The Sphinx's Lair

Deusovi

17:00

oh, gotta fix that

one is land down other, the other is lactate

Rubio

they have the same numbers right now, so that's probably wrong too

Deusovi

yeah, that was what I fixed

Rubio

@TheGreatEscaper is top-left of Drawing a blank a 3 or an 8? I see an 8

TheGreatEscaper

It's 8

i should learn to choose better fonts, too

facepalms

Deusovi

fixed once again

Rubio

17:02

yay. we'll get there. :)

Deusovi

answer CIRCUITS

!!!

Rubio

nice

TheGreatEscaper

Hey, have you finished all of Grandmas instructions? Excluding 6, of course :P

Deusovi

Not 5.

circuit breaker?

TheGreatEscaper

That's all that's left, really

Step 5 is a bit corny

Sconibulus

17:04

circuits?

Chris Cudmore

I'm not seeing that at all.

Deusovi

Look in the middle of the squares

03 09
18 03

21 09
20 19

Converting letters to numbers with A1Z26 gives:

CI
RC

UI
TS

Khale_Kitha

Which is less-than-ironic for a puzzle.

TheGreatEscaper

?? Did I do something wrong

@Khale_Kitha

Khale_Kitha

I think circuits relating to a jigsaw puzzle is amusing, myself

Rubio

17:06

So what is the "final rebus" then

TheGreatEscaper

Oh right, gotcha

Rubio

Circuit breaker seems plausible but how is that a rebus

TheGreatEscaper

last step is a bit corny, but if you assemble the puzzle and take a look at it, and think about what present grandma would want...

Deusovi

@Rubio the middle row "breaks" the CIRCUITS?

Khale_Kitha

I hope it wasn't a heart monitor :P

TheGreatEscaper

17:08

Circuits is obviously important

Rubio

Why would she want a circuit breaker, actually

TheGreatEscaper

Now when a rebus has a word in it

Like the sheep one

Theres usually something about how the word is presented

That gives the answer

Deusovi

yeah, I thought the "break" in the middle of the word made "circuit breaker"

it was a bit tenuous, though - I'm sure the real answer is much cornier

Chris Cudmore

Digital Circuits

TheGreatEscaper

its really corny :P also something I'm sure anyone would be happy to get as a present from the hubby

Techidiot

17:10

Also Digital Circuit for grandma would be well Awesome :D

TheGreatEscaper

Take a look at Chris' pic from a while ago

and think about how CIRCUIT would be presented in that

Deusovi

It looks sorta like a quilt

Rubio

circuits diamonds. i'm drawing a blank here.

TheGreatEscaper

Hehe, this last step is kinda corny so I don't know whether it's very puzzley or not. I think it's fair though and definitely a rebus

Deusovi

diamond rings!

TheGreatEscaper

17:12

diamond is good, Rubio

:D

Rubio

oh.

DUH

Deusovi

God, that's terrible. I love it

TheGreatEscaper

yayyyyyy!

Rubio

I knew it had to be diamonds but couldn't get RINGS from that :)

Techidiot

How Chri's pic would have helped TGE?

Rubio

17:13

You see the diamond patterns in it.

TheGreatEscaper

You can clearly see the diamonds

Rubio

Or in the original, for that matter

Deusovi

Yep, that's how I got it

TheGreatEscaper

Yay! Hope you guys had fun with this puzzle.

Deusovi

I definitely did!

Rubio

17:14

Yeah that was fun

beautiful presentation, too, btw

Please do a wrap-up for this one :)

TheGreatEscaper

getting step 2 to work with phrases that could be good rebuses as well was REALLY annoying.

Rubio

I can imagine.

Techidiot

That was a cool one!

Deusovi

I'd've used ISLANDER instead of LAND DOWN UNDER to avoid the "DOW" issue

but it wouldn't've been as good of a rebus

TheGreatEscaper

Oooh it's a nicer word, anyhow.

Deusovi

17:16

Qat helped.

SLANDER would've also worked

TheGreatEscaper

I've never used QAT before, actually

Deusovi

It's really helpful!

TheGreatEscaper

I should definitely bookmark that page

i was going on those scrabble websites, searching for a triple of letters, and then control F ing every triple of letters in the other adjacent word for SUBINDEX and LACTATES

Techidiot

@ChrisCudmore You still here?

Chris Cudmore

Yes

Techidiot

17:19

I think you built a Rhyme last night/day

That was worth posting as a partial attempt :)

Chris Cudmore

I'll have to redo it, but I'll get on it.

Techidiot

Sure

TheGreatEscaper

Oof, it's 1:20 am. Stayed up to watch the solving process and give out the green tick :)

Rubio

Nice. :)

TheGreatEscaper

I should get some sleep, will do a wrap up tomorrow!

Deusovi

17:20

Alright, night!

TheGreatEscaper

Gnight PSE!!! :D

Rubio

Take it easy, have a puzzling night :)

Khale_Kitha

night TGE

Rubio

@Techidiot Answerer just posted a rhyme descramble hehe

Techidiot

@Rubio Check the scheme? :p

Rubio

17:21

I did. *laugh*

Techidiot

I think there is no good scheme there

Rubio

It looks pretty close to what Chris had yesterday

and what I was putting together

Techidiot

No...I think Chris had the required rhyme

You can search this "Every kid now fears one of mine;" in the chats and you will find it

Rubio

He's got it

Techidiot

;)

Rubio

17:23

he just left the lines broken instead of joined

Techidiot

Well, he was right with the punctuations

So, it's a combo of 2 lines as 1

Rubio

right

I mean, writing A; B

versus

A;

Techidiot

And you too observed 6 rhyming words ;)

Rubio

B

shouldn't make a difference to the solution

Techidiot

It should be something like A;B A;B ...

Sorry

A;A. B;B. C;C...

Rubio

17:25

er. well, yeah. we're saying the same thing in different ways.

Techidiot

Ahh yes. :) Well, to go ahead, I think you should put forth the rhyme and see what it's saying..

Also, as mentioned, the name is hiding in there in two different ways

To be frank, building a rhyme(even if it doesn't look nice) will work just fine

Chris Cudmore

Often I watched the waterfall's; They used to intrigue me.
Every kid now fears one of mine; I believed it was nothing but Gee!
Not sure about others though:Yes, I was quite better with numbers.
Not aware about about humans; I only knew universally related members.
While the world was dealing with wars; I had colors to prove.
There were not many ways; But I gave you three ways to move.

Techidiot

Great..

Chris Cudmore

That was it, but it could be any number of variations

Techidiot

Note, there's a stegano tag :)

Chris Cudmore

17:27

Even if the lines are joined correctly, There are 12 arrangements

Rubio

@ChrisCudmore Yup. And it's likely to be a pain in the tuchus to figure out the intended order of the paired lines, even if they are paired right.

Techidiot

"There were not many ways; But I gave you three rules of a move." - with the latest update

Chris Cudmore

ah.

Rubio

Oh heh. I missed that update too

Chris Cudmore

I'm pretty sure the first and last lines are right though.

Techidiot

17:29

Also, "While the world was dealing with wars; I had colors to prove. "

Right

Not aware about about humans; I only knew universally related members.

Right

Often I watched the waterfall's; They used to intrigue me.
Not sure about others though:I believed it was nothing but Gee!

Right

So, you have the rest

Do you see any mention here about someone?

Rubio

wait -

"Not sure about others though:I believed it was nothing but Gee!" is correct? that's not what Chris had. (It is what I had, interestingly)

Techidiot

Yes, that's correct.

**SPOILER****

There were not many ways; But I gave you three rules of a move.
While the world was dealing with wars; I had colors to prove.
Often I watched the waterfall's; They used to intrigue me.
Not sure about others though; I believed it was nothing but Gee!
Every kid now fears one of mine; Yes, I was quite better with numbers.
Not aware about about humans; I only knew univesally related members.

Chris Cudmore

Every kid now fears one of mine; Yes, I was quite better with numbers.

Techidiot

As, he almost solved it I can just put it up

Chris Cudmore

Sounds like a mathematician

Techidiot

17:34

One of you can add a partial attempt or wait, just solve it :D

Khale_Kitha

@Deu Maybe you'll like that email better =D

Techidiot

Remember - "Hidden in two ways, one puzzled, the other is direct mention" ;)

Sid

@Techidiot The one that you wrote, that's the correct order? Because I had got something close to that, just a bit misplaced lines..

Techidiot

Yep. That's correct.

Again, making it CCBBAA/BBAACC/AABBCC won't affect anything

Sid

@Deusovi is it okay to clue dinner with supper as the def? They are almost the same, aren't they?

Chris Cudmore

17:38

NEWTON.

Sid

^

Chris Cudmore

3 rules of motion

G

something about math. Calculus perhaps?

Techidiot

You will find everything in there :)

Rubio

so @Techidiot

is there a missing reference in here?

To, I dunno, a piece of fruit? :)

Techidiot

No.. That would have made it a little easier :)

What more do you see?

While the world was dealing with wars; I had colors to prove.

Sid

17:41

I tried NEWTON as a vigenere key to decode the cipher .. Nothing worthwhile

Techidiot

That was about his Prism experiment

Rubio

@Sid I think supper and dinner can have different meanings depending on where you are.

Techidiot

Not aware about about humans; I only knew universally related members.

Was about theory of relativity

Calculus, G and 3 rules already figured out

Sid

@Rubio Could you clarify?

Chris Cudmore

That was einstien

Dinner is a Big lunch in farm country.

Supper is a smaller late meal.

Techidiot

17:43

Yes, but originally was an idea of newton as per wiki I guess

Rubio

supper
n 1: a light evening meal; served in early evening if dinner is at midday or served late in the evening at bedtime

Techidiot

Anyway, this was a direct mention

There is a hidden way as well. Do you get it?

Sid

Every kid fears one of mine= Probably one of the laws of newton?

Rubio

One issue with this rhyme is it doesn't have a clear single subject

Techidiot

Every kid now fears one of mine; Yes, I was quite better with numbers. - Calculus @Sid

Rubio

17:44

or, well, actually the subject (per se) is clearly Newton, but

there's nothing else really in there that is a single solution to all of it

so if you're expecting us to find multiple answers from it, there's too many to choose from and none of them fit the whole thing

Techidiot

@Rubio Check the first letter of each line please :)

Sid

Anagram of Newton

Rubio

Ah. well ok then

Techidiot

And yes, this is a single answer :) Just wanted to make sure, before we go ahead, you must know all the facts :)

Rubio

Ok - well yeah I mean we knew the answer to this some 10 minutes ago :)

Techidiot

17:46

Now, if we are done here... Check that "little note"

Rubio

I thought there was something else hiding.

Out of morbid curiosity

why can't the rhyme be ordered to spell it out directly? I mean, it can ...

the couplets are disassociated enough that it should still work

Techidiot

Nah.. That's all what is hiding there..

Chris Cudmore

I tried Vigeniere on the first cipher, 2x, with NEW and TON as keys. Nada.

Techidiot

Two reasons for that - I didn't knew it would have taken time for people to solve. And one, I have made a habit to complicate things :D

Rubio

that's what I was trying to do initially anyway until you posted a "definitive" answer.

well - I mean - it isn't wrong, right? I think I will reorder them that way

Techidiot

17:49

I will be back until you figure out what's with the note. And, FYI, Newton is right. Nothing gibberish to be supplied to crack the rest :)

Chris Cudmore

I also like that the correct ordering would finish with the exclamation.

Rubio

There.

How's that

Chris Cudmore

Key inventor of noxious looking alternative

ENCRYPT the cipher with key NEWTON

Rubio

heh.

I wondered what you were talking about

then I clicked the button and was like, Oh. Hi.

Chris Cudmore

@Rubio - You might as well be the Canonical answer -- Edit mine in.

Rubio

17:55

Gotcha

one sec

Chris Cudmore

So I'm guessing the answer to the decoded cipher would be LIEBNIZ

Which doesn't work in either direction for the second cipher. -- Even if I spell it right LEIBNIZ

Also tried both directions with either I removed.

Then I realized I'm getting ahead of the game and should work on the rhyme first.

Rubio

so - my other thought, besides Leibniz, is Einstein

Interestingly, both have the inverted EI couple

(usually I before E)

Einstein has "couples" rather than just one

Doing Rhyme #2, though, I get N N T E I [E I?] - not sure if we use it twice? I think so

but that doesn't seem to anagram to anything sensible

TrojanByAccident

@Rubio EIN ENTEI

nvm, only two E's

Rubio

that still isn't sensible ;)

Chris Cudmore

And it doesn't make a good key. Too many dupes

Rubio

18:07

Unless it means something I don't know about. I dunno any German beyond "danke"

Having said that -

Two tails of the second? Maybe Albert Einstein giving TNTEI[EI]

TENTIE apparently is a thing?

seems improbable though :)

Beastly Gerbil

I just realised. Is this the last day of hats?

Rubio

I thought it was the 8th or 9th.

Beastly Gerbil

oh yeah 9th

phew

Rubio

8th

From December 19th through January 8th, you'll be able to earn hats all over the sites! Ask, answer, vote, edit, and chat, and you'll uncover hats hidden in all kinds of places.

Beastly Gerbil

Yeah the site is confusing. It says they got put away on the 9th, but actually the last day i the 8th...

Rubio

18:13

Oh. I see what's going on

ok so the other solver found "INLAT" right

IN is the two tails of EINSTEIN

I have no idea where LAT comes from

oh. OH

LAT out of Albert, but that doesn't make sense

Chris Cudmore

4th of the first could be T from newton.

Rubio

@Techidiot Is Rhyme #2 correct? Fishing letters out of ALBERT EINSTEIN seems to be the correct thing

I thought of that, but (a) it's wrong, and (b) the puzzle says the answer of Cipher #1 is the input to Rhyme #2

That's what I was trying earlier, in fact

I just now realized these letters, which we know give meaning to cipher 2, can only come from Albert

just not seeing how the rhyme yields them.

Techidiot

@Rubio You didnt solve plain text which you got right?

Rubio

what I think it should give, from the rhyme, would be INEEI or maybe INEIE

@Techidiot What do you mean?

Cipher 1, I believe its answer is Albert Einstein

Techidiot

Key inventor of noxious looking alternative

Chris Cudmore

18:21

I'm still going with Leibniz.

Confusing symbols, alternative to newton's calculus

Rubio

Ok - so if Leibniz then IZTEI or IZTIE

Techidiot

Apply stegano?

Chris Cudmore

But Inverted pairs don't make sense there. They do with einstein.

Rubio

Agreed; that's why I went with Einstein

Apply stegano?

I'm trying to follow the instructions in Rhyme 2

Which seems to be fishing letters out of whoever's name we settle on for Cipher 1

Einstein gives INEEI or possibly INEIE. Leibniz gives IZTEI or IZTIE.

Either that or I'm completely misunderstanding the Rhyme 2 instructions

(or, perhaps, they're wrong)

Chris Cudmore

And we can't ignore INLAT.

Rubio

18:25

Right.

I mean, ideally we solve and get INLAT, since we know that's meaningful. But I don't see any meaningful application of the plain meaning of rhyme 2 to any likely candidate name(s) that yield it.

That's including Newton, Leibniz, and Einstein, with both first and last names.

Techidiot

How did you found newton in rhyme 1? I mean how did you used stegano there?

Rubio

We...didn't...?

Chris Cudmore

UNLESS INLAT is a red herring, and another key makes the other text clear.

Techidiot

I mean, how? Do the same here..

Rubio

What - take first letters of something?

Chris Cudmore

18:28

AABB

Rubio

(Answer of Rhyme 1 ➜ Key to Cipher 1 ➜ Answer of Cipher 1) ➜ Answer of Rhyme 2

^ this is where we are

Chris Cudmore

Re arrange the rhyme

Techidiot

Take first letter? Of Key inventor of noxious looking alternative

Rubio

Kionla ? You've lost me

Two tails of the second; Fourth of the first.
Inverted couples from the second; Breaks my thirst!

Chris Cudmore

Two tails of the second;
Inverted couples from the second;
Fourth of the first.
Breaks my thirst!

Put it in AABB format

Still doesn't help.

Techidiot

18:32

Anagram @Rubio?

Rubio

hang on

Chris Cudmore

You see, about bazooka sixth on fusilli. Jggof lari raynq, gowkwr jwsbqawy! Of lixivia, start loculi nomenclature. Stusr datbf kgakq ugtchkatd eaynq? Fg, zkor ak gk rphrxaslola - Twokt dgbbq xsrprdq, O irxl D-jnk hgog nwxv jawxayq!

Rubio

So - you're suggesting here in chat that we maybe take first letters of the cipher plaintext, and anagram that.

Chris Cudmore

Latin as key

Rubio

Is there something indicating any of that in the puzzle? I see Rhyme 2, which ... I dunno, call me crazy ... appears to be specific instructions on taking parts of the Cipher 1 answer and assembling them into a key.

Chris Cudmore

18:35

Which leads me to believe he's packed that cipher full of red herrings.

I just anagrammed INLAT

Will

I just googled a (somewhat uncommon, but perfectly okay) word for a CC and got "did you mean [NSFW word]" -___-

Chris Cudmore

We're grasping at straws here.

Will

did not want pictures of that

Rubio

lol @will

so @Techidiot - some guidance here would be nice. the puzzle appears clear on what to do. which is markedly different from what your hints here seem to be.

Do we ignore the puzzle and listen to you? :)

I don't get anything meaningful out of anagramming KIONLA.

Chris Cudmore

This appears to be a coffee required problem.

Rubio

18:37

There's a word Kaolin that's some Chinese powder or something.

Nikola? Tesla?

That's ... quite unmotivated, if that's the name we're supposed to get

Rhyme 2 on that, then?

maybe we have two names? This is painful.

Techidiot

Nikola is right.

Noxious alternative current

Next is the cipher.. I said go with the flow

Rubio

ugh.

That's bad.

Techidiot

And I guess you got Latin as well?

Why not decipher line by line

Rubio

well.... we've seen it

but we haven't gotten it

Techidiot

One line at a time

Chris Cudmore

18:46

You see, about bazooka sixth on fusilli.
Roars till eight, tweeze remedies!
Of lixivia, start loculi nomenclature.
Above lines sound confusing right?
So, here is an explanation - Being loved falsely, I left X-mas part very wierdly!

Rubio

Ok, but

how are we supposed to get either LATIN or INTAL from what we have so far

we're at Rhyme 2. We have Nikola (Tesla).

What am I missing to get the key?

Chris Cudmore

NEWTON TESLA

Techidiot

^

Rubio

ok, sure, but

I see L A T [...]

Techidiot

Not that NEWTON NIKOLA

Rubio

18:48

either one gives the AL

Techidiot

Two tails of the second; Fourth of the first.
Inverted couples from the second; Breaks my thirst!

Rubio

we're supposed to see "Inverted" and think IN ?

Techidiot

LA - T- IN

Rubio

yes. I know the letters. EXPLAIN WHERE THEY CAME FROM PLEASE. :)

I don't see how you're getting the IN.

I mean. They're there. I know they're there.

Explain the clue, please.

Techidiot

Yup

Chris Cudmore

18:50

Inverted couple. Could be NI, KO, LA, or other pairing.

Techidiot

Two tails of NIKOLA - LA

Rubio

yah. i know the LAT

Techidiot

Fourth of NEWTON - T

Rubio

you're just expecting "Inverted couples" to click in someone's mind that we just pick two letters and use them? Ohh kayyy.

Techidiot

Inverted couples of NICOLA - IN

Chris Cudmore

18:51

And COLA breaks my thirst.

Rubio

hah. ok, well, I'll take that, I guess ;)

that's an inverted couple

Chris Cudmore

I'm not entirely happy though.

Now to this:

You see, about bazooka sixth on fusilli.
Roars till eight, tweeze remedies!
Of lixivia, start loculi nomenclature.
Above lines sound confusing right?
So, here is an explanation - Being loved falsely, I left X-mas part very wierdly!

Rubio

this is why I get frustrated with your puzzles @Techidiot. The devil actually is in the details. :)

We don't know the answer, so we can't leap past the, um, baroque (or broke) clueing to find it.

Techidiot

Haha..

With NEWTON done, I thought NICOLA was easier to get

I think I made it tougher with stegano.. This last bit is again stegano... Tougher than before :p

You see, about bazooka sixth on fusilli.
Roars till eight, tweeze remedies!
Of lixivia, start loculi nomenclature.
Above lines sound confusing right?
So, here is an explanation -
Being loved falsely, I left X-mas part very wierdly!

This is the right arrangement

Rubio

slapping steganography on a puzzle isn't free license to randomly pick letters out of stuff, you know. :) do we know how we were supposed to be motivated to try random shufflings of LATIN to get to TINAL for the rest of the plaintext, by the way?

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