The Sphinx's Lair

Rubio

17:00

Oh. you did *that*.

Can you clue a split insertion with a regular insertion indicator? (Can you even DO a split insertion?)

Deusovi

Insertions are typically consecutive :P

Rubio

I confess I haven't seen anyone do that before

We thought you were doing (aa) FREE (bb) → (abab*)

Khale_Kitha

So through instead of in -- snickers

Chris Cudmore

Here comes the Cryptic Inquisition!

Rubio

which is, well, not much better :)

Rand al'Thor

17:01

@ChrisCudmore Nobody expects the Cryptic Inquisition!

Khale_Kitha

I do.

Rubio

Aiiieiiieee

Khale_Kitha

hehehe

Rand al'Thor

@Khale_Kitha Would that have been a better indicator?

Khale_Kitha

Not even sure if it's allowed, but it may have been more direct

Chris Cudmore

17:02

You'd have to anagram the whole thing.

Rand al'Thor

Or put POT in STER instead.

Pity it's not STIR - that would've been a fun clue.

Khale_Kitha

You're just trying to stir....hey, you ruined my joke.

:P

@Tech Are you wanting a literal description of the tag or the reason why it's on the puzzle?

Techidiot

@Khale_Kitha There's a wordplay explaining each answer.

Rubio

so @NeilW is up next for CCCC

Khale_Kitha

Okay.

Rubio

17:06

@Techidiot That's not really word play

Techidiot

@Rubio Which one? None have been found so far I guess. Only the riddle is solved

Rubio

wordplay is more, well - "Sign above music library facsimile machine: IF IT AIN'T BAROQUE, DON'T FAX IT"

Rand al'Thor

New chess puzzle posted.

Techidiot

@Rubio I Didn't get you. The puzzle is not solved yet.

Rand al'Thor

Huh, most of our top chess answerers have more or less disappeared off the site :-(

Rubio

17:08

@Techidiot Hm, ok, I'll reserve judgement. :)

Techidiot

Sure ;) I will come asking for it once done ;)

Mithrandir

I'm an okay chess player, but I'm not great a chess puzzles...

Just Tweeted an author with a SFF question, will see what happens.

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir Which one?

Mithrandir

4

Q: How did the hostages know they were taken by the Vespers?

In Cahills vs Vespers, book 4: Shatterproof, the hostages are aware that their captors are Vespers. In one passage here: Alistair Oh would have given anything for a bite of one of his steak burritos and a sip of something refreshing. Instead he was holding a cold baked potato and a paper cup...

the-39-clues

I was thinking about T39C, so I went and checked the tag on SFF.

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir I bet you were ;-)

Mithrandir

17:11

I;m working on 23, don't worry...

Rand al'Thor

Ah, and the other question with that tag was asked by Sci.

Mithrandir

I'm in the middle of drawing a maze.

Yep, he created the tag.

8

Q: Is The 39 Clues on topic here?

Are questions about The 39 Clues book series on-topic here? They are arguably science fiction, as one central theme is a DNA-altering serum giving people amazing powers.

discussion scope

Rand al'Thor

Oh right.

Bah, I've earned more rep on Movies & TV than on Puzzling today.

This cannot be allowed to continue!

Sphinx

0

Q: Four free rooks for checkmate

You are given a chessboard with a black king at d5, and four white rooks in your hand. You may place the rooks onto the board one at a time, always checking the king. After each rook placed, the king may make a single move according to the normal rules of chess. How should you place the rooks...

chess board-games

Rand al'Thor

Someone (@Deusovi?) should write a good wiki for the new grid-deduction tag.

Deusovi

17:23

@Sphinx I'm sure that's a duplicate.

@Randal'Thor Sure, I'll do that later tonight.

Rubio

@Silenus I believe the community wiki is now current with all answers, hopefully correctly stated.

CCCC (from @NeilW): Throwable party for one time protector of Englishmen (6,3)

Rand al'Thor

@Rubio Wait, what? Did NeilW give you that clue or what?

Rubio

yes

in a comment on the rebus thread.

he actually tagged you too :)

Techidiot

BOWLER HAT? @Randal'Thor

Rand al'Thor

@randal'thor my cccc: Throwable party for one time protector of Englishmen (6,3) on iPad not logged into chat. — Neil W 25 mins ago

Oh, that's odd.

Techidiot

17:28

:[

Beastly Gerbil

How are we going to know if its right?

Rand al'Thor

@Techidiot Not sure why the ping - it ain't my clue.

Deusovi

@BeastlyGerbil Convincing explanation.

Rubio

Presumably he'll eventually return :)

Techidiot

Oops.. Sorry. I was lost in those chats ;)

Rand al'Thor

17:29

@BeastlyGerbil I guess @Rubio could ask him in a comment.

Chris Cudmore

I think that's it.

Khale_Kitha

@Techidiot Yeah, I know - still marked as partial answer, but I don't have any ideas, at the moment.

Techidiot

Okay.

Rubio

one time protector of Englishmen as def for BOWLER HAT, but how does "Throwable party" give it?

Deusovi

anagram of THROWABLE

Rubio

17:36

oh. wow. completely missed that :)

Yeah then that's gotta be it

Deusovi

throwable "partying", in a highly cryptically contrived sense

Took me a while too

Alright @Techidiot, your turn

Techidiot

Sure..

Rubio

oh, and Neil confirms it's the right answer btw

@Rubio it's right - hardly worth the trouble really :) — Neil W 8 mins ago

Khale_Kitha

@Rand Do we have a tool to make an animated chess gif/scene? Having trouble figuring out how to describe an answer.

Sid

@Randal'Thor I have got the answer to your Chess Puzzle. Do I have to show the pic?

Rand al'Thor

17:42

@Sid You don't have to, but it would be nice. Maybe post a picless answer first and then go back to edit it with some pics?

Deusovi

I'm almost positive I've seen that puzzle here before. I can't find it with a search though...

Rand al'Thor

@Khale_Kitha I don't know much about electronic chess tools.

Chris Cudmore

Just use paint and put in the numbers 1-4 for your placements.

Khale_Kitha

Well there's a lot more than 1-4

because the king has multiple choices after each number

Rubio

mannnnnn - why am I half the star board again?

there. hehe

Sid

17:47

@Randal'Thor Never mind, I messed up in the second variation. Check on every move is a bit tough..

TrojanByAccident

@Techidiot *whispers* hurry up, it's been 10 minutes

Sid

@Randal'Thor can we move a single rook twice?

Deusovi

There's no rook moving, only placement.

Rand al'Thor

@Sid You can't move the rooks at all.

Yeah, what Deusovi said.

Sid

One of the variations is pretty easy. The 2nd one is a lot tougher than it looks..

Mithrandir

17:53

@Rubio You're not. You're the whole starboard for me (except for the pinned post)

Rubio

Ok, who's the joker :)

Mithrandir

Obviously, it's @Nobody.

(Who was here - I saw them)

Rubio

There's a few up there not me, for me anyway.

Beastly Gerbil

I'm on the starboard for me

:P

Although it was a sad post from me

Mithrandir

I have two other chats there, so I can only see 4 counting the pin.

Beastly Gerbil

17:55

I can see seven

TrojanByAccident

@Mithrandir Same

Rubio

welp. Unless someone strenuously objects I'm de-starring most of those.

TrojanByAccident

Except I have 3 other chats

Rubio

(Mine shows 10. Dunno what's wrong with all yours.)

Sid

@Rubio The "strenuously object" for some reason reminds me of "A Few Good Men"

Rubio

17:56

Hehee

Mithrandir

Smaller screens?

Rubio

That's where it's from.

Sid

@Deusovi The next mod elections are due in July, right?

Khale_Kitha

@Sconibulus If the king moves down, after the first move, then what?

Sconibulus

slide 2 and 3 from the crappy example left one square

Khale_Kitha

18:02

Fair enough

(Not trying to find flaw, I'm just having fun trying to defeat your tactic)

Up-right, right, down-right

Sid

@Sconibulus Nice one. I was actually looking for multiple cases of king moves. You generalised it. Nice.

Khale_Kitha

reversing 3 and 4 would probably defeat that

GentlePurpleRain

@Sid As far as I know, there are no more mod elections scheduled. If it is determined in the future that the site needs more mods, either because some of the current mods cannot continue, or because the activity increases to the point where the current mods can't handle it, then another election will be scheduled. (This is not definitive; I may be misunderstanding how things work, but this is my understanding.) cc @Deusovi

Sconibulus

the second move seems like the only one that's really constrained, the first move could also be A5, or H5 without rotation, or D4, D7, or D8 but then the second move would be two squares horizontal, rather than vertical

Rand al'Thor

@Sid Mod elections are never "due". They happen when a mod steps down or the current team can't keep up with the work.

Khale_Kitha

18:07

That's what I had in mind to defeat my idea.

And yeah - agreed, Scon

Sid

Oh. I didn't know that.So, in a way, the current mods retain power for a long time till someone becomes tired of it and gives it up?

Khale_Kitha

The most recent Mod Elections were because of moving from Beta to Live

Rand al'Thor

Yeah, site graduation is the only exception.

Deusovi

I mean, I'm sure if everyone's angry with us, then they could elect new mods. I'm pretty sure that'd be unprecedented though.

Rand al'Thor

Also the only time current mods don't automatically continue.

Chris Cudmore

18:09

But the rules say "always checking the king." So the initial move is invalid

Sphinx

1

Q: Spell out your moves and reach the exit

You are a knight, far from your familiar checkered board. You have 9 moves to escape, but there are some rules. Each region must contain all letters matching the number move you are making. So, the first region must contain the letters O, N, and E The space you land on must be the first lette...

logic-grid knight-moves

GentlePurpleRain

@Sid Yep, more or less. If currents mods are abusing their position(s) in some way, the Community Moderators might step in and, in extreme cases, get rid of them, but that would be unlikely.

Khale_Kitha

@ChrisCudmore Putting the rook directly beside the king puts it in check, forcing it to move

Rand al'Thor

@Sid Mod FOR LIFE ... not just for Christmas.

@Deusovi Probably need a better one for logic-grid too.

puzzling.stackexchange.com/posts/47741/revisions

Chris Cudmore

Doh! I was thinking Knights.

Khale_Kitha

18:23

@Rand I really like this new puzzle...

Techidiot

CCCC: Block in a greeting piece. (7)

Mithrandir

in This room is not fine, 1 min ago, by Techidiot

CCCC: Block in a greeting piece. (7)

@Techidiot ??

Khale_Kitha

I just can't find a way for row 3 to have an 'E'

Beastly Gerbil

Yeah we can't obey all the rules. Its impossible

Ii found the path though

Khale_Kitha

The only option would be for the 'E' of Three to be above the existing 'E', which violates the duplicate rule

Yeah, that part was the easy part =D

Beastly Gerbil

18:32

:p

Khale_Kitha

But it does tell you which word goes where

so it's useful

Beastly Gerbil

But the words don't make sense

Khale_Kitha

It's because you don't have the right number

The last 'section' is "NINE"

We start at ONE

I'm not seeing how we can land properly, for 7, either, though

Since we have to land on the 'E'

Unless we somehow have the path incorrect

Sconibulus

Top left of Seven

Beastly Gerbil

Solved it!

Chris Cudmore

18:36

I'm thinking we Start at the O in one, but leave that block from the E. Jump to the T in TWO, move to the O in two, and then put the THREE in the left block.

Beastly Gerbil

I had the answer the whole time

Don't know the letters but Rubio has it mostly right

Deusovi

BG, how is "Ten" the answer? The answer is the filled grid.

It says that you land on the first letter of each word.

Khale_Kitha

We can't leave from a different spot, though, Chris, since it's knight moves

unless I misunderstood

Beastly Gerbil

But it gives out the pattern

Deusovi

Hm?

Beastly Gerbil

18:37

'The space you land on must be the first letter of the word'

Oh wait.

Sconibulus

that duplicate rule is worded very awkwardly

Deusovi

Yeah.

Chris Cudmore

We land, spell out the number, and leave from the end of the word.

Beastly Gerbil

I thought is said 'a word' not 'the word'

Deusovi

What? No.

Beastly Gerbil

18:38

Damn

I'll rollback

Deusovi

No, you land on OTTFFSSEN

you don't leave from the end

only 9 squares are used by the knight

Beastly Gerbil

Massive misconception there

Khale_Kitha

So basically...

That's where I got til I ran into the 'E on 3rd row' issue

Because, Six, Two, and Four don't contain 'E'

Chris Cudmore

In comments, he said the exception was on the E

Deusovi

Switch H and upper E in "THREE"?

Mithrandir

18:40

Okay, finished making first part of Clue 23. I should stop procrastinating.

Khale_Kitha

Right, but there's only ONE double exception

And it already exists in the puzzle

connecting Seven and Eight

Deusovi

Oh.

Sconibulus

There are Eight E's though, so One Exception can't really mean one

that's why I said that rule was worded very awkwardly

Khale_Kitha

Right, so we can have multiple on the row that's already breaking the rules

Chris Cudmore

Which means you can't fill the lower left Seven, as you would dupe on the E or N in ONE

Khale_Kitha

18:41

But nothing on columns, or other rows

Deusovi

Maybe "one exception" means the letter E in general?

Khale_Kitha

But there's still no way to get an 'E' on Row 3 without putting an 'E' above the 'E' in Three

Deusovi

Yeah, so do that.

Khale_Kitha

Possibly, Deu - goes to Scon's point of wording

Rubio

Oh. Didn't know people were working in here on this too. lol

Deusovi

18:42

We work on everything in here. :P

Mithrandir

Especially if the OP is in the room.

Rubio

Well then

Khale_Kitha

In that case

Rubio

I posted what I believe is a complete answer like 20min ago - is it right?

Khale_Kitha

Mithrandir

18:43

@Randal'Thor whatever happened to that feedback?

Khale_Kitha

This allows only 'E' to duplicate - if we re-interpret that rule

Rubio

@Khale_Kitha last rule precludes your solution

swap the E and V

Khale_Kitha

yeah

Rubio

you cannot avoid a dup E on the bottom row

nor a column dup in THREE

Khale_Kitha

or the right column

Rubio

18:44

well - you could move it one over, but so what

swap the lower E and the H

Khale_Kitha

There, finally. Your answer wouldn't show up on that puzzle, for me, unless I completely refreshed the page

Rubio

you still have a column dup - oh, you did that

I avoided the dup with FIVE, so you get the dup there

Khale_Kitha

Missing an 'E' in 5th column, though

Must be from FIVE

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir Whatever happened to that bounty? ;-)

Rubio

Or by flipping H and one E in three

either way.

Khale_Kitha

18:47

I see we have 'V' and 'I' switched, but shouldn't matter

Rubio

It's kind of a mess though

Khale_Kitha

You can have that for your solution, though, to have a non-ascii version, if you want.

Rand al'Thor

@Khale_Kitha Two I's in the third column.

Khale_Kitha

Ah true

Rand al'Thor

I've just completed my answer.

The IV of FIVE and the GH of EIGHT can be swapped if desired.

I left all possibilities in my final diagram.

1

A: Spell out your moves and reach the exit

Full solution with explanation Of the numbers from one to nine: ONE, TWO, and SIX have three letters; we already know which region is ONE, and TWO and SIX are then also given by the W and X already in place. FOUR, FIVE, and NINE have four letters; FOUR is given by the U already in place, NINE ...

Khale_Kitha

18:48

That one rule definitely needed better wording, though.

Sentence is ambiguous

Rubio

@Randal'Thor see my answer. it's the same as yours, exactly :)

Rand al'Thor

OK, got it. You mean we're allowed to have E's duplicated but not any other letter. (At least I hope that's what you mean.) Solution now complete :-) — rand al'thor 17 secs ago

Mithrandir

@Randal'Thor It never existed.

Khale_Kitha

"Two more secret hats, 6 (3,293 times to 3,193 users) and 8,243,721 (354 times to 338 users) were earned by commenting and then cleaning up after yourself. "

Ahh, that's how I got that hat.

Rand al'Thor

@Rubio Well, it would be, since that's the solution :-)

Khale_Kitha

18:52

('6')

Rand al'Thor

I included a full step-by-step explanation though.

Deusovi

Wait, you got both of those from the same thing?

Rand al'Thor

@Deusovi The triggers were related but slightly different.

Rubio

I got mine at different times

Khale_Kitha

It doesn't say, specifically, but it may have been on different days or something.

Deusovi

18:53

Were the names explained?

Rubio

8,243,721 was from deleting an upvoted comment

Khale_Kitha

Yeah, the Blog doesn't mention that part

Rubio

6 I wasn't clear on, but I got it before 8,243,721, so who knows exactly what its trigger was

Khale_Kitha

editing a comment, I think

Sid

@Deusovi I just sent you an e-mail with my latest try at writing cryptic clues. Check it out. :-)

TrojanByAccident

19:02

@Rubio I did that, and only got 6

Rubio

@TrojanByAccident Dunno then - that's what gave it to me

maybe you had to do it twice.

TrojanByAccident

I deleted several

Rubio

Jan 4 at 8:35, by Rubio

@Mithrandir do you know how you got the 8,243,721 and 6 hats?

^ basically this and the conversation which followed -

he told me it was for deleting an upvoted comment. I did. I got the hat a couple minutes later. :)

Khale_Kitha

I'm laughing at myself for considering "Wag" as a potential synonym for greeting, hahaha

Rubio

I'd buy it :)

Khale_Kitha

19:12

haha

"As you walk into the the room, the dog, leaps up and wags in greeting."

:P

Chris Cudmore

>Pet Dog

"The Dog rips your arm off. -3HP"

Khale_Kitha

"The dog, misinterpreting your action, flees to the north."

>Move North

"You cannot go north."

Damn it!

This is me in like every text adventure. Haha

Chris Cudmore

Every F'ing Time!

Khale_Kitha

hehe

Chris Cudmore

You are in a series of twisty passages, all looking alike.

Rubio

19:18

"It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."

Khale_Kitha

>Move North.

"You were eaten by a grue. Game Over."

Chris Cudmore

Suddenly, a wild Sconibulus appears.

Rubio

and it's "You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike." for pedants in the chat room

Khale_Kitha

I really do enjoy text games...

Chris Cudmore

I haven't played that since Grade 10, 33 years ago.

Khale_Kitha

19:20

>X Sconibulus

I never actually played that particular one

Rubio

You're in 43rd grade?

Chris Cudmore

Yup.

Rubio

Nice

Colossal Cave Adventure:
YOU ARE IN A MAZE OF TWISTY LITTLE PASSAGES, ALL DIFFERENT.
YOU ARE IN A LITTLE MAZE OF TWISTING PASSAGES, ALL DIFFERENT.
YOU ARE IN A MAZE OF TWISTING LITTLE PASSAGES, ALL DIFFERENT.
YOU ARE IN A LITTLE MAZE OF TWISTY PASSAGES, ALL DIFFERENT.
YOU ARE IN A TWISTING MAZE OF LITTLE PASSAGES, ALL DIFFERENT.
YOU ARE IN A TWISTING LITTLE MAZE OF PASSAGES, ALL DIFFERENT.
YOU ARE IN A TWISTY LITTLE MAZE OF PASSAGES, ALL DIFFERENT.
YOU ARE IN A TWISTY MAZE OF LITTLE PASSAGES, ALL DIFFERENT.

Beastly Gerbil

In this maze of twisty passages, Rubio goes in hunt of that elusive 10k...

:P

Rubio

Closing in on it

Beastly Gerbil

19:22

Yeah 67 rep

Rubio

It was not a good weekend for the answering of questions.

Beastly Gerbil

You'll have it by tommorow

Khale_Kitha

Rubio steps on a trapdoor and falls several floors, injuring his leg. (-126 rep)

Rubio

Awwman

that's gonna leave a mark

Khale_Kitha

"A rope appears"

Beastly Gerbil

19:23

I hang myself. Game over.

Khale_Kitha

"I do not understand that command. Try again."

Beastly Gerbil

Oh was I supposed to climb that rope? The dark part of me just wanted this game of life to end :P

2

Khale_Kitha

Rubio's the one with the rope appearing, lol..

"The rope, as if sensing being touched, quickly wraps itself around you, and pulls you up several hundred feet. After a few, short, moments, you find yourself back in the twisting maze, back where you started. (+115 rep)"

Rubio

Heeeyyy wait, I'm now down 11 rep.

Khale_Kitha

You did injure your leg

Rubio

19:28

>Approach @Khale_Kitha with rope

Khale_Kitha

"You do not see a rope."

(I was prepared for that)

Rubio

awww.

Khale_Kitha

haha

Rubio

>i

Khale_Kitha

You are carrying: Nothing.

Rubio

19:29

Figures.

Sconibulus

Go Dennis

Khale_Kitha

?

GentlePurpleRain

Confused. Why is the latest CCCC by Techidiot when Neil W solved Rand al'thor's?

TrojanByAccident

@GentlePurpleRain Neil's was posted

Khale_Kitha

2 hours ago, by Techidiot

BOWLER HAT? @Randal'Thor

He replied to the wrong person with the right answer

TrojanByAccident

19:42

2 hours ago, by Rubio

CCCC (from @NeilW): Throwable party for one time protector of Englishmen (6,3)

@Khale_Kitha yeah, lol

GentlePurpleRain

Ah. Was searching for posts by Neil W. That's why I didn't see it.

Khale_Kitha

Yeah, I had trouble finding it, and I saw it happen. - lol

TrojanByAccident

lol

Khale_Kitha

Just gonna post this as an idea, though I'm pretty sure it can't be correct

@Techidiot SEGMENT? Def: Piece - Gem is inside SENT, which is what you do with a greeting.

Just no indicator for anagram and my reasoning for sent is weak

Chris Cudmore

You can't anagram GEM without indicator

Techidiot

19:48

Not the right one.

Khale_Kitha

I figured

Matt

is there a block in a greeting piece, or do we have to block in a greeting piece

that is to say: is block a noun or verb?

Khale_Kitha

Yeah, true

TrojanByAccident

@Matt I think it's actually a block in a greeting piece

Matt

I see

so you don't take a word like "hello" surround it with 2 other letters and end up with a piece*

which is what I was just mulling

Khale_Kitha

19:54

Btw, what was the def'n for Neil's?

Chris Cudmore

piece, not place

Khale_Kitha

Throwable?

Chris Cudmore

bowler hat

TrojanByAccident

@ChrisCudmore I made that typo twice :P

Rubio

Def was one time protector of Englishmen

Khale_Kitha

19:54

No, that was the answer

oh okay

Chris Cudmore

Throwable party was once...

Rubio

Throwable party was the wordplay

as (THROWABLE*)→BOWLER HAT

oops :)

Matt

I also had a thought on the "where in the world" puzzle

but idk what to do with it

Rubio

community wiki answers are not accept✔able for two days?! booo.

Khale_Kitha

Huh

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