The Sphinx's Lair

Q: The Royal Mint of Alphagonia

1:09 AM

In the Kingdom of Alphagonia nothing can be bought for less than 30 alphas, the local currency. 1) What three denominations of coins should the kingdom mint so that as many as possible of the (integer) amounts between 30 and 100 alphas (both inclusive) cad be paid using no more than three coins?...

mathematics number-theory

4 hours later…

Mithrandir

5:22 AM

Yep, I was right, I regret sharing it.

1 hour later…

Sid

6:37 AM

@Deusovi If you don't mind me asking, It's a bachelor's degree, right? Math, IIRC?

7:30 AM

Q: A Little Riddle

Here's a little riddle! Many languages spoken in my prefix Many stars found in my suffix Many clauses written in my whole What am I?

riddle

Q: Variable Prefixes and Suffixes

8:09 AM

My short prefix will take you in. My long prefix is set against. My short suffix will take you in. My long suffix is in the country. Many clauses are written in my whole. What am I?

riddle word

Puzzling Meta

8:24 AM

Q: Forgot answer...now what?

I have forgotten the answer to one of my puzzles. What do I do? I find it quite remarkable that a similar post doesn't already exist here.

discussion

Adam

@PuzzlingMeta Oh dear!

Puzzling Meta

8:43 AM

Q: Are puzzles that overthink their answers appropriate?

I wasn't quite sure how to phrase this, but I stumbled on this puzzle and was surprised to see the amount of thought going into it. The answer - that suspect 3 must have done it because the murder occured in the women's bathroom - may feel overly simplified but it is the correct one. The puzzle ...

discussion

9:38 AM

So this has turned into CCCCC -- Cryptic-Clue Couplet Chat Chains.

2 hours later…

jafe

11:11 AM

Cunningly Crafted Cryptic Clue Couplet Chains Commemorating Clive's Chronicles?

Omega Krypton

wow... thats a lot of c's

I hope there will be some thematic variation if the new style catches on.

Brandon_J

11:41 AM

All words must have a c in them

and the first clue given is which letter it is

2 hours later…

1:25 PM

It looks to me as if jafe has an inkling of the answer to at least one of my C4 clues...

Well, the "realms" of these clues are not hard to figure out or at least make good guesses about.

2:28 PM

Q: What is a BEN Number™?

This is in the spirit of the What is a Word/Phrase™ series started by JLee with Number version puzzles. If a number conforms to a special rule, I call it a BEN Number™. Use the following examples below to find the rule. $$ % set Title text. (spaces around the text ARE important; do not remove...

pattern number-property

2:38 PM

Slightly surprised that no one has posted a solution, since I suspect at least two people have in fact solved them.

(namely jafe and M Oehm; but perhaps I'm misinterpreting their comments)

@GarethMcCaughan I wish there were a place called Cadsland or something, but I can't seem to find any such.

I'm sort of stuck in that direction and haven't considered any other. Perhaps it's time.

(Cadsland... where all the cads are from.)

(Also that'd require "of" to be a connector, which I don't know whether @GarethMcCaughan would include. I suspect not.)

3:34 PM

@msh210 I would find that suboptimal but not so unacceptable that I mightn't do it either deliberately or without noticing. (I make no comment, of course, on whether I have done any such thing in either of these clues.) My past experience is that iffy connectors are easier to overlook as a setter than as a solver :-).

Brandon_J

3:45 PM

@GarethMcCaughan in your next cc you need to use the word "iffy" as an actual connector.

if it helps, feel free to cite me as inspiration for this obviously brilliant and straightforward idea

4:30 PM

Q: Tracks in the snow

Eleven fantastic creatures left their tracks in the snow. Can you identify all of them and the twelfth creature that left no tracks?

visual word-search

Q: Do number sentiments work?

We are of a family of eleven When we join numbers less than a cent Excepting those special ten We turn odd to even and even to odd Like a tiny miracle of god However, in general our company results in swap Of the original ones, an easy sum for a clever chap What are we and what are those excep...

riddle mathematics

Q: Fantastic beasts

This is an image-only puzzle, but StackExchange demands a body of 30 characters...

enigmatic-puzzle visual

4:56 PM

You don't know whether we have solved both parts. :) But in fact, I have an answer to both:

@GarethMcCaughan The (as fas as I can see unrelated) answers are: AS + LAN(d) and ENT AILMENT.

5:07 PM

Correct! (And, indeed, they're more or less unrelated. Lewis and Tolkien were friends and members of a little literary circle called the Inklings, so there's a bit of a thematic connection beyond the general fantasticality, but that's all.)

Mithrandir

Of course, Tolkien heavily disapproved of some the elements that Lewis put in his works ;)

...like Father Christmas. He really didn't like that.

So when you said that jafe seemed to have an inklinga bout the solution, was that a hint?

More of a nod-and-a-wink to jafe, but yes, it was intended to provide a little hint if anyone happened to recognize it as such.

And yes, as Mithrandir says Tolkien didn't by any means approve of all Lewis's literary endeavours. He was particularly unenthusiastic about Lewis's gleeful mishmashing of different mythologies. (Mythmashing?) The Father Christmas stuff is just one example.

Well, I didn't. :)

(recognize the hint, that is.)

5:30 PM

Q: Fated to earn money

Here's a puzzle I made. Joe has investments in Company A, Company B, and Company C. Joe is fated to earn $25.00 from Company A within 2 days from now. Joe is fated to earn $45.00 from Company B within 3 days from now. Joe is fated to earn $100.00 from Company C within 5 days from now. Joe is...

mathematics story

CCCC: Blue, unreal ice I left to melt (8)

(Sorry, it's only a single clue.)

5:45 PM

@GarethMcCaughan Ah, I hadn't considered "when" as a component

6:18 PM

@MOehm I really want this to be EVANESCE = (to) melt. The EVANS can be "blue" and the CE can be "ice I left", but I can't get the rest to fit so I guess I'm on the wrong tack.

Yes, that's not the answer, I'm afraid..

(And I don't understand how you get evans = blue.)

@MOehm There's a blue dye called Evans.

@MOehm CERULEAN (anag of UNREALICE-I)

@msh210 And a rock band of the same name apparently. Didn't know about either, but msh210 and Uncle Google enlightened me.

@GarethMcCaughan Yes, that's it.

@MOehm That one I don't know.

6:29 PM

Here. It even gets the straight name on Wikipedia, whereas the dye gets a clarification in perentheses.

@MOehm Strange that a band named after a dye gets the unparenthesized name while the dye itself is relegated to second class.

Yes, I wondered about that, too.

6:49 PM

CCCC: Regular payment made without hesitation, accepted unwillingly (9)

1 hour later…