The Sphinx's Lair

Deusovi

01:36

-1

Q: Leave a room without entering it first

This is a quick little puzzle that requires a bit of lateral thinking. Today, my boss left her office, but she never entered it. How is this possible?

lateral-thinking

Too broad?

Techidiot

07:13

I think yes. It has too many possible answers.(if that is what makes a question too broad)

Puzzling Meta

08:24

0

Q: How to ask a lateral thinking question without it getting downvoted into oblivion?

I posted this question earlier today: Leave a room without entering it first and it has already attracted 5 downvotes and no upvotes. Each time I've tried to improve it I've received more downvotes. It's now got to the point where I practically have to explain the answer in the question, despite...

discussion

Trevor Powell

10:40

Confession: When people post riddles which are expressed as rhyming couplets (almost always, for some reason), I always spend a few minutes rewriting them in my head to fix their poetic metre.

I never know whether to post the reformulations as comments or anything. Seems like it'd be rude. But so many of the things get posted by people who don't understand basic verse, and they're often painful to read. :/

IAmInPLS

10:55

@TrevorPowell Can't do anything in my opinion, if the riddle is not really good, even bad, then it's the OP's problem

Lukas Rotter

@TrevorPowell If the OP doesn't have 1 or 101 rep when posting, I don't see any problem with posting criticism in the comments.

Because if it's their first post, chances are high they'll never come back to post another riddle. so you would just waste your time trying to help them.

Trevor Powell

Possible, yeah. I don't exactly do it to help them, really; it's more of a weird compulsion I have to follow to keep my own brain happy.

(Which is why I haven't actually done anything with them in the past)

My main worry about posting them is that if one changes the wording of a puzzle after it's been posted, and the author feels they need to declare whether the re-worded version of their poem still leads to the correct answer, that has the potential to really point toward the correct answer through comparing the two versions, instead of through examining the original poem.

boboquack

Regarding the CCCC, it may help to think of the acronym as an unknown, and not to try to work out the acronym from the start. The answer is a faculty in education in many countries, though sometimes it is merged with another faculty.

Lukas Rotter

You could try to do it on a few questions and see if the OP improves his next riddle (maybe encourage him to not edit his current one). Maybe an official post regarding how to post high-quality riddles would help, and we could link to it in the comments of a question (kind of like MCVE on SO or "Code Puzzles: What (Not) to do" here on Puzzling).

Trevor Powell

11:11

Example: the front page currently has this riddle on it: *"I am black as night / If you want I can take watch until first light / I fit in every crevice and every hole / After I get hot I then quickly get cold"*. Which seems to be trying to use rhyming couplets (although the 'hole/cold' rhyme is a bit shaky), but has an extremely broken meter.

In my head, I've rewritten it to *"They say I am as black as night, / And take the watch until first light / I fit within each gap and hole / When I am hot I soon am cold"*. I've evened out the meter, but not knowing the intended answer I don't k…

Trevor Powell

11:28

Maybe only do it for riddles which already have accepted answers. So it doesn't distract from the solving.

Gareth McCaughan

13:18

I think many people just have no ear for rhythm -- their brain doesn't have the necessary syllable/stress-counting machinery, or something.

Gareth McCaughan

14:08

Blimey, @Randal'Thor is alarmingly close to getting a gold badge for [riddle] answers.

(For context, only two silver tag badges have been awarded. One is Rand's for [riddle] and one is f'' 's for [mathematics].)

Sconibulus

14:42

wow, those take a ton of answers

Lukas Rotter

14:58

Now is probably a better time to ask:

Is it OK to link to a free resource I made in a puzzle? It would make the puzzle more "comfortable" to solve (saves some time and probably is more fun this way)

Sconibulus

what sort of resource?

Lukas Rotter

application program

Ankoganit

IIRC people have linked to code snippets hosted on SE with no problem (in one of the MathJax puzzles)

Anonymous

@Ankoganit Those elegant not elephants are super awesome. From where you're finding those super cool puzzles? (And why the weird title.?)

Lukas Rotter

Well, 1) Puzzling.SE doesn't support code snippets and 2) it's an actual desktop program, not a JavaScript snippet

I tried to do it in JavaScript too, but had some issues.

Sconibulus

15:09

Hmm, a downloaded executable hosted externally is probably not ok

Ankoganit

@ArbitraryKangaroo From random places :D PSE, AoPS, books etc

Lukas Rotter

@Sconibulus Why not? It's not required to solve the puzzle, it just helps.

Ankoganit

(The title actually is a reference to an in-joke which is difficult to explain right now (I myself don't remember completely how that was born)

Sconibulus

I imagine there might be security concerns? But I'm not a mod

There also might be concerns about the hosting falling through? But if it's not actually required to solve the puzzle, that mightn't be a deal breaker

Gareth McCaughan

I would not under any circumstances run an executable file linked from a PSE question.

Sconibulus

15:15

yeah, I probably wouldn't either, at least not on one of my primary devices

Lukas Rotter

I'll just include a link, most people won't run it anyway (and make sure it's hosted on a somewhat well-known site)

IAmInPLS

15:31

@LukasRotter I remember seeing a post on a SE site where it was explicitely stated that linking to an external program was not OK, but I can't find it at the moment.

Techidiot

I have a question.

Deusovi

@IAmInPLS Sure, but here we bend a lot of SE rules.

Hm?

Techidiot

Can we post a puzzle where we give the encrypted text and expected plain text(in spoiler) and ask people to decipher it?

Deusovi

Oh, to figure out the cipher?

Techidiot

Off course with encryption method hidden in some form like steganography or cryptic clue

Deusovi

15:35

Sure, I don't see anything wrong with that.

Techidiot

Figure out the cipher and apply it to produce the required result

Hmm.. Okay.

Deusovi

Wait, I'm not quite sure I understand.

Lukas Rotter

@IAmInPLS All posts I found say it's OK as long as the post is still helpful without it. 1, 2

Deusovi

You mean you get the ciphertext and plaintext and have to figure out the ciphertext?

(@Techidiot)

Sconibulus

38

A: Should we disallow "capture the flag" puzzles where the user has to install software?

Heck yeah. We the users probably have no idea what we have just decided to download until the download is finish. The file(s) could be filled with viruses or malware that we do not need on our precious computers. Files that are needed to be download cannot be trusted unless approved by someone w...

Techidiot

15:38

Will it be normal to let people figure out the cipher? I guess it would be difficult.

Sconibulus

that's the highest upvoted answer by more than 30%, which pretty unequivocally says no

Lukas Rotter

@Sconibulus It's not required to solve the puzzle in my case.

Sconibulus

the second highest upvoted ignores the question in favor of a self-contained argument

Deusovi

@Sconibulus That's if the user has to install software.

Techidiot

I will basically put the encrypted text and plain text. And will hide the cipher used in form of steganography or cryptic clue. If someone figure out the cipher, he will need to use it on the cipher text to produce the plain text.

Sconibulus

15:40

I understand the distinction, but linking to that question to say that it's ok is misleading at best

Techidiot

Reason being - the cipher is rarely used

Deusovi

@Techidiot I don't see any problem with that. You might want to not spoiler the plaintext though, because it seems like it's necessary to solve the puzzle.

Techidiot

Okay

Deusovi

Sounds interesting though!

IAmInPLS

@LukasRotter If it is not required to solve the puzzle, why put it in the first place?

Lukas Rotter

15:43

@IAmInPLS Because it makes the puzzle more fun & less annoying to solve.

IAmInPLS

@Deusovi We sure do bend a lot (hum), but in this specific case, I think the policy should not change

Deusovi

@IAmInPLS I don't see any issues with that, actually. If it's (say) a sliding puzzle, there's nothing wrong with providing a small applet to play around with it so people don't have to solve by hand.

A puzzle that required it would definitely not be acceptable. But just having a helpful tool? I don't see anything wrong with that.

Lukas Rotter

@IAmInPLS I didn't find any official policy in the help center except this regarding answers. puzzling.stackexchange.com/help/behavior

In the section "Avoid overt self-promotion."

IAmInPLS

@Deusovi As a side tool, I can agree, even though we still need to check what we are downloading (not that I don't trust you @LukasRotter :-) )

@LukasRotter I did not mean official policy, more an unofficial one (see the link shared by @Sconibulus)

GentlePurpleRain

@Deusovi The problem that arises is as follows: Let's assume @IAmInPLS is honest and above-board, and the applet does exactly what it is supposed to do, and helps people solve the puzzle. Then people get used to the idea of external tools being provided with a puzzle. Then the malicious IAmNoGood comes along, and posts a puzzle with an external link to malware. The precedent has already been set, and many people assume that external programs linked on Puzzling are legit.

Then everyone gets infected by malware and they all blame IAmInPLS, or Deusovi, or StackExchange, and chaos ensues.

Deusovi

15:51

@GentlePurpleRain (Well, it's Lukas doing this, not IAmInPLS.)

GentlePurpleRain

Oops. Same argument applies. Except the malicious user would be called EvilRotter.

IAmInPLS

Also, imagine a program running exclusively under Windows. What about our dear Mac users, or mobile users?

Lukas Rotter

Well, Rotter isn't really a name that implies trustworthiness, lol :D

Deusovi

I don't think people will assume "all external programs linked on Puzzling are legit". Maybe post it in the comments so it's not an "official" part of the puzzle?

GentlePurpleRain

@Deusovi Yeah, that might work better. And I would suggest a disclaimer as well, that people should use at their own risk.

Sconibulus

16:06

damn, we've still got the same cryptic?

I was hoping someone would figure it out over the weekend

GentlePurpleRain

5 hours ago, by boboquack

Regarding the CCCC, it may help to think of the acronym as an unknown, and not to try to work out the acronym from the start. The answer is a faculty in education in many countries, though sometimes it is merged with another faculty.

Deusovi

> French and co. sound like they have no high tea (4)

GentlePurpleRain

Wondering if it has something to do with TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language)?

(Although it is apparently more often called TESOL now: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)

ffao

The first part is more likely to be the definition, so it must be some sort of faculty of languages

Though both the first and second parts sound quite culturally specific :/

Deusovi

16:22

Yeah...

GentlePurpleRain

Where is boboquack from?

Hmmm... Australia. Interesting...

I suspect the "no high tea" is probably a wordplay clue, saying to remove the initial T, or something similar.

Deusovi

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too (at first). But what could we be removing it from?

GentlePurpleRain

A word that sounds like "they have"? <shrug>

Deusovi

Honestly, I'm kinda ready to give up on this one.

GentlePurpleRain

There seem to be a number of universities that offer a MFLE specialty in Education (Modern Foreign Language Education). Any way to make that fit?

@Deusovi Maybe if we all put our heads together...

Deusovi

16:30

@GentlePurpleRain Isn't that what we've been doing for a week?

GentlePurpleRain

There hasn't been a lot of discussion about it.

@boboquack If "the answer is a faculty in education", which part of the clue is the definition? Nothing there seems to define anything like that.

Techidiot

French and co is a company. frenchandco.com Realtors specifically. Not sure if that helps here.

GentlePurpleRain

Nov 29 at 19:56, by boboquack

@GentlePurpleRain French and co. doesn't refer to a company, though I do know a company called French and Co.

Techidiot

Ahh. Ok

GentlePurpleRain

CCCC Answer: LOTE (sounds like "low tea") and stands for "Languages Other Than English".

Deusovi

16:38

Never heard of that in my life.

>:/

GentlePurpleRain

Neither have I, until Google helped.

Sconibulus

yay, you did it!

GentlePurpleRain

Do I need to wait for confirmation, or is everyone confident that is the intended solution?

Sconibulus

it sounds plausible, but I've never heard of it before...

Deusovi

I think you're fine. If not, we can just get @boboquack to tell us the answer.

GentlePurpleRain

16:41

Ok

Deusovi

I already used that.

SCHOOLED

My clue was "Trained to weave stiff footwear (8)".

GentlePurpleRain

Nice.

Must have missed that one.

Deusovi

Nov 16 at 2:26, by Deusovi

CCCC: Trained to weave stiff footwear (8)

GentlePurpleRain

Ok, then.

Deusovi

:P

GentlePurpleRain

16:42

CCCC: Intersperse confused initiatives. (11)

Shouldn't take long.

Deusovi

ENTERPRISES*

GentlePurpleRain

Didn't think it would be quite that quick... :P

Deusovi

(Or SERPENTRIES if you're part of a snake startup. :P )

GentlePurpleRain

Okay, give us a good one, then.

Deusovi

Ok, give me a minute to think one up.

Sid

16:46

So, boboquack's clue got solved?

GentlePurpleRain

@Sid about 10 minutes ago.

Sid

LOTE? Strange acronyms..

Deusovi

CCCC: Troubled group left you out in returned letter – text missing one (8)

IAmInPLS

17:00

Is the sentence "to log in closely" correct?

dcfyj

@IAmInPLS What is it you're trying to say?

IAmInPLS

with minuteness

dcfyj

could you elaborate?

IAmInPLS

I'm just trying to find an adjective that qualifies the fact of logging in with 'caution'

dcfyj

carefully would work

Sconibulus

17:07

caution in regards to what?

dcfyj

By the way, neither closely nor minuteness mean caution

IAmInPLS

Damn

I've been lied to :-(

dcfyj

Perhaps this will help you

IAmInPLS

Carefully seems good, thank you

dcfyj

minuteness is more about small details and closely has to do with distance

np

IAmInPLS

17:09

Yeah, that's why I wanted to use closely in the first place (notion of distance) but "log in closely" does not make sense

dcfyj

I take it the original sentence is in French?

Techidiot

MOD's - Its okay to leave an edit on an answer to my question with "OP's Comment" specified right?

IAmInPLS

No, I didn't use French here

dcfyj

@Techidiot I have on occasion, usually when the poster has everything but some of the details are off

IAmInPLS

In French it makes no sense at all

dcfyj

17:11

lol

Techidiot

Well, with me, I just wanted to enhance his answer a little bit to make it clear what he did. To be precise, I have added a visual of what he did.

IAmInPLS

Let's use carefully then! I can post another puzzle, hope you'll like it

Please don't solve it in less than 15 minutes :-D

dcfyj

@Techidiot I see no issue with that

@IAmInPLS I doubt I'll be solving it at all, I suck at solving lol.

Techidiot

@dcfyj - Perfect. Will wait for reviewer to clear it then :)

IAmInPLS

ooooh wait @dcfyj

Sconibulus

17:14

@IAmInPLS you might be going for 'precisely'?

dcfyj

@Techidiot I would look at it, but I'm not seeing it in the queue

@Sconibulus That has little to do with caution though

Techidiot

@IAmInPLS approved it. Thanks

IAmInPLS

@Sconibulus Mmh, no. I changed my mind and I'll be an extra word to the sentence, and it will make sense!

Sconibulus

Yeah, but he was also going for small

dcfyj

small and login in don't make much sense either :S

Sconibulus

17:16

I was thinking he might mean 'with attention to detail'

or something to that effect

IAmInPLS

I posted it, you'll see the sentence. If it still doesn't make sense, tell me!

dcfyj

ok

So not so much caution as pay attention :P

IAmInPLS

Yes, indeed! I understand the difference better now

I have to go, will come back in a few hours if I can to check if it's solved

dcfyj

@IAmInPLS You wanted more "Fait Attention" then "Prudence" :P

It's a closer meaning anyhow

GentlePurpleRain

@Deusovi: Just had a brainwave (should have thought of this before). We can "pin" the current Cryptic Clue so that everyone can see it and doesn't keep asking about it. Once it's solved, we can "unpin" it and "pin" the next one.

5

dcfyj

17:29

Certainly makes it easier

Sid

Did I miss anything in 5 days?

dcfyj

Everything

More seriously, not that I know of

Sconibulus

17:44

hmm, a name from the beginning of time seems hard to do...

dcfyj

I think I have it, not sure though

Sconibulus

I had an idea, but it had traces of coffee

dcfyj

lol

Sconibulus

oh, yeah, that makes way more sense

Sid

@dcfyj Good job, there... Seems like it's correct.

Sconibulus

18:01

would a cryptic clue be allowed to clue two different names for the same place?

e.g. Byzantium/Istanbul/Constantinople?

GentlePurpleRain

@Sconibulus I don't think so. The solution isn't really conceptual, but is an actual word, so if your definition clues Istanbul, your wordplay also has to. Otherwise they're cluing two different things.

IAmInPLS

18:47

@dcfyj You're missing one letter, although your overall reasoning is correct!

boboquack

@GentlePurpleRain Yes, LOTE is correct. Was it too obscure for this type of challenge?

dcfyj

@IAmInPLS If you hadn't said that, I don't think I would've gotten it lol

IAmInPLS

You find the final answer then?

dcfyj

updated

IAmInPLS

I thought that the part about the coffee was enough to think about a drink but guess I was wrong...

dcfyj

18:50

Not when I'm looking for letters

IAmInPLS

Nice ! Gin is still in incognito :-)

dcfyj

Yeah, but it's all mixed up

better?

IAmInPLS

Yes! And I remember you said "I doubt I'll be solving it at all, I suck at solving lol"...

dcfyj

I do, but I still looked at it. and right off it screamed "Look at the letters!"

Sconibulus

No trace in coffee eh?

drinksmixer.com/drink6688.html

dcfyj

18:55

You should look at my answer @Sconibulus

:P

GentlePurpleRain

19:21

@boboquack Well, I've never heard the term "LOTE" before, and it sounds like others are in the same boat. So probably too obscure.

But once I figured it out, it was obvious the answer was correct, so it was a well-written clue in that sense.

dcfyj

19:37

@GentlePurpleRain sorry about the conversation going on in my answer's comments :(

GentlePurpleRain

@dcfyj Not a big deal. Do you want me to move it to chat?

dcfyj

Sure, he's not making much sense to me though

Ooh, if this keeps up I'll be rep capped for the day ^^

Sconibulus

20:34

what-if.xkcd.com

hmm, that doesn't get one-boxed apparently

dcfyj

20:55

bah, it didn't get the hover text :(

Sconibulus

Proser is a word I think

dcfyj

Proser?

Sconibulus

and I really want Prophecys to count

dcfyj

What are you talking about?

Sconibulus

one who creates prose

he claims the only word constructable out of the three-letter acronyms is Serval

dcfyj

20:58

@Sconibulus It's valid according to merriam-webster

And multiple Prophecy are called prophecies as I recall

Sconibulus

yeah...

Geobits

That's not what my propheser says.

Sconibulus

although, multiple copies of game 'Prophecy' might be different

dcfyj

Propheser?

@Sconibulus Not sure how that one would work out.

Geobits

Yeah, they call some teachers prophesers. Some people spell it differently I guess.

dcfyj

21:03

@Geobits Ah you mean professor

Geobits

It's at least as good as prophecys :P

Also, glulys mean without glue.

Sconibulus

I dunno, I think prophecys is like 80% good, whereas propheser is only like 20% good

dcfyj

That's probably glueless no?

Geobits

And while some people hate snakes, some are pro-asp.

Sconibulus

I'm willing to bet that 'glugly' is both in the Urban Dictionary, and not something I want to look up

dcfyj

21:09

Urban Dictionary isn't exactly a viable dictionary lol

Geobits

It is there, but it's not all that offensive.

dcfyj

"gugly
adj;

A distasteful object, or abbrv.- goodness, he's ugly"

Not the nicest thing to say, but not really bad either

Geobits

You can make sentences instead though: Val met his asp is good for a start.

Deusovi

22:55

Hey Alconja!

Alconja

hey

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