The Sphinx's Lair

Ankoganit

04:07

@Emrakul Heh. Probably that's why this got me a necromancer badge :)

Sid

14:20

@Sconibulus Your hint of deal-making snake has gotten me thinking that it could be some country... although it looks too far-fetched

Sconibulus

a country?

Sid

Yeah, dispute between two countries, and another comes and plays the peace-maker...

Sconibulus

Nah, the deal-making is an old probability puzzle

...although I probably shouldn't have said that... maybe I just shouldn't talk before coffee

dcfyj

14:36

So what you're saying is early morning is the best time to talk to you :P

Sid

which means monty-hall puzzle.

Sconibulus

maybe if you're a mean person who likes sucking the joy out of life :)

I'm really surprised nobody's gotten my Myth yet

I didn't think it was that obscure

dcfyj

Considering that it's not Greek/Roman the odds of people knowing what it is drop drastically.

Sid

14:53

@Deusovi now that you are here, I would suggest reopening this, puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/44588/…

Sconibulus

It's also hard to give a good hint for, because as soon as you find one part, you'll almost immediately find the other parts, and groan

dcfyj

I don't think the OP knew the answer, unless you're talking about your own puzzle in which case I have no idea.

Alenanno

Hi all

dcfyj

'lo

Sconibulus

hey there

Alenanno

15:00

I come in peace. But also with a new puzzle. :D

@Sconibulus Hey was yours solved yet?

Sconibulus

nope

dcfyj

@Alenanno Well that's not very peaceful

Alenanno

@Sconibulus Where's @GarethMcCaughan when you need him?!

Sconibulus

I know, right :)

dcfyj

I'm pretty sure he's looked at it already

Alenanno

15:01

Ok, I just got a déjà vu.

dcfyj

Get used to it, I get those daily

Pretty much I just find them annoying now.

Alenanno

@dcfyj Multiple glitches in the Matrix!

dcfyj

As I recall it means something's changed, not a glitch

Alenanno

@dcfyj It's... both.

The Matrix - Deja vu

►

Sconibulus

A glitch caused by certain changes, as I recall

dcfyj

15:05

Even if I did watch that it would give me no information, I have no sound on this pc.

Alenanno

@dcfyj Ah ok. Trinity says "A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something."

Sconibulus

15:27

@Alenanno So you said something about a puzzle, and we tried to be patient, but that was about half an hour ago...

Alenanno

@Sconibulus Ahah I'm checking if it has mistakes or anything that people might complain about.

I'm almost done. :D

Sid

I am still confused by rough-looking foliage.

Sconibulus

15:41

I feel comfortable not giving any sort of hint on that one

dcfyj

I'm guessing we're looking for a plant that looks rough.

First thought would be "Cactus" but I wouldn't really consider that foliage.

Nor does it fit in the dice

Alenanno

@Sconibulus Posted.

dcfyj

@Alenanno Instead of "a contrary" you should say "an antonym"

For clarity, can you only move inwards or can you also move outwards?

Alenanno

@dcfyj Ah, right! I'll fix that. Yes, you can move to any ring from any ring.

dcfyj

So really the ring design means nothing

Alenanno

15:56

@dcfyj Well, not in the sense you're thinking of, no.

dcfyj

You said that I could go from any ring to any ring, So I could go from the outermost ring to the innermost ring, right?

Alenanno

@dcfyj Yes, excluding the center of course.

dcfyj

So as long as hair is the last word used the rings are irrelevant.

Alenanno

@dcfyj I don't understand, do you have a problem with the rings? lol

dcfyj

I'm just finding them misleading, my initial thought was to use up the words in each ring before moving inward.

Alenanno

16:01

@dcfyj That's part of the game. :P

I mean, it would've been easier to give you a list of words, but why should I make it easier? :P

Ankoganit

@Alenanno I believe you've a typo in 'celebrity'.

dcfyj

I don't see the point in misleading someone if you're going to explain it lol

Sconibulus

Everything except hair and master needs to link to at least two things, right?

Alenanno

@Ankoganit Thanks!

dcfyj

@Sconibulus Pretty much

Alenanno

16:03

@dcfyj True. But I guess that's not a problem. As far as I know regulars of the game know that already, so it doesn't change much.

@Sconibulus You need to create a chain of words from Master to Hair.

dcfyj

That's what he said :P. MASTER, word 2, word 3, ..., word x, HAIR

Alenanno

@dcfyj Ok just trying to be clear lol

@Sconibulus @dcfyj Are you guys working on it?

dcfyj

Your puzzle? No, I'm working on work :P. I was just getting some clarity for other people.

Alenanno

@dcfyj Spoilerer! :D

dcfyj

Not like you were forced to answer my questions :P

Alenanno

16:13

@dcfyj I shall have my revenge! *thunder strikes in the distance*

dcfyj

On and off I'm working on a puzzle today, so you can get it there by solving it.

Not sure when it'll be done though.

Alenanno

My next planned puzzle was going to be very different by the way, but I'm having technical problems with it.

dcfyj

Technical problems?

Alenanno

@dcfyj Yeah, the design phase.

dcfyj

Anything I can assist?

Sconibulus

16:16

I was starting on it, but I also lunching

dcfyj

I'm pretty sure MMAdams is going to beat you to it

Alenanno

@dcfyj Uhm, well, if you did I might have to tell you everything.

dcfyj

So puzzle design rather than physical design

Alenanno

@dcfyj Yeah. Also physical design, but that's strictly linked to the solution so it's hard to talk to you about it without knowing why. You see, I'm trying to make an "enigmatic puzzle" :D

dcfyj

Ah

dcfyj

16:41

@Deusovi, 'lo

Alenanno

@Deusovi Hel'

dcfyj

I just thought of a really cool way to do the puzzle I'm working on, but it'll take me way longer to complete it that way...

Alenanno

@dcfyj But if it's cool, do it.

dcfyj

There's also the issue of implementing it correctly, which will require a lot of thought, I suck at being creative lol

Beastly Gerbil

I don't care as long as I can solve it :P

dcfyj

16:48

That's an entirely other matter

It would also make it much harder... (and time consuming to solve)

Alenanno

@dcfyj Need help? You know my email lol

dcfyj

Actually I don't remember it, just the gmail part lol

Alenanno

Got it?

dcfyj

I don't remember the last word, don't worry about it haha

Alenanno

ahah damn :D

dcfyj

16:53

You just wanted to peek at my puzzle, cheater :P

Alenanno

Well I can post it here and delete it afterwards. And of course, if I help you, I'd forfeit my participation (like I did with Sconibulus).

dcfyj

I know, and then your revenge would be incomplete

Alenanno

It's a dish best served cold, you know.

dcfyj

One thing I could do to make it easier is reuse the clues...

That would ruin the fun a little though...

Sconibulus

I still don't exactly know TEATHER, NEE, or GOWAN

dcfyj

16:55

Although I might have to do that anyways

My first thought when I see TEATHER is Theater lol

Sconibulus

oh, wait, yeah, I think that was just a transcription error

Alenanno

Teather? It's Theater

dcfyj

You know, describing the same thing 18 different ways is rather difficult...

Alenanno

@dcfyj Are you talking about your puzzle?

dcfyj

yes

Sconibulus

17:06

I feel like if I could find a second word to connect with Urn, I'd be really really close to the answer

@dcfyj depends on the thing :)

dcfyj

@Sconibulus Well, this one is rather difficult :P

Alenanno

@GentlePurpleRain The original game included all of those rules, by the way, but I can see you're not convinced. :D

dcfyj

I might have to be satisfied with the ones I have and just repeat them.

Sconibulus

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? You're both inanimate... that's about it

(the word I was looking for was rock)

GentlePurpleRain

@Alenanno Perhaps the original game just wasn't that good? :P I just like my puzzles well-defined, and this seems a little too hand-wavey. It doesn't seem like there's any way that I could definitively determine that I have the correct answer, based on the rules. There's too much room for ambiguity.

Sconibulus

17:11

one of those is incredibly vague, eighteen of them might get you somewhere

Alenanno

@GentlePurpleRain Uhm. Well, I'll see how this one plays out and in case, either change something (for the future) or abandon the puzzle type.

GentlePurpleRain

I get the feeling it might play out fine, since not everyone is as rigid as I am... :)

Alenanno

It doesn't seem to have the same following that the Star of Dice had.

dcfyj

@Sconibulus Each one has to point to the same thing by itself

Sconibulus

@Alenanno what association didn't work? I bet I could defend it :)

Alenanno

17:15

@Sconibulus Shore -> Eternity.

The rest was great, with some minor incidents, but I bet you could have figured those out.

dcfyj

Shore -> Eternity, Eternity is sometimes called the Far Shore :P

Sconibulus

Err, google "Shore of Eternity"

you get so many results, I think that's a really common phrase

although I think it's slightly more often "Shores of Eternity"

Alenanno

@dcfyj Ok, but then something else in your list becomes lonely. ;D

Sconibulus

yeah, I'm breaking connections and putting them back willy-nilly

Wrong I'm fine with, Not Allowed I was less fine with :)

Alenanno

@Sconibulus Not allowed?

@GentlePurpleRain Any suggestions when making an enigmatic puzzle?

GentlePurpleRain

17:33

@Alenanno Put lots of (disguised) hints in there, in the story or instructions, that will let people know that they've got the right idea. Otherwise people can spend hours trying ideas that are completely wrong.

Alenanno

@GentlePurpleRain Uhm good tip. Thanks. If you think of anything else (either based on your experience or whatever), please let me know.

dcfyj

17:59

@Alenanno Look at other enigmatic puzzles to see how they did it :P

Alenanno

@dcfyj I tried, but since every such puzzle is unique, it's hard to know what to look for.

dcfyj

Read the answer and see what pointed them in the right direction

Well, this is a large undertaking, I'm expecting next Monday at the earliest...

Why do I do this to myself lol.

Alenanno

18:28

@GentlePurpleRain Uhm why string <-> ball?

GentlePurpleRain

@Alenanno A ball of string?

Guess that's not correct?

Alenanno

@GentlePurpleRain Well, no. Or rather, something else works better. Would it be ok if I changed a couple of terms, notifying the answers? There's something that I didn't think of when I was writing it. To be honest, I was afraid of this, but I wasn't sure how to "foresee" possible problems.

GentlePurpleRain

@Alenanno You don't need my permission.

Alenanno

Well, I don't know if it's against the rules lol I'll do it later though, I have to go for a little bit. I'll think about it in the meantime. Sorry for the technical problems. '^^ see you in a bit

Sconibulus

I think I got it!

oh... he wanted to change some words? That's mean :)

dcfyj

18:43

Sting is an antonym of antidote?

Sconibulus

antidote is a treatment to make a sting suck less, so... maybe?

dcfyj

ehh

Sconibulus

it was the only thing I could think to pair Antidote with other than Poisoned

which also only sorta works

dcfyj

In that case I would say association rather than antonym

@Sconibulus You're trying to solve this quickly so people will go back to yours, aren't you? :P

Sconibulus

nah, I just don't have any real work to do today, I fixed a handful of bugs yesterday, and am not at work tomorrow or monday

dcfyj

18:51

You should give me all the information I want for my puzzle so I don't have to try and think about it. :P

Sconibulus

I would gladly help if I knew what it was :)

dcfyj

You're supposed to know offhand :P

Sconibulus

I also disagree politely with GentlePurpleRain, I think Poseidon->Horse->Sea is funnier than Poseidon->Sea->Horse, although admittedly less likely to match Alenanno's answer

dcfyj

6 rows done, 30 to go... This is going to take forever lol

I'm pretty sure his order is the correct one.

It's less of a stretch (poseidon to horse is a light stretch)

Sconibulus

it is?

dcfyj

18:54

To me

Alenanno

@Sconibulus Can I see what you did?

dcfyj

It's in his answer

Alenanno

@Sconibulus Ahah Part of yours is in reverse. As in correct, but in reverse. That's interesting. The words I wanted to change should make everything less ambiguous. Especially one part, for now.

dcfyj

If it's the thing GPR mentioned we know about that alternate possibility already :P

Sconibulus

well, I saw that when I posted, and made comments in parentheses :)

Alenanno

19:04

@dcfyj Mentioned where?

His answer?

dcfyj

In his comment on @Sconibulus's answer

Alenanno

@dcfyj Uhm, I see.

I'll think of how to fix the associations to make them more "obvious". I'll be back.

Sconibulus

19:57

it should be naptimes

that would make the world better

dcfyj

Meh, I'm quite awake. That and I'm about to leave work ^^

Beastly Gerbil

What? How is my year rep higher than my total rep? Both values are wrong too!?

Alenanno

20:40

@BeastlyGerbil Downvotes? (Either given or received... Like the one I just got lol)

Sconibulus

Downvotes probably shouldn't do that

Deletes might?

I've got the same thing going on

Alenanno

I should have waited before posting this puzzle. I waited for the Star Dice and it came out great but I was too much in a hurry for this one and look at the mess. That'll teach me to listen to @Sconibulus :P

Sconibulus

Can you make a mark saying what words you changed? With how they were rearranged in the bullseye, comparison is a mess

Alenanno

@Sconibulus Ah sure.

I also forgot to add a hint... Maybe I should to excuse me of the mess. :D

@Sconibulus Is a text list at the bottom of the question fine?

Sconibulus

20:56

yeah, that's probably good

Alenanno

@Sconibulus Done. Added hint too.

Sconibulus

So Plan went to Plane, and Schedule became Software?

Alenanno

@Sconibulus No, plan and plane are both present. Schedule was removed in favor of software, to make another association more obvious.

I had forgotten about plane and I was wondering why no-one was using it. Then the sudden and horrifying realization that I had deleted it from one ring and not added it again in another ring.

GentlePurpleRain

@Alenanno What about the removal of GROUP?

Alenanno

@GentlePurpleRain I think it was confusing people rather than helping them.

The association is still doable.

Originally it wasn't planned, I added it at the last moment to help, but as it turns out, it had the opposite effect.

GentlePurpleRain

21:12

@Alenanno So you're saying what used to be X -> GROUP -> Y is now just X -> Y?

Alenanno

@GentlePurpleRain Yes. If it helps you, you may use that as a hint, but it's up to you.

@GentlePurpleRain Did you see the hint?

GentlePurpleRain

@Alenanno I did. Unfortunately, the changes are just confusing me more, and I will be AFK soon, so I'm giving up on this, at least for now.

Alenanno

@GentlePurpleRain Sorry about that. What doubts do you have?

Sconibulus

21:38

put an update for the new wordlist, but I like it less

Alenanno

@Sconibulus What update?

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