The Sphinx's Lair - 2017-06-23 (page 1 of 2)

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2:18 AM

Heh. HNQ because some bus driver magically figured out which way is North...

3 hours later…

5:47 AM

Hey guys, what tools do you use for a grid-deduction puzzle?

@TheGreatEscaper?

TheGreatEscaper

Microsoft publisher :P

but PuzPre is a really great online thing

you can model up basically any grid deduction puzzle you can think of in puz pre

puz pre?

Anyway puzzlescript.net/play.html?p=77d7ba25ad15385affa545d2ee945bc1

^@TheGreatEscaper Test version of your puzzle

TheGreatEscaper

Ooh cooool

Lol I'm stuck on level 3.

Oh, nevermind!

Personally I found level 6 hardest

TheGreatEscaper

Yeah I'm stuck on level 6.

i may have cheated a little in level 3 and made use of a mechanic the player isn't really supposed to know yet

6:01 AM

That's alright

Morning guys.

Hello

@TheGreatEscaper How long ago was the ogre game made?

@TheGreatEscaper How do I make a Slitherlink-type puzzle with numbers larger than 3?

TheGreatEscaper

@sid at least a few yeas.

*years.

one sec:

Just over 2 years, @sid.

@Wen1now few options but they're all variants, right

theres one where you ADD all the line lengths adjacent to the square.

6:07 AM

@Wen that's another game?

Wait, I mean are there any online programs that let me do that?

@Sid You mean a puzzlescript thing?

TheGreatEscaper

just use the corral editor on puzpre

yeah.

Okay then

@Sid It's in development

TheGreatEscaper

@sid the one wen just linkdropped is an idea we had a while back

lost most of the sketches though

6:09 AM

Credits:
TGE - puzzle idea
BBQ - most of the code
me - most of the levels

ohk..

But still, even in this version the levels are hard enough to not be trivial

Oh yeah, and TGE had a bunch of levels which we kind of lost

Hm, I am just trying that. You don't mind, right?

Yeah, sure, np

btw TGE how are you going?

@TheGreatEscaper What about a puzzle where I want subscripts on each square?

TheGreatEscaper

Use Microsoft :P

6:16 AM

Hmph, level 3 is hard

microsoft makes the best products, like Windows

I'm sure Rubio agrees

I'll see if I can ~~trick~~ get excel to do it

I'm not going to buy a Windows phone in the foreseeable future

only reason you won't see how great it is

MS Excel got preinstalled on my new phone, though

well, a stub for it got, at least

6:25 AM

Windows phone?

Ah, that piece of crap.

my Dad had a windows phone.

He swore never to buy me that phone again.

my mom had a windows phone, I think she liked it

maybe partly because it was free

ok, maybe the most part

TheGreatEscaper

I gotta disappear now

Byeee

free phone? She's lucky

Byeee

@Wen I am still stuck on level 3. It's hard..

6:34 AM

it was shortly after microsoft bought nokia, so they were a bit desperate to get someone to actually use the thing

so they gave out a bunch of lumias

Yeah, some people are complaining about how hard the levels are :p

I don't think microsoft had any huge success after buying Nokia. The lumias didn't sell very well.. at least here.

yeah, then they fired a bunch of nokia people

Microsoft is good with computers, period.

^

6:38 AM

That is correct.

the xbox works well, it's just the line up that is questionable

at least in my country I think the xbox 360 was more popular than the ps3

then the publicity disaster at e3 made the one sell much less

but it still sold a lot

6:54 AM

I haven't ever used either XBox360 or PS2/3

How do you make a good name for a puzzle?

Ask Hugh Meyers..

make it as clickbaity as possible so it reaches HNQ, then reap upvotes

Pick random words from a hat

7:11 AM

@Ankoganit The CCCC is PILFERAGE - (EG ARE FLIP)<

Oh, nice

How do you make it really clickbaity...

Something like, "Mods are kidnapped"..4

"You won't believe what happend on tile (3, 1) ...."

perhaps go the math.se route - "why is x==y"

What about Why does PSE look... weird?

7:38 AM

That works too.. I guess.

Although I have a vague recollection of having seen a similar name, before

Oh no! Something's wrong with PSE! - A duogrid challenge

I am not sure you would want to keep the duogrid challenge. Better keep the suspense. But what do I know?

0

Q: Create a changeable maze

I have quite a creative task with many, but a bit vague limitations. Can someone help me with it? One needs to create a 2D cell-based maze, like this one: The criteria: The solution should be not trivial for a person who is inside the maze. (The partitions are walls, higher than human hight...

puzzle-creation mazes

7:56 AM

@MOehm Yep, correct

Okay, so:

CCCC: Spooner's to fend off more ardent wizard (5, 6)

Looks like HARRY POTTER to me. Now, to figure out the wordplay...

Yeah, Spoonerism

Ah, of course

Okay, that was an easy one. But who of you got it?

8:13 AM

Don't know. I said it first but I think sp3k had gotten it earlier

If someone hasn't explicitly typed up the solution, that doesn't count imo

Is more ardent = hotter?

I have no idea how to 'type up' spoonerisms, anagrams, etc.

Yeah. Fend off =parry. More ardent=hotter

Spooner=PARRY HOTTER->HARRY POTTER (Def-wizard)

Okay guys, my new puzzle is ready!

@Wen1now I mean, one has to actually say the answer and the explanation

8:17 AM

I get what you mean

I was just wondering what the notation for typing up was

I don't think there's any standard notation

But people typically use (SOMETHING)* for anagram

Okay...

Maybe the Archive then?

?

So, who's up? Me or sp3k?

Not sure, what does @Sp3000 say?

8:22 AM

I don't mind either way, I don't have a clue ready atm

Neither do I.

You could collaborate, Chinese-whispers style: One of you writes a definition, the other one the wordplay. :)

2

Q: Oh no! Something's wrong with PSE!

An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #32: Grid Deduction Hybrids As soon as I woke up this morning, I took out my phone and logged onto PSE. After all, I had recently answered a question and I wanted to see how much rep I had gained! Unfortunately I can't make anything out... especially sin...

logical-deduction enigmatic-puzzle steganography no-computers grid-deduction

But someone has to write the solution to this CC

Technically you already did :P

8:25 AM

You did that

Oh, bah. I was explaining that to wen. :P

@Sphinx Woo

Okay, I'll admit it, my puzzle title has nothing to do with the actual puzzle

There's a final answer, right?

Oh, yeah, there's a final answer :)

9:07 AM

New CCCC?

I see wen took my title lessons to heart

9:20 AM

Hey, isn't that how you got 100 upvotes?

2 hours later…

11:25 AM

@Wen1now This was fun. Last level took me a few tries.

@LukasRotter Welcome back!

@Rubio Thanks! :)

0

Q: What are the pros/cons? Petrus vs Heise

Petrus and Heise are both good no-algorithm, block building fewest moves methods. If we compare them, what are the advantages of Petrus and what are the advantages of Heise?

12:08 PM

:O a Spooner CC

Either it's very easy or very hard :-D

12:24 PM

@MOehm: HARRY POTTER (parry hotter)

Heh

Very easy :-D

Should I have a CCCC prepared at all times in case I solve one?

You can. I did for a while, but I've been making them up on the fly.

Gareth McCaughan

I mostly make them up on the fly. I have a bunch of half-baked ones I've thought up in the process of doing this that I'm not satisfied with, and sometimes I'll refine one of those rather than making up a new one from scratch.

I've got a couple saved from when they come to me. Granted I never use them because I don't solve them

12:34 PM

(shouldn't be too difficult)

Gareth McCaughan

wait, why is @Deusovi posting a CCCC? The previous one was solved by Sid and/or Sp3000.

@Deusovi For whatever reason I'm thinking it's HERMIONE GRANGER

11 mins ago, by Deusovi

@MOehm: HARRY POTTER (parry hotter)

Gareth McCaughan

:38316779

ah whoops

I didn't notice it

Gareth McCaughan

12:36 PM

not entirely your fault

the old one was still pinned because a new one hadn't come along

so it's kinda Sid's/Sp's fault for being sluggish about making a new clue

Might be good to say it's solved in cases like that

yeah, and Jan's statement implied that it was unsolved

at least to me

Gareth McCaughan

it does rather

anyway, it's removed - I'll wait for @Sid to post their clue

I think Jan and I were not around for it's solve so it was new to us

12:38 PM

well, that's what I get for not reading through the backlog

Gareth McCaughan

It's not clear that it should actually be Sid rather than Sp3000 who posts the next one. Sp posted the answer and then "spoonerism" before Sid posted the more explicit explanation

I think whichever of them comes up with a new clue first should post it :-).

Oh, good point. I skimmed it and thought Sid did get the wordplay, just didn't explain it thoroughly

5 hours ago, by Sid

Looks like HARRY POTTER to me. Now, to figure out the wordplay...

Didn't sid get it?

Didn't get the wordplay.

Just guessed based on enum+def.

4 hours ago, by Sid

Yeah. Fend off =parry. More ardent=hotter

4 hours ago, by Sid

Spooner=PARRY HOTTER->HARRY POTTER (Def-wizard)

I don't see anything by 3k except the fact that it's a spoonerism

12:41 PM

Well, "spoonerism" plus answer is all the explanation necessary.

Well yes, but I didn't see 3k say anywhere that it was harry potter

Gareth McCaughan

the actual order was: Sid says HARRY POTTER, no explanation; Sp3000 says "ah yes, spoonerism"; Sid posts explicit explanation with all the details. It sure looks to me as if Sp3000 understood it completely, but he could just have been guessing based on the word "Spooner" in the clue.

and frankly in a case like this I don't see any point in a painstaking attempt to assign credit exactly.

Again, I say: let whichever of them comes up with a new clue first post it.

I mean, I can't imagine anyone seeing HARRY POTTER, knowing "spoonerism", and not getting "parry hotter"

@GarethMcCaughan I'm not, I just don't see why it's a debate between 3k and sid.

and I agree. Just give it to whichever one of them happens to come up with one.

Gareth McCaughan

12:42 PM

agreed

I could repost my clue as a non-CCCC clue, or just hold it off for the next one

Gareth McCaughan

I'm perfectly happy with either.

it's not difficult, so I'm considering holding it back so one of our less regular solvers can get a CCCC clue

@Deusovi That clue still makes me think of Hermione Granger

\o/

12:44 PM

?

Oh hey, it's n_p!

Me me! I'm a less regular solver! \o/

He said something earlier

Can I solve a CCCC and let someone else post a new one?

nope

12:45 PM

NO.

that'd break the chain

( :P )

@JanDvorak It's not too terribly hard to come up with a C4

ok

The main thing is thinking of a word

Like my favorite one: Confusing item in game design (6) ^^

12:47 PM

@dcfyj yup - I often theme my clues and answers after the previous clue or two (another reason I don't stockpile them anymore)

As I recall, that one's actually in the Cc-chain

yeah, I think so

This endless astonishment starts replacing dullness (4) @dcfyj

:P

I remember a while back there was a chain where we used part of the previous clue in the next one

yeah, and there was also that run of (4,4)s that used "program's commencement"

12:49 PM

ooh, I missed that

there were only 3, apparently

Wow, there are 217 CC between my two in the chain

Program's commencement even irked king. (4, 4) -Rubio
Program's commencement is awesome, accepted by even school children ultimately (4, 4) -Sp3000
Program's commencement: "The old have the key" (4, 4) -Deusovi

@n_palum Yeah, I'm awful at solving these.

Didn't Gareth have one of those about a cow?

12:52 PM

D: my joke didn't work I guess

I find that I'm a much better setter than solver (in pretty much every case)

Gareth had:

Break in on childish old cow without hesitation (7) --> (-erm)INTRUDE

@n_palum and no, You don't spy that

@dcfyj but... I made a joke D:

oh well

12:54 PM

Have CC Grand Master help you

WH

just spotted an error in clue #355

it's got the wrong clue listed there

huh, yeah

(only noticed cause the one there was one of my clues)

never mind that scrabble isn't 6 letters?

1:03 PM

@Deusovi Yes, of course. Sp3000 and Sid had it right away, too, but couldn't decide whoseturn it was, and then sneaked away. So it's your turn, I guess.

15 mins ago, by n_palum

This endless astonishment starts replacing dullness (4) @dcfyj

Oh, alright. I guess I will post mine now if the previous setter allows it :P

CCCC: That girl, one embodying magic primarily... a grand fighter of sorts! (8, 7)

I still think it's hermione granger lol

Gareth McCaughan

well, that's because it is

Yes. It is right ^

1:05 PM

oh wow, didn't see it was an &lit before

now to figure out the wordplay :-)

I don't see the wordplay at all lol

Gareth McCaughan

it's not too complicated

&lit no?

Gareth McCaughan

&lit yes

1:06 PM

why not post the solution if you know it, Gareth? :P

I probably think it's HG because of the HP clue before hand

Gareth McCaughan

actually, wait, isn't there a mistake?

that girl->her, grand fighter of sorts->ranger, not sure about the middle

there very well could be

HER+MI(ONE)GRANGER (anagram)

Gareth McCaughan

1:06 PM

it looks like you're using "one" to yield both I and ONE

I'm good with Deus posting :P I was trying to come up with a clue but haven't gotten one yet (also at work)

Gareth McCaughan

no anagram

tech is right mostly, and "a" is ONE, not "I"

"a grand" --> ONE G

Gareth McCaughan

oh, I misparsed it then

^

Gareth McCaughan

1:07 PM

I hadn't seen that that "a" could be the ONE

Oh yes, ONE G. Nice.

Gareth McCaughan

(fighter of sorts -> ranger is the bit Techidiot is missing)

where does MI come from?

M_ inside HER + I

Gareth McCaughan

I is one

M is magic primarily

1:08 PM

HER(M)I + ONE G + RANGER

ahh

Gareth McCaughan

so it looks as if several people all got most of it, and no one got all of it correctly

except @Deusovi, he got all of it

of sorts = anagram?

Gareth McCaughan

:-)

...no, no anagram

Gareth McCaughan

1:09 PM

no, "fighter of sorts" => ranger

what would you be anagramming?

No anagrams

Gareth McCaughan

as e.g. in some role-playing games

oh, sorry

yup, exactly

1:09 PM

What even are rangers IRL?

(I'm not entirely happy with RANGER, but it was too nice of an already-existing word to leave out)

Gareth McCaughan

it's amusing that you have one -> I and a -> ONE; it would be even funnier if you'd managed to make it one -> A and a -> ONE or one -> I and I -> ONE.

There are park rangers

Rangers are forest keepers, but apparently also mounted soldiers.

You could argue someone who cooks on a range is a ranger

1:12 PM

yup, I found that funny too - unfortunately, I couldn't fit an "I" into it without ruining the &lit, and I kinda needed the I for the wordplay

Medieval times, archers were sometimes called rangers

Oh, I'm too young to know that.

heh

1:24 PM

i feel like n_p is probably younger than you lol @MOehm

probably? you meant is

idk his age

all i know is you are an adele obessed 19 year old. typical.

Heh

Well Oehm has a family afaik

And my Adele stuff is a joke, and I am not 19

@thecoder16 Thanks for pointing that out. But I still have no recollection of the Middle Ages from own experience.

I'd be amazed if any of us did

1:26 PM

@n_palum that was a joke too, and oops 17?

Well...

@thecoder16 wrong way

You're heading the wrong direction

21

About a month off from 22

i still imagine you as a hyperactive 8 year old lol

1:27 PM

Month + 4 days or so

yeah, @n_palum is a youngun' :P

I'm glad I come across as an ADHD 1st grader

Only to some ...

I don't think I've seen nearly enough obviously-drunken rants on the chat for you to be 21

I can hold my drink fairly well (usually)

1:35 PM

@n_palum I've probably never said so here explicitly, but I don't have a family.

Hmm maybe misread something

Sorry for (assuming I guess?)

That's okay, no worries. It wasn't an insult. :)

Whatabout the CCCC? There seems to be another deadlock, because it isn't clear who solved the last one.

I think Techi got most of it

TheGreatEscaper

1:50 PM

Hullo!

@MOehm You could always help solve the joke one I made for dc

Joke? DC? I don't know what you mean, sorry.

TheGreatEscaper

@Wen1now 's puzzle is really cool, by the way

I can't do it because I helped test one or two of those

50 mins ago, by n_palum

15 mins ago, by n_palum

This endless astonishment starts replacing dullness (4) @dcfyj

dcfyj = dc

I do?

I'm equal to the District of Columbia? wow

1:55 PM

Oh, didn't know you were on familiar terms and call yourselves by your first names.

Heh

I wouldn't mind if y'all used my first name, or plum or palum, or np or whatever

Plum sounds nice. It also goes with your logo colour.

TheGreatEscaper

Huh, Trapezoids got solved. I sort of liked Scon's solution more...

Plum is cool

Rolls of the tongue a bit easier than palum, too

Oh, I didn't realize he updated with another puzzle, damn

Lot of hometown friends refer to me as that, since there are quite a few of us with the same first name by chance :P

Gareth McCaughan

1:58 PM

@n_palum I didn't know your first name was common knowledge here.

When I joined the CC Archive my actual name was visible for a while so a bunch of people know it I think

Also you should know it, granted it is in my email XD

It isn't, except that it seems to be common in Rochester.

And probably starts with N.

Actually no, I am not from Rochester haha

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Jun '1723

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