« first day (966 days earlier)      last day (2658 days later) » 

8:01 PM
I like the "What is a ..." puzzles.
 
dynamo buffalo in Chicago bungalow but even so an Eskimo embryo that's indigo, I think we should let it go, long ago with my little toe I found mistletoe on stack overflow, I saw a puppet show of a rodeo and tomorrow I'll undergo vertigo if a tornado goes to and fro destroying my portfolio manifesto
 
I've contributed a good number of them.
 
I know - a lot of people do
I don't =D
@BeastlyGerbil Oh No..
 
Well I had to do a buffalo rhyme :P
 
haha.... I was just finishing it
 
8:02 PM
you had to
 
I got Stack overflow in there too :P
 
@Matt ^
 
as if you were buffaloed into it
 
Keep in mind that Foul fowl foul fowl foul foul foul fowl
 
ow
 
8:03 PM
hit by an owl?
 
(f)ow(l) *
 
There are three distinct A-N noon phrases. Let's replace the Geographic indicator with Buffalo suburbs (May be under snow or on fire)
Tonawanda buffalo Lackawanna buffalo buffalo Cheektowaga buffalo.
 
lol
 
Now, replace Buffalo VERB with Bully.
 
Can someone destroy @Will's CCCC, already?
 
8:04 PM
Tonawanda buffalo sounds like there are many, many buffalo named Wanda
 
.-.
gm btw
 
He hasn't come back, today, to verify the answer
And Lackawanna sounds like there's to few that want to
 
(no idea why i'm saying gm, it's not even morning where I am)
 
Did he say the a1z26 score?
 
he did not
 
8:05 PM
What did you guys arrive at?
 
Are we hoping it's ACCORDION? I don't see it being that.
 
There's only been one guess that I'm aware of
 
Tonawanda buffalo Lackawanna buffalo bully bully Cheektowaga buffalo.
 
If "to rely on acoustics" is the defn, then it fits
Maybe
 
how?
 
8:06 PM
Tonawanda animals Lackawanna animals bully bully Cheektowaga animals.
 
I don't see either side fitting that
 
(7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7)
 
well, I can see where it originates (accordingly), I just don't see how they fit that
 
I think that it's using more definitions than cryptic clues, though
 
Which, means, the Tonawanda buffalo, who are bullied by the Lackawanna buffalo, bully the Cheektowaga buffalo.
 
8:06 PM
But we'll have to see
 
@Rubio also keep in mind the question mark at the end
 
The question mark doesn't let you blatantly cheat. :)
 
It denotes either a deliberate misinterpretation of the solution to fit the given def., or, a ddef. or both.
 
anyway, back to earning money with me. I'm up to $0.02!
 
8:08 PM
One thing I'd considered was that accoustics was a sound indicator
To Rely On could be Lean, which has homonyms
No idea, past that
 
yeah, that's been mentioned
 
acoustics has 9 letters, maybe an anagram
 
It would have to have an anagram indicator, no?
 
'designed' seems like anagram indicator
 
no anagram indicator I recognize in there
 
8:09 PM
accordingly could then be def
 
Designed couldn't indicate for acoustics. If acoustics is anagram fodder then Designed has to be def
def must be at either end
 
Or both,
 
okay dinner now, bbs
 
(well. for ddef, sure)
 
I still wonder about that, since everything said "should be at the end" or "is usually"
So shrug - I dunno
 
8:11 PM
I'm still thinking ... is a charade for etal or etc.
 
what would be the def?
 
Rather - I wonder why it's connected to the 'well', if so
 
"is usually" doesn't mean "unless the setter feels like being ornery". it means "unless otherwise clearly indicated."
 
It could be the obvious surface reading, "To Rely on acoustics"
 
8:12 PM
No. "is usually" means "is usually"
 
i.e. indicating variance is possible. not arbitrarily so, though.
 
@Randal'Thor What's that?
 
I realize you're debating the wording. I'm debating the intent.
 
> it is always morning when person comes into a channel, and it is always late night when person leaves. Local time of any member of channel is irrelevant. Resistance is futile.
5
 
8:13 PM
It's not a matter of wording - it's mentioned, as such, in several places.
Either way, obviously, it's mostly on one end.
 
Well. Just as food for thought.
One of my first attempts here, I put the def NOT at an end, and was soundly denounced for improper formation by, well, everyone who saw it.
So like I said, at most, indicating variance is possible. not arbitrarily so, though.
 
FYI: The reason for the rules is to make them POSSIBLE.
 
right.
 
Otherwise, CHAOS ENSUES!
 
Hmm, what is @Mithrandir editing now?
 
8:16 PM
and nobody has any fun.
 
Anything that deviates from the standard rules of cryptics must be indicated for it to be a fair puzzle.
 
@Randal'Thor updated the puzzle. Hopefully fixed 6.)
There's a bit of a problem with the formatting and the way SE does preformatting, so I added something at the end.
 
So is the intent B38b 4C6G3BB?7F 7K?JJbJ32E` AG6AJC`
or B38b 4C6G3BB?7F 7K?JJbJ32EAG6AJC
 
edited your edit
to make the ` visible
 
Oh good lord.
 
8:19 PM
How?
 
he escaped the `
 
Oh, backslash...
 
dot3 period1dash1 small3long1 circle1
 
UGT solves all our problems
 
so SAVE?
 
8:20 PM
Yep.
I got mixed up with something else I was doing while doing 6.), sorry.
 
....It's a long puzzle -- shrug
 
Yes, I'd like to think it's one of my best :P
 
If it's "designed well", it could be seen as SOUND.
 
trying to find reasoning for that
 
It's partial.
just thinking aloud...
 
8:24 PM
"de signed" == "not signed" == not deaf == sound!
....hehe
 
@ChrisCudmore +1
@Khale_Kitha that works too
lol
 
lol
 
Sound - as in Fit, Capable, suitable to a purpose.
 
ah, okay, true
 
@Khale_Kitha That's nice too!
 
8:25 PM
accordingly ....almost feels like an anagram trigger
but more like a zig-zag effect
 
@Mithrandir Finished.
 
like mixing two words
 
I'm thinking charade for So, thus, hence, ....
 
@Randal'Thor I'll accept, but I want feedback :P
 
back..
 
8:26 PM
@Mithrandir deef
 
'allo @Beastly
@Khale_Kitha ?
 
wb, Beastly
 
@Mithrandir I'll try to come up with some feedback, if there's some incentive :-P
 
Exactly what you asked for, Mith.
 
I mentioned "SOUND _ _ _ _" as a solution pattern for this a good while back
 
8:27 PM
I feel like making an entire cryptic crossword
but that might be a bit much
 
@Randal'Thor promptly removes checkmark
 
it plays nicely with the "acoustics" at the end
 
I'm honestly just trying to get rep rn
 
but I can't find anything to fit the blanks from 'accordingly to rely on '
 
The colon makes me suspect that the accordingly is some kind of action on the rest
 
8:27 PM
@Mithrandir That's not how it works.
 
@Khale_Kitha interesting
 
I know :P
 
You accept the answer if it solves your question.
 
was just kidding
 
If you want something extra, a bounty is your tool for incentivising.
 
8:28 PM
put it back
 
I guess I'll get around to upvoting your answer -- totally forgot.
 
Soundable Soundings Soundless Soundness
 
Sounds sound.
Zounds!
 
now to create an empty crossword
 
8:29 PM
Soundness might fit.
 
I have to create a crossword for 39...
 
@Mithrandir ?
 
@TrojanByAccident The metapuzzle has a crossword.
 
Woo!
 
8:30 PM
@Rubio, hang on how are you already on 9500 rep? I was saying you needed 1k rep a few days ago!
 
Let's see if we can get to HNQ, @Mithrandir ;-)
 
I ... um ... have a problem? ;)
 
Well I guess you'll be a 10ker by the start of next week. Early grats!
 
@Randal'Thor ... Everyone upvote!
 
I should reach 10k by the end of the week, so yeah
 
8:31 PM
@Randal'Thor I'm considering that bounty.
 
amusingly enough
 
@BeastlyGerbil 500 rep is a couple of days' worth if you're really serious about it.
 
the bounty on Amruth's ad-puzzle
should come to me
so that's another +50 free of cap limits
 
Yeah I've been taking it rep easy for a while so I suppose that just seems a lot to me
 
@Mithrandir But I want 3,206 rep on Scifi.
 
8:32 PM
I'm still under 200 for the year I think
 
I want to make a puzzle good enough that I can have it upvoted a bunch, award a bounty to an answer, and then get upvoted more and get that rep back
 
That doesn't just happen you know. It takes a lot of hard work
 
Yes, I know
T-T
 
I think my Music Box is at +3 net rep right now because of a bounty :)
 
My latest puzzle went +26 from HNQ
 
8:35 PM
but I'm happy as I'm the 12th person to get a 100+ question :P
 
I'm now capped for the day, mainly from that
 
that few, gerbil?
 
@Mithrandir I never asked you for a bounty on SFF.
 
Yeah, but alconja has 3 @Khale
 
@Randal'Thor Exactly. I want to hit 10k :P
 
8:36 PM
oh, you said person - so even less, then
 
so we have 14 100+ questions
 
PSE is pretty hard to get high upvote counts on for questions
 
....and one of the 14 was a joke... facepalm
 
Mine was a joke.
 
8:36 PM
Yeah the rick roll
 
@Khale_Kitha Joke questions used to get a hell of a lot of upvotes.
 
I loved that rickroll one ;)
 
lol
 
"How do you get to an island with a tree in the middle, if all you have is rope?"
 
8:37 PM
Swim!
 
I literally stayed up til 2 writing it, because I couldn't get the idea out of my head
So it was posted at 2am
 
I didn't even think it'd get seen
 
now it has 19k views :p
 
....how much rope?
 
8:37 PM
lol
 
@Randal'Thor I basically said that maybe if I get 10k on SFF, I'll give you a bounty here :P.
 
@Sconibulus As much as you want.
An unlimited amount.
Do you guys know the question I'm talking about, or are you all too new?
 
Too new
 
15 second memory.
 
^ that too
 
8:39 PM
I think I've heard something about it before...
 
too new...
 
Only been here 6 months
heh. My rep on both Puzzling and SFF end in 94 :P
 
easiest way is probably trade your rope for a canoe
 
Bout to get yearling badge, few days now...
Thats me! :P
 
8:40 PM
So annoying losing the ability to see those...
Grr
 
82 upvotes and it got deleted?
 
I dislike not being able to see that...
 
Worse if you used to be able, Scon
 
no 88 upvotes, 7 downvotes...
 
Then losing it, one day
 
8:40 PM
Screenshot for us lowly <10k?
 
Doing so now
 
Damn it ninja'd
 
The top answer (179 votes):
> Moving is for suckers.

> If you have an unlimited (infinite) length of rope, you don't need to go to the island at all. It will come to you as a result of the infinite gravitational field your rope is creating.
 
You would be so annoyed with that answer and the upvotes and then it got deleted
 
8:43 PM
Second answer (136 votes):
> 1. Sell a substantial quantity of rope to a rope manufacturer (who should be willing to buy it so long as the price you're asking is lower than their production cost - that's fine from your point of view because you have an infinite amount of rope at zero cost).

> 2. Hire a helicopter and pilot.

> 3. Fly to the island and do whatever it is you need to do on the island.

> 4. Retire to an island of your own in the Caribbean, selling more rope whenever necessary to raise funds. Buy Google and fire the interviewer.
 
Prefer that one
The others are interesting too
 
That 4th point still cracks me up.
 
Gotta love that. Ask a totally ridiculous, open ended question, and when it's answered say "No, that's not the answer we're looking for."
 
The problem is too much supply in that one
 
I was thinking the same thing
 
8:44 PM
'Easy

Unlimited rope? Throw it all in the lake until it soaks up all the water. Walk across.'
 
The point of these questions is to watch the thought process, not the answer.
 
Eventually diminishing returns are going to kill you.
 
how have google got any people working for them with interview questions like this....
Probably have tons of robots instead....
 
*shrugs*
 
8:45 PM
They actually recently ceased doing many of those kinds of questions once one of their higher ups realized how stupid they were.
 
@ChrisCudmore Welcome to the land of Toobroad.
 
@Randal'Thor the reason I want feedback is so that I know what part of a puzzle like that is good, what's bad, so that I know what to do for the next puzzles.
 
@BeastlyGerbil Do you have any proof that the interviewers are not, in fact, robots programmed with a high-level AI?
 
oh yeah the owner of google couldn't answer one of his own questions...
@TrojanByAccident uppose not :P
 
Recently.....like 3 years ago, sry
High level AI?
Have you seen google products?
 
8:46 PM
:P
 
@Mithrandir Oh, I know (and I like to provide feedback).
 
@Mithrandir In general, I don't like word webs as it's ambiguous. I'd rather see the solution word being one that can be compounded with each sample word.
But that's a personal feeling.
 
I'm just finding it hard to come up with things to say for this particular puzzle, so I need extra incentive :-P
 
8:47 PM
Er I had to review a chat flag just now that was 'spam, rude or abusive' and it was >.<
 
if it's artificial intelligence, it's not real intelligence, which must mean it's devoid of intelligence. ergo: AI = stupid.
 
lol, Gerbil
 
And another stupid flag...
 
flag wars?
 
the dialog wasn't showing up for me so I didn't end up reviewing it.
 
8:48 PM
Who keeps hitting the spam flags? I keep getting alerted.
 
No idea...
 
@ChrisCudmore You're a mod? but you're not blue...
 
@Randal'Thor That's kinda like my idea :)
 
0
Q: Tag for puzzles that can easily be presented on a whiteboard (or blackboard, or chalkboard, etc)

BenOne thing I've been hard-pressed to find online is a collection of puzzles or riddles that can be easily presented on a chalkboard, blackboard, whiteboard, etc such as in a classroom or office. Essentially, these would be puzzles that can be presented and solved using a simple drawing or writing ...

 
Nah. I've got enough rep on SO and DIY.
 
8:49 PM
ROFL!!
 
@Randal'Thor I know, I saw when you did the one for Clue Twelve
 
I already hate the quiz questions you get in the review, but..
 
10k users can review chatflags
 
I imagine the desired goal was to tie one bit of rope to the ground, and walk around the outside of the lake to make a rope bridge?
 
@dcfyj No, all chat users with >10k total rep get to see chat flags.
 
8:50 PM
1. When I click into low-quality posts and there's 1...the second one is obviously a quiz
 
@ChrisCudmore Ah, right. I forget about the rep factor
 
So I can review chatflags. Lucky me.
 
2. When the second one is Mith's most recent puzzle.... ROFL!
 
Except special mod chat flags.
 
@Khale_Kitha Seriously?
 
6
Q: Could an Artificial Intelligent Program be an extential threat to Humanity?

quintumniaWe are doing research,spending hours figuring out how we can bring the real concept of an A.I software[Intelligent Agent] to work.Also we trying to implement some basics(applications in Business,Health,Education to mention but a few). On the other side,sometimes we forget about the dark side o...

 
@Randal'Thor Let me guess! Only mods can see them? :P
 
Humans are causing their own extinction
 
And chat rooms are a Stackexchange thing, not site specific.
 
@Khale_Kitha Huh, so they haven't abolished review audits yet.
 
8:50 PM
@Khale_Kitha heh. That's funny.
 
Too funny
I wish, Rand.
 
I guess the CMs have been away over Christmas.
 
Half of them end up being high-voted trash that should be closed, so I fail the review.
 
I once vtc a post on SO that had no question in it. failed the audit.
 
I didn't like this audit
I failed it.
 
8:52 PM
Hopefully it's just a matter of time now:
I've emailed the community team about disabling audits on Puzzling. — Emrakul ♦ Dec 23 '16 at 4:01
 
@Randal'Thor Yay
 
Why did you fail? What reasoning?
 
@Mithrandir I'm not sure what to say on that one. How does the automated system even determine low-quality questions..
 
> deleted as spam or offensive Dec 23 '16 at 10:43
 
I clicked 'Looks Okay'.
 
8:53 PM
I suspect it was a valid post but nuked for being a sock of a certain user.
 
And honestly, surprised, because...
 
that does look fine
 
audits are annoying
2
 
In my experience, even bad puzzles are not allowed to be marked as "close" in the review system if the poster has above a certain rep
 
13
Q: Measuring Water with a Holey Cube

AnkoganitYou have been given a transparent glass cube, which has a small hole at the center of one of the faces. How can you fill the cube with water occupying exactly one third of its volume? Edit: The source doesn't offer any other clarification, but presumably the only tool we have are the cube and ...

 
8:53 PM
@Randal'Thor A certain marsupial, or someone else?
 
Which isn't right
 
@BeastlyGerbil Starbait.
 
it's not even closed?
 
I've failed two just by thinking that it was the previous one and I hadn't clicked 'look's okay'
Happens easyily enough when flicking through tabs
 
@Khale_Kitha I don't think that's part of the system. (It may be true in practice that high-rep users' puzzles don't tend to get closed, but that's a different issue.)
 
8:54 PM
That makes you wonder, though. Puzzle is up - with answers...why did the system think that "looks ok" wasn't good?
Well I know before that I've seen posts that were just random gibberish, in my review queue
But because the supposed poster was Gamow, for example, I was expected to click "Looks Ok"
 
@Khale_Kitha Yep, I quoted you in my "why we should get rid of review audits" post.
in Puzzles Etc., May 27 '16 at 12:34, by Khale_Kitha
And I've run into, MYSELF, an idiot review test that I failed because it was posted by Gamow instead of someone else
 
haha
 
time to go eat breakfast
at 3:56 pm
(local time)
 
I should go to bed, it's almost 11pm
 
I miss my channel, but I'm glad this one has people in it, as a fair exchange.
 
8:56 PM
@TrojanByAccident who cares about timming? I eat breakfast all day :P
 
You can't go to sleep until we solve @will CCCC
 
Is that where you say "Tim" a lot?
 
@Khale_Kitha As a fair stack exchange?
 
@Khale_Kitha You mean Puzzles Etc?
 
lol
Yeah
 
8:58 PM
That was only the deputy PSE chatroom, filling in for tSL while I was away ;-)
 
Hah - I created it because this one was being used as pretty much exclusively meta questions.
 
I didn't actually get the stock exchange reference for ages after joining the site...
 
The subject of this one has migrated to be more-in-line with what P, Etc was made for, so I'm happy.
 
@BeastlyGerbil What stock exchange reference?
 
Stack exchange - Stock exchange?
 
8:59 PM
@Khale_Kitha I.e. nobody was posting in here and it was just the meta bot?
 
I know that a STack Overflow is a joke
 
Except the occasional question for Emrakul or GPR
 

« first day (966 days earlier)      last day (2658 days later) »