

msh210

Sure.

192927376337929292283737373773

Well I have to say that language matters on one occasion, but that is only as an embedded "small" hint. You don't need to focus on the language or spelling to figure out the puzzle.

msh210

"I have an illness. It all started one day," — strikes me as peculiar. Obviously an illness starts at some point, so unless you say something about the day (e.g. "one rainy day") there's no point in saying it started one day. Unless, of course, it's necessary for the puzzle.

192927376337929292283737373773

Well that one day refers to when the person in question woke up in the unfamiliar walls.

msh210

5:44 PM

"a nation which you'll recognize from red and black" — I have no idea what this means. Unless "red and black" has some meaning I'm unaware of (it sounds like I could be the name of a game?).

192927376337929292283737373773

Well that is a clue.

msh210

"a state whose odd and repetitive in it's year" — I'm guessing this is supposed to be "who's odd and repetitive in its year" but… maybe not.

192927376337929292283737373773

Okay I'll change.

Well perhaps "which is" might be better.

msh210

"with me awaking in unknown walls in a war-torn nation" — This also strikes me as peculiar, though maybe it's a dialectal thing… I'd never say I awoke in walls unless I was stuck with mortar among the bricks of a couple of walls.

But, again, maybe it's a clue.

192927376337929292283737373773

As in the "red and black" example, I don't see that as being peculiar in language.

If I extend the sentence I reveal too much basically.

But it on itself is a key clue.

msh210

5:47 PM

"not really it's true one" — again, I'm guessing this should be "its"… but, again, maybe not.

192927376337929292283737373773

I'll change.

Thanks for the proofreading.

msh210

"people may commonly erroneously refer it to as so" — I'm guessing this is meant to be "people may commonly erroneously refer to it so" or "people may commonly erroneously refer to it as such" — but, again, maybe not.

192927376337929292283737373773

"So" here refers to the referred name.

I'll change for more clarity I guess.

msh210

@192927376337929292283737373773 My pleasure. But the puzzle may have been better received — and certainly would have been clearer — if the proofreading had been done before the puzzle was posted.

192927376337929292283737373773

Yeah.

But it is still early.

msh210

5:51 PM

True.

192927376337929292283737373773

Next time I will keep in mind this though.

It is a word puzzle, so all of the referenced nations do together clue a specific word.

Which is the name of the illness in question.

Sphinx

0

Q: Look for mistakes!

Find the hidden 8-letter word related to this puzzle. A = 14 B = 4 C = 5 D = 2 E = 6 F = 6 G = 6 H = 6 I = 4 J = 3 K = 5 L = 3 M = 3 N = 7 O = 4 P = 2 Q = 2 R = 4 S = 6 T = 8 U = 4 V = 4 W = 4 X = 4 Y = 4 Z = 3

word enigmatic-puzzle

msh210

Wasn't there a British East India Company guy named Itis Said?

192927376337929292283737373773

It has three downvotes!! and one upvote now I think.

msh210

6:07 PM

It seems to have 2 downvotes and no upvotes, actually.

192927376337929292283737373773

6:18 PM

Oh I see, so I guess someone upvoted but then downcoted again.

msh210

6:58 PM

John Pope and John Wool were opponents of the Rebels, but I don't see how either name is clued by "at the Tea Party, or so I've heard".

juicifer

8:04 PM

CCCC hint: this clue does use a homophone, but I could've accomplished the same result with a single letter replacement (with no additions or subtractions)

Sphinx

8:54 PM

0

Q: FRANCINE, a rebus with a 5 letter answer

FRANCINE The answer to this rebus is 5 letters long.

knowledge rebus

Stiv

9:52 PM

@juicifer Is this BOBA FETT (an opponent of Star Wars' Rebel Alliance) = BOBA (tea) + "FETE"?

juicifer

10:18 PM

@Stiv it sure is!

oAlt

10:57 PM

@Stiv thank you!

Sphinx

11:30 PM

0

Q: Trapping your nemesis on a circular track

Inspired by Getting lost on a Circular Track. You are in possession of a very peculiar circular track. No matter how nice of a day it is, the track is always covered in an extremely thick fog which prevents anyone on it from seeing the exit unless they stop moving exactly in line with it. Also, w...

mathematics strategy

0

Q: Make numbers from 1-200 with only four 8s

You can ONLY use four 8s with PEMDAS (no fractions) Such as: 8+(8x8x8)=520

mathematics

Transcript for