The Sphinx's Lair

Matt

18:04

I just noticed that the profile images on the right don't have the hats

literally unusable :(

dcfyj

Lol, I noticed that a few days ago

TrojanByAccident

lol I noticed that first thing

Will

@Mithrandir That's hot.

Jim

@Sid I didn't see your question about Newton (yesterday I think). Message to you is the bar of colors. Newton and the intro holds the key(s)

Mithrandir

@Will What? o_O

dcfyj

18:10

@Mithrandir apparently you "knowing the whole musical" is "hot"

Will

@Mithrandir Knowing an entire musical

Yes. I love musical theatre. So....

Mithrandir

So whaddya mean by 'hot'? o_o Not... >.<

Display name

@Will He's a minor you creep! :P

TrojanByAccident

@Displayname I thought he was a major

Mithrandir

I prefer augmented chords

Sconibulus

18:13

I thought he was ancient and wise

TrojanByAccident

@Mithrandir That works too

I lost The Game

Mithrandir

>.<

You made me lose.

TrojanByAccident

And so did you

lol

ninja'd

Mithrandir

Of course, I can't complain. I've done that too.

TrojanByAccident

I'm going to make a CCCC that reminds people of The Game

dcfyj

18:15

I hadn't thought about that in a while. I haven't had anyone to make lose the game recently.

TrojanByAccident

lol

it's a mind virus

Mithrandir

doublecross.scholastic.com/forums/topics/138190

Will

I watched The Game... didn't really like it.

Sconibulus

I'm as surprised as you! I didn't think it was possible.

Mithrandir

(That's a pseudonym btw)

TrojanByAccident

18:16

@Sconibulus Haha

Jim

<--- also just lost

TrojanByAccident

How do you do the img again?

dcfyj

what image?

Mithrandir

Just post the image link

TrojanByAccident

I mean in posts

Isn't it with an exclamation point or something?

Sid

18:21

@Jim Something related to Newton's color experiment? Or whatever he did?

dcfyj

@TrojanByAccident Your question is too broad :P

GentlePurpleRain

@TrojanByAccident Easiest way is just to click the "insert image" button above the editor...

TrojanByAccident

@dcfyj :P

@GentlePurpleRain True

GentlePurpleRain

@TrojanByAccident You can also use ![alt-text](url).

Jim

@Sid yes. Since I've felt out the kinds of clues and puzzles people like I added a hint yesterday that should answer a couple questions.

TrojanByAccident

18:25

@GentlePurpleRain Ah, yes. That's what I was looking for

Display name

It's always better to upload it to i.stack.imgur though, since random image links are more likely to get broken at some point.

user61230

@Displayname GO AHEAD, MAKE MY DAY.

user61230

Er, I mean, sure!

Display name

Dec 19 at 0:28, by Display name

@Will 3rd January 2017, 18:22 UTC

Sid

Wow, I see an interesting question on Quora. "Is God Atheist?"

Mithrandir

18:32

Seriously?

Sid

Yep..

GentlePurpleRain

If God has self-esteem issues, he might not believe in himself...

TrojanByAccident

Technically, 'God' is Atheist

Since they don't believe in any gods

Sphinx

-3

Q: Find the number of balls in the sack

There is a notice board along with the sack of balls in one of the shops and the question below is posted on it. Seeing that I'm very curious to answer it, but I can't find the answer, can anyone help to solve this? The text from the image is as follows: The total number of balls inside...

visual

TrojanByAccident

^^ Two, generally

Rubio

18:36

+1

Beastly Gerbil

Hello

Rubio

No. Really. +1.

Mithrandir

Hello, @BeastlyGerbil

Beastly Gerbil

@Rubio that is weird

Mithrandir

>.<

@Rubio Provide a warning

TrojanByAccident

18:39

@Rubio Did we really need to know that?

Rubio

Lol. It's wikipedia. :)

Display name

I think its SFW , though

Rubio

And no, I wasn't talking about myself, if that's what you thought hehe

Will

It's just biology.

TrojanByAccident

But still

Beastly Gerbil

18:40

Wow no more progress

Mithrandir

Spam or no? lifehacks.stackexchange.com/questions/10963/…

I think it's spam.

Jim

@BeastlyGerbil lunch break! Did spend the morning on it

Sid

@Mithrandir Is there a new hat for removing spams?

TrojanByAccident

39 kilograms jeez

Mithrandir

@Sid Nope. no flaghats

I'm just a naturally good person

GentlePurpleRain

18:41

@Mithrandir spam.

Did you see the username?

Obviously created just to post this.

Sconibulus

I still can't believe there's a "lifehacks" stack exchange

TrojanByAccident

They're unregistered, too

brb I'm going to eat now

Will

My favorite lifehack: Auto-flush toilet overzealous? Hang TP over the sensor.

TrojanByAccident

lol

Sconibulus

"LIFEHACKS: You can just take all the luggage off the airport conveyer belt and leave with it. They don't check that it's yours at the door!"

Mithrandir

18:47

Suspicious: Why do you want to know how to make a coffin?

GentlePurpleRain

@Sconibulus If you try walking out the door with several dozen suitcases, someone might ask you about it...

Mithrandir

Was I just kicked?

Sconibulus

Ahh, this is what I was looking for

To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.

@GentlePurpleRain that was the extra bonus text of this one: xkcd.com/1494

Rubio

Hehe. Those are good.

Was that #1 or #2?

GentlePurpleRain

@Sconibulus Gotcha

Rubio

18:50

I think it's #1

dcfyj

I like this one best, it rotates

This image stays roughly in sync with the day (assuming the Earth continues spinning). Shortcut: xkcd.com/now

Sconibulus

@Rubio this the other one? xkcd.com/1567

GentlePurpleRain

Ok, everyone, I'm going AFK for a while. I added a confirmation A1Z26 sum to my CCCC in case anyone solves it while I'm gone. The answer should be obvious anyway.

Rubio

@Sconibulus Oh. Yeah, that one is #1 and the one you posted earlier is #2

Jim

I'm 1000% unsure how to get 13 letters out of the CCCC esp w running back, back and forth, running together

If that's still the one

Rubio

18:55

It is.

Jim

Yeah, man

Sconibulus

it only averages ten per letter, so you can probably throw out XYZZYs

IAmInPLS

19:09

Hello back

Nce job @GentlePurpleRain

I'm a soon to be Guru :-D 1 more upvote

Rubio

I gave you one earlier ;)

Display name

19:41

@Rubio Is there a deep, inspiring meaning behind your new profile pic? :P

Rubio

I like Diet Coke with Lime?

Will

that question mark made me laugh

TrojanByAccident

What if we interpret 'running back and forth' and 'runNinG' (back and 4th)?

Rubio

I took that pic a while back. I drink DC like a fish, and favor the Lime variety when I can get it. Other things in the photo, though you can't tell at this size, are a theater ticket to Cats (the yellowish blob in the lower right corner), my work laptop (left edge), and reflected in the can itself, the Dr. Who TARDIS themed case on my iPhone; all reflecting various interests of mine (in one case, literally).

When I wanted a profile pic on another site, I just went with that one. And finally put it on here a couple days back.

Will

why Cats

Rubio

19:47

why not Cats. they're crunchy, and good with catsup.

Will

Love's Labour's Lost - I Love Cats

►

here's a song that may or may not be about eating cats

TrojanByAccident

I have an amazing idea for a puzzle

dcfyj

About cat consumption?

TrojanByAccident

only thing is, it would require [redacted]

Rubio

cat consumption: feline TB?

TrojanByAccident

19:49

No

I almost said what it would require, but that would make it easier to solve x10

Mithrandir

Wait I have 63 hats?

O_o

dcfyj

@Mithrandir A.K.A. you need to focus on other things :P

TrojanByAccident

I can have 63 hats

Just vote on every meta site

Rubio

It says 21. Are you playing fun games with different bases again?

Will

^

Display name

19:54

He's probably counting together all his hats on all sites.

TrojanByAccident

lol

Rubio

Oh. Well, yes, that would work too. :)

Mithrandir

Yep, that's it

TrojanByAccident

I'm going to be #1 in hats in a few minutes

Jim

@TrojanByAccident I liked the CCCC idea about back and forth but how are we getting like 11 more letters out of the word lion :)

Display name

20:01

Nice clip to watch with your family on Christmas:

It's a Sad Christmas, Larry - Cyanide & Happiness Shorts

►

Will

I stopped reading C&H around when they started doing the weekly shorts

TrojanByAccident

@Jim idk

Jim

My current guess is this is something palindromic

since we have back and forth

and very few letters/words to work with

especially given we have a 13 letter answer

Sconibulus

snifle felines

Jim

close :)

TrojanByAccident

20:10

Are you allowed to use another site as part of your puzzle?

Display name

@TrojanByAccident It's not exactly encouraged if it's necessary to solve a puzzle.

Except things like i.stack.imgur, of course

Will

If your puzzle is still self contained it might be okay

TrojanByAccident

@Displayname :/

I have a puzzle idea but it needs another site as an integral part

Sconibulus

in what way?

Will

@Sconibulus Ah that was so close. It's SENILE FELINES.

Sconibulus

20:16

seriously?

Jim

There ya go

Sconibulus

doesn't that use lions for both definition and wordplay?

Jim

Glad we got that

Happy to have contributed :)

Deusovi

Oh, it's one of those clues.

Jim

@Sconibulus seems almost fitting for a palindrome

TrojanByAccident

20:19

@Sconibulus I want to use another site to be a step in solving the puzzle

Display name

@TrojanByAccident Is the site in any way related to SE?

Deusovi

Sometimes people use palindrome indicators as the entire cryptic half. I'm not a fan of it, but it is something people do.

Jim

@Deusovi in theory did it need separated definition part?

TrojanByAccident

@Displayname No, not particularly... I could explain more, but that would ruin the puzzle if I do end up being able to do it

Deusovi

@Jim Yeah, if the clue was a standard cryptic. But like I said, this is one of those exceptions that some people use. It pops up occasionally.

ObviouslyJake

20:23

AAAARRGGHHH! it's painful!

Deusovi

Hm?

ObviouslyJake

I can't give hints to a puzzle

because it doesn't belong to me

but I know the answer cause I know the maker irl

and the people are soooo close xD

Display name

@TrojanByAccident Well, all I can say is that I'd downvote it. I'm not sure if there's any official rule about puzzles having to be self-contained, although the general consensus seems to be "Yes, it should be self-contained".

Jim

What puzzle?

ObviouslyJake

10

Q: High Jump Champion

I can be 5, but I am 20 Forward or backward, just ask where I am A high jumping champion I'm nearly sleeping, but suddenly seem to stop What am I? HINT:

riddle wordplay

TrojanByAccident

20:28

@Displayname *shrugs* you are certainly entitled to do that.

Will

CCCC: God, I always love a page fault. (5)

Display name

Wow, I didn't think the title attribute was allowed for links in comments. I'll never have to use ROT47 any longer!

Deusovi

@Will AGAPE*

(I think?)

Will

that was fast

Deusovi

Woo!

Jim

20:29

explain!

Deusovi

"fault" - anagram of A PAGE

Sconibulus

I would never have come up with that definition

Jim

ah, definition is God i always love

cool

Deusovi

Yep

Jim

agreed, never would have done it

super impressed

TrojanByAccident

20:32

@Deusovi Can you post a puzzle that requires another site as long as the puzzle is good and the whole puzzle isn't just that site?

Deusovi

@TrojanByAccident Generally, no. There are exceptions, but your puzzle should be self-contained.

TrojanByAccident

@Deusovi Would the specific site that was used make a difference?

Jim

@Tro

oops

TrojanByAccident

@Jim Yes?

Jim

@TrojanByAccident could you somehow make it an imgur puzzle from that site?

Deusovi

20:33

Probably not. Why?

TrojanByAccident

@Jim Not sure what you mean

Display name

> A puzzle in which you need to find and follow links to successive i.stack.imgur images in order to progress.

Jim

@TrojanByAccident not knowing what you require from another site, could you somehow embed that part of the puzzle yes.....that...what display name said

TrojanByAccident

It'll be an image

Deusovi

I'm not a fan of imgur mazes being a huge thing here, to be honest. Nothing particularly wrong with them as a genre, but a lot seem to be very poorly thought out.

3

Rubio

20:35

howdy @Deusovi

Deusovi

@TrojanByAccident What do you mean? If you put the image of the other site in your post, then there's nothing wrong with it.

Hey Rubio! Congrats on your promotion!

TrojanByAccident

I literally only need the other site because the image will be a step in the puzzle that requires the other parts to be solved first

Deusovi

CCCC: Leave out of the loop near Mystery Hunt site (4)

Display name

Wait... What? If it's just an image, why would it require another website? Just upload it to i.stack.imgur and nobody will complain

Deusovi

^

TrojanByAccident

20:36

can't access imgur from this computer

Deusovi

How?

TrojanByAccident

It's a school-issued laptop

ObviouslyJake

ew

Deusovi

That blocks imgur?

TrojanByAccident

@ObviouslyJake +1

ObviouslyJake

20:36

it blocks everything

Sconibulus

you can't see any images from puzzles here?

dcfyj

@TrojanByAccident Why not just put the image on the post itself then?

TrojanByAccident

@Deusovi 'Adult-oriented content'

dcfyj

@TrojanByAccident Lol, I guess some would use it for that non-sense

TrojanByAccident

@Sconibulus No, I can see some of the images, I just can't visit the site to post them

Sconibulus

20:37

the work firewall I'm at does block imgur, it doesn't block i.stack.imgur

Deusovi

You can upload in the post. I'm pretty sure that'd work.

TrojanByAccident

But then the solvers wouldn't have to solve the previous steps

Sconibulus

you can upload it in the post, then remove the link from the post

it's still a valid link

dcfyj

Ah, you need the link to the image to be a step

Deusovi

^

TrojanByAccident

20:38

@dcfyj Yes

Rubio

Oh sure @Deusovi. I finally attempt to use my newly developed skills and you ninja me at it :)

Deusovi

Whoops, sorry about that! :P

Rubio

hehe

Jim

@Deusovi omit?

Deusovi

Yep!

dcfyj

20:39

@TrojanByAccident Do like @Sconibulus suggests then. Upload the image to your post copy the link and build the puzzle around that. When you go to actually post it, just don't put the link in there.

Deusovi

Not a hard clue - I just thought the surface reading was nice.

Sconibulus

ahh, loop = o

Jim

:)

TrojanByAccident

:/

Deusovi

Yep!

Jim

20:40

Now this means I will venture into writing my first CCCC

God help us all

Deusovi

Good luck! :D

TrojanByAccident

Are we allowed to have puzzles that require the solvers to download something?

Deusovi

@TrojanByAccident NO NO NO NO NO.

dcfyj

@Jim I did that a little while ago, it's not too bad.

TrojanByAccident

@Deusovi Even an image?

dcfyj

20:40

@TrojanByAccident That's not what I'd call Self-contained

TrojanByAccident

:/

Sconibulus

Do you want to hide something in the encoding? Why would you need to download an image?

Deusovi

Oh, to use in an image editor or something? That would probably be okay. But generally, encouraging people to download files from an unknown source is a Very Bad Thing™.

dcfyj

@Jim for your assistance

TrojanByAccident

@Deusovi I see.

Rubio

20:43

@Deusovi Quick question for ya. I know conciseness is elegant in CCs but is it acceptable to use longer descriptions that signal an indicator instead, for a different surface reading? For a (bad) example, say: "A bargain was located inside Casa Levato. (4)"

TrojanByAccident

Alright, well, I'm going to finish setting up the puzzle. You guys can downvote or whatever, but I think it should be okay

Deusovi

We don't want to set the standard of "go ahead and download files from questions", because it'll inevitably lead to people using it for less-than-legitimate reasons.

dcfyj

@Rubio SALE :P

Deusovi

@Rubio Sure, that's perfectly fine!

Rubio

@dcfyj Yay, you found my cleverly hidden answer. ;)

dcfyj

20:44

Do I get a prize?

Rubio

Sure. If you can find the bargain, you can buy it.

Here's a hint: I hear it's in Casa Levato.

dcfyj

Beh, not much of a prize

Matt

what about audio files that require frequency analysis?

(sorry, was in a a meeting, and now I'm asking about downloads)

Rubio

Someone did that recently (well, similar)

Alconja for the prior fortnightly? I think? had a midi file hosted on some other site so you could play it or download it

Deusovi

Oh, the waltz? No, you didn't have to play or download it.

In fact, it didn't help at all.

Sconibulus

20:51

I've got a similar thing going on with the music box, it was created purely visual, but people wanted to listen so I linked the site I used

Sphinx

0

Q: My father's gift on Christmas!

I bought my father a gift for Christmas and wrote a riddle for him to solve, but I thought I'd let you guys solve it first :D I have caps that I cannot wear You can enter without a care Search for an exit, you will not find But, I have space and an escape your not confined ...

riddle rhyme poetry

2

Q: Seven Impatient Knights

On a $3\times3$ chess board, you must place seven knights according to the following rules: Immediately after placement, the knight must move to an unoccupied spot using a standard knight's move. Any placement where an immediate move is not possible is considered invalid. After being placed a...

chess board-games knight-moves

dcfyj

Whoa Sphinxy, slow down

Rubio

Yeah, so you could I think being the operative word. Doing so wasn't required at all.

Matt

nono, I remember there was a question where a frequency analysis of the downloaded audio file spelled something in the high frequencies. it was months ago

Will

was it this?

Rubio

20:56

If you're going to require frequency analysis of an audio file, well, I wouldn't be equipped to do that even if I had the file in front of me. I'd end up ignoring it at best, downvoting it at worst, for essentially requiring (a) an off-site download and (b) fairly unusual software to even have a chance at solving it.

Jim

CCCC: A difficult quest is the Christmas season, you reply (9)

Matt

not the one I had in mind, but a similar enough concept

oh! congrats Jim!

Display name

@Jim ADVENTURE

Matt

oh! I see it! I'm learning

so excited

Rubio

Very nice @Jim

Jim

20:59

Thanks

dcfyj

@Displayname Word play?

Deusovi

Oh, that's a good one! I liked it

ADVENT + U + RE

dcfyj

Not seeing the advent but ok

Jim

I was going for seasonally interesting versus trying to get too cute with the first one

Matt

advent is the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas for Christians

Matt

21:22

@Sconibulus I am stuck translating your music box

TrojanByAccident

I think I've made my puzzle good

now to find a suitable title

Jim

@TrojanByAccident I look forward to dling your virus filled image files

TrojanByAccident

lol

I swear, they contain no trojans at all

Display name

Maybe a trojan by accident?

Jim

touche!

TrojanByAccident

21:34

Maybe 'meeting place' isn't the right phrase...

oh well, too late

Sphinx

0

Q: Crypto Puzzle (All is not what it seems)

Follow all the clues to lead to a nice picture :D (Although you also lose) A code storage of western get waits by a meeting place. (6)

steganography cryptic-clues

Jim

@TrojanByAccident too late indeed!

TrojanByAccident

yup

It's okay, meeting place is only slightly off :P

Jim

deal

TrojanByAccident

wow, the cryptic has already got an attempted answer

let's see where it's taken

Rubio

21:39

I hope you don't expect me to trawl github.

TrojanByAccident

Not the whole site, god no

Volatility

Oh hey, @Rubio, congrats on being RO!

Rubio

@Volatility Danke

Ugh. But I have to go there?

Display name

@Rubio github.com/SilversApprentice

Sconibulus

@Matt how far did you get?

TrojanByAccident

21:43

My puzzle shall soon be demolished

Display name

Ugh... I have a cryptic(?) clue that ignores one rule of CC's... Should I still post it (in return it's a really easy one)?

Sphinx

0

Q: A puzzle for my family

A few years back I made this puzzle. I finally decided to update it and post it In my family the ages range from 1-21. And the distance between ages is always 2 years. except a pair of my older sibling, and pair of my younger siblings only have 1 year between them. If the sum of my older s...

mathematics logical-deduction word-problem

Rubio

Is that the nice picture?

Display name

TrojanByAccident

@Displayname I'd love to know where you got that :P

@Rubio Not quite, keep going

Display name

21:50

It's at the end of the source code of the image.

Rubio

Lol.

Why are you not just doing this? I'm just chasing you the whole way :)

Display name

Because you posted an answer first. Adding an additional answer just for this seems ridiculous.

The cryptic clue was the hardest part.

(You also don't have to credit me in your post, if you feel like that makes the answer look weird)

Rubio

Nah, I wouldn't pretend to things I hadn't solved myself. I always mean to give credit where due.

Answer is now complete. But

who the dickens downvoted that?

Display name

Surprisingly, not me. (I think downloading an i.stack.imgur PNG image is fine)

Although the GitHub part is disputable.

Jim

is the puzzle solved?

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