The Sphinx's Lair - 2018-06-02

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12:05 AM

1

Q: Ten users, three lights but it's a chatroom

This is a variant of the classic problem of m prisoners n lights. (Example may be found here but note that the requirements are not exactly the same) The goal for you, however, is different. One day, 10 puzzling.SE users, including you, find yourselves in a horrible prison. A supervisor show...

strategy algorithm

12:21 AM

0

Q: An easy riddle at its core

You are what you eat, so I suspect you like sweets, for I think that’s what you are. A plain figure you have, with rounded sides, a symbol quite bizarre. I hear the mad hatter gave up tea for you, and you’re hiding in plain sight. You may be arrested if you push too hard, or are taken affright...

riddle rhyme cryptic-clues

1 hour later…

1:27 AM

0

Q: Nintendo Surgeon

This is part of the Fortnightly Topic Challenge (you can read more about it here)! Here are the rules: You are a surgeon and you must stitch back all of the letter combinations into words in order to reveal a Nintendo game! Have fun! Sietrt & mordia.r Kudc tunh prseu rimoa srob rtas...

1:44 AM

3 modules left. plus writing gratuitous cryptic clues

2:00 AM

3 more of how many?

also is module == subpuzzle?

depends, it's hard to describe really

depending on how you count, there are a total of 49 things already :P

most are much smaller than a subpuzzle though

i'll leave it up to you to guess what comic i'm writing a puzzle for

smbc?

probably one of those "guest week" ones

or the "parody"s

well let's find out (maybe in a day)

2:18 AM

1

Q: No Pun Intended

Part of the Fortnightly Topic Challenge #35: Restricted Title 1 This TV program has quite a diverse set of actors. You're packed to go so soon? There's nothing in the afterlife except darkness and complete silence. Here, let me show what I got you for your birthday now. Ughhhhh, my bracket...

enigmatic-puzzle

2:48 AM

lmao

spent so long trying to figure out how they got the secret message in Nintendo Surgeon

3:47 AM

0

Q: Computational Linguists

An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #35: Restricted Title 1.Computational Linguists In order to help me boost my paltry grades, my professor has given me an extra credit assignment. He say's that it's due on the 10th, but I don't even know what he wants me to do! I've compiled the follow...

enigmatic-puzzle knowledge steganography computer-puzzle language

@Apep PANCAKE = PAN((ACK)*)E

There are no indirect anagrams.

I don't have a good way to express in text how quietly hilarious I find that

I was in the middle of typing some thoughts about "misshapen" and "regularly".

There's a meme that would only make sense in PSE Chat: an FTC puzzle with the title 'House of Pancakes' that consists entirely of CCCCs

4:02 AM

"Misshapen pane" could easily be "pan", but I'm not sure how to get "cake". @ManyPinkHats any ideas?

I regret nothing except for the original ping.

It could be "PANC" ("pane" with the e misshapen") + "expression of == homophone indicator" ICK/ACK -> AKE. That doesn't account for "regularly".

4:15 AM

Could "expression of disgust regularly" be a homophone for "discussed regularly", which fits Pancake?

No, that kind of indirection isn't allowed. (You can't modify the clue before synonymizing.)

@Sphinx ooh, I see some of these. this one might need cooperation from more people though

@Deusovi Oh, you have got it already?

I thought I was onto something and then no progress for a while now..

well, I know the concept. actually getting more than two of them will be another issue altogether

1 hour later…

5:52 AM

@Apep PNAE* alternating with ACK --> PANCAKE

@Deusovi correct

oh wait now I have to write a completely normal cryptic. this'll feel weird

... and it will seriously damage your reputation. :)

Ah, the first A was preventing me from noticing that.

These zipper-like clues are getting more and more popular.

(I wonder whether they should hint at that explicitly somehow, with "interwoven" or "interleaved" or some such.)

6:01 AM

"with ____ regularly" seems sufficient

Yeah, probably, especially since explicit instructions are hard to work into a surface.

Nov 16 '16 at 2:26, by Deusovi

CCCC: Trained to weave stiff footwear (8)

CCCC: Hates people taking up space after identity theft (7)

RES (id) ENTS

Yup!

cute; that took me a moment even with the answer in front of me

6:24 AM

CCCC: Bowman misses start of regatta on river (7)

explain ACK in Apep's clue..

ACK is something you say when you're disgusted; it's regularly spaced within PNAE

6:43 AM

@MOehm A[-r]CHER+ON

@EricTressler SPOT + ON!

6:58 AM

@MOehm About this, when you say "misses start of regatta", why aren't both the "r"s removed?

CCCC: Bowman adds unlimited piercing record, ending career (7)

2 hours later…

8:38 AM

@Sid Hm, one R, the start of regatta, is removed. It doesn't say "misses all starts of regatta" or "misses start of regatta repeatedly" or anything like that. I think this is sound and a common interpretation. I'd rather say that filtering out all Rs would needs extra specification.

0

Q: TDV, YF? --- Find the letter

The instructions are simple. Please find the letter that should substitute the question mark. TDV YF?

letter-sequence

By the way, I liked your "love or hate" riddle, @Sid. I'm surprised that it hasn't been solved yet.

8:50 AM

@MOehm I am surprised myself. Maybe, the instructions aren't clear enough. Or maybe because it's the weekend

@MOehm I interpreted that as ARCHER-R giving me ACHE.

But, I see your point about multiple deletions of the same character

9:15 AM

@Sid I think it's the weekend. I wouldn't worry for now, but maybe add a small hint on Monday to bump it to the front page.

9:26 AM

@MOehm I don't think a hint is particularly needed. You wouldn't even need the knowledge tag. It's only for confirmation

Yes, it's clearly solvable without extra hint. Do something else to get the attention of puzzlers on Monday, then.

And no one has solved the meta-puzzle I posted a few days back. (nudge nudge)

Hm. I want the curent C4 to be PADDLER, but I can't quite see how. "adds unlimited" is DD or maybe ADD; "ending career" is R or maybe ER. I can see how an LP is a record, but if so, there's a reversal indicator missing.

Anyway, have to do some shopping and house-cleaning ...

9:57 AM

record ending = reversal? Too tenuous.

Also, double duty

Has @EricTressler made a mistake?

Your solution is too good to be false

4 hours later…

1:59 PM

Anyone around to reject this edit? It's well-intentioned but would probably spoil the puzzle.

2:17 PM

The solution is not PADDLER

@EricTressler Oh, it's a FIDDLER, who uses a bow: FI ((a) DD (s)) LE + (caree)R

@MOehm Right!

Someone mentioned fiddlers?

Celtic dueling violins

Tom solved my puzzle!! I am glad

2:33 PM

Yes, Tom is very good at wordplay puzzles.

(But I'm stumped by the title, too.)

(I will just edit in the explanation of the title if no one gets it in the next hour)

2:47 PM

@Sid It made me think of the wave-particle duality, but that doesn't quite fit.

2

Q: My Sister´s Six Children

My sister has six children whose ages add up to 40. The ages of any two of her three boys have a common divisor greater than 1, and so do the ages of any two of the ages of her three girls. However, only one of the boy´s ages has a common divisor with the age of one of the girls. How old are my ...

3:02 PM

CCCC: Was about to sprinkle small particles of ash, for example? (7)

@MOehm Surely that's got to be CINDERS, but I can't figure out the wordplay.

Please define "surely" :)

heh I think I got it

@MOehm SAW< + DUST

@ManyPinkHats Yes, that's it.

(Sorry about the ash/ash groaner.)

I have no right to complain about it; I was laughing because I made an ash tree pun after my CCCC a little over a week ago

3:17 PM

Oh, yes, it's still on the starboard.

Speaking of the starboard, the pinned CCCC comment has some invisible characters inside the hyperlink for the archive that breaks it for me (between lowercase f and lowercase j)

3:37 PM

I haven't checked it recently, but it's broken for me, too. (It leads to a non-existing spreadsheet.)

yeah, the link is almost correct; if you highlight "fj" and delete/replace it by actually typing the two characters yourself, it fixes the link

3:51 PM

There seems to be a zero-width space (U+200B) between the f and the j, which would probably help with line-breaking the long URL, but otherwise breaks the link, where it shows up as UTF-8 sequence %E2%80%8B.

Never mind, I never use the archive. (I wait till they make it a movie.)

2

Q: A Lazy Breakfast

Clark and Albert sat at the same old table they'd met at years ago. As per usual, there was hardly anything to drink, and they'd had nothing but sips between them. Near Albert, there were some scraps of bacon, and an egg, scrambled. It was the same order as always. After this lazy breakfast, ...

enigmatic-puzzle

0

Q: Children's Fantasy

An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #35: Restricted Title 1. A room full of me would be a child's fantasy. Mini or large is what I can be, I am a pirate, a superhero, and a civilian, all at once. Make me fly or make me ride, Allow your imagination to take play. ...

4:30 PM

@Randal'Thor if you had tried taking the words starting with consonants as A and those with vowels as B, there's a very promising start (something that anagrams to "Final...")

But the OP has already said that there aren't any ciphers. (You could probably better results by anagramming the As and Bs before decoding with Bacon ...)

@Sid What would the penultimate letter be then?

I get NELISAEF?H for the (unscrambled) plaintext.

Where the ? is BBABA, which isn't on the Bacon table I've got.

Oh. That idea is wrong then.

@MOehm OP says they don't know much about ciphers, not necessarily that there aren't any in this puzzle.

Bacon could also indicate Bacon Number

4:38 PM

I don't know much about ciphers either, but I can still use them in a pinch.

Where Albert and Clark could be some Actors. Albert being Albert Einstein, in all likelihood

(Deusovi used that in his meta-meta...puzzle)

fun fact: Stephen Hawking's Bacon number is lower than his Erdős number

Sure, but such a misdirecting comment would certainly be a bit unfair, wouldn't it? On the other hand, OP has confirmed that both Bacon and scrambled are important. Hm.

Anyway, I have to go now. I'll let you bring home the Bacon.

5:33 PM

0

Q: How can he save both- his son and lot of people?

A railroad operator lived with his only son. One day, a train was to cross the moveable bridge. Because of the operator's mistake, the bridge was lifted. His son saw the train and went up to pull the emergency lever, but slipped and got struck there. The man has still time to lower the bridge. Bu...

lateral-thinking

6:27 PM

CCCC: First, 13 goes into 52 four times, to get ¹⁄₁? (4 1 4)

@ManyPinkHats That's a very nice surface

is that "1/1"?

an attempt to format that nicely, yeah

oops, one second please

CCCC: First, 13 goes into 52 four times, to get ¹⁄₁? (4-1-4)

I know the answer

But that's all

@ManyPinkHats First thirteen = T; TE+TEA+TE+TE ("fifty-two" replaced by "TEE"s) = TETE-A-TETE (one on one)

6:42 PM

Why are you replacing 52 by TEEs?

I was coming to the same conclusion, but trying to figure out how 52 --> EEAEE.

I thought "goes into" might just be simple replacement.

"weeks a year" is close

that's the right answer, but my intended parsing is more elementary

EEAEE in hex is 977646, which doesn't seem helpful.

E is 14; 14+14+10+14+14 = 66

@ManyPinkHats Tellurium has atomic number 52?

6:45 PM

@Randal'Thor yes

tEEAEEllurium?

How is A = 13, then?

Oh, the two-letter code is Te.

TE+TE+TE+TE with "first 13" in it

What about the "A"?

6:46 PM

first 13 is 1, is A

Oh, first letter of Aluminum

First is A.

@Sid ... oh.

I intended the aluminum/Al parsing, so both 13 and 52 were to be replaced by chemical symbols

ITYM aluminium ;-)

Well, "first 13" -> 1 -> A is also valid, by our usual rules

6:48 PM

@Randal'Thor Oh, of course. Typo. :P

Well, that was a nice group effort :-D

@Eric New clew?

I think we should give it back to @ManyPinkHats, maybe? Or you can take it

Trivial anagram! (7)

Huh, why?

You solved MPH's clue.

Because I didn't figure out any significant part of the wordplay

Well, mostly you.

6:51 PM

Oh, alright, I'll see if I can come up with something quick. Give me a few minutes.

(But I won't take credit for that; it's just that someone has to keep the chain going :)

Well, I can do one if you insist.

@EricTressler that's when we actually get down to updating the archive..

@Randal'Thor please do; I don't have anything ready

CCCC: Hybrid hemisphere with a curse that loses energy (6).

I also won't take credit for solving the previous one, but someone has to keep the chain going :-)

Hi @Mithrandir!

Oo... I know this one too, but I will keep my mouth shut until I figure out the end

6:58 PM

Now that Shabbat is over, maybe my flags on Literature will get handled :-P

Oh, I took care of those before dropping into chat

@Randal'Thor SPH[-ere]+[-j]INX

J is for Joules

@EricTressler correct!

Darn, too easy.

And now you have to come up with a clue after all :-D

If I edit a message with a ping, do you get re-pinged?

@Randal'Thor Why are you talking to your sock? :P

6:59 PM

@EricTressler Yes.

I'll try to avoid that in the future, then

Lews Therin Telamon

@Sid That's not his sock!

@EricTressler No worries :-)

Locutus of Borg

You've gotta work on your sock-sniffing skills.

Oh dear ...

Lews Therin Telamon

7:02 PM

@LocutusofBorg Hello fellow sock!

Is this a sock party? :o

Locutus of Borg

The sock revolution has begun! Of course, that could just be the dryer.

8

@LocutusofBorg rofl

(and no, I didn't star that twice)

anyone down for Contact?

@ManyPinkHats I wouldn't mind.

7:07 PM

in Contact, 17 secs ago, by ManyPinkHats

Defending: G

Locutus of Borg

I'll try in a few minutes, but no guarantees.

...wrong account. Whatever.

:-O

7:53 PM

0

Q: I glisten in the sun

I appear when you're exhausted, But not when you're frosted. In heat, I'll appear. If I don't, you should fear. They think I'm disgusting, But I just show you, you're adjusting. I'm a natural part of life, In dance or sickness, I am rife. What am I?

8:07 PM

A hint to No Pun Intended I shoulda put in the post

well im not even sure how i'd have done it tactfully

but the cluephrase isn't awful and super subjective probably

^removed but ill say more about it after solved

1 hour later…

9:26 PM

anyone want to test my puzzle?

2 hours later…

11:07 PM

I think this should be closed:

1

Q: How can he save both- his son and lot of people?

A railroad operator lived with his only son. One day, a train was to cross the moveable bridge. Because of the operator's mistake, the bridge was lifted. His son saw the train and went up to pull the emergency lever, but slipped and got struck there. The man had still time to lower the bridge. Bu...

lateral-thinking

Agreed, it's pretty clearly "not fully defined".

@Dragonrage Sure, I can take a look.

@Deusovi onetimesecret.com/secret/subbr57slpv9nk4meqoxk0wiorq4mca

11:58 PM

CCCC: Cred in city all coming back for sovereign (7)

Holy crap, I just rickrolled myself :-/

I don't know how to write cryptic clues that don't sound like tabloid headlines

@BaSzAt No, I found it - it was this one. — Rand al'Thor Mar 30 '17 at 14:13

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