The Sphinx's Lair

1:18 AM

For the record I wouldn’t do an unmarked PD clue (and I’m pretty sure I’ve never done one at all). I’m also pretty liberal with question marks, using them to comment on a surface or a pun, or to signal an uncommon word or meaning, or as a def-by-example indicator, or for no reason at all. (I seem to remember reading somewhere of people using a question mark as anagrind; that seems like an unfair stretch to me.).

Dmihawk

so my orated guess was wildly off then? :P noooooo...........

Rubio

I’m sure you’re deeply shocked :)

Rubio

1:39 AM

@JohnDvorak incidentally, this would be a case (ha!) of required capitalization. I've probably made that blunder before, but I didn't make it here :)

Sphinx

1:50 AM

0

Q: Smallest number containing the first 11 primes as sub-strings

113257 contains the first 6 primes as sub-strings when reading them from left to right: 2: 113257 3: 113257 5: 113257 7: 113257 11: 113257 13: 113257 What is the smallest number that contains the first 11 primes as sub-strings? Good luck!

Sphinx

3:30 AM

0

Q: Sharing cake among 9 or fewer people

You are expecting guests to your birthday party. You know that there will be at most 8 guests, but you don't know how many will actually come. What is the smallest number of pieces you should divide your cake into, so that no matter how many guests come, everyone (including yourself) can be given...

mathematics logical-deduction combinatorics number-theory

Alconja

3:56 AM

@Sphinx Isn't that literally just what's the LCM of 1-9?

Omega Krypton

exactly... @Alconja

@Alconja do you like cryptic crosswords, by the way?

Alconja

I do. Though I'm not sure that I've ever actually done a whole "real" one (like in a newspaper).

Omega Krypton

then good news for ya! im making a 4d one ;) @Alconja

^with some degree of help fm jafe

Alconja

Excellent.

Now that you say that, it makes me realise, I've made more cryptic crosswords than I've solved. :)

Omega Krypton

lel same here

Alconja

4:01 AM

(that is to say, exactly 1)

Omega Krypton

:)

Alconja

When will yours be ready?

Omega Krypton

making the clues... the grid and words are ready

there are four directions, so it is expected to have 20+ clues...

sorry, i meant 200+

>:)

Alconja

Yikes. What size "grid"?

Omega Krypton

6^4

Alconja

4:05 AM

Presumably as a warm up to your 15^4 version right? :P

Omega Krypton

whattttttt?

Rubio

20^6 ... go big or go home

Omega Krypton

the highest record so far in P.SE is 11^3

@Rubio did i see ^6 wrong?

Rubio

Probably. Visualizing 6 dimensions is very difficult for you humans.

er. US humans.

Omega Krypton

then you, as the chief of canine puzzling should come up with one ;)

er. the chief of human puzzling

Alconja

4:07 AM

A few extra quantum dimensions looped back within each box. (Perhaps the max letter occurrence in those higher dimension loops resolves to the necessary letter in the lower dimensions?)

Omega Krypton

woe?

(what on earth)

:P

Alconja

yjmuan?

(you just making up acronyms now)

Omega Krypton

woe is a word.

Rubio

icmuaailtyvm.

Omega Krypton

i ..... to you very much

Alconja

4:09 AM

I can make up acronyms as I like thank you very much

Rubio

I can make up any acronym I like thank you very much. geez, you're so out of touch with how the kids are using textspeak these days.

Omega Krypton

US kids and you pups :)

Rubio

see, Alconja heard of it

minor geographical variants, I assume :)

Alconja

Yeah, that's the aussie version (at least where I grew up)

Omega Krypton

then me is boared

Alconja

4:13 AM

I finished another part of my next puzzle the other day too (barring a final end to end validation and test solve)

And accidentally drew another illustration that I didn't actually need for the last part.

Omega Krypton

oof

when's it ready?

Alconja

when it's done. :P

Hopefully this year. Though I had hoped that last year too...

Omega Krypton

@Alconja thanks. that helps.

Alconja

TODO: 1 major bit of puzzle. 1 minor bit of puzzle. 3(?) illustrations. Some text.

Omega Krypton

TODO: ~180 clues

Alconja

4:19 AM

Done: A bunch of puzzles. 8(?) illustrations. ~2600 words of text.

Omega Krypton

Done: The grid. Numbering

Alconja

5:18 AM

@Rubio Wait... Is that just: TICK (insect) + ET (slang "ate"), with def: slate (election candidates on the slate/ticket)?

Rubio

It is indeed. :)

Alconja

I was making things way more complicated than they needed to be. :)

(along with everyone else it seems)

Ok. Give me a few...

Rubio

Yeah I didn't want to ruin the mystery there but - now that it's out of the way, I will say that I was pretty clearly opposed to the kind of word-splitting in very non-standard ways that were being speculated on here, when it came up in the example Rand mentioned ("inch"). I said:

Apr 21 '17 at 17:00, by Rubio

splitting inCH is very very dodgy

and I think the majority of commenters were with Deus when he opined

Aug 29 '17 at 18:21, by Deusovi

"Indeed" is sketchy as-is. "inch" is pushing it too far.

so ... thinking I'd do that in my clue made me chuckle.

Omega Krypton

5:40 AM

@Rubio where is that clue? i cant find it in the archive...

Rubio

That's because it's not in there. It was discussed here, but came from Three Blind Mice - rhyming cryptics!

Omega Krypton

oh i see- thanks

Alconja

6:48 AM

Got caught up with other things and have to disappear for a bit, so a quick and stupid one based on a piece of graffiti I just walked past:

CCCC: Drunk UCLA grad lost $1000 to Batman? (7)

Rubio

7:32 AM

@Alconja (UCLA [-g]RAD)* is DRACULA (Batman, def. -- cute :))

Alconja

7:58 AM

@Rubio Bingo! :)

Rubio

CCCC: Moving in a curving path around a people without a leader (13)

msh210

@Alconja 'bout time :-)

Puzzling Meta

10:27 AM

0

Q: I can't use Imgur, I have to use Scratch instead

Instead of Imgur mazes, I have to create Scratch mazes because I can't access Imgur. However, can I still use imgur-maze in it or may I suggest another tag?

discussion tags

Sphinx

0

Q: There's a snake lies

There's a snake lies. Hidden from the all conflict. In the void must be filled. Ever wonder what could have been. What/who am I describing?

riddle

msh210

10:56 AM

@Rubio I can't get away from the fact that *arch(y) (e.g. anarchy) has arc(h) in it. On the other hand, I can't make anything of it, either, at least not yet. But maybe it'll help someone else.

For example, it could be "Moving in" = NI, "a curving path" = ARCH, "around a people" = put something in there, and "without a leader" def, NI...ARCH or N...IARCH. Which doesn't seem to exist.

(Of course it's usually more likely that "without a leader" or "without" is an indicator. But, like I said, I can't get away from the coincidences of arches.)

Rand al'Thor

11:38 AM

@Rubio Yeah, it seemed unlikely but ... would've been a nicely evil scheme to use a trick that nobody would expect you to use ;-)

My attempted parsing of the CCCC is the same as msh210's, but without getting too distracted by ARCH. I thought the word might be "...LESS" if "without a leader" is the def, in which case "PRECESS" could be "moving in a curving path". But the closest word I could find is PROTECTORLESS, and even ignoring the O/E discrepancy, TECTORL isn't "a people" as far as I know. So ... I've got nothing.

Sphinx

11:54 AM

1

Q: Lost in time and space

You have been working on your plutonium-powered time machine for years, and now you finally succeeded! At least, you thought you did... After extensive testing with sending back and forth various objects, plant seeds and small animals, you decide it's time for the first human tes...

logical-deduction story

Sphinx

1:15 PM

0

Q: Chess Construction Challenge #3-The Inverse Babson

Another day, another task! Today's challenge is to construct four positions, with White to move and win, such that: In each position, White's move is to promote to a particular piece, for a position per promotion choice. Black's next best move is to promote to a piece, and Black promotes to th...

no-computers chess optimization

Gareth McCaughan

1:33 PM

I don't think "precess" really means "moving in a curving path". Maybe "precessing" but even that's a bit iffy. (What precesses is the axis, not the thing actually moving, no?)

msh210

@GarethMcCaughan the axis is what precesses, but doesn't that mean that it (in a sense) moves in a curving path?

(I completely agree about the "-ing".)

John Dvorak

Since it is a line, it can't move along a curve - only along a cone.

msh210

still arguably (especially in this context) a curving path, even if it's not a mathematical curve

John Dvorak

I guess... but it definitely doesn't stand up to pedantry :D

I mean, the center of Earth is moving along a curved path, but that's merely incidental

Sphinx

1:55 PM

0

Q: What is a Commutative Word™?

This is in the spirit of the What is a Word/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles. If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a Commutative Word™. Use the following examples below to find the rule. $$ % set Title text. (spaces around the text AR...

pattern word-property

msh210

2:28 PM

@JohnDvorak I'll grant that. :-) Does chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/51369120#51369120 apply?

msh210

2:43 PM

"in a curving path" = OVALLY, "a people without a leader" = (A)RRERNTE, "around" → OVARRERNTELLY, which personally I find deeply "Moving"

Sphinx

2:55 PM

1

Q: Ewan, Ries, and Avut

There is a unique, well-defined word that completes the following quadruple: Ewan, Ries, Avut, ????. What's this word?

word word-sequence

Sphinx

3:16 PM

0

Q: The best way to hire people

“We get a lot of applicants for our job vacancies,” said Lionel. He waved a hand in the general direction of the call-centre. “Here at Open to Everybody Insurance Services the jobs don’t need much prior knowledge and we offer some great training and near-benefits: for instance, almost all of o...

mathematics

Sphinx

3:36 PM

1

Q: Knights and Knaves: What does C say?

You are on a fictional island with two types of people: knights who always tell the truth, and knaves, who always lie. Three of the inhabitants - A, B, and C are standing in the garden. A says, "B and C are of the same type" (B and C are both knaves or are both knights.) Someone then asks C, "Are...

riddle liars

Rand al'Thor

5:46 PM

My apologies, I did misunderstand the question. Voted to reopen now. — Rand al'Thor 19 secs ago

cc @Rubio

@msh210 I ... hope this is a joke, unless Rubio has out-Garethed us all with obscure words.

msh210

6:00 PM

@Randal'Thor Yes, it's a joke.

Sphinx

6:18 PM

0

Q: Smallest PRIME containing the first 11 primes as sub-strings

In Smallest number containing the first 11 primes as sub-strings, @Alconja successfully found the smallest number which contains the first eleven primes (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31) as concatenated sub-strings. This inspired me to propose the following followup: What is the smallest ...

mathematics optimization number-theory

Sphinx

8:40 PM

0

Q: One-digit products in a row of numbers, base-N

Generalizing One-digit products in a row of numbers to base-N: For which bases N does there exist at least one solution to the following: "The digits from 1 to N can be arranged in a row, such that any two neighbouring digits in this row is the product of two one-digit numbers"? Examples:

mathematics calculation-puzzle

Sphinx

9:00 PM

0

Q: What am I missing in this Sudoku?

I think I am missing something in the instance below, since I could solve it only with a long-winded chain of deductions starting with the assumption that (coordinates are (row,column)): and continuing as follows: a contradiction. I just started learning Sudoku and it never happened before...

sudoku

Puzzling Meta

9:54 PM

0

Q: Best puzzles of 2019 Q2 (April - June)?

This question is part of the best-puzzle award series. What are your nominations for the best puzzles, here on Puzzling.SE, of the second quarter ( April / May / June) 2019? Suggested guidelines for nomination: Nominate each individual puzzle in a separate answer, so they can be upvoted...

discussion best-of

Sphinx

11:21 PM

0

Q: A delve into extraordinary chess problems: Selfmate 2

(Continuing the series from here) Here is a second selfmate puzzle (also relatively easy, but beware the traps!). It is by C. R. Flood from 1967, and is puzzle 81 in The Book of Extraordinary Chess Puzzles: White to play and selfmate in three. As a reminder: "In a 'selfmate' proble...

chess

Transcript for