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12:02 AM
well, that certainly makes it easier...
I miss the question marks in part 5 :(
well, either I'm bad at mahjong or doing the same thing in part 5 gives nonsense
as the former is definitely a possibility, you're still welcome to try
 
12:44 AM
gah, I tried that for part 3 but got nonsense
 
did you see my edit, @Deusovi?
it's definitely not nonsense
 
1:11 AM
so does that mean add the numbers for 3?
or concatneate?
 
add, and yes, I saw your wdit - can't look at it now (on mobile)
 
ffao bascially changed some of the tiles in the usual case
 
I saw
 
then what do you mean
 
can't look at it in more detail
 
1:16 AM
oh,
did you get anything from the numbers
if you do (1-26)-(a-z) you get a almost anagram of a really old japanese man
 
if you add then convert to letters you get Jiroemon Kimura age
who, yes, is a really old Japanese man
 
facepalm i was starting at gae for so long
im bad
but 116 isn't a valid triplet? @ffao
or does it not have to be
 
1:46 AM
@thecoder16 It doesn't have to be.
999 happened to be a valid triplet, but the other one (573) was not.
 
ok
do you know if there will be a final answer?
 
Not sure. There may be, but the final answer also may span multiple puzzles.
(This is part 1, after all.)
 
so it seems we are looking for a bunch of triples?
 
Not necessarily. The first gave us two digits, not three.
 
(though the first one, we didn't 'know' what triples were)
 
1:51 AM
@Deusovi just a thought: akb48 has 136 members?
 
(and all the clues were with 2 digits anyway)
 
@thecoder16 If that was necessary, "48" would have been in the clue
at least, I think so, knowing Sp
 
well, you definitely know him/her better than me
 
@ffao, you there? Any progress with the new tiles in Get Ready?
 
I did the first 6 or so, then got nonsense with the descriptions and did not finish
 
1:54 AM
Nonsense with the descriptions?
(Keep in mind that we need to reorder them.)
 
um, I meant extractions, but I'm half asleep
 
...I can tell :P
 
should we try and list all possible replacements?
 
@Deus do you mind if I edit 'this post contains spoilers' at the top? Part of the post is kinda-spoiler territory but isn't spoilered
 
That, then extracting like section 3 is the plan.
 
1:56 AM
I had this for the first few
1C→1B
5D→1C,3B
2C→6C,8C
8D→1C,2C,4C,5C
4C→1D,4D
5C→2B
3C→9C
 
@ffao Aha, so that's your secret... :)
 
@boboquack Go for it. (Preferably we'd edit in spoilers, but spoiler syntax is annoying and I'm lazy.)
 
yes, @Alconja, instead of being awake or asleep, I'm always half-asleep :P
 
AMI EB...
seems plausible to me
 
i think i 'll try the rest as ffao seems to be dead at 7pm
 
1:57 AM
wait, it was D then C
that means it ends in AMIEB
maybe you're missing one for 5C?
 
yes, that's what I thought was really weird, that doesn't look like an ending
you might want to recheck all of them, you made some mistakes in 3 and here it's even easier without the question marks to say how many
 
hm? it's easier without the question marks?
...you mean harder?
go to sleep ffao
 
LOL
I'm impressed with how much sense I'm NOT making right now
 
are you sure that sentence is correc t:P
i'm fairly certain 5C only maps to 2B @Deusovi
there already are 3 triplets and i don't see a way around that
 
yeah, I think you're right :/
but ending in B doesn't happen in Japanese, and it doesn't really happen much in English
 
2:01 AM
rob
bob
yeah
i now want to try to figure out @ffao's sleep schedule
i'm confused how someone is tired at 7pm
 
if you figure it out, do tell me
 
this may be useful
dunno
 
starring for my reference
actually just saving the link
i'll think more about this later meh i think my sleep schedule is almost as weird as ffao
 
@ffao 5C doesn't go to 2B - it can only go to 1B or 4B
thecoder, wanna help?
 
Sorry. I can't do it now. I'll be happy to check your work if you guys are done by tomorrow or help fibish
 
2:14 AM
@Deusovi Sorry about that :/ I correctly had the English part of the clue first for part 1, but I should have flipped it for part 3 and started with AGE OF in hindsight
 
@Sp3000 nah, I think the issue there was my errors :P
1: 3B (and I think that's it?)
2: 7D, 6B, 3B, 9B
um that starts CV
is 7D intended for 2?
 
Which part is this for? 5?
 
Yeah
(2 being the one where 2D is removed, not the second one)
 
7D is intended, nice work
 
hm, alright. then I must have something wrong with 1
unless the message starts CV
 
2:18 AM
1 is wrong though
 
ah, 2C also works
 
And 2 isn't V
 
that makes EV, much more promising
...oh
in my defense, I can't count
 
:P
 
EY
 
2:19 AM
I missed 2C too
It's harder without the question marks, as I (meant to) say
 
wanna help, ffao?
3 is just 5C
so that's EYE...
 
I'm just being redundant for now, wouldn't trust myself to be the sole solver of a row
 
well, I was hoping that we might not both miss one if we both look at the rows
with my track record on section 3, I wouldn't trust myself either
4: 8D, 4D, 7D is all I see
 
8D, 4B, 7B you mean right
I got the same
 
yes
5: 1C, 4C, 3B? Anything else?
 
2:27 AM
Also saw three tiles for 5
 
those three, or some other three?
 
Those three
 
6: 3B, 6B
 
6: 3B, 6B
 
7: 1D, 4D?
 
2:29 AM
Got that too
 
8: 1C, 2C, 4C, 5C?
9: 4D
 
Same for 8
Agreed on 9
 
1-9 say EYESHIELD
10-14 presumably say ANIME
so the answer is 21
10 is 1B, 12 is 9C
 
So we only got 13 numbers? Was expecting 14 there :/
 
Yeah, so was I. We probably need to add one to make a winning hand.
4899911657321
1112345678999
oh! that's a thing
the Nine Gates
you can add anything to make a winning hand
 
2:38 AM
You sure you're just learning the game right now?
 
Yes, I'm sure. I happened to see a gif explaining it earlier today.
10: 1B
11: 6C, 8C
12: 9C
13: 1D, 4D, 7D, 1C
14: 1B, 4B
 
(btw when you do the write-up later, a little request - can you replace "triplets" with "melds" when talking about both sequences and three-of-a-kind? Using "triplets" to mean both when it's normally just for the latter was my mistake :/)
 
@Sp3000 (yeah, sure!)
 
But yeah a few wrap-up notes (not going to post an answer)
 
Is the reference to saki coming when you explain rinshan kaihou? :P
 
2:46 AM
The canonical answer is 123456789 ("what are you waiting for") but the intention was basically nine gates (no meta planned since I don't know how/when other parts will happen, so what answer is taken doesn't really matter)
Part 3 examples give BIN in Braille, not necessary to solve
 
ah, clever
 
Part 4 KONAMI is ordered by the first pair of characters
 
(2?)
 
*2
... and that's about it
Er I dunno about Saki refs, will have to see about that :P
 
updated the answer to have everything
(as for the binary, I just saw five things that could be in two states and immediately went to 5-bit binary)
 
2:58 AM
Yeah hence why it's not really necessary, but I felt like I had to restrict myself a bit whenever I had sufficient free reign :P (and yeah the only other option really is bacon)
 
(yep - and bacon is just 5-bit binary, shifted by 1)
 
Oh, and one more fun fact: the tile images are from Wiki, but halfway through I realised Wiki was using Chinese mahjong tile designs, so that was a fun few hours of recolouring :P
 
Pff. The colors are different? Weird.
 
Yeah, and it makes a difference for the "all green" hand
 
...that's a thing?
huh
 
3:05 AM
Chinese ones are half-blue half-green for bamboo, right?
 
Yeah that
Oh and another thing: Deus commented that part 5 had 14 hands - that was originally going to be a mechanic (ordering by discarded tile position rather than tile) but there's not really a good way to pinpoint the second and second-last positions other than thirteen orphans, and that didn't give the right letters (since it only gives 1s and 9s)
Okay I'm done now :P
 
 
8 hours later…
10:57 AM
3
Q: I am bias for the popular,Who am I?

prog_SAHIL What I do all the time, Is what you are doing right now. Only thing you need are hints and, All I want are 20 answers. Not always right, Neither are you. We are same, no? You breathe and I don't. Although I am bias for the popular, I am one too. Who am I?

 
11:54 AM
gaMen all
 
12:10 PM
hi!
 
/o\
(upside down)
 
@GarethMcCaughan You're back!
 
@Mithrandir Skywalker style?
 
12:27 PM
@n_palum I am!
 
How was your time away
 
Where were you?
 
Visiting my parents in Northern Ireland, with my daughter. (My wife stayed at home because we're doing some decorating and moving things between rooms, so she wanted us out of the way for that :-).) It was good.
 
Nice!
 
12:35 PM
@Mithrandir You have too much time on your hands
 
@Mithrandir Yup. I do in fact consciously adapt my sentences to avoid the problem Randall addresses there.
 
My statement stands
 
@dcfyj eh, xkcds aren't hard to find
 
@Deusovi I'm more referring to the fact that he constantly looks them up and posts them to the relevant conversation
 
12:39 PM
They're homeschooled so :P
 
If you're familiar with the xkcd oeuvre you don't have much looking up to do.
 
I just Googled xkcd banned from ted
Just taking a break from the regex
 
@Mithrandir While I've read that one I wouldn't have thought of it from gareth's comment
 
@dcfyj Why? He had an emoticon in a parenthesis...
 
this is what I meant by "if you're familiar with the xkcd oeuvre". If you have all the xkcd cartoons in your brain, this will spring to mind when you see something like (...:-) or (...:-)) or (...:-).) or whatever. If not, then ... not.
 
12:51 PM
@GarethMcCaughan Oh god not smiley faces in parens pls
this is what brackets are for
 
It works fine provided you arrange to have some punctuation in between (But ok, whatever. :-])
(whaddya mean that isn't what you meant?)
 
1:13 PM
*eyes glaze over*
 
1:54 PM
I feel like I really want to know the story behind "death reckoning calculate" being in Smoky's regex list
GaMen all :)
 
@Rubio o/
 
0
Q: Fortnightly Topic Challenge #31: Steganography (round 2)

David StarkeyThis is the thirty-first installment of the Fortnightly Topic Challenge described here, with topics suggested and voted on here. This fortnight's topic is steganography (suggested by Mithrandir), and will span from the the 5th of June to the 18th of June. During this period, we will compile the l...

 
@PuzzlingMeta Woo!
 
2:10 PM
of a man named Brady?
 
No. >.<
 
@Mithrandir that's just weird for 1
 
@Rubio Spammers are strange...
 
2:53 PM
What is this alternate universe where I'm approving Glorfindel edits in Arqade... @_@
 
0
Q: A Puzzle For A Mystery

thecoder16First You are sitting at your desk, looking for a puzzle to do. You are bored with all the normal puzzles everywhere and are looking a unique puzzle. A true challenge. Just as you think this, a piece of paper with a message flies onto your desk... SECOND OF ALL, THE MESSAGE listen...

 
@Sphinx >!In the second message you can get I'm at a Question, a Abundance Tag
 
3:12 PM
Isn't it more like I ABT QUESTION
 
@n_palum ?
 
@MikeQ Yeah a little more like that :P
@Deusovi Capitals
 
That's more like IABT QUESTION A ABUNDANCE TAGL
 
I was stretching it a bit
 
The rule probably doesn't apply to paragraph 1, unless YYAJ means something
Also I'd be upset that people are throwing pieces of paper at my desk
 
3:15 PM
I don't think it does, I think the way 2nd is written it's intentional
Long time no see @MOehm!
 
3:39 PM
@n_palum Yep. I broke my arm and I spent last week in hospital.
 
@MOehm Oh no! Feeling better (ish) now?
My Dad just broke his hand recently
 
@MOehm Whoa! How's everything going?
 
I'm okay, thanks. The arm doesn't hurt, but the fracture is in the elbow and I'm wearing a cast that keeps the elbow stiff, which is a bit awkward.
 
At least you can type, that's the important bit.
 
I'm typing with my right hand only, which means that I'm even slower and probably sloppier than usual. :)
 
3:43 PM
Seem to be alright so far!
 
Yes, I use the approved Hawk system.
 
Hope you'll get well soon @MOehm
 
We're glad you're back - hope it heals soon!
 
I hurt my wrist pretty badly once, I found I started to type slower but more accuratly because I was paying more attention to getting everything right.
 
Hm so for thecoder's puzzle I got this and then got stuck
 
3:46 PM
Sometimes I go over to PSE, get confused, and go back to PPCG. IDK how you guys solve anything. None of your puzzles make sense.
 
@Ankoganit From what?
 
second letters of the sentences
 
Thanks for all your wishes. I think the operation went well, but I know from experience that I've got to go through a lot of physiotherapy in the next weeks.
 
regarding the coder's puzzle, there is some odd capitalisation
 
@MOehm My GF tore her ACL/MCL and Meniscus and had physical therapy for about 8 months and is having another surgery tomorrow to clear scar tissue which will need another couple weeks of PT
 
3:48 PM
and I'm thinking maybe first second is important?
 
@BeastlyGerbil that's probably to somehow squeeze the imgur thing in naturally
 
My dad snapped his Achilles and was on crutches for a year
 
@Ankoganit How'd you get the imgur url?
 
@Ankoganit oh right. Thats how you got that
 
3 mins ago, by Ankoganit
second letters of the sentences
 
3:50 PM
All the sentences?
 
yep
not to you @n_palum that was in reply to Mike
 
yep to @n_palum too
So now we have this:
> It was so organized... and now it's a mess...
 
q : 14
a : 11
k : 10
w : 6
y : 6
m : 6
f : 6
n : 5
j : 5
o : 4
z : 4
l : 4
 
> qkqkmojjxgbwqnqdywcfackjqjkwaajqkkoklabyawqmzqzanqxqmnzzqenwyalaqakxycamlyfmfmqf‌​qbkanlkoffwyo
 
frequncy analysis of the string ^^
if its simple substitution then q=e
 
3:52 PM
No ROTs work on it, nor BASE64, or about any other
 
that starting letter pattern is weird
actually, I see a lot of ABA patterns
 
^
 
could be the word THE ?
 
I'm not sure how
 
Its not simple sub... can confirm
 
3:53 PM
quipqiup doesn't give anything for simple sub
 
I'm thinking vigenere
 
ugh
that's a weird distribution for vigenere though...
 
now we have to guess the key :/
I'm looking through my guide to see if the ciphertext characters are likely to indicate a certain cipher... nothing yet
ooh....
 
If it's Vigenere, Deusovi, Mystery, Puzzle, thecoder, message don't work
 
?
 
3:55 PM
we got the message from taking the second letter, what if the first also gives something?
 
I have no idea how to parse that, n_p
 
I tired just guessing a few passphrases :P
 
oh
 
@BeastlyGerbil YYAJ are the firsts
 
And also I still think the second paragraph is weird. There might be something else
 
3:57 PM
Which does not work for Vig
 
But what about IABT QUESTION A ABUNDANCE TAGL
...or at the very least, QUESTION and ABUNDANCE
 
neither
 
riddle?
most abundant question
 
@n_palum Ouch, sorry to hear that. If the healing process takes so long, that can get one down. (The first steps in PT are selödom encouraging.) I hope her leg will be healed completely soon.
 
I'd imagine QUESTION and ABUNDANCE are only capitalised to get the necessary Q and B
 
3:58 PM
^
 
@MOehm Thanks :) Yeah considering she's an athlete it was miserable
 
observing
 
YYAJ doesn't seem to help much..
 
@n_palum I've had my hand broken twice, and while the PT took long, it was more like two or three months, not eight. So I'm confident. (Until the complications set in, of course.)
 
I'm still pretty suspicious of that letter distribution
 
3:59 PM
@MOehm Elbow shouldn't be terribly long.. and ACL itself it's that long, it's the fact that she practically tore everything in her knee
@Deusovi Same... but I can't find what
 
and the "disorganized" thing makes me suspect decoding and then anagramming, but that sounds tedious
 
There are 12 letters
 
that is supsicious
 
(I should probably stop thinking about clocks)
 
Lot of q's which would indicate they're shifted somehow
 
4:01 PM
@deus I'm thinking more a transposition cipher for the 'disorganized' bit
 
Not sure what you've got there, there's 18 distinct letters in the string
 
wait really?
 
There should really be some clue to the cipher in the text...
 
I was using BG's letter dist
 
Yeah that wasn't the full
 
4:02 PM
Oh okay
 
Considering SECOND.. is bolded and got us something from 2nds, and First is not bolded or capitalized, I don't think YYAJ means anything
 
I hope there's nothing steganographic in that image
 
I did a quick check, at the very least the surrounding off-white is one shade
 
@n_palum Well, you never know. When I made the appointment for the PT, I met a patient who told me that she also broke her elbow. The nerves were injured during the OP, and PT took her 18 months. She's okay now, she said, but she's a cellist and couldn't work for one and a half year. Now that's bad luck.
 
Ouch.
 
4:05 PM
Yeah there are sometimes the old ones out which really suck.. Hopefully you're smooth sailing
 
Just catching up in here finally. sorry to hear about your, um, bad break there @MOehm - best wishes for a quick recovery
 
Anyone else see that small ? in a little white box
 
yeah
 
Weird thing is I recognise it
 
4:06 PM
 
But I have no idea where from
 
I hope this isn't relevant
24 hours ago, by thecoder16
ah darn it time to come up with a new morse code
 
Looks so so familiar
 
Yes, it's a question mark. You may have seen one before.
 
Lol the sass
 
4:09 PM
is this a dupe of this?
 
@Ankoganit Yup, seems to be.
 
I'd agree ^
 
yes
 
@BeastlyGerbil darn you ninja'd me
 
4:12 PM
:P
 
0
Q: What's wrong with my calculator?

ForkliftIt is giving some very strange answers to some very simple addition. I tried adding 1 to the numbers and that was strange: 1 + 1 = 1 1 + 2 = ERROR 1 + 3 = 3 1 + 4 = 4 1 + 5 = 9 1 + 6 = 8 1 + 7 = 7 1 + 8 = 8 1 + 9 = 9 So I tried a few more, also with strange results: 2 + 4 = 8 2 + 5 = 8 3 + 4 ...

 
Would it be mean to say what's wrong with this question? ^ /s
 
is there anything wrong apart from the fact its a dupe?
 
^^ yes but hilarious
 
That'd be the answer XD
 
4:15 PM
ok gtg now
cya
 
agree it's a dupe. Needs two more close-votes. Anyone want to give it one more so I can finish the job without it being an over-weighted mod-hammering? :-)
 
Would it be your first hammer?
If so DO EEEET
 
I don't see why the mods can't close here, the OP himself has admitted its a dupe
 
I still wish mods could do regular close votes. :/
 
ah, so he has. OK then.
@Deusovi yes, me too
 
4:19 PM
feature requ
 
people have tried
 
ah, and someone else sneaked in a close-vote just in time, so no hammer :-)
 
Booo!
Let the power flow through you Gareth
 
What's the point of power if you can't abuse it?
 
Just because that's your motto doesn't mean you have to corrupt Gareth already
 
Sid
4:24 PM
Oh, that's bad. Get well soon, @MOehm
 
after all, its come through the rumor mill that rubio was forced to fetch your slippers before becoming mod @Deusovi
 
@n_palum yes, and rather unnecessarily so
 
hi @forklift
sorry for shutting down your puzzle :)
It was a dupe, but that puzzle I imagine didn't turn up in the related
 
it's fine. it was a clear duplicate and not nearly as well designed as the original.
 
@Forklift Meant humorously, not to be mean :)
 
4:29 PM
Of course your puzzle was not as good as the dupe, the dupe was by Alconja :P
 
I'd say great minds think alike, but this was clearly just a case of a broken clock telling the correct time accidentally
@n_palum probably it was meant humorously, but it simply comes off as puzzling elite mocking amateurs for daring to contribute. Certainly I'll think twice before attempting such an error.
 
@Forklift Well, there are only so many ideas for puzzles. You were just unlucky that your idea had already been used and is a bit of a staple now.
 
certainly. the duplicate votes were justified and welcome. I also crave originality and quality.
 
@Forklift Apologies then, I am by no means elite.
 
@n_palum It is finished. In the future I will ensure my contributions are more thoroughly vetted.
 
5:04 PM
Whoa, 27 flags.
 
For??
 
Comments. Lots of comments.
 
Mass flagging for no reason?
 
Comment flags are... interesting
It seems mostly like stat-padding
 
I hope all the flagged comments are not on a particular user.
 
5:08 PM
except for the occasional Rude/Abusive
 
Or other important matters ;)
 
@manshu Nope. Just lots of stat-padding. :/
 
even more interesting.
 
0
Q: What's my word?

David WheatleyThe numbers 95 68 53 20 spell a "country name". What country am I? You don't need to separate the numbers All of the numbers represent two letters, except 53, which is one letter. I hope you're good at science.

 
6:10 PM
i'm surprised my puzzle has not been solved yet
 
well, we got to the Imgur URL and got stuck
 
yes
badly wants to give hint but refrains
 
giving a hint would be fine
 
6:47 PM
^
Especially if we are close and it's something silly
 
0
Q: Stimulating Treasure Hunt?

NellingtonThe puzzle is broken into four parts, and each part yields a single letter. Put them all together, and it'll spell out the thing that gets me up in the morning :-) PART 1 1) One who may think about gallantry! (6) 2) Vader, for instance, holds murderous forger (5) 3) It's poisonous, so m...

 
7:04 PM
@BeastlyGerbil ALARM is 5 letters you goof
 
it's very much something silly, so ok
beastly gerbil was wrong at the beginning
ther
 
@n_palum there is an enumeration ?
oh right 4 parts
 
7:30 PM
0
Q: Something Simple but Hard to Say

ErrorumSomething simple but hard to say, Contradicting myself but heard everyday, Like finicky faucets that drip, Or tight trousers that rip, My applications often lead to people annoyed, Maybe that's why my letters are rarely deployed. However, if you know how I'm written, The sesquipedalians am...

 
7:48 PM
@thecoder16 What, about it not being a substitution cipher? Well, considering we don't have spaces, it'll be tedious to solve
 
not sure if you are thinking of it the right way, so no comment for now
 
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