The Sphinx's Lair

humn

12:44 AM

Don't wait for the first shoe to drop.

Rubio

12:55 AM

@GarethMcCaughan Out of thin air. (From a "the", I had vaguely supposed.) Hence the "perhaps" :)

humn

@Rubio, you will solve my next puzzle.

Mebbe have already.

I have the form, just not the details.

Since i found out that my artistic aunt does crosswords on the john, as i do, i've been obsessed with prospects.

And here's her latest:

^ Yes i know that's not a crossword.

Did i mention? A collection of criteria for a USA crossword:

       The whole grid is an N x N square of cells where N is an odd number.

       The pattern of black and white cells has 180-degree rotational symmetry.

       Answers ...      ... are all at least 3 letters long;
                        ... are all different.

       White cells ...  ... are all "checked"
                            (part of both an Across answer and a Down answer).
                        ... are orthogonally contiguous
                            (no islands when considering shared edges);

Sphinx

1:13 AM

0

Q: To Win The Right

I found this nice little problem on Tim Krabbe's website the other day. I found t so unique and beautiful, that I felt compelled to share it here as a puzzle to be solved. Please do not use a computer and do please don't look up the answer! Try to use your own brain power! Source: Gady Costeff (...

Sphinx

2:54 AM

0

Q: 6x7 Pokemon-based cipher

My friend made this cipher for me to solve and it has me stumped. Wondered if anyone else would want to take a crack at it. All it is is this image:

cipher visual

Omega Krypton

5:12 AM

@Brandon_J may i ask how you change the porfile pic in chat? i changed the one in Puzzling, but am not able to change the one here in chat :( thanks!

Sphinx

5:40 AM

0

Q: Help with a "tougher tuesday" crossword puzzle on "animal opposites"

I assume this must be some obscure word play that I can't figure out. The overall clue of this NYT style crossword puzzle is "Animal Opposites". The three clues relevant to this overarching clue and their answers are: A bird of prey without a mate? --> Lonesome Hawk Where you might buy an albi...

crossword-clues

Omega Krypton

5:56 AM

44 mins ago, by Omega Krypton

@Brandon_J may i ask how you change the porfile pic in chat? i changed the one in Puzzling, but am not able to change the one here in chat :( thanks!

solved thanks

jafe

6:17 AM

@GarethMcCaughan PA'S+TOR(y)?

Alconja

Are you doing "on the left of" to mean the left part of? (in which case, maybe TOR(-ies) would be better, since then it's the full left half)

jafe

ah, right

Mithrandir

7:21 AM

@OmegaKrypton caching

humn

7:56 AM

Please join me at The Troll and lighten the mood.

Sid

8:24 AM

TIL that the symbol of the democrats is a donkey. Now everything makes sense as to their stupidity

Sphinx

9:00 AM

0

Q: 3D Crossword, Cryptic, Statue View & Maze

The following image depicts the layers of a $5\times5\times5$ cube. Using 3-dimensional thinking, can you find the way out of the cube? Empty version with no crossword numbers Empty version with crossword only 1. Crossword (blue squares) Across 1. Separately 4. Hurry 7. Phy...

grid-deduction crosswords mazes cryptic-crosswords

Gareth McCaughan

9:30 AM

@jafe Yup, PASTOR is correct, and I think TOR(-ies) is better than TOR(-y) but don't mind which way you get it :-).

@Sid It goes back to a political cartoon representing a prominent Democrat (Andrew Jackson) as a jackass, punning on his name. He was a bit of a populist and his supporters decided that what his enemies called stupidity was just really Being On The Side Of The Common Man, and embraced the symbol.

It's worth being aware that since his time the Republican and Democratic parties have pretty much exactly changed places.

Probably best not to incite political flamewars here, by the way. I suspect many TSL regulars would not agree about which US party is the Stupid Party.

Sphinx

0

Q: Tom travels extensively all over. He was trying to figure out

The missing members in the following sequence. $A$, $A$, $A$, $A$, $?$, $?$, $?$ Please help him out.

knowledge lateral-thinking

jafe

9:53 AM

it's okay, i'm sure whoever loses the argument will just concede and change to the other side immediately

CCCC: Sacrifice of federal leaders by cartel (8)

humn

@GarethMcCaughan , i was gonna sleep it all off, but:

MPFC_S02E06(ep.19) It's A Living (or School Prizes) "Election Night Special"

►

Sphinx

10:40 AM

1

Q: Red and Blue Dividing Line

In the grid shown below, 20 numbers are given in blue and red. Draw a dividing line along the contours of the grid such that A) Blue Numbers Sum to the same on either side of the line B) Red Numbers Sum to to the same on either side of the same line.

mathematics logical-deduction no-computers

Brandon_J

11:08 AM

@OmegaKrypton looks like you got it

Omega Krypton

yep thanks

Deusovi

12:01 PM

both crosswords solved from jafe's newest creation, but this Statue View seems tough to visualize

Sphinx

12:20 PM

1

Q: If you snatch, I trade

If you snatch, I trade. If you work with bites, I isolate, If you work with celestial bodies, part of me protects. If you work with the land, I divide. What am I? Give the reasoning for each line! An extra line will be available as a hint if required later on.

riddle word wordplay

jafe

@Deusovi make sure you have the latest version... there were a couple of numbers wrong in the grid when first posted

Deusovi

yep, only started under an hour ago

(thanks for the heads-up though)

also, I discovered that I can't count, which may be an issue

jafe

:P

Deusovi

hm, I'm hitting a contradiction

update: never mind, it's fine

@jafe is there an extra L-tromino in the bank?

because unless I've made a mistake counting (which is very possible), I have an extra one, but all the clues are satisfied (and there are multiple ways to place it in the leftover space)

jafe

12:37 PM

hmm let me check

i count 24 shades cells in the solution... 8x3

Rubio

@jafe sacrifice = OF + FE_ + RING

jafe

@Rubio yes!

Rubio

Good morning all :)

Deusovi

ah yep, more counting problems

Rubio

CCCC: Belief in a hands-off God without a place leads to tyranny (9)

Deusovi

12:47 PM

and done (though Gareth seems to have posted the answer between my figuring it out and my posting the explanation)

Rubio

Oh that wily Gareth

jafe

hehe he knew he was getting sniped any second there

Gareth McCaughan

yeah, no idea which of us should get the green checkmark.

Deusovi

well, I have clue explanations, and I posted my explanations first

Rubio

You both obviously need the rep, so - MOD FIGHT TO THE DEATH

Deusovi

12:59 PM

sounds like a reasonable solution to me

Rubio

Also, we gotta do something about @jafe and these low quality, low effort, cookie cutter puzzles. It’s totally getting to be a problem. *cough*

jafe

hehehe

Rubio

Out of curiosity @jafe (and no need to answer if you don’t want) - what do you do? You clearly have enviable time and talent for puzzlecraft.

Deusovi

I generally try to avoid posting just the answer and then backfilling the explanation later -- it seems like it's just prioritizing speed over completeness, which isn't really a good thing for the site IMO. (Plus, had I done that I would've posted my answer before Gareth -- the combination of cleaning up the cell borders and getting my screenshot program to play nice took at least two or three minutes.)

Gareth McCaughan

In that case I think you should get the checkmark.

Rubio

1:04 PM

(If for no other reason than “answers without explanation” are, basically, not answers here ... I tend to agree with both your last messages)

jafe

@Rubio i'm a software developer

some weeks are busier but now with vacations rolling in it's pretty quiet here :P

what do you guys do?

Mithrandir

@Rubio I'll referee!

jafe

with bribes in mind, i bet

Mithrandir

...I refuse to either confirm or deny that.

Rubio

Buahahaa

Mithrandir

1:19 PM

@jafe I'm a professional puzzler. ;)

Rubio

1:44 PM

I’m a professional slacker

M Oehm

You? Professional? :>

Rubio

I resemble that remark

The fart ~~joke~~ cryptic gave it away? Hehe

M Oehm

Oh, that only showed that you are young at heart ...

Gareth McCaughan

I'm a mathematician working in the tech industry (so, in practice, mostly an engineer and software developer).

Rubio

Well. I am in fact a systems engineer. I have to do something less technical to avoid going slowly insane. (So I chose puzzles, apparently, so I could go quickly insane.)

Mithrandir

1:55 PM

@Rubio Don't try to fool us. You were always insane.

Rubio

Well, yes, there is that.

M Oehm

2:07 PM

I think most of us have technical jobs and have come to PSE from other SO/SE sites.

Mithrandir

I arrived at Puzzling through the SE network, yes, but I was being serious when I said I'm a professional puzzler. I run an escape room :P

M Oehm

Oh, interesting. I've never done a real-life escape room. (And I'm not sure whether the concept carries over well from Flash games to physical puzzles.)

Deusovi

The quality varies. I've done one that was boring, one that was completely unfair, and one that was fantastic and well worth it.

M Oehm

So it's like the Flash games, then.

Deusovi

Yep.

hexomino

2:22 PM

One of the great things I find about escape rooms is that they make for a great social activity. In the ones I've done with friends, we've gone to the pub afterwards and talked about it (who did what, what did we like, etc).

Sphinx

2:41 PM

2

Q: Decode the message

Try to decode this message: y08 700) 07734 Hint: Hint

cipher

Erik the Outgolfer

@Sphinx umm... does that have a solution...

John Dvorak

Apparently

Erik the Outgolfer

lol just as I said that an answer got accepted

hexomino

@Mithrandir What's the strangest thing you've ever seen someone do in your escape room.

Mithrandir

Does picking the lock count?

hexomino

2:49 PM

Yes, were they successful?

Mithrandir

Yes. They kinda sabotaged themselves in doing so, though.

M Oehm

I can imagine that it is fun to do an escape room with friends, but I probably don't have many friends who would enjoy doing puzzles and join me. A good friend did an escape room with his colleagues as a company event. He didn't enjoy it, but supposed that I would have liked it.

Gareth McCaughan

3:02 PM

@Rubio Solution to your CCCC is SPOT in DEISM making DESPOTISM.

John Dvorak

"without" meaning outfix instead of deletion? And that doesn't warrant a question mark?

M Oehm

Yes, "without" means outside here. What would the question mark be for?

John Dvorak

That's not how I normally interpret the word

Gareth McCaughan

"Without" meaning "outside" is perfectly cromulent. Didn't we have a discussion of this very thing in TSL just a couple of weeks ago?

(Looks like we didn't; perhaps I'm thinking of somewhere else.)

M Oehm

We had that discussion, but a couple of years ago. :)

Deusovi

3:09 PM

Not a couple weeks ago, but I'm pretty sure I was introduced to that meaning of the word here a while back

yeah, "years" sounds about right

Erik the Outgolfer

pretty sure I found a search result from 2017

but it's just one message Gareth posted back then

M Oehm

If memory serves, Gareth quoted a (Christmas?) hymn that uses the word.

Erik the Outgolfer

nah, I can find a C4 Rubio posted that uses "without" to mean "outside of"

Rubio

@GarethMcCaughan indeed. And I was pretty sure you’d be the solver for that one heh

@EriktheOutgolfer I’ve done it a time or three in the past,

probably prompting the earlier discussion in here

Erik the Outgolfer

yes, at least the one I found was the cause of that discussion

Gareth McCaughan

3:15 PM

I may well have quoted a hymn that uses the word, but it isn't a Christmas one. (If anything, an Easter one, but I don't think its use is particularly seasonal.)

Erik the Outgolfer

@Rubio looks like you've posted 14 C4s with "without" in them

although obviously not all of them use "without" like that :P

hexomino

I've generally thought of this definition of "without" as being the more sensible one - the opposite of "within" rather than the opposite of "with"

Erik the Outgolfer

the oppsite of "with" should've been "withnot", raise your hand if you agree

John Dvorak

Once upon a time, "very" meant "truly" as in truth rather than quantity

How about withless?

Erik the Outgolfer

> Old English withūtan ‘on the outside’.

the heck

Rubio

3:19 PM

Once upon a time, irregardless was not a word. Languages change. Sometimes not for the better. :)

Erik the Outgolfer

yeah, that word is wild 10/10

and guess what, it means "regardless"

Rubio

I INSIST IT IS NOT A WORD. *mutter*

M Oehm

"I insist it" is three words, sure.

Rubio

pah

Erik the Outgolfer

um... "it" is definitely a word...?

Omega Krypton

3:34 PM

IT is an acronym for Intellectual Tyke

Gareth McCaughan

3:48 PM

CCCC: God (hands-off slacker) casts me down, leads to tyranny (5)

M Oehm

@GarethMcCaughan That's DEITY: DEI (ID(l)E(r), "hands-off" slacker with I ("me") moved further down) + TY(ranny)

Erik the Outgolfer

> DEIIDETY

Gareth McCaughan

@MOehm Correct! (I knew this would be an easy one; I just liked the riff on Rubio's clue.)

M Oehm

Well, Rubio had me sent down the "Surely, hands are L and R" path, earlier, so ...

Sphinx

0

Q: Here Is Our Limerick

We are just some of many One of us on every line Don't jump to conclusions Or there'll be confusion Make it right and you'll be fine Can you determine what we are?

riddle limerick

Gareth McCaughan

4:12 PM

Heh.

GentlePurpleRain

How do you get TY from TYRANNY? Is that an accepted abbreviation?

Oh. "Leads to". Never mind.

Sphinx

0

Q: Be Quick and Calculating..Take Four Shots

To Target Sum of 100 Exactly . By shooting the right different numbers in four shots summing upto 100.

mathematics logical-deduction no-computers

M Oehm

4:54 PM

CCCC: Poor devil, disinterested at heart, gets nosy, giving up resistance to exploration finally (11)

humn

5:38 PM

@Rand al'whut. Please join me at @youknowwhere.

John Dvorak

I may be walking across my own arm here, but it seems to me that Humn constantly talking about his own personal soapbox here counts as advertising and should be appropriately disincentivized.

Sphinx

0

Q: Prove or disprove: If k*n+1 and (k+1)*n+1 are both perfect squares, then (2k+1)|n, where k and n are positive integers

This question came to my mind while trying to generalize the result for k=3 as posted in https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/575733/if-4n1-and-3n1-are-both-perfect-sqares-then-56n-how-can-i-prove-this

number-theory

Sphinx

6:03 PM

2

Q: What Am I - Short Riddle

Two bodies I have, Though both joined in one The stiller I stand - The faster I run

riddle word

GentlePurpleRain

@MOehm The solution is IMPECUNIOUS (poor): IMP (devil) + disint(E)rested at heart + CURIOUS (nosy) with R (resistance) replaced by N (exploration finally)

Sphinx

11:24 PM

0

Q: Number sequence: 202500, 5184, 32400, 12960,?

Can you solve my first selfmade number sequence ? 202500, 5184, 32400, 12960, ? Hint: Hint:

number-sequence

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