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12:38 AM
@Techidiot Yep :-)
 
12:49 AM
@Rubio Actually that's not going to be a problem. You can't downvote with a throwaway account - you need at least 125 rep. By the time he'd managed that much, the mods would probably have spotted him and dealt with him. Even if they hadn't, they'd find out eventually and delete the account, taking all its votes with it.
 
1:07 AM
Um, why on earth was this flagged as "unclear what you're asking"? It's an enigmatic puzzle - it's supposed to be unclear at this stage! — rand al'thor 12 mins ago
sigh
 
1:36 AM
0
Q: The answer is the key

Wen1nowFirstly I reside. Secondly the letter exists towards the expression resolution. Notes: the above two sentence fully and unambiguously describe the answer. Also I'm not sure if this qualifies as a riddle.

 
1:47 AM
@Randal'Thor Better go VTC half of my puzzles too...
 
2:17 AM
CCCC: Lessen Mussolini again.
 
@ChrisCudmore enumeration?
 
No
Bloody phone keeps bouncing me out
 
Just to make sure we aren't at cross purposes here: I asked "aren't you going to tell us how many letters and how, if at all, they are divided into words?" and you replied "no, I know that's the universal convention in cryptic crossword clues but I'm doing something special here and it's deliberate that that information isn't supplied". Is that right?
 
Alright
 
(sorry, I wrote that before seeing the comment about your phone; I now think it more likely that there is some sort of misunderstanding...)
anyway it's (6) isn't it?
 
2:22 AM
CCCC:Lessen Mussolini again (6)
 
but I'm not going to solve it because I'm about to go to bed and don't want to leave TSL without a cryptic clue to contemplate for hours :-).
(not going to solve it out loud, I mean, as you probably guessed from my giving the enumeration before you did :-).)
 
Yeah, you got it. It's too obvious
 
others may find it less so (difficulty of a clue may vary a lot from solver to solver, and I have good evidence that my estimation of how hard clues are is less than perfectly reliable)
anyway, I'm off to bed now (it's ~2.30am local time).
 
2:41 AM
*flips table* I still can't figure it out
That moment when someone solves it pretty much as soon as it's posted, and you can't get it after 25 minutes .-.
 
2:54 AM
@ChrisCudmore it's REDUCE: RE+DUCE
(I had to look "Duce" up)
 
ah, right. duce
but it didn't clue to put the end in front
so I was confused
Anyway, @Volatility, have one ready? (I know we still have to wait for @ChrisCudmore to confirm)
 
"re" is a standard prefix, which can be translated by the adverb "again", placed afterwards
(ofc, "Duce" is not a verb, but I think the construction is still alright)
 
@TrojanByAccident actually I waited until I had one before I answered :P
 
3:05 AM
Yes, that is correct!
 
Alright, here's a very simple one I came up with:
CCCC: Wave wand for start of day (4)
 
hmm
I'm getting MORN
now to fit it up
nvm
@Volatility DAWN
def start of day
wave 'wand' into 'dawn'
 
right
 
I don't see how you can fit COFFEE into 4 letters
 
@ChrisCudmore Hahaha
yikes
 
3:12 AM
*anxiously checks to see if I messed something up*
 
All of that's 4 letters?
 
Yes
I'm not known for being succinct
arg, I messed up
don't mind that
:/
I want to post the good version, but I feel like it'll be too easy now
*rummages through files to find bad clues to fix up*
Alright, here's one
wait no
wait yes
arg
hold on
Alright, here's a simple one.
CCCC: British river spanner? (6, 6)
 
3:28 AM
There should be a question mark at the end
 
Because your intended interpretation of "spanner" is not a dictionary definition
 
Assuming: london bridge then? (cryptic def)
 
@Alconja Yeah
 
3:30 AM
@TrojanByAccident btw did you get that "spanner" -> BRIDGE idea from me? I mentioned it here once :P
 
@Volatility no, I was just going with 'river spanner', since it's what fit closest
 
I see
 
My original clue for that one was 'It's always falling, and the doubly bottomless loner waits for a gang lord with a wall turned sideways. (6, 6)', but I felt "it's always falling" wasn't really a def
 
Could be, if there was a question mark straight afterwards, or some other marker of non-standardness, I think
 
That first one's not really a cryptic clue...
 
3:33 AM
@Volatility hmm
 
(at least, in my opinion)
 
@Deusovi I guess not? We've had CCCC's where the clue is the def, though
I think
don't quote me on that
 
What do you mean? We've had &lit clues before, but those are different
 
*shrugs*
I have a better one ready for next time I win
@Alconja got one ready?
Btw, would you guys mind Googling 'PigeonScript', and clicking on the 4th link that pops up, please? You can close out of it after a second or two, I just want to see if Google Search Analytics works :P
 
3:52 AM
@Randal'Thor (it was a joke. see it in context. hehe)
 
Hmm so who has a CCCC due?
 
@Ankoganit @Alconja
 
@TrojanByAccident Ahkay
 
Good ${time_of_day_indicator} to you, ${formal_gender_specifier}s! I hope you're having a delightfully puzzling time.
3
 
3:58 AM
@Rubio That's a great way to greet everyone
 
@Rubio Ugh, Perl.
 
Or ES6.
 
or sh or bash or ksh
plenty of options there
 
Heck PHP even allows it
(I mean, it's PHP...)
 
PHP: a (*cough*) language principally created by one man, which still manages to capture perfectly that designed by a committee vibe.
@Silenus your latest rebus, is #4 currently considered solved?
 
4:13 AM
@Rubio Nope, but @ChrisCudmore has a promising lead.
 
ok. didn't think so.
 
oh, I think I have it
 
@wildBillMunson incorporated @ChrisCudmore's insight into his own answer but he doesn't have the reasoning right.
 
I think it's BULLION (def: "Gold ingots", as per Chris, and "Boolean" to ears ("two ears"))
 
ah. that's gotta be it.
 
4:19 AM
or possibly "Bool in" to ears
@Silenus ^ ?
 
Well, let's think about it. If we follow the route you're suggesting, the puzzle seems to be ambiguous, because it could be parsed in two ways, each leading to a different solution: BOOLEAN([def] gold ingots; Boolean between two ears) or as BULLION([def] Boolean; gold ingots between two ears).
But in fact both gold ingots and the binary appear between the two ears.
Maybe I should add an ampersand between them, to communicate that they're connected.
@Volatility (forgot to tag you)
 
No, I think he meant: BULLION ([def] gold in gots; [heard (between two ears)] boolean)
 
0
Q: Ernie and the Slow Glass Solution

Penguino"Have a look at this" said Ernie when he dropped in unannounced yesterday, pulling what looked like an old-fashioned photographic negative from an envelope. I held the small plastic square up to the light and peered at it, but could see nothing except the grey glossy surface. But after a few seco...

 
also ^^ this puzzle looks delightfully twisted
 
I was taking it as "{Gold in gots bool} in two ears" or something
 
4:28 AM
hm. So the binary and the GOAUTS are indivisible (from each other)?
 
Yes, and they are both within ears. I'm going to update the puzzle by adding an ampersand between them. I hope that clears up any ambiguity.
 
NeilW just added another, even more divergent solution for #4. hehe
wow @Will that was fast on that Hamilton puzzle
 
1
Q: Who was this famous man and what did he say?

wildBillMunsonMy eccentric great uncle passed away, and included a provision in his will that I should receive his entire estate If I can prove myself by breaking his encryption. He claims to be the descendant of a famous person from history. This is some kind of test to prove that I'm worthy, I suppose. All ...

 
@Silenus Your image search history has got to be really weird by now :)
 
@Rubio hahaha
 
4:42 AM
@Rubio If I had a checkmark for every time I've written a base 36 conversion function in Python...
 
I hope this isn't some binarial/binaural horribleness
especially since I just made up binarial. heh
 
5:01 AM
Wow, that one "advertisement" puzzle is at -13.
 
5:15 AM
Ahh.. Sorry. Got pulled into a meeting right as I solved that... cc incoming...
CCCC: Drunk as her, in genuine dry run (9)
 
RE(HEARS*)AL
 
Too quick. :)
 
CCCC: Designed, well... accordingly: to rely on acoustics? (9)
 
5:56 AM
finally. @Silenus you sly devil. assuming I got that right now.
 
6:17 AM
@Rubio, you have absolutely every ingredient correct! But your path of parsing the images is not exactly natural (nor do I think it should be allowed in these kinds of puzzles).
On your reading, the spider image is the def and the rebus path is BACK + WORDS + REDIPS[dunks again]. Not only does this ask the puzzler to pull REDIPS from "dunks again" (which would be very difficult), it also requires a non-standard reading geometry (shaped like ¬).
The intended reading is SPIDER + BACK + WORDS, with the def = "Dunks again"
 
But the only sensible alternative, "Spider backwards", doesn't seem to have a def in there at all
oh.
lol
Ok, ok
Too many ways to assemble those bits :)
 
Yeah. I agree. That's why I think it would be a good idea not to allow people to read bits in any order they like.
 
Spider feels more in keeping thematically with the zoo. With so many answers being animals, it seems an unavoidable bias
Yeah, I guess so. I'll adjust.
Devilish, in any case
 
You're right. I should have said explicitly that the zoo theme does not entail that all answers will be animals, only that the clues will, at the very least, involve animals.
 
Ok updated. That was fun. And hard. :)
I had a "Oh you son of a ..." moment when I got "Words" hehe
 
6:23 AM
Glad you enjoyed it. I really enjoy making them. I'll probably post one more tomorrow and then cool it for a while.
 
Anyone making progress with the CCCC?
 
You might want to wait for the last one to be fully solved before posting a new one.
@TrojanByAccident Looking at it, not making much headway
"accordingly" is throwing me for all kinds of loops right now
 
hmm :/
What does the : mean?
 
nothing.
 
6:25 AM
well. usually nothing, and I doubt it means anything here. typically you can ignore punctuation entirely, and often should as it's used to intentionally misdirect.
 
herm
alright
 
I suppose some clever setter has used it as "dots" at some point. but I doubt it here :)
 
lol
I always read 'http://' as 'http dot dot slash slash', idk why
 
thats ... just .... weird.
dot dot dot.
 
6:28 AM
You just gave me an idea for a clue
 
I'm actually making two more rn
I'm very confused? Is this possible?
 
I doubt it indexes articles
 
Presumably the system filters out very common words
 
it doesn't filter 'lol'
lol
 
6:33 AM
That's cuz you're the only one whose lol : the ratio is >1
 
haha
 
lol
This is sad
My amount of 'lol''s is more than 1/8 of all of them from this room
 
7:04 AM
:P I have 3 cryptic clues ready
 
-1
Q: Painting a room together?

Yo YoIf A can paint a room in 6 hours, and B can paint the same room in 12 hours, how long would it take A & B to paint the room together?

 
gahhh. @Will I feel like I have the gist of this CCCC but I can't do anything useful with that durned "accordingly". Is that indeed the right word there?
 
@Rubio "Accordingly" is both correct and vital
 
Figures :) ok had to check
 
7:28 AM
0
Q: None can be covered

Wen1nowIs it possible (not logistically, but theoretically) to make 2017 rugs such that each rug cannot be completely covered by the others (where overlap is allowed)? For example suppose we number all the rugs from 1-2017. Then the rug with a '1' cannot be covered by the rugs numbered 2,3,4,...,2017. ...

 
anyone else trying this cccc right now?
 
just woken up and seen it
Back to school today :(
 
bummer for you
back to work for me today, so I know the feeling
 
I am working on it
 
I feel like this has to be SOUND _ _ _ _ with "[to] rely on acoustics?"= def. but I can't find anything suitable for the blank that works with accordingly [to] which I'd expect to give something from {ergo, thus, so+to, as+to}.
 
7:37 AM
sorta
 
0
Q: Guess my naym before I fall

Anubhav TripathiI was a bird, unheard-of and small In love with the big fingerling, I staked it all Bit by the wolf I lost it all In pain and humiliation, I began to loathe them all In quiet, I began to plan their fall. Helped by falcon I began to build my halls Betrayed and sick, worse fate did him befall ...

 
accordingly could be a couple other things even less apt (duly, then, also) which don't seem to help
 
what about designed?
 
"designed well" = sound
 
7:40 AM
gives something for the acoustics at the end to play with
 
if it's not that, I may eat this spiffy 2017 hat
 
get it? play with ;)
 
yes, yes. ;)
 
let's see, let's see... accordingly synonyms...
 
7:42 AM
In any case, this cccc is pretty terrific. there's zero indicator words in it, unless Will is doing something really unexpected that I can't see at all right now
 
So yeah, hats off to ya @Will either way :)
 
@Rubio Metaphorically, of course. :) I'm not taking this hat off
 
well. Yeah. same. hehe
How'd you get that hat so amazingly huge btw?
 
controls
 
7:45 AM
oh! duh. I didn't even notice that checkbox
I think I need my hat at a more fittingly rakish angle.
 
lol
Greetings, @Mithrandir
 
'Allo
 
What do you guys think of this puzzle?
0
Q: None can be covered

Wen1nowIs it possible (not logistically, but theoretically) to make 2017 rugs such that each rug cannot be completely covered by the others (where overlap is allowed)? Clarification: For example suppose we number all the rugs from 1-2017. Then the rug with a '1' cannot be covered by the rugs numbered 2...

 
Possibly offtopic
 
Helloooo
 
7:50 AM
Looks like a math question, but not sure
Hey
 
I think it's rather broad
 
Hey, that got starred? o_O
 
What did?
 
10 hours ago, by Mithrandir
burns Deusovi at the stake
 
Ah
yes
by me, first, I believe
 
7:52 AM
I just couldn't resist :P
He said to feel free to burn him at the stake, so... I did.
 
I added my own star, I liked it. :)
and @TrojanByAccident it's a legit puzzle. a very mathy one, but a puzzle nonetheless.
And has at least one very specific solution
 
Sid
Has anyone seen Nostradamus predictions for 2017?
 
Nostradamus was a hack. :)
 
@Rubio I suggested they should edit it, and they did. It's now better, and I'm upvoting.
 
Sid
8:01 AM
It's entertaining nonetheless.
 
@TrojanByAccident Ah. Yeah the original wording was understandable but not clear. The revision is good.
 
Sid
“The great shameless, audacious bawler, / He will be elected governor of the army: / The boldness of his contention, / The bridge broken, the faint from fear.” - Apparently this is what he wrote in the 16th Century..
“The false trumpet concealing madness will cause Byzantium to change its laws. From Egypt there will go forth a man who wants to edict withdrawn, changing money and standards,” - This is another.. It is actually entertaining to read them..
 
welp, gn
 
Sid
@Rubio Have you watched Sherlock season 4 Ep. 1?
 
Of course.
 
Sid
8:13 AM
Okay, don't spoil it for me. Just wanted to ask. :)
 
Sherlock shoots Watson, then his brother, then the landlady, then himself. They're all dead and buried next to Moriarty. It's very exciting and bloody. Apparently episodes 2 and 3 will be prequels.
On a more real note, at least in the US the season finale is going to be showed in theaters. That should be fun :)
 
And the episode 4 will be for psychological support
 
There is no episode 4.
 
:-(
 
Exactly.
You're on your own.
 
8:18 AM
Well, that won't change from now I guess
^^
 
We got to watch the Doctor Who Christmas special in a theater too. These special showings are pretty cool, I'm a fan.
 
They're doing it more and more, for popular shows or sport events
They did it first with ballet and some concert
0
Q: 1 1 1 = 6, fill in the blanks

busukxuan 1 1 1 =6 2 2 2 =6 3 3 3 =6 4 4 4 =6 5 5 5 =6 6 6 6 =6 7 7 7 =6 8 8 8 =6 9 9 9 =6 Insert operators and brackets as you like, but not functions and operands, to form a correct equation. Accepted operators are those you can find on a standard scientific calculator for high scho...

duplicate?
 
yup
 
Ah, you're faster than me @Will
 
Ton of spam on SE today...
 
8:35 AM
@Mithrandir do you know how you got the 8,243,721 and 6 hats?
 
8,???,??? = deleting comment
*upvoted **s
6 = No idea
 
weird. ok thanks
 
They are related, aren't they?
 
Supposedly
 
Because I have the 6 but not the other one
 
8:37 AM
Secret Hat Hint #2: This time for 2 hats 6 and 8,243,721. Bert & Ernie have always been companions. As companions, they could work together with each other. — bluefeet ♦ Dec 22 '16 at 20:56
 
@Rubio I think I had the 6 either by editing a question and comment
Or by commenting a question and having the OP also commenting
Or maybe you have to edit the question, commenting it, and having the OP responding
I'm not sure though
 
Thanks.
 
You got 6?
 
No - just saying thanks for the info
 
Alright, you already had it I see
And the other too
?
Did you just get another hat while we're talking ^^?
 
8:53 AM
Yup. :)
@Mithrandir Thanks for the tip. That's what it was.
I had 6 before, no idea how I got it either
 
Deleting upvoted comments?
 
Yah.
Deleted 3. Dunno if there's a quantity requirement, but if so it's likely no more than that.
 
Ach. Now you have like 3 more hats than me on Puzzling -_-
 
4, I think
 
8:55 AM
Huehue
 
But I have more hats overall, at 33
 
Yah.
 
Mine is bigger
 
hehee
I only care about PSE really
 
I care about whatever site I am currently earning rep on :P
 
8:57 AM
I was on Super User from a question I found an answer to long ago, and then I found a better answer than the one posted, so I did a community edit to add the better solution.
later on I finally bothered to actually become a member
 
I'm watching Smokey, so I create an account on whatever new sites they've spammed so that I can boom it.
 
Recently I saw a HNQ post that reminded me of an old Asimov story, so I added that to my sites to answer it. And my answer promptly ratcheted up a bunch of rep
that made getting one of these hats pretty easy - I just had to answer enough questions on Super User to gain 150 rep. voila
 
What question?
 
Otherwise this is really the only SE site I'm active on
 
No users named Rubio on SFF that I can see...
 
8:59 AM
Super User, not SFF
 
30
A: How would people living in eternal day learn that stars exist?

RubioTotal Eclipse I know this isn't directly an answer to your question, but the novelette Nightfall by Isaac Asimov deals with a civilization living on a planet in a system with six suns which keep the whole planet continuously illuminated. The people have no actual awareness of any stars beyond th...

I'm not on SFF, no
 
AH, worldbuilding
 
I like WB
even if I'm not active on this one
I was active on SO a while ago, but now PSE for the win
 
I read questions that catch my eye on HNQ
 
Other than that, I don't have time to hang out on other SE
 
9:00 AM
Thought you meant [story-identification] on SFF :P
 
that one there was the only one interesting enough to prompt me to answer it
Oh. heh yeah, no
 
I'm trying to get a Harry Potter silver tag badge...
 
I just (finally) got a bronze tag badge for Riddles
 
How could I forget the tag? Thanks @Mithrandir. le me goes for the coffee
 
It's kinda funny how quick that one WB answer racked up +30
to get +30 on PSE requires an act of a minor deity
 
9:02 AM
@Rubio I had one fairly quickly :P
 
WB is a bigger community
 
Sep' 4 '16
@Rubio HNQ.
 
yeah. HNQ helps a lot.
I had one answer here driven up to +108 (now) because its question spent time on HNQ
I glanced at this one, and read "the pharaoh's butt my heir".
 
What?
 
0
Q: Go further out, I'm everywhere. What am I?

busukxuan If you look about You will find me rare Try go farther out Then I'm everywhere Dare you anger me you shall die in flare Ignorant, ancients be the pharaoh's but my heir What am I?

 
9:08 AM
hehe. I'm a dork sometimes.
Also, I can't read. I got bronze for riddle, Awarded Nov 21 '16 ... I just got the bronze for Rhyme today.
so that was first tag bronze at like day 40?
something like that. that seems pretty respectable
oooh pretty. my cumulative rep is 9999. :)
 
Woo you're at 9999
 
neat. hehe
edit, unedit, meh.
 
They, uh, aren't divisible by 2017 :)
I assumed that converting them to some other measure would give a number containing "2017" but I can't find anything that works
 
What are y'all's thoughts on a "one layer enigmatic puzzle" topic challenge or similar? For encouraging simple but fun/clever puzzles. Will that produce too many bad puzzles?
 
@Volatility I think that will encourage easy and low contribution, yes
Though it's a good idea
But maybe with some other restriction
 
9:51 AM
Yay. I'm officially 10k+ cumulative rep. Now just need to get that for PSE alone :)
 
@Volatility Would you want to propose a thing like this on meta?
 
Yeah, I'll do that now
 
HAHA I just thought of a really cruel double def CC
 
Oh dear
 
Hello everybody. I would like to try a logic game over chat. Would be this be place to try it? (It's a two person game, plus a moderator to start it.)
>! Spoiler test
 
9:57 AM
Why would a mod need to start it?
 
It's the sum and product game.
Such as was done on this forum:
 
If I ever use it it'd be in a puzzle where solving other parts would make it easier to parse properly. On its own it'd probably be deemed incredibly unfair by most.
 
Oh, and I didn't mean a site moderator. I just meant a user who agrees to moderate the game.
That could be me. :)
 
I think you should create your own room and invite whoever wants to play with you @Wildcard :-)
 
@IAmInPLS Am I able to create a chat room? How many rep does that take?
Also, would you like to play? :)
 

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