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13:00
It's 8:00 AM EST so a lot of the USA is still sleeping
Not sure why the Europeans aren't on though
Who's sleeping?
I did say a lot of...
I'm not in the USA :P
Then you had no need to reply to it :P
I am residing peacefully in Tauremornalómë.
13:05
googles
@TheGreatEscaper Fangorn forest.
Yup, found it :)
A NZer?
Ok, ok, I'm here too
Not in the mood for puzzling today :-)
13:10
@Mithrandir I was curious as to whether you were using Fangorn to refer to NZ, or if you were simply reading a novel/watching a movie/playing a game.
I am simply an avid fan.
I am located in the Middle East.
Ah, nice :)
What did you think of the Hobbit Trilogy?
The movie adaptions, that is.
No idea.
Didn't see em :P
@TheGreatEscaper They're not that great, they should've stuck to The Hobbit instead of trying to add Silmarillion to it
@Mithrandir good on you
I made it through the first two, and then didn't bother watching the third.
13:30
@Volatility I see that you accepted the answer of @TheGreatEscaper pretty fast! Maybe you could wait a bit more next time, it will give both of you more visibility :-)
By the way, great puzzle! And you hit HNQ : stackexchange.com/questions?tab=hot
Portugal online (.PT) in free STORE = SPOTTER = enthusiast?
13:48
I'm not feeling that one. There's no anagram hint for PT. Also, I'm not finding a SPOTTER <-> ENTHUSIAST link on either synonyms.com or thesaurus.com. (Which is my personal rule for making a cryptic -- I've got to be able to point to the synonym)
But by all means, let's ping @Randal'Thor
I agree the mixing of pt seems unjustified, but I was thinking of train spotter, bird spotter, ship spotter...
Yeah - I'd buy spotter, but not convinced on PT being anagrammed in with store
Ok, I'll accept spotter.
Meanwhile, My 10 year old has started doing the weekend cryptic with me.
Fun fact; there don't appear to be any words made of PT inserted somewhere in an anagram of STORE, other than "strepto". Which isn't actually a word, just a prefix. And has nothing to do with enthusiasm.
Does "Free Store" have any meaning?
14:00
in a cryptic specifically you mean? None I know of
If I google it, all I get is "Duty Free Store" locations.
No, not in a cryptic. Actual semantic meaning.
FreeStore Android Market
various community outreach programs
The Free Store Chicago thefreestorechicago.org
1
Q: Jester and a Monarch

Going hamateurA jester comes to court one day and entertains the crowd. At one point he makes a remark that reflects poorly of the monarch's intelligence. To preserve his dignity, the monarch challenges the jester to riddle him. A riddle goes in the following manner The one who barely didn't medal The o...

0
Q: Cryptic Rebuses Hit the Books

SilenusIn order to learn more about Emily Dickinson and T. S. Eliot, who made cameos here and here, cryptic rebuses are going to the library. If you're unsure how cryptic rebuses work, you may want to check out this primer. Because these sets are usually answered collectively, I will post a community ...

Wikipedia says it's a store where people can get stuff for free.
14:23
I'm not getting it, but maybe this will help someone: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleph_(novel)
14:41
Internet problems are the worst
That's too true
Also the worst, is for some reason commiting to designing 70+ puzzles for this fortnightly
nice one @ChrisCudmore
(rebus)
Thanks. This one is considerably harder. I got TOKEN,and LOOK UP but was ninja'd. I guess I don't have the literary references.
3 left -- Google, KAF and Roman Numerals
I didn't get TOKEN
TOLKEIN -L, -I
A token attempt at something.
14:52
KAF almost has to be Kafka somehow. perhaps "The Man Who Disappeared" related
Oh, no I understood it. I just didn't get it :)
@Rubio I tried thinking of some Kafka books but none seemed to work well with the rebus
I had scarlet letter but typed RED when i put it in, like a dork. finally fixed it
didn't even realize the error until like revision 6 or something lol
@ChrisCudmore I replied to your email.
I don't recall sending one.
Unless it was last week, regarding the puzzle @TheGreatEscaper and I worked on
Wait what?
Wait, wrong Chris.
Oops :P
14:56
ah. OK>
how many Chrises can there really be in the world anyway?
A lot.
Chrises, crises, same thing.
15:10
@ChrisCudmore "Free" could be an anagram indicator, in theory
Yes, we established that. I'm looking outside that box.
@Khale_Kitha Let's just go with Helen. Would that be acceptable?
Hmm
by itself?
Helen H.
Ah
Certainly cryptic - too much?
15:13
@ChrisCudmore So I'm migrating answers from my compilation into the community wiki
it occurs to me your COGITO is incomplete. what's the def., and how is (e.g.) Cicero involved?
For Cicero cues latin in the same way To Pierre would cue french.
And I added the definition
@Mith Email
won't be here
Cogito Ergo Sum seems good to me
I feel like most of those "rebuses" could just exist as text - regular old cryptic clues
15:18
I wasn't happy with the Aleph one. If the symbol is sufficient in and of itself, then what do we need the rest for?
Well, mostly this set.
I thought the other sets were enjoyably rebussy and cryptic.
well
they're all supposed to work like cryptics.
where one piece, the def., is sufficient in and of itself.
@Mith one last email
the rest is subsidiary (or potentially, a ddef and a subsidiary) that parse out to the same answer.
Silenus seems to be playing fast and loose with his own rules on this one though, in that a good number of these could arguably be just ddefs with no constructed subsidiary.
See if anyone can tighten my answer on 8
15:26
Yeah number 12 seems a bit loose, the def I put is literally a construction. But it's the only thing that constrains the answer.
Why was the riddle "two have four but four have six" removed?
@ChrisCudmore It's already been answered by NeilW - and I tightened his answer up in the community wiki
9 - The search for ????
@Rubio @ChrisCudmore has used 'head' to find a particular title rather than a general phrase.
So better answer, but the gibberish ain't gibberish as I explained
Oh. I see. I didn't realize there was an actual work named this.
15:33
Yes. It's excercises IN Style
Feel free to update the community wiki then :)
I'll merge ours together in the wiki.
So I'm still confused how #13 works. I know the answer is right, but the rebus seems to be entirely subsidiary, no def - @Silenus hasn't done that before, that I can recall.
0
Q: RIddle? Or something else?

Techidiot I ask you fellow puzzler to sincerely apprise, and answer me - Yes or No? Is IV same as LV? I hope not. If you perceive the difference, your first is just fine I would know! I ask you fellow puzzler to dance, dance on that rhythm of the legend Chris Benoit. I'd U, as usual, I woul...

Descartes said that the only thing he could be certain of was what he perceived in his own head. Which lead to the famous saying "COGITO ERGO SUM"
Now, drop the top line, as it's the defininition,
You now have the SUM of "I THINK" for Cicero --> COGITO and SO -->ERGO.
15:42
@ChrisCudmore Ahhh. Now I see it. :)
I think that's the best clue he has there.
Sid
Sid
Okay, Someone explain to me, how this works: "Vexed in Church before reading letters" (9)
Oops I had 12 inside out. So my bad, not setters. Fixed up now, and added to CW.
Yeah, the wiki edit makes perfect sense now.
@Sid Where did that come from?
Sid
Sid
I saw that on the internet.
2
15:49
ok @ChrisCudmore I polished it and put it in the wiki. [def] is now identified clearly.
and damn. forgot attribution. lol
@Sid Ah, the modern bibliography.
Sid
Sid
Hm?
Oh, and old joke. That you could simply attribute everything in a paper with the single line bibliograpy 1. The Internet (Accessed 3AM last night)
Sid
Sid
Lol, true.
@Sid Do you know what the answer is and want it explaining, or do you not know what the answer is and want it solving?
15:53
Probably "CHAGRINED" is the answer..
Sid
Sid
@GarethMcCaughan The 2nd one
@Sid -- Ok, so VEXED is the Definition.
@Techidiot That means something like "vexed" and begins CH; do you have an explanation for the rest of the clue if it's right?
ah
it's CH + anagram of READING
CH-"reading"
Yes that
So LETTERS cues the anagram.
Sid
Sid
15:56
Ok, Another one- "Christie-an name?" (6)
woah. That's awkward.
Sid
Sid
@GarethMcCaughan It's the 1st option for that
I'm thinking AGATHA but I can't parse it.
Could also be marple, poirot,
AGATHA should be correct.
JULIAN From Julie Christie for a name.
16:02
christian name means given name?
@TheGreatEscaper Yes
And that's deliciously gross.
dodgy reading and &lit all rolled into one.
But there's a question mark so all's forgiven.
Sid
Sid
Okay, So how does it work?
The ? cues some mischief afoot
And there's plenty of that
Christie's Christian name is Agatha?
16:04
Agatha Christie. Famous detective novelist.
The whole clue is wordplay for the word
(&lit)
er. actually it's not really, is it - the whole thing is just definition
So you have the literal reading -- CHRISTIE-AN (as an adjective) Name
where the definition itself has some amusing wordplay in it
And the misreading of CHRISTIAN NAME
Sid
Sid
16:08
Oh, So, A Christian Name means another name for a certain name? I have no idea about religions and beliefs of the world. So, educate me on that..
Christian name just means first name.
So, John Smith's Christian name is John.
A Christening is a baptism, where a child is given it's name.
@Rubio Hey, &lits are great!
hang on have I gotten this mixed up
nah, you're right
16:11
yeah, the answer is definitely AGATHA but I can't say I like the clue at all
Sid
Sid
Then, how does that become AGATHA? There could be millions of Christies out there, without the first name of AGATHA?
@Deusovi I'm not actually sure it's a &lit :) I'm not entirely sure what it is, but it draws the eye and the mind to it in a way not entirely dissimilar to a traffic accident. hehe
3
Well, it would have to be a sufficiently wel known CHRISTIE.
(I haven't looked at the actual "clue" yet. It sounds terrible.)
16 mins ago, by Sid
Ok, Another one- "Christie-an name?" (6)
Sid
Sid
16:13
24 mins ago, by Sid
I saw that on the internet.
What's that from? D:
...
And yeah, there really aren't many Christie names that would fit (6) that would be fitting
booooooo
Show disapproval of endless explosion (3)
16:16
BAN
or BOO(-m)
clever!
Actually, I like BOO better.
Boo was the intent
Because Deusovi had just said that :P
Fits with show disaproval better.
I still can't solve cryptics to save my life, though.
16:19
Now if we can just get him to solve rand al'thor's cccc that fast
i'll be happy
I wish D:
ikr? I have no idea
"Portugal online" definitely seems like PT
(and I'm aware that other people said that already, I'm just agreeing with them)
Keep at them --- It took me almost a year of staring at the saturday crossword until I started to get them. A lot of it is familiarizing yourself with the style.
"SPOTTER" was suggested, but ew. that would have "free" doing double duty for the stuff before and after it.
16:20
Im very 'Unskilled in ailing pet' (5) at cryptics, though, Chris :(
It seems semi-promising to me.
Sid
Sid
Okay. I created one myself last night. "Brave woman without her end drug" (6)
Which is nice, because the IN is a misdirection.
drug looks like the def
16:22
HEROIN(-E)
ah, nice
lol. I was trying SQUA[w] and then got pulled away
that's nice
Sid
Sid
(I hope, no one thinks I am trying that)
@Sid I think AGATHA one was more of a crossword clur rather than cryptic.
Any idea what's going on here? puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/47721/…
I'm seeing triples and doubles, which confuses me.
Sid
Sid
16:24
@Techidiot Let me link you to the site, I used. bestforpuzzles.com/daily-cryptic/daily-cryptic.html
...And AGATHA was correct.
D:
What a 'Poor, infested (5)' clue!
(For double-def clues, it's best to choose two completely unrelated definitions. I haven't figured out what synonym of "poor" you're looking for, but it's likely that the "poor" meaning comes from the "infested" meaning.)
Poor, insect infested?
LOUSY
16:28
hehe I told you I'm bad at cryptics.
I suppose that clue is self referential :P
hehe
Someone needs to take out the CCCC
was it solved?
@Techidiot I should have figured out the number portion of your puzzle. I've done that, in my puzzles, at least 10 times. Haha
Btw, just found that tag you were looking for, the other day, Matt - possibly. puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/connections-puzzle
Haha @Khale_Kitha No worries.
16:36
is logic tag correct answer?
Not sure - I put it while I'm looking thorugh the tags for something else
I doubt it, though, because it's an unused tag
I think I should add the tag. And then you can go ahead.. Not sure about the difficulty though. It seems fair to me for now
are we talking about the PSE tags in that question?
Good point, Manshu
blushes
16:38
steganography? lol
Yeah. PSE tag. :)
Thing is that you have solved the riddle part.. the other part is covered by the tag.
Nevermind - it's like the opposite of Steganography =D
@NeilW Good job!
hehe, Tech
It's funny because I would have posted earlier, but I thought that the riddle part was too obvious - and I almost changed it again as I was posting it.
Hold on. I will add the tag :p
16:40
@ChrisCudmore Bird spotter = bird enthusiast, train spotter = train enthusiast, etc. I think it works as a def/synonym?
What cues the anagram of PT?
@ChrisCudmore I dunno, but it sounds good, doesn't it? :-P
spot spotter = spot enthusiast
spot spotter spotter.
@NeilW Do you have another cryptic for us?
16:41
spot spotter spottest
@Khale_Kitha Made it easier :)
hah.....d'uh
I tried to give reasoning for the tag in my answer, but couldn't offhand.
Is there really wordplay?
Yup! Finding the missing tag could have made it too broad :p
Oh, so wordplay isn't the 'tag' answer, then, correct?
nm, you changed the requested question - just saw that
16:49
Updated - not sure about it.
Ok. I Still can't find "Old coin Rex found in butter"
(5)
GROAT is an old coin, and it matches the G?O?T that I have. But I don't see butter from that
GOAT! Head Butter.
Sometimes typing it out helps.
I read this cryptic somewhere: Sweetheart takes Non-Commissioned Officer to dance (8).
American or British?
@Khale_Kitha Sorry. Not right
@Randal'Thor Can you confirm that the CCCC is solved? Is SPOTTER in fact correct?
16:51
@ChrisCudmore British
Army or Navy?
@Techidiot Not really sure what you're asking for, then :/
@GentlePurpleRain Sorry, I thought I'd been clear enough in confirming it.
12 mins ago, by Rand al'Thor
@NeilW Good job!
Yes, SPOTTER is correct.
@ChrisCudmore What's the difference? (in terms of cryptics)
PTE CPL Sgt S/SGT WO1 WO2
@Randal'Thor Regional slang, that's all.
16:53
@Randal'Thor Thanks. I didn't follow the link back, or it would have been clear.
Navy is different.
Who is doing next CCCC?
@Deusovi Oh good. If there were two entirely different sets of rules, I'd just give up :-P
@BeastlyGerbil Neil W.
Nothing different in terms of cryptic rules (though they do vary in leniency a bit, I think), but differences in British and American English can be important.
@BeastlyGerbil It should be @NeilW.
16:55
@Deusovi We've had a few which use both, I think. Like ENDEAVO(U)R.
Well. That one was a pure accident - it wasn't designed that way
I heard Endeavour as Endeavor and made my clue accordingly, but obviously in error
I may or may not have used both before. I don't remember.
@Randal'Thor so how did PT become commingled with STORE to give SPOTTER anyway?
And yes, I know the answer to the one I posted above.
@Rubio I thought there was another clue which actually used both somehow. Maybe I was thinking of that Cook bark puzzle on the main site.
@Rubio "Portugal online" = PT, "free store" = SOTER, put PT "in" SOTER to get SPOTTER.

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