The Sphinx's Lair

Chris Cudmore

12:38 AM

@Randal'Thor first cryptic is right, rest wrong

Sphinx

2:22 AM

1

Q: You think YOU have it bad?

Let me tell you about MY life: They took from me something near to my heart. I crossed the Atlantic, my short became long, but I was still essentially myself. I gave up heroin. I introduced my companions to my friend Syrah. Once accustomed to a life of comfort, I left all ease be...

TheGreatEscaper

4:30 AM

What the hell is this new user?

20

Q: The tilted labyrinth - Can you find the fastest path in this 3D-puzzle? (Simulator now included.)

This is a puzzle was inspired by the board game labyrinth, which I very much enjoyed as a kid. It either requires very good 3D-visualization skills in your brain or some paper & scissors work. (Hence mechanical puzzle). Thanks to Kevin, there is now also a Javascript simulator for this puzzle, ...

geometry mechanical-puzzles optimization visual

Check the recent answer

Rubio

already flagged him

his last 3 answers were all inappropriate

LeppyR64

Puzzler of the year! /s

Rubio

Got it deleted. whee.

TheGreatEscaper

5:19 AM

I've designed around 30 puzzles for the 'grid logic' fortnightly already... :P I'm very excited for this one. (They'll all be in the same post, don't worry about spam. But I'm projecting around 100 puzzles in total.)

Rubio

5:30 AM

oh dear me.

TrojanByAccident

6:16 AM

What user was it?

If you don't mind me asking

TheGreatEscaper

6:39 AM

Why did minesweeper suddenly become so popular?

Deusovi

Someone answered a lot of minesweeper questions, bumping them to the top.

Rubio

same user

hey Deus

Deusovi

hey!

Rubio

whinged. such a strange looking word to my eyes. :)

Techidiot

7:04 AM

What was I at the start of my saga?
What significant changes did I endure?

It was all about I

:)

hello

Hey!

Howdy howdy

Hey!

Good... whatever time of day it is for you!

Rubio

yesterday, by Rubio

Good ${time_of_day_indicator} to you, ${formal_gender_specifier}s! I hope you're having a delightfully puzzling time.

Beastly Gerbil

7:09 AM

Too early...

Techidiot

@Rubio I wish that worked ;)

Rubio

It works just fine. :) You have to do the variable interpolations yourself, though.

TrojanByAccident

lol

Sid

7:59 AM

@Deusovi If you are here, Can Without Exclamation mean removing i and l? i because it is a reversed exclamation mark and "l" because, well... it looks like an exclamation mark?

Deusovi

@Sid I don't think so, no.

Sid

Restriction pistol without exclamation (4)
This thing from Mithrandir's puzzle..

I am almost certain it should be stop.

Deusovi

I wouldn't do that, at least. "without exclamation" could be an indicator to remove "OH" or "OUCH" or something, but not "IL".

That'd also require an anagram indicator.

I'm not saying it's not possible, but if that is the solution it wouldn't be a good clue.

Sid

Exactly.

I am not too happy with that solution. But, nothing else seems to be working..

Deusovi

Maybe it's a synonym for pistol containing an exclamation?

IAmInPLS

8:03 AM

Hello all o/

TrojanByAccident

hello

Sid

Hello...

TrojanByAccident

has nobody destroyed the CCCC yet?

Deusovi

Nope

TrojanByAccident

hmm

I'm currently earning money online

via captcha-solving service

Neil W

8:04 AM

hey chatters, I thought that exclamation might be LO, but tips,spit,pits?

TrojanByAccident

already earned over a cent

I feel accomplished

Sid

@NeilW All of that requires an anagram indicator. Which isn't present...

Neil W

yah

Rubio

@TrojanByAccident Doing what now, and for whom?

TrojanByAccident

12 mins ago, by TrojanByAccident

via captcha-solving service

2captcha

also attempting to sign up for paypal so I can write reviews and get paid

(different site)

Rubio

8:18 AM

Someone has created a service whereby humans answer captchas for some 3rd party user who wants to automate around captchas?

IAmInPLS

Nice puzzle @Rubio :-)

TrojanByAccident

@Rubio There exist many such services

IAmInPLS

+1

Rubio

@IAmInPLS thanks

IAmInPLS

@TrojanByAccident Yeah, not only for captchas

Rubio

8:19 AM

@TrojanByAccident That's ... horrible on so many levels.

TrojanByAccident

@IAmInPLS mhmm

IAmInPLS

Once, I was paid to see some advertisements

24 cents by ad

TrojanByAccident

@Rubio How so? You know captcha bots? That's how they work

Rubio

I dunno, I'm hard pressed to imagine any legitimate user needing to bypass captchas with enough regularity and volume that outsourcing it is needed.

At a minimum it's a violation of the ToS of whatever site you're exploiting

TrojanByAccident

not really

Rubio

8:21 AM

and to make a business out of doing that seems insanely antisocial

TrojanByAccident

well, depending on the site

Mithrandir

8:40 AM

Rand has made good progress...

TrojanByAccident

Windows 9 soon to be released

Hey, check out this article

IAmInPLS

Obvious troll is obvious

Sid

Wasn't legion some sort of a hacking group or something similar?

TrojanByAccident

We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect Us

TheGreatEscaper

That cryptic in Mithrandir's isn't STOP.

Sid

8:48 AM

Ok..

@TheGreatEscaper So, you framed it?

TheGreatEscaper

That's one of my clues, yes.

Sid

Pistol does not mean pew pew pew, does it?

Techidiot

Haha

TheGreatEscaper

Nah, I made pistol to mean 'pah pah pah'

I just think interpreting pistol as 'pew' is too obvious, you know?

(Sarcasm, just in case anyone is worried)

Deusovi

Gah, I'm trying to construct a logic puzzle and it keeps leading to contradictions. D:

TheGreatEscaper

8:55 AM

@Deusovi feeling your pain!

Sid

Solving a logic puzzle is actually easier than creating one...

Deusovi

@TheGreatEscaper Didn't you say you'd made 30 or so already?

TheGreatEscaper

Yup.

But there's some things that need fixing up.

And I've still got a lot to do...

Deusovi

Wow, how did you make so many so quickly?

TheGreatEscaper

By being a teenager on holidays, I suppose.

Anyway, they're not big

At least, not yet.

Deusovi

8:57 AM

I'm a student on holidays too. I guess I'm just lazy. :P

TheGreatEscaper

Anyway, it'll probably make more sense when you see my final post as to what I'm really doing here.

At least for now, designing the puzzles themselves is not the BIGGEST thing i'm working out.

Deusovi

What type of puzzles are they?

Or do you not want to spoil it?

TheGreatEscaper

No spoilers :P

But let's just say there's been some heavy testing on Jack and Nick.

Deusovi

Ooh.

TheGreatEscaper

There's your teaser.

Deusovi

9:04 AM

Interesting. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.

Mithrandir

'eye'

Will

@TrojanByAccident Someone was kinda close at one point. Or at least they said something useful. :)

TrojanByAccident

hmm

You wouldn't happen to be able to link what they said, would you?

TheGreatEscaper

@Deusovi, would it be weird if I said it's not going to get explained by me, ever?

Will

okay I'm just seeing the star board... what'd I miss?

Mithrandir

9:05 AM

:P

Deusovi

Nope! Sounds Witness-y. I'm excited - I love puzzles where you have to learn the rules yourself

TheGreatEscaper

:D Very different mechanics to the witness, but definitely it's an inspiration. In fact, I was thinking about titling the post 'WITLESS - 101 logic puzzles with no rules'

IAmInPLS

@Will You don't wanna know.

Deusovi

Yeah, I figured the mechanics would be different. Seriously though, 101 puzzles? How are you gonna fit all that into one post?

Hey Sp!

TheGreatEscaper

Well, my puzzles are SPECIFICALLY meant to be done in a certain order. Sets of 5.

Sp3000

9:07 AM

Hey :)

TheGreatEscaper

So they'll all be imgur/stackexchange links, I suppose.

And you're not allowed to click on the next link until you've solved the previous set of 5.

Sp3000

Came for the chat, staying for the cryptic practice

Mithrandir

Clue 39 will require extensive knowledge of the first 38 Clues.

Deusovi

Cool. I'm really excited :D

TheGreatEscaper

@Mithrandir is the book series any good?

Deusovi

9:08 AM

@Sp3000 Hopefully you're at least partially staying for the chat too :P

Unless we're that annoying.

Sp3000

Depends what you guys are talking about :P

Mithrandir

@TheGreatEscaper The first one is awesome. The second one is okay. The third is looking promising, only read the first. The fourth haven't read. The Superspecial haven't read.

Will

@IAmInPLS But I wanna know how you went from butts to Java to butts again

3

TheGreatEscaper

Ah alright.

IAmInPLS

@Will It's... complicated

But I end up googling stiff butt, like everyone else

Will

9:18 AM

Pffft you amateurs have to Google butts

Volatility

@Will or "Go ogle" butts? :P

IAmInPLS

@Will And for the Java thing, it allows us to fit coffeee into 4 letters

Rubio

I just want to know who said the useful thing re: the cccc :)

Will

You would

Rubio

Yes. Yes, I would. hehe

Will

9:32 AM

Oh I see what Gareth thought your CCCC idea was :)

Rubio

Huh. I never did - I was on a call so lost track of what was going on, and never figured out how he came up with whatever it was he said before it scrolled out of window and out of mind

i thought in context my intent was clear. why, what was he thinking it was?

Will

Winnie-the-Pooh :P

Rubio

ah.

lots of other possibilities though. nickel-and-dime for one

others would have been, what, piglet, eeyore, tigger

oh. christopher robin

that took a sec lol

owl, of course

the 5?

i forgot rabbit didn't I

ahhh. Kanga and Roo. derp

Will

I was just gonna mention them

Rubio

Ok it is all so clear now

But no, that wasn't the cut of my jib.

Techidiot

10:07 AM

@Rubio That little edit :D

Then

Rubio

I thought about making it earlier

It should make that line less confusing. (Eventually.)

Techidiot

Hmm.. Well, I have my image editor minimized.. tried connecting dot's but they are still meaningless :-/

+ sign is suspicious

Rubio

Good. :)

Techidiot

It may be an intersection

Or may be it means adding what we get on the right

Or it may be a connector

Rubio

I don't know if it's because you're the only one working on it, or the only one saying anything about it, or the only one who's made any dent in understanding it - you've shown that the ideas needed to solve this are graspable, but you're the only one who's appeared to grasp any of them.

Techidiot

10:13 AM

Basically all those ^ meant same :p Including the but .. ;)

Rubio

Of course there's plenty of off-base guesses commingled with good ones

Volatility

Well, I've looked at it, and my brain has said nope.

Techidiot

Yes, that's my thing. Haha

Rubio

but at least you've hit a good number of good ones :)

Techidiot

There come's a point when my brain literally can't go beyond.. :p That point is soon going to be close ;)

Anyway, anyone interested to take this ahead? puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/47488/edward-and-bruce

I think I got the idea.. But not the final solution

That's my point of stoppage :p

IAmInPLS

10:21 AM

I have the idea of my next puzzle

:-)

This won't be a riddle, I posted too many of them lately

Is "straight on" good when you want to give an indication on the road?

Like, "turn left, and go straight on"

Volatility

@IAmInPLS You mean give an indication that's on the road, or give an indication while your on the road?

IAmInPLS

The second, while you're on the road. Or when you need to indicate something to somebody driving

Volatility

That's probably fine

Rubio

10:38 AM

My GPS tells me "Then, go straight on" all the time.

IAmInPLS

Mine tells me "Puis, allez tout droit" :-P

Rubio

(from a description of TomTom's Looney Tunes voice packs for its GPS units:) Yosemite Sam, the greatest, the toughest, rip-roarin’-est, hombre that ever packed a six-shooter and a map navigates with characteristic growls and threats like: “Sharp left, ya humpbacked muley. Then go straight on. This ve-hicle ain’t big enough for the two of us!” [emphasis added]

TrojanByAccident

@Rubio Mine just tells me 'Then, go straight'

Rubio

I don't have that voice pack, but the "Then go straight on" is a verbatim direction commonly given in that situation.

Techidiot

@IAmInPLS Is "A la a" french?

Volatility

10:45 AM

"a la" is, the following "a" is just the indefinite article

Techidiot

Hmm

Volatility

(obv. "la" is already an article, but you know, borrowings and all that)

Techidiot

I thought it was this - en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A0_la#French

Volatility

It is

IAmInPLS

À la is French

À la a doesn't make sense

Techidiot

10:48 AM

Yeah.. puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/47488/… it's here FYI

IAmInPLS

Yeah, I remember that

Techidiot

A la a dramatic insult

IAmInPLS

Maybe separate the sentence like this

À la + "a dramatic insult"

Volatility

"a la" is used in English to mean "in such a manner as" or similar

TrojanByAccident

gn all, I'm going to solve some captchas, then hit the sack

IAmInPLS

10:50 AM

Gn @TrojanByAccident

TheGreatEscaper

Night Trojan

IAmInPLS

Do you have plenty of time to lose

?

candybox2.net

This game is... brilliant

And here's the gamepedia candybox2.gamepedia.com/Candy_Box_2_Wiki

Mithrandir

I just had an Epiphany

IAmInPLS

Same @Mithrandir

Mithrandir

11:08 AM

I only realized just now that there's a Star Trek reference on A51...

Volatility

@IAmInPLS Seems very "A Dark Room" esque

IAmInPLS

@Volatility Yes! I didn't play this one but I see that it's the same setting

Is there a map, secrets, etc in the dark room?

Volatility

There's a map, not sure about secrets

Mithrandir

I'm making it cry :D

I threw 100 candies on the ground.

Volatility

The combat isn't automatic in "A Dark Room" though

IAmInPLS

11:14 AM

@Mithrandir You might want to ask the developer for a feature :-P

Volatility

@Mithrandir I've thrown 400 :P

Mithrandir

I bought all of them

IAmInPLS

Nice, you're ready to go then :-P

Puzzling — BOUNTY!

11:40 AM

10

Q: What creature am I? (Strange hybrid creature)

The antlers of a deer. The head of a crocodile. The neck of a snake. A cow's ears. A hawk's claws. The palms of a tiger. A carp's scales. What creature am I?

riddle

Mithrandir

How do I get into the cellar?

@IAmInPLS ^

Gareth McCaughan

@Mithrandir You're one day early.

Mithrandir

What do you mean?

Gareth McCaughan

Epiphany is January 6th.

Mithrandir

So? The hats are now

Gareth McCaughan

11:45 AM

... Ah.

I thought you were using the word in its usual more general sense ("I just realised something") and was making a joke. Which is entirely not funny if you actually meant "I just got a thing named for the actual feast of Epiphany". Oh well.

Sphinx

12:21 PM

0

Q: Clemson vs Alabama Live

Rematch: CFP National Championship Game 2017 Clemson vs Alabama Live,Monday, January 09, 2017 8:00 PM ET, Streaming, Watch Free TV, all info here.