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00:00 - 18:0018:00 - 00:00

18:02
meh, my brain is failing me and I need to be AFK for a bit; I'll look again later if no one else has done it by then
18:21
@Deusovi Former? Did ffao quit?
"Formerly active" may be a better phrasing.
Avi
Avi
can you do "backwards ab cd" and have that result in (AB + CD)< or AB< + CD alternately
sure
Avi
Avi
or "ab cd turned around" and have that result in (AB + CD)< or AB + CD< alternately?
yep, both are fine
Avi
Avi
18:25
nice!
but useless for my puzzles lol
all grid-deduction for now
is FINE -> F legal (and if so, why)?
as on pencils
but it's a bit questionable, i'd say -- and i'd avoid it myself
Avi
Avi
Stock a store endlessly (6) - STAPLE(-s)
I really wanted to find a way to do Stock a store with missing (pencilS selected)
but not sure how to get the last letter without it sounding weird
18:56
I thought the store was called Staples, not Staple
It is called Staples; that's why "endlessly".
@Deusovi OH THANK GOD
I'm actually lurking for the first time in AGES because I need help with the MLP hunt
@feelinferrety Can't help but read that as "My Little Pony Hunt" lol
@dcfyj you are correct
Avi
Avi
Major League Puzzling Hunt
that's where the big puzzlers are
18:58
@Avi Nope, it really is My Little Pony
Avi
Avi
In the final paper Hamilton offers "a lesson of moderation to all sincere lovers of the Union, and ought to put them on their guard against hazarding anarchy, civil war, a perpetual alienation of the States from each other, and perhaps the military despotism of a successful demagogue"
'... and perhaps the military despotism of a successful demagogue'
'... a successful demagogue'
I think we're 1/2 there already
fortunately the less dangerous half but still
The Founders were quite brilliant for a bunch of humans
@Deusovi please say I didn't miss you by half an hour.... it would be so great to have a shove in the right direction from someone who's already done the puzzles ><
Avi
Avi
I mean, what're the puzzles that you're stuck on
You need to sign up to see them
And even then, the ones I need are later unlocks
Avi
Avi
oh...
better ask Deusovi then
19:04
Yeah if he ever comes back
I came for help anyway but happened to see his comment that he'd played it, so that would be ideal
They ARE fun, though. You don't need to know much if anything about MLP - it just helps the story along, and has a COUPLE of related clues.
HTM
HTM
19:30
I’ve been thinking about doing some puzzle hunts, but I don’t know how to form a team for them
Berkeley used to have a puzzling club, but last I checked they were dead as dirt
And none of my friends are really into this kind of stuff afaik
@Avi I expect most people around here would agree with you about the current President of the United States, but I suggest not turning this into a locus of political discussion, because such things can get very fraught.
HTM
HTM
19:50
@feelinferrety Is the hunt ending soon? I haven’t done the puzzles yet but could take a look tonight and let you know what I think of them
@HTM It is ending soon, but there was never a prize or anything, so that might just be when answers get released. Dunno if it closes for submissions.
HTM
HTM
@feelinferrety OK, I’ll see if I can help out then!
Some of them get REALLY in-depth. I learned a lot about biochemical reactions for the last one I solved.
@HTM If you need any help with earlier puzzles, I can give you some hints or busywork
Avi
Avi
@GarethMcCaughan Oh, my bad, I didn't realize that demagogue had a negative meaning
Or maybe I just didn't realize what I was saying xd
 
1 hour later…
21:19
@feelinferrety I don't think I can give hints for a currently-running hunt.
@Deusovi There's no prize, and the rules do state that you can seek outside help
"outside help" means "someone else who's not participating", not help from people who have already completed the hunt
I mean I guess if you want to argue technicalities, it says "as long as they're not helping someone else" and you WOULD be that someone else
it says "other people not actively participating in the hunt" -- I was actively participating in the hunt
Yeah, what I meant
21:22
rules like that are to allow you to ask people who are not part of the hunt, not to get help from other teams
also
> If you've read the provided hints and need more help, you may email us at [email protected], but we cannot promise a fast reply. Please include your team name and the puzzle you want hints on in your email.
you can just email them for hints if you're still stuck
I hate emailing people
I just wanted to ask for a small shove
I don't need much. I got over one hump with EXTENSIVE Googling/guessing (A to Zecora) but I'm stuck on Number Hunting - I already found the clue phrase but don't know the last step
there's also a rule against streaming publicly, and this seems pretty close to that
I am not giving hints for a currently-active hunt. If you want a hint, feel free to email them.
:( ok
I always end up doing hunts by myself, so I would love to team up with you sometime
Well, that resolved, thoughts? Like how insane A to Zecora was? I had to guess a lot of it because I couldn't find the correct equations.
We backsolved that one.
looked tedious
Avi
Avi
Indivisible report is not secretive (10)
INDISCRETE -> INDISCREET
India's lost a Greek island (whole!) (10)
INDI(-a)S + CRETE
21:35
@Deusovi It was. Do you usually work with IRL friends, or do you have an online community?
@Avi Reads better if you use "swallowed" in place of "lost" if that's still an appropriate marker
Avi
Avi
haha, unfortunately not
India's destroyed a Greek island whole! (10) might work though
I solve with some friends from my team for the MIT Mystery Hunt - we generally settle into a few subteams for every small hunt
Were you able to be on campus? I played for the first time this year, remotely, with a large team of mostly amateurs with a couple of scene-stealing superstars and some folks who never used the note-taking system.
Yep! This was my fifth year onsite (and my seventh as part of the team)
2
Q: What word(s) am I?

user11039033I'm a 7 letter words. As a phrasal verb, i mean: 'begin to operate'. And if you read me palindromically, (contains multi-words e.g like crosswords does) I mean: keep mices? (3-4). Let's see who'll crack this word.

21:41
Wow! Have you ever won?
Nope! We're definitely not planning on it any time soon
How far did you get?
This year, we got sixth place - we only had the last meta to solve before the endgame
Nice!
Are you still in school? (I think that's something I know about you from the last time I was a regular here)
Yep, currently in my last semester
Avi
Avi
21:44
Imitator enraged one English pig (7)
@Avi Oh yeah, wow. I'm sorry - I've been puzzling all week and my brain is fried. Obviously "swallowed" would mark exactly the opposite ><
Avi
Avi
(ONE + E + PIG)* = EPIGONE
cry
I need to make sneakier surfaces
@Avi indirect anagram
Avi
Avi
is it?
yeah?
Avi
Avi
21:50
I thought E was an abbreviation for E
English -> E
you're not anagramming ONEENGLISHPIG, you're anagramming ONEEPIG
so it's indirect
Avi
Avi
hmmmm
Minor exception: simple abbreviations may be used to spice up the process; e.g., "Husband, a most eccentric fellow" (6) for THOMAS, where the anagram is made from A, MOST, and H = husband.
^ wikipedia
cryptic standards are different in different publications, and for different solvers
Avi
Avi
fair enough
that's still indirect
and I think it should be disallowed
Avi
Avi
21:53
in any case it's better to find something clever to do
(and general American cryptic usage agrees with me, at least)
Avi
Avi
English pig's right hand chopped off for bad imitation (7)
E "english" + PI(-g) "pig's right hand chopped" + GONE "off" = [bad imitation]
that should be somewhat better than indirect anagramming, at least
"hand"? and "off" = GONE?
Avi
Avi
hand = part?
no, "hand" does not mean the same as "part"
Avi
Avi
21:59
off = gone is fine I think
English pig's tail chopped off for bad imitation (7)
In what sense are "off" and "gone" synonyms? Not saying they aren't, just can't think of the sense off the top of my head
Avi
Avi
uhhhh
"missing"?
"off" is "missing"?
Can you give a sentence where one can be replaced with the other?
Avi
Avi
off = "so as to be removed or separated"
sure, but that's in the sense of "the attachment came off"
Avi
Avi
22:00
hmmmm
or "fell off"
and you can't say "the attachment fell gone"
Avi
Avi
the attachment was offed?
can you say "the attachment was goned"?
Avi
Avi
gone
those have different meanings, and different parts of speech too
Avi
Avi
22:01
part of speech is the real problem I believe
meanings fall within the same range of meanings I believe
not really
Avi
Avi
gone -> missing only
"was offed" means that someone actively destroyed it (although I've only heard "offed" in that sense to mean killing someone -- I don't understand that sentence)
Avi
Avi
off -> detached, separated, kill, destroy
you're listing multiple different meanings for "off"
Avi
Avi
22:02
hmmm, you may be right
the first two are adjectives meaning "unattached"; the last two are verbs meaning "destroy"
Avi
Avi
right, whatever works for the CC is possible to work with
well the synonym has to be the same part of speech as the word it's modifying
Avi
Avi
but unfortunately "gone" might not be the synonym here
"gone" does not mean "unattached"
Avi
Avi
22:03
maybe "away" would work though
He's gone
He's away
"away" = GONE sounds fine to me
Avi
Avi
English pig's tail chopped away for bad imitation (7)
alright, thanks
I have to go but it was nice to improve the CC to a good state
your next step would be to modify the clue so "bad imitation" fits better with the surface - right now it looks irrelevant
this might require a few synonyms to change, or maybe you'd need to rewrite the entire clue and change the wordplay
see ya!
HTM
HTM
22:30
@Avi There’s a (PIGEON)* somewhere in there, but I can’t make it work
23:00
Pigeon addled on drugs, or a poor imitation (7)
(maybe E = drugs is no good? "on drug" is a worse surface)
HTM
HTM
23:29
Poor imitation of hyperactive pigeon with energy (7)
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