The Sphinx's Lair

incesterror21

1:05 PM

You never sleep?

Deusovi

My sleep schedule is really weird.

I woke up at 2AM today.

incesterror21

That's not weird if you went to bet 8 hours earlier

Deusovi

I went to bed around 9PM.

And finally, on to set 12!

incesterror21

Where can I find all these sets you're talking about?

IAmInPLS

In @TheGreatEscaper's latest puzzle

12

Q: WITLESS - A Puzzling Journey

IMPORTANT! READ ME: The only 'puzzle' parts of this are the links, titled 'Set X', 'Inscription X', or 'Constellation X'. Everything else is flavortext, apart from this readme section, although the flavortext does tell you that the meaning of the inscriptions is not supposed to be deduced until...

grid-deduction

incesterror21

1:14 PM

Thanks @IAmInPLS

So many puzzles within one post

Why not post several?

Deusovi

Because they're all linked.

TrojanByAccident

@Deusovi I didn't sleep

@Sid Is the F-Bomb similar to the A-Bomb and H-Bomb?

Deusovi

@TrojanByAccident More profanity, less death.

TrojanByAccident

@Deusovi interesting...

Deusovi

1:40 PM

Hey KK!

dcfyj

1:54 PM

hiveless hive, wow

Deusovi

Hm?

TrojanByAccident

mhmm

dcfyj

The solution to will's C4

TrojanByAccident

@dcfyj do you cast a vote to ban will from CCCC?

dcfyj

That's really no worse than one of the ones Deusovi put up a while ago

Plus I don't think that's really fair

TrojanByAccident

1:56 PM

why not?

dcfyj

If you don't want him to post one, just beat him to solving it :P

TrojanByAccident

come on, jump on the 7-person bandwagon

Sphinx

3

Q: Russian Nesting Words

Consider the words a, rat, and aerate. These words form a series, each nested in the next: a, rat, aerate. Such a series can be encoded with a clue consisting of the following: synonyms of the words in the series nothing else. For example, the above series can be encoded with the clue: ...

wordplay language word-sequence

0

Q: How were the Russians going to invade the world?

1984 - Location: classified "Commander, we've received a message from a deep cover asset in Russia". "Well decode it then! What does it say?" "It's the enigma asset boss. He doesn't trust ciphers, never uses them. But he's sent us this. Apparently it's the name of Russia's latest weapon, ready...

enigmatic-puzzle

dcfyj

I'm quite content walking

Deusovi

@dcfyj Which one?

dcfyj

1:58 PM

The one I said you were evil for, I don't remember what it was, just that you were evil lol

Ah, it was the rot10 one

Deusovi

Oh, "It makes wet god - disgusting! (6)" for ROTTEN

dcfyj

Yup

Deusovi

Hey, I liked that one.

TheGreatEscaper

xD that's cool.

Deusovi

And it took me forever to find a pair of words that fit.

dcfyj

2:00 PM

I think it's clever you're just evil for coming up with it :P

Deusovi

:D

TheGreatEscaper

Has anyone tried 'Forcibly move my first cryptic clues' (6)

Deusovi

Not yet, busy with your other puzzle.

The summit is hard.

dcfyj

Not that I saw, escape

TheGreatEscaper

@Deusovi well it is the final puzzle.

Oh wait.

:P

Deusovi

2:00 PM

That's a lie and everyone here knows it.

dcfyj

@Deusovi I looked at the puzzle, understood nothing (as usual) so I moved on

Deusovi

That's the point!

dcfyj

The point is that I understand nothing? OK

Deusovi

The point is that you learn by solving.

Did you try set 1?

dcfyj

That's as may be, but I don't think that way

TrojanByAccident

2:02 PM

It's progressive

TM

jk

dcfyj

I looked at set one, saw a bunch of different icons that made no sense. So I moved on

Deusovi

Take another look at it.

Start with the far left puzzle.

TheGreatEscaper

These are puzzles, like Japanese paper pen ones.

First question: 'what do I even need to DO???'

Deusovi

The far left puzzle makes it pretty clear what you need to do.

TrojanByAccident

@Deusovi Or don't, I mean, you could start with the far right, or in the middle if you like

dcfyj

2:04 PM

@Deusovi No, it doesn't

It's just 2 dots

Deusovi

Two dots with a line between them.

dcfyj

Makes me think of a domino...

Deusovi

Each one of these puzzles can be "completed" in some way.

TrojanByAccident

You have to print the puzzle, then cut it in half and glue the bottoms together

sorry for spoilers

TheGreatEscaper

@TrojanByAccident is just joking, don't worry :P

No puzzles arrive solved. And every puzzle has a unique solution.

dcfyj

2:06 PM

The rules are not remotely clear to me

TrojanByAccident

3 mins ago, by TheGreatEscaper

First question: 'what do I even need to DO???'

dcfyj

My thinking that achieves nothing

TrojanByAccident

well

Deusovi

@TheGreatEscaper, should I give him the solution to the first puzzle?

TheGreatEscaper

In Sudoku, you fill in empty spaces.

dcfyj

2:07 PM

These 4k rep I have, is almost all from posting puzzles for a reason lol

TrojanByAccident

think about what the puzzle looks like

think about what you see

TheGreatEscaper

In Nurikabe, you fill in a wall.

TrojanByAccident

and what you can do

TheGreatEscaper

In Hashi, you draw bridges.

incesterror21

@BeastlyGerbil there's your [cipher]

TheGreatEscaper

2:08 PM

In Akari, you place lights.

TrojanByAccident

@TheGreatEscaper *ATARI

TheGreatEscaper

So, in WITLESS, what on earth are you supposed to do?

Deusovi

@TrojanByAccident No, Akari.

dcfyj

Atari is a game system

TrojanByAccident

@Deusovi it was a joke e.e

Deusovi

2:08 PM

Oh, alright

dcfyj

I believe misspelled

TheGreatEscaper

@Deusovi, sure, give dcfyj the answer to 1.1

dcfyj

Either way, still at a loss, thus it'll probably remain so

Deusovi

That's the solution to 1.1.

(The color was arbitrary.)

dcfyj

@Deusovi Thought of that, but it seems inconsistent when you get to the eyeballs.

Deusovi

2:12 PM

What about it seems inconsistent?

dcfyj

Not to mention the triple dot in the corner that only has 2 blank walls next to it

Rubio

What? @Deusovi hasn't finished yet? Class in under two hours young man, get a move on :)

TrojanByAccident

@dcfyj Think about what exactly you're thinking is inconsistent, then think about why you think that, then think about whether that's really what's inconsistent :)

Chris Cudmore

Ok. So set one, we make a valid sudoko by drawing in the cell walls.

dcfyj

sudoko?

Chris Cudmore

2:13 PM

Well, those sudokoish puzzles with odd shaped cells.

TrojanByAccident

@dcfyj it's the parody of sudoku

Deusovi

@Rubio I'm at the summit.

TheGreatEscaper

Under two hours? Okay, I'm willing to place 100 rep on Deusovi won't complete the puzzle before class.

Deusovi

Yeah, I definitely won't.

TheGreatEscaper

Despite being at basically the very bottom of the post

I am almost certain deusovi's completion point is a fair way away.

Deusovi

2:15 PM

I haven't seen the constellations yet, or done anything with the inscriptions.

TrojanByAccident

@TheGreatEscaper He still then has to go back up

TheGreatEscaper

Hehehe.

Chris Cudmore

Nope. When I opened it in paint, I noticed another set to the right. that wasn't showing in my browser.

Deusovi

@ChrisCudmore What?

@dcfyj, have you figured out the first set yet?

Chris Cudmore

These are wide images. Horizontal scroll the browser.

Deusovi

2:18 PM

Yeah, I know. I saw all of them.

Chris Cudmore

I think that's set 1 solved. But it doesn't tell me much.

Deusovi

Each set has five puzzles in it.

TheGreatEscaper

The goal of each set is to slowly broaden your understanding.

Deusovi

(Removed due to spoilers.)

Okay, then continue to set 2.

Chris Cudmore

and now I'm lost

Deusovi

2:20 PM

Then start with the first puzzle.

TheGreatEscaper

The rules never change, by the way.

The rules of every set are 100% consistent.

Deusovi

Not just within the sets, but between them as well.

Only your understanding of the rules changes.

dcfyj

@Deusovi No, I was away from my keyboard, I'm still not seeing how to do the swirly eye and 3 dot puzzle from set 1

Deusovi

What do you think the rule is?

dcfyj

Number of icons = vertically/horizontally adjacent walls

Deusovi

2:26 PM

No, that's not the rule.

TheGreatEscaper

Doesn't the 5s in the fifth puzzle kind of kill that interpretation

What do you notice about these puzzles?

There's some quality that all the puzzles have

It might be easier to see if you don't look too closely.

dcfyj

@TheGreatEscaper The 3 in the corner kills it first

I notice that the puzzles have symbols and pale lines that I apparently am supposed to draw on

Deusovi

So then, could there be some other interpretation of that first puzzle's solution?

Rubio

@Deusovi so close, yet so far

dcfyj

@Deusovi I examined the possibility of reflection but #4 kills that

Deusovi

2:32 PM

You're overthinking it.

TheGreatEscaper

Occam's razor

It's set ONE

It's a very simple rule.

Deusovi

And I'm fully aware of how frustrating that sounds.

TheGreatEscaper

Oops, yeah, that sounded a bit gloaty sorry.

But don't overcomplicate is the point. Look for some solid observation first. And then work out what that observation means.

TrojanByAccident

@dcfyj trust us, though, when you figure it out, you'll be banging your head at how simple it was

hopefully only metaphorically

Deusovi

:34728774 Removed for spoilers.

If the second set agrees with your hypothesis, and you've found a valid solution for all of the puzzles, then go on to the third set!

Chris Cudmore

2:36 PM

And that's really open ended, if I have to add dots.

Deusovi

Each puzzle has a unique solution.

Sphinx

0

Q: Finding Uncle John!

It was a chilly winter night when I was hanging around with some friends. We were gossiping about the recent kidnapping cases where a few of the people from the town were missing. There was a news about a gang with a long history of crimes. They had a kind of weird style of kidnapping. I say this...

cipher enigmatic-puzzle story knowledge

dcfyj

2:51 PM

nope

Deusovi

Nope?

dcfyj

Not getting it, makes no sense

TheGreatEscaper

Which set?

Set 1?

dcfyj

The rules in general

TheGreatEscaper

Do you have discord or something similar?

I can provide step by step hints.

I'd just rather not put anything too spoilery in PSE chat.

Oh, rot 13?

Deusovi

2:53 PM

Or we could give them the solution to 1.3.

That might clear things up.

TheGreatEscaper

True

That's a good idea.

Deusovi

Go here, dcfyj.

dcfyj

What seems to be the rules, seems to not work 2.3, but it sort of works...

Deusovi

No, it works for 2.3.

dcfyj

well, obviously

Deusovi

3:00 PM

What do you think the rules are? (Rot13 to not spoil other people).

dcfyj

If the rules are what I'm thinking they are. I think I've done a puzzle similar to this before

I'll do one better and 47 it: %@ D6A2C2E6 E96 DJ>3@=D 3J 92G:?8 @?=J F?:BF6 DJ>3@=D :? 6249 D64E:@?]

I believe it was rand who said he could read 13 as plaintext

Deusovi

No, not quite. All the puzzles have a unique solution, so your rule would break for 2.1.

:34729336 Chris, too many spoilers.

Hey @Will!

Chris Cudmore

Snape kills Dumbledore! Verbal IS Keyser! He was a ghost all along!

dcfyj

Darth Vader is Luke's Mother!

:P

That would be a plot twist haha

TheGreatEscaper

@dcfyj if Witless isn't your thing, have a funny cryptic:

'forcibly move my first cryptic clues' (6)

Deusovi

3:13 PM

Ah, got it.

ZHFPYR

dcfyj

I suck at cryptics :(. Logic grid are fully in my ballpark (I tend to solve them quite fast) but I normally know the rules...

@Deusovi Ah, I see, clever

Khale_Kitha

@Rubio @Rubio Amenable - Truly == amen, first victim == abel (homophone); liable is the def

Deusovi

So, what were the rules you got from set 1?

TheGreatEscaper

@dcfyj well then you might have an opportunity to catch up to Deus. He's worked out the rules, but's gotten stuck on the logic part. :P

dcfyj

@Deusovi wrong apparently lol

Deusovi

3:15 PM

@Khale_Kitha Declared is the homophone indicator. Liable is the def.

I think your solutions were right, though. I haven't seen them, but I'm pretty sure they were right.

(Considering the rule you told me earlier.)

Khale_Kitha

ah

dcfyj

@Deusovi I did them mentally so it's not like anyone can see them lol

Rubio

@Khale_Kitha nice job

Techidiot

@Khale_Kitha Nice!

Khale_Kitha

Sadly, I clearly have no skill at creating CC's, as has been demonstrated by how critically I get jumped on when I try, so you can do another, if you have one, Rubio.

TheGreatEscaper

3:18 PM

Oooh. That's a really nice clue. First victim == abel is a bit sneaky :P

Khale_Kitha

Got that part up front - rest took me a while

TheGreatEscaper

Hehe. I think I'm just bad at cryptics.

dcfyj

I managed to solve one once and came up with a decent one in return :)

Rubio

@Khale_Kitha but ,.. The chain must not be broken

Khale_Kitha

give me a sec to try, then

Chris Cudmore

3:23 PM

@Khale_Kitha Keep trying. We're not jumping on you, we're helping you improve. CC's are hard, and take practice. Do it in chat, where it doesn't matter.

Deusovi

Yep! If my criticism was harsh before (let's be honest, it was probably me you're referring to with "how critically I get jumped on"), I really didn't mean it that way.

dcfyj

@Deusovi these are the solutions I have for set 1

TheGreatEscaper

That looks good :D

Try to think about what the puzzle in set 2 are telling you.

Will

@Khale_Kitha Hey at least you haven't got people voting on motions to not let you even do CCCCs :)

dcfyj

@TheGreatEscaper That's as may be, but apparently my rule is wrong

Khale_Kitha

3:26 PM

That's becase you're 'too' good.

TheGreatEscaper

@Will you should post a cryptic crossword.

I mean, even a standard cryptic crossword by you

Would be a mammoth task.

Chris Cudmore

@dcfyj That matches what I had.

Khale_Kitha

CCCC: contrary right with snood, a lie (9)

Ankoganit

@Khale_Kitha FALSE+HOOD?

Khale_Kitha

Figured it'd be easy. Doing anything difficult would have made me break too many rules.

Chris Cudmore

3:28 PM

snood
sno͞od/Submit
noun
1.
an ornamental hairnet or fabric bag worn over the hair at the back of a woman's head.
2.
a wide ring of knitted material worn as a hood or scarf.

TheGreatEscaper

@Ankoganit ahhhhhh I just got it

THat wood be (5,4) >

:(

?

I lost my CCCC chance lol.

Khale_Kitha

3:28 PM

falsehood is a single word

Ankoganit

@Techidiot FALSEHOOD is one word

Oh.. okay

Alright, wait a sec

What does RIGHT do?

synonym for true

3:29 PM

Contrary right = false?

Ankoganit

^

Chris Cudmore

I would say contrary is sufficient.

dcfyj

Contrary right = wrong = false

Chris Cudmore

Could be "Contrary Snood: A lie"

Khale_Kitha

@dcfyj That's another way to interpret, yes

dcfyj

3:30 PM

@ChrisCudmore True, I was thinking of right as a directional clue (for the letters)

Khale_Kitha

Not sure I see how contrary == false

Ankoganit

CCCC: With hope at heart, a man is primarily this! (8)

(i'm slightly unsure about it, lemme know if it's not ok)

(but most probably it's ok)

Sid

That looks tough..

dcfyj

Oh well, with begin so unsure about the rules I don't think I'll be able to solve it :(

TheGreatEscaper

@dcfyj in terms of rule deducing, the first half of the puzzle is the hard one

*hard part

dcfyj

3:35 PM

I don't even know what to flag this as...

Lmao. Um....

@dcfyj NAA ofc

NAA

@Ankoganit Yup

ROs. Pin Ankoganit's CCCC.

Khale_Kitha

3:37 PM

@dcfyj I guess some people are unable to deal with not being able to do what they want.

Ankoganit

Besides, is that guy David or Davit?

TheGreatEscaper

Is that guy a guy or a spambot?

Chris Cudmore

That looks like a real person.

Khale_Kitha

Yeah, appears that he wanted to respond to a closed question, but was unable, so posted it in a random spot.

TheGreatEscaper

oh.

Ankoganit

3:40 PM

Spambots would at least give ~~some useful links~~ some spammy ads.

Khale_Kitha

@Sid That works. Kinder than what was in my head.

Techidiot

GPR posted a reply to that one and it was boom -> gone :D

Khale_Kitha

@Sid @Deu @Rubio @Gentle

Rubio

yah?

Sid

Hm?

Khale_Kitha

3:44 PM

Need pins adjusted.

Sid

@Rubio Pin AnkoGanit's CCCC.

@Khale_Kitha I am not an RO

Khale_Kitha

I know, I referred to three people who are

Rubio

sorry - just got back from my inspiration-place.

If you don't know what I mean I can email you. It's a thing I do, apparently:

18

Q: Rubio's weird E-mail

So I woke up this morning to find a most peculiar e-mail from Rubio. It went like this: Skip and hop throughout the land, every other is far too bland. Every fourth is far too grand, to skip and hop within this land. The hare was no hero. However, driving she and guard...

rhyme steganography

Khale_Kitha

Would it be too odd to use yokai to mean demon in a CC?

What if I used "yokai?"

Ankoganit

"Yokai, perhaps" should be ok IMO

Khale_Kitha

3:49 PM

From what I understand the '?' is another form of 'perhaps'

Beastly Gerbil

@incesterror21 ?

Rubio

Not in that context

in the context of a lateralesque definition

Will

A '?' for that purpose is generally only considered fair if the word directly precedes it, i.e., it's at the end of the clue.

Rubio

(or to signal a ddef)

Chris Cudmore

I googled YOKAI and got demon as a def, so I'd accept it, even though I've never heard the word.

Khale_Kitha

3:51 PM

@Will What do you mean?

yeah, basically monster, spirit, demon, etc.

Rubio

@ChrisCudmore Definition by example needs to be indicated though.

Will

^

Rubio

You could say "dog" to mean "husky", but not "husky" to mean dog - if you think about that example for about 3 seconds you'll see good reasons why it's not fair :)

(but "husky, maybe" or the like is fine)

Khale_Kitha

Right, but it was explained to me that saying "husky?" is the same as saying "husky, perhaps"

So I'm trying to find the usage of the '?'

Since that's apparently incorrect

Ankoganit

@Khale_Kitha If the ? appears right after husky, I guess it should be ok

Khale_Kitha

3:58 PM

Okay, thanks. The post about wordplay doesn't actually mention the examples, or the "maybe, perhaps" setup, so I wasn't sure if I understood.

Rubio

it's meant as a brief primer, not as a comprehensive rulebook