The Sphinx's Lair

Beastly Gerbil

18:00

:P

Gareth McCaughan

It's interesting that the other interpretation of "swapping the common letter with the other" seems to work for several of the clues

wry pout [trunch?] hacks ply eight site brisk

Beastly Gerbil

Trunch is a word btw

Gareth McCaughan

surely that can't be coincidence

but I don't see anything in particular to do with it right now

Beastly Gerbil

I just made it so when you swapped a created another word. Taking the new letter from each word gives the final answer

RUTHLESS is the final answer

Sid

Right, @Deusovi Recovered?

Deusovi

18:03

Yeah. (I also just took two exams back-to-back, so that was fun.)

Sid

Because, I probably need to make an apology for raking up that topic.

Gareth McCaughan

how did they go?

Deusovi

Pretty well, I think! Made a very minor mistake on the mathematics exam (that I'm still kicking myself over), and I'm pretty confident on the comp. sci. one.

@Sid, it's not your fault! I'm angry at Rubio, not you

Gareth McCaughan

well done! what was the minor error in the mathematics one?

(feel free not to answer)

Rubio

It was all my bad, and I do apologize.

Deusovi

18:05

We had to integrate (√(x^2 + y^2))e^(x^2 + y^2)^(3/2) over a sector of a circle by converting to polar coordinates. Should've been the easiest question on the test, but I accidentally converted the exponent of e to r^(3/2) instead of r^3, which made it impossible.

Beastly Gerbil

@GarethMcCaughan I suppose I could have made the new words say something, maybe along the lines of 'you completed the puzzle!' or something. Maybe next time.

Gareth McCaughan

@Deusovi oops! Easy mistake to make, though.

Beastly Gerbil

@Deusovi if it gives you any comfort, I don't know a single thing you just said

Rubio

I recognized "circle".

dcfyj

I know integrate :P

@Rubio Well, that too

Gareth McCaughan

18:06

incidentally, are you familiar with the way you calculate the integral of exp(-x^2)?

Beastly Gerbil

Well apart from the actual eqation, circle and squares and indicies

Rubio

;) actually I got most of that, but I'm too far along from having done this stuff to actually understand the math

Gareth McCaughan

(I ask because it's (a) rather cute and (b) closely related to that question)

Sid

@GarethMcCaughan Isn't there supposed to be some theorem for that?

Deusovi

Yep!

Gareth McCaughan

18:07

yeah, and I'm talking about how you prove the theorem

dcfyj

@Deusovi can an enumeration have punctuation where the anagram of it does not?

Deusovi

Sure, it can. Anagrams don't use punctuation.

Sid

I remember my Maths teacher blabbering something about that and then saying, "it's not in your syllabus. First, be thorough with what's in your syllabus".

Gareth McCaughan

you generally ignore punctuation when doing anagrams

dcfyj

@Deusovi Yay ^^

Gareth McCaughan

18:08

but I can't escape the feeling that I've misunderstood the actual point of @dcfyj's question

dcfyj

:P

@GarethMcCaughan

yesterday, by dcfyj

Oh, I just thought of a very interesting cryptic puzzle. It'll probably take me a while to make it though.

Gareth McCaughan

@Sid so you want to integrate exp(-x^2) from -oo to +oo. The square of that will be the integral of exp(-x^2) exp(-y^2) over the whole of R^2. Now turn that into exp(-(x^2+y^2)), convert into polar coords, and notice that you end up with the integral of something that's obviously a derivative.

dcfyj

(So you can see without clicking)

Gareth McCaughan

If you haven't seen it before, you should do it because it's cute.

dcfyj

cute?

Deusovi

18:10

Yes, mathematical proofs can be cute.

Gareth McCaughan

yeah, lots of things in mathematics are cute

(some are also acute, but that's different)

Beastly Gerbil

specially acute angles. It is a cute angle indeed

2

Gareth McCaughan

(although I believe "cute" and "acute" actually have the same etymology and maybe used to be the same word)

Deusovi

(that would make sense - they could both mean something to do with "small")

dcfyj

@BeastlyGerbil 1 "c" in acute

Beastly Gerbil

18:11

yeah oops

Gareth McCaughan

I don't think smallness is actually the connection -- I think it's more to do with sharpness, and it's "cute" that used to mean something different.

Deusovi

Oh, really? Huh.

Gareth McCaughan

@BeastlyGerbil while you're fixing things, note that "specially" is a bit garbled there too.

Beastly Gerbil

My fingers are tired. Blame them :P

And again...

Sid

R^2 as in radius of a circle of Radius R?

Deusovi

18:12

It apparently meant "clever" originally, and then was changed around 1834 to "pretty".

(According to Wikipedia, at least.)

@Sid R^2 as in the Cartesian product of the real numbers with themselves. (That is, the xy-plane.)

Gareth McCaughan

Yeah. Seems to have gone via schoolboy slang along the lines of "cunning" which at one time had very broad slangy use for assorted positive qualities.

Sid

You mean, RXR?

Gareth McCaughan

@Sid yes, what Deusovi said. Cartesian product of the real line with itself.

when you convert to polars, don't forget the "Jacobian" factor arising from the different areas of dx dy and dr dtheta.

Sid

There, I give up. Too much work..

Beastly Gerbil

Okay, next up BIOCRYPTICS and PHYSICRYPTICS :P

I thought 'pitiable coder' was pretty nice too...

Sid

18:15

Yay for PhysicCRYPTICS. Nah for BIOCRYPTICS

Gareth McCaughan

@Sid it's like two minutes' work. But never mind; you don't have to do it if you don't want to!

@BeastlyGerbil yes, "pitiable coder" is nice.

Beastly Gerbil

@Sid yeah I don't like biology either

Sid

@GarethMcCaughan What's Jacobian Factor?

Gareth McCaughan

When you do a change of variables in an integral, you need a correcting factor that in one dimensions looks like d(old variable) / d(new variable).

In higher dimensions, it's something a bit more complicated; it has to be the ratio of (signed) areas/volumes of the infinitesimal regions you're adding up.

So e.g. you should think of dr d(theta) as being like a region of a circle obtained by letting r and theta both vary by a certain amount

and the actual area of that depends on what r is because the actual distance around the circumference corresponding to d(theta) depends on r

so integral [stuff] dx dy = integral [converted stuff] r dr dtheta

I said "Jacobian" because that area ratio is given by the determinant of the matrix describing the (local) linear relationship between d(new variables) and d(old variables), which is the matrix of partial derivatives, which is called the Jacobian.

(After the mathematician Jacobi.)

(Not to be confused with the Jacobeans, who are another kettle of fish entirely.)

(or the Jacobins, who are a different nother kettle of fish.)

Sid

So, basically what you are saying is, say, x=y^2. So, dx=2ydy. and dy= dx/2.x^1/2?

Deusovi

18:21

The Jacobian is the equivalent of the "2y" there, but for higher dimensions.

Sid

Oh, we go to 2D and 3D?

Cool!

Deusovi

Yep, multivariable calculus.

Sid

I would probably look into those later...

I am messing up routine maths stuff in classes. And The teacher is furious with me...

dcfyj

I hate being unsure of a puzzle piece...

Sid

How is a cryptic puzzle different from a cryptic clue?

Deusovi

18:29

Hm? What do you mean by a "cryptic puzzle"?

Sid

Exactly. What does that mean?

dcfyj

lol

Gareth McCaughan

"cryptic" often just means "difficult and obscure". If someone calls a puzzle cryptic they may just mean it's meant to be confusing.

Deusovi

Well, I can't answer your question if you don't define the terms.

Sid

20 mins ago, by dcfyj

yesterday, by dcfyj

Oh, I just thought of a very interesting cryptic puzzle. It'll probably take me a while to make it though.

^^This

Gareth McCaughan

18:30

A cryptic crossword is a crossword that's much more confusing than (what was when cryptics started to appear) a standard crossword. It happens that a particular sort of cryptic clue became standard and is now what everyone means by "cryptic crossword".

dcfyj

@Sid :P

Gareth McCaughan

But that's a special case. Normally "cryptic" doesn't mean anything so specific.

(It comes from the Greek word for "hidden", by the way. Same as in "apocryphal" or "cryptosporidium".)

Deusovi

(Or "crypt".)

Gareth McCaughan

er, yeah

Deusovi

:P

dcfyj

18:31

Anyhow, in that circumstance, I just meant a cryptic clue puzzle

Gareth McCaughan

I don't always think of the simplest examples available, despite being a mathematician. (In mathematics you always look first for outright trivial examples. I obviously haven't internalized and universalized that habit quite enough.)

so, anyway, in this particular case @dcfyfj indicates that @Sid should understand the exact opposite of everything I said.

Sphinx

18:54

0

Q: Geographical statistics

Today I received a list of what looks like random letters and numbers, divided into 6 separate groups. I'm told they are some kind of geographical statistics. Can you figure out what it's about? And what are the missing numbers in Group 2? Group 1 GEM: $\{0.71,0.29,0.29,0.29,0.57,0.57,0....

dcfyj

19:11

random cc popped into my head lol. not sure if it's valid.

Savior? I, ah, removed. Made mess. (4)

Maria Deleva

@GarethMcCaughan Group 1, GEECE - Greece, Group 2: Q should be Qatar, E B EMES - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, Group 3: BSW - Botswana, MCC - Morocco

I believe they are divided by continents

So, first group is Europe, second group is Asia.

Gareth McCaughan

19:44

I actually think Q is Iraq because "Iraq" has length 4.

Sconibulus

@Sid "Boycott the trivialities" I took to mean "Ignore the small words", so dropped Her and Is

Beastly Gerbil

hehe I love HNQ

dcfyj

I love how the OP basically changed the whole answer post in a recent edit (I rejected, because no)

Sconibulus

They didn't actually seem to change anything, just added a bunch of (seemingly) superfluous words

dcfyj

Some of the meanings seemed completely different to me

Beastly Gerbil

19:47

let me guess, soha?

dcfyj

yup

He's very edit happy

Beastly Gerbil

*she

dcfyj

Either way

Sconibulus

this revision?:puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/48881/…

It strikes me that each of those phrases is essentially identical to what was implied/given in the answers, but I'm leaving it alone because I believe that while I don't find it helpful, it's plausible that someone might

(leaving it alone means not casting my OP supervote, I would have cast a standard rejection)

dcfyj

I'm kind of wondering why she didn't mark sid's answer as the correct one?

It's incredibly similar to yours

@Sconibulus It's your post she's trying to edit, do what you will.

Sphinx

19:51

0

Q: The spy who confused me

"Sir! We just got a message from our undercover agent.", tones a private. "Well, what does it say?", replies the general. "We're not sure, sir. It doesn't make any sense.", answers the private. Looking at you the general hands you this message. "Figure it out!", he shouts. RECORD = 3532919...

steganography cryptic-clues

dcfyj

There it is, good job sphinx, only took you a few minutes.

Beastly Gerbil

Looks interesting, although it seems every part of it is a cryptic clue, along with steganographic instructions

Bet the 'record' part are the enumerations

dcfyj

It's possible I made it too hard, time will tell

Be sure however, that the enumerations are there.

Beastly Gerbil

Chaotic Tranship helix has to be an anagram of 'tranship helix'. I can see 'sphinx' in there

dcfyj

(in the missive, not necessarily the specific location you mentioned)

Beastly Gerbil

19:56

Answering...

Oh

I think I got something!

Sconibulus

Hmm, I might hit 10k tomorrow

dcfyj

I won't :P

Beastly Gerbil

Posted answer

That was cool!

No idea what next though... As the answer so far says, too much work

@dcfyj oh sorry

dcfyj

lol

Beastly Gerbil

Is that the 'final' answer?

dcfyj

20:01

It was an avenue I hadn't expected

Yes

Beastly Gerbil

And I skipped out the bit too that?

dcfyj

Your last spoiler is the final answer, you skipped from the beginning straight to the end, hahaha

Sconibulus

I was busy imagining a sighted train

Beastly Gerbil

:P

Okay, so I have to solve the other cryptics now...

dcfyj

Yup, and as I said, the enumerations are there.

Beastly Gerbil

20:04

Oh ok

I edited to clarify I skipped to the end

dcfyj

I saw and still think it's funny

Beastly Gerbil

I remember Deus did the same to me on SYW

It was annoying but funny

dcfyj

I really wasn't expecting that. Apparently I shouldn't have put the helix in there.

Beastly Gerbil

:P

Sconibulus

...so the spy resigned due to laziness?

Beastly Gerbil

20:07

I have no idea about the other cryptics btw

dcfyj

@Sconibulus I just saw sid's message and thought it was perfect since I didn't need to post some random conspicuous message myself :P

@BeastlyGerbil Remember, both tags are important.

Beastly Gerbil

oh yeah stegaography...

Sconibulus

the downside is @Sid can ruin your puzzle at a moment's notice

Beastly Gerbil

I wonder what stop means?

dcfyj

@Sconibulus Thankfully I picked sid's message and not Arbitrary Kangaroo's

Beastly Gerbil

20:10

he

it would have been so ironic if Sid solved this

dcfyj

I was kind of hoping he would :P

Beastly Gerbil

hey, our icons are similar and often get confused, thats good enough right? :P

dcfyj

We'll roll with that :P

Sconibulus

I'm bad at remembering icons, when people change their names I'm confused for a long time

Beastly Gerbil

blind train, braille?

dcfyj

20:13

I'm guessing you're thinking "out loud"?

Beastly Gerbil

I cna translate train to braille easily enough

doesn't look like anything though

Sconibulus

blind train probably means 'tran'

dcfyj

Why do I get the feeling that you'll be finding the enumerations last?

Beastly Gerbil

I can't fing them

*find

expressed in communique = muniq = munich?

Sconibulus

muniq->munich wouldn't be legal without some sort of indicator I don't think

Beastly Gerbil

20:16

well the accent makes it sound like that

Sconibulus

also, I just figured that one out :)

dcfyj

What one?

Beastly Gerbil

Oh, going to post a partial?

Sconibulus

only if I find something more in the next five minutes or so

otherwise I'll just post it here and let you steal it

dcfyj

If he has the solution to another cryptic, I've a feeling you'll be solving the puzzle as a whole, rather quickly

Sconibulus

20:19

ahh, yeah, I got it :)

dcfyj

Found the enumerations?

Sconibulus

nope :)

Beastly Gerbil

Do you mind if I add your answers in mine?

dcfyj

lol, all three solved without find the enumeration for either of the last two

"...so I think we're just missing Steganography."

Yup, that would be the enumerations lol

Sconibulus

was it supposed to be the letter counts? Because I get 10/7 rather than 9/7

Beastly Gerbil

20:23

So enumerations are 10 and 7

dcfyj

10/7 are the correct numbers

Beastly Gerbil

whats the stop bit too?

dcfyj

transcript is 10 letters and message is 7 letters

Sconibulus

oh, I just don't know how to count :)

Beastly Gerbil

:P

dcfyj

20:24

@BeastlyGerbil The STOPs were just stops. (think telegram)

Sconibulus

STOP is because it's a telegram, represents end of sentence

I think

Beastly Gerbil

yeah, wondering if it was part of the puzzle

Well we worked backwards from the answer to find the start :P

dcfyj

Nope, they were just there

lol, yup

I hope it makes sense how to build the address from the three ccs

Beastly Gerbil

yeah

dcfyj

Also, building CCs and requiring a certain word count is pretty annoying lol

Gareth McCaughan

20:26

I can't quite figure out whether everyone has worked out where the enumerations were hidden, though dcfyj has just given it away

I'm guessing the answer is yes, Sconibulus figured it out, but above he wrote "letter counts" where he meant "word counts".

boboquack

I'm surprised no one told me off for posting my homework here :D (and that no-one's made progress either)

dcfyj

It's already in Beastly's answer

Gareth McCaughan

which is unfortunate because letter counts just are what enumerations are.

oh, I haven't seen the latest version of Beastly's answer

fair enough

dcfyj

I wouldn't just give away information, that's no fun :P

Sconibulus

yeah, I just messed it up because I was typing while thinking ahead

dcfyj

20:28

@boboquack Time to find your post to tell you off :P

Beastly Gerbil

@dcfyj quick q: was the message supposed to be transcript message the shpinx's lair ot transcript message location (locale) the sphinx's lair?

dcfyj

I was thinking that word count was a very common steganographic means, but clearly I was wrong >.<

Beastly Gerbil

First letter of words is more common IMO

Sconibulus

word counts are in the top five, certainly

boboquack

5

Q: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a comet!

Ummm... this is a little embarrassing, but I need a bit of help with my homework... I got a riddle from English class, which I have no clue where to start deciphering: Air I miss, comet I be, Round, with a tail at the back. Or is there? No, you may hear... Up I would still be missed, u...

riddle cipher knowledge english steganography

dcfyj

20:29

True, but I've seen the other used on this site as well

Sconibulus

word counts, letter counts, first letters (sentence or word) and last letters are probably the top four

dcfyj

@BeastlyGerbil (Message Locale) (Chaotic Transship Helix)

Sconibulus

Oh, also random-seeming typefaces

dcfyj

(def)(wordplay)

Sconibulus

I don't know if Message Locale is a fair def for The Sphinx's Lair :)

dcfyj

20:31

"Chat room"

Sconibulus

it would be a fair def for Chat Roomn

dcfyj

And if it's not a valid CC, well it doesn't have an enumeration :P

Sconibulus

I think leaving it as a def-less wordplay is probably better than claiming it as a Cryptic

Beastly Gerbil

@Sconibulus and @dcfyj Community wiki to be accepted?

dcfyj

@BeastlyGerbil I decided a while back to wait ~24 hours before accepting answers. Gives people plenty of time to see the question and its answers

Beastly Gerbil

20:34

yeah I usually do the same

dcfyj

It's up to you if you want to wiki it.

Beastly Gerbil

@Sconibulus ^ ?

Sconibulus

You grabbed the final answer on your own, why not leave it

Beastly Gerbil

well I got the final answer, you solved the middle...

dcfyj

Really you both solve 50%

You solved a cryptic and the final answer, he solved the other two cryptics

Beastly Gerbil

20:40

2 v 2

dcfyj

Round 1. FIGHT!

Beastly Gerbil

:P

tbh I want @Sconibulus to get 10k, so maybe accept his?

I'll get 15k hopefully soon, but thats not as big as 10k

Sphinx

0

Q: Tips for doing steganographic puzzles

Sconibulus - The Sphinx's Lair 20:30 9/2/17 'word counts, letter counts, first letters (sentence or word) and last letters are probably the top four' So what are the top, say 10, techniques in doing steganographic puzzles?

steganography

Beastly Gerbil

too broad ^

dcfyj

Whichever answer I accept you'll both need to agree on and it will need the whole puzzle. I'm not overfond of accepting answers that only have a piece.

Also opinion based, in my opinion :P

Beastly Gerbil

20:44

Ah A beautiful round rep number

dcfyj

?

Ah

Beastly Gerbil

I have 14'700 rep

dcfyj

So I should downvote something, right?

Beastly Gerbil

:P

dcfyj

Lol "closed as too broad". That's not what I voted for!

Wow, that got hammered fast

Anyhow, you two (@BeastlyGerbil @Sconibulus ) haven't agreed on who's getting the tick

boboquack

20:47

@dcfyj What did you vote for out of curiosity?

Deusovi

Sorry! I had to pick one, and both seemed good.

dcfyj

What I said earlier, primarily opinion based.

@Deusovi It's fine, I just thought it was funny that it said I voted for too broad.

By the way, did you see the last CC I put up?

Deusovi

Yeah, it always does that - whatever the majority answer is.

Yeah, but I only briefly glanced at it

dcfyj

What if there's a tie?

Ah ok.

I'm always interested in your opinion about CCs I post :P

Deusovi

No idea. I think it takes the last one?

Sconibulus

20:50

@dcfyj Yes we did, we both said "Not me!" :)

Beastly Gerbil

hmm I never said that?

Gareth McCaughan

I don't see that boboquack's question about steganography was delete-worthy. It's not all that different from, say, Deusovi's (rightly) much-upvoted question + answer about cryptic crossword clues.

dcfyj

@Sconibulus That's not what I'd call an agreeance.

Beastly Gerbil

I said I wanted to give it to you to help for 10k

Sconibulus

It cited unreliable sources

dcfyj

20:51

@Sconibulus What did?

Gareth McCaughan

I mean yes, it's pretty broad, but so is "tell me everything that can happen in a cryptic crossword clue".

Beastly Gerbil

Think he meant I

Deusovi

Mine's not "tell me everything that can happen". It just asks about the basic structure of a cryptic clue, and I went overboard with the answer.

dcfyj

@GarethMcCaughan I'd say because he answered his own question (Deusovi that is) it made it not too broad

Sconibulus

@BeastlyGerbil yeah, you wanted to give it to me, I wanted to give it to you; so I paraphrased

Deusovi

20:52

@dcfyj I don't think broadness should depend on who answers.

Sconibulus

@dcfyj I was referring to boboquack's question

dcfyj

Also, CCs have very specific rules, unlike steganography

Sconibulus

me spouting a thing in chat is very unreliable

dcfyj

Lol, but you did so much research before you posted that :P

Sconibulus

Hmm, I think I know where you can buy a bridge...

Deusovi

20:54

Every one of my messages is peer-reviewed before being posted.

dcfyj

Really? that's rather extensive

Sconibulus

Mine are peer-reviewed after posting, unless you guys are ignoring me again

Beastly Gerbil

what if you want to post a quick answer?

Deusovi

Then I get peers who are really fast at reviewing. :P

dcfyj

Looks over @Deusovi's shoulder, no don't type that

Beastly Gerbil

20:57

@Deusovi so who reviewed the comment you posted in answer to this question? :P

Deusovi

Dcfyj did, see?

dcfyj

:P

Beastly Gerbil

And that one

?

dcfyj

I don't even remember where you live lol

Beastly Gerbil

I'm just going to keep doing that for every comment you post now :P

Jan

21:01

@GarethMcCaughan could you explain here please?

Gareth McCaughan

@Jan about the chemicryptics? sure

Jan

Thanks mate :)

Beastly Gerbil

I'm here too if you need anything explained

Gareth McCaughan

so the idea is that each clue divides into (1) a word and (2) anagram fodder. The anagram fodder yields the name of a chemical element, which you turn into its symbol; it is always a two-letter symbol. Then the word and the element symbol have one letter in common, and the letter you need is the other letter of the element symbol.

Alconja

I'm here too if you need any snarky comments

4

Beastly Gerbil

21:03

:P

Jan

Ah the one that they don't have in common?

Gareth McCaughan

So for the first one we have (1) WAY and (2) ORGAN yielding ARGON yielding Ar. The common letter is A; the other letter of Ar is R.

yes.

Jan

Snarky comments are always appreciated

I thought it meant take every other letter of the symbols. Which if you alternate them happen to spell "Authless"

Gareth McCaughan

Yup. That's coincidence.

Jan

For TECHNETIUM Tc both T and C are in both words

Alconja

21:05

Glad to see deus' CC still stands. Was feeling stupid yesterday when I couldn't get it after he implied it was a quick easy one.

Jan

Oh no sorry sorry

Gareth McCaughan

as I take it you've now noticed, no T in CRUNCH :-).

Beastly Gerbil

@Jan if thats true there is a mistake, I chose words which didn't have both as that would arose confusion over which to swap

Jan

No no I messed up, it's correct

Still waiting on those snarky comments tho

Alconja

Bah. Write 'em yourself. :P

Jan

21:10

I thought I just did

Thanks for the explanation Gareth!

Beastly Gerbil

Oh and welcome to puzzling @Jan

Jan

Thanks, it seems most of this stuff goes way over my head though :)

Alconja

Sometimes i just read everyone's comments as snarky and sarcastic... "Thanks for the explanation Gareth!"

Jan

I think that would've qualified as a self burn

Beastly Gerbil

I find if you put 'geez' om the end of any sentence it becomes sarcastic and souns like your fed up

Jan

21:13

If I imply that the explanation was stupid, then how stupid am I for needing it?

The answer is very

Beastly Gerbil

just very? :P

Jan

In case you didn't understand that

No no, more like VERY

Alconja

I'm losing track of who's being sarcastic now

Jan

VERY

gooooood

Alconja

@BeastlyGerbil Save the refu!

Beastly Gerbil

21:16

Alright @Alconja thats enough. geez. :P

well night all! I'll be around at 4AM GMT though, so my night is going to shorter than usual

I'll be like @Rubio :P

Rubio

random sleep hours? hehe

Alconja

g'night

Jan

night!

Rubio

Ahhhh.... work fascinates me, I could stare at it for hours.

boboquack

Does doing it fascinate you?

Alconja

21:26

@Rubio want some more then?

boboquack

WARNING!!!

Jan 21 at 22:22, by Alconja

@incesterror21 You can work for me. The only thing lower than my expectations is the pay!

Rubio

21:42

My goal is to completely wall myself in with stacks of unfinished work. So I'll have a defensive barrier already in place when managers come looking for my head. :)

Puzzling Meta

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Q: Capture the flag

I just looked at Should we disallow "capture the flag" puzzles where the user has to install software? If the source code of the program is given as text in the question, is it acceptable to post these sorts of puzzle on the site? Users would then need to copy and paste the code, however they ca...

discussion

Sphinx

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Q: My Uncle's inheritance

It seems to be really common these days, but I too have a mysterious uncle that recently passed away. As all good uncles do, he was into puzzles and enigmas. After his death I have inherited his house, a really big manor far from the city. Today I decided to go there to check it out. It took me...

logical-deduction enigmatic-puzzle story visual

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