The Sphinx's Lair

1:41 AM

0

A pile of cannonballs stacked like a pyramid has a rectangular base. Each layer has a length and a width in terms of cannonballs that are each one less than those of the layer that is directly below. The highest layer has a width of 1 and a length that is qual to the width of the first layer. For...

oAlt

2:28 AM

frick, I shall have to rewrite one of the clues which was using something similar to "new organization"

anyway yea gotta go again

msh210

3:57 AM

@oAlt I don't think the view earlier expressed here about that is universally held… if that affects your plans.

oAlt

5:15 AM

hmm

I already have one clue that ever so slightly deviates from ximenean standards

Feeling I shouldn't add more like it lol

Yea it still feels I need to change the new organization clue

Deusovi

I'm fine with things like "X organization" / "X rearrangement" for anagrams. It seems to me that it can still mean "organization/rearrangement of X".

Might be a bit strained, and so it's not ideal, but it's not awful either.

Avi

6:00 AM

sigh

does anybody want to do some really hard math, and get no credit whatsoever for it

also requires some familiarity with the way neural network gradient descent works

in addition to the possibility of the problem not being solvable in the first place

Deusovi

you're not doing a great job at selling this

7

Avi

i know

basically I came up with a new version of neural nets

and I'm not competent enough to do the math with the partial derivatives and whatnot

but if the gradient descent works out, then it works

if it doesn't work out, then it's probably going to be restricted to neuroevolution only

rip

I should stop trying to offload my ideas onto other people and just write the first third of it >.< - granted, this is the first time I tried offloading the idea

oAlt

6:25 AM

Hmm

Intrsting

On third thought, maybe I can still use the organization shiz

Cuz it works well in the surface reading!

What great timing, I thought up of an alternative that is actually not bad

will stop for now

oAlt

12:06 PM

crossword done. i shall now see if any clues are in need of revision

oAlt

12:57 PM

DONE!

it's gonna be in 19 hours from now

Sphinx

0

Q: A nest of vipers

Somewhere in France, Summer 1858 They invited the priest. Would you believe it? The priest! There is a mirror in the mayor's office. My reflection looks at me with his emotionless eyes, his stiff moustache, his flawless uniform, all his shining brass. Distant, martial, a creature from another w...

logical-deduction knowledge cipher

Sphinx

1:24 PM

0

Q: Same word fills all the blanks: Part 3

This puzzle is linked to Same word fills all the blanks The same word or its split versions fill all the blanks in the folllowing sentence. The rules and other details are explained in the link as well as the subsequent sequel of the same puzzle. Please check it out before you solve this. I...

riddle word

Sphinx

2:11 PM

0

Q: A Puzzling Family

Ben is brother to Pat; Daisy is sister to Tori; Gail has two big brothers: Carl and Kyle, who look very similar. They all stay close to town, don't like to venture out. But then there's the other side of the family... Joe has a brother called Sean; Vince has a sister called Fannie; Zoe is siste...

lateral-thinking

oAlt

2:46 PM

@JohnDvorak well, plus "the"

John Dvorak

part of the anagrind

oAlt

hmm, doesn't seem fine to me, but maybe I'm not analyzing it correctly

msh210

@oAlt Guru raps "The Family" (5,2,3,5,4,5; non-Ximenean)

(Actually I think there's a name for this type of clue, but I can't remember it.)

Gareth McCaughan

Usually called "reverse cryptic", I think

msh210

ah

thanks

Slightly <24 hours, but

CCCC hint: The first letter is N.

oAlt

3:23 PM

@GarethMcCaughan interesting, never ever heard of it before

oAlt

3:39 PM

I searched and there's this thing called "reverse anagram" clues

@msh210 like this, but the definition part is still there; in this case, something like "Perhaps, guru raps "The Family" music (5,2,3,5,4,5)"

With music being the def and "perhaps" indicating that it used to be a different word before being anagrammed, therefore giving the objective of finding that original word

John Dvorak

or rather, phrase

I don't think it works as a definition by example

oAlt

Really interesting, but for me it tiptoes the line between "Clever, I like it!" and "Eh, how could I even predict that sort of cluing? That's kind unfair..."

@JohnDvorak yea

John Dvorak

I think it works well if you make clear it's a reverse cryptic

Deusovi

I really don't like reverse cryptic clues - I don't allow them personally

oAlt

wait, so what are reverse cryptic clues? (I have to admit, only the reverse anagrams came up as the closest result after I searched "reverse cryptic clues", hehe.) Is it like, a cryptic clue but with its answer given instead of the clue itself and we have to work backward for the original clue, just like the reverse anagrams?

John Dvorak

3:53 PM

What's a reverse anagram?

oAlt

crosswordunclued.com/2010/06/reverse-anagrams.html?m=1

again, that was the only result that I learned something new from, from searching "reverse cryptic clues", but no actual websites explaining reverse cryptic clues.

John Dvorak

hmm...

A reverse anagram would be a type of reverse cryptic, then

and, by the same logic, definitions by example - standard fare in cryptics - would also be merely a special case of reverse cryptics. They do use the same notation, after all.

oAlt

mmm

John Dvorak

Yannowat, I propose renaming definitions by example to reverse definitions.

oAlt

heh

Deusovi

4:08 PM

"reverse cryptics" are clues that give you the result of parsing the answer as if it were cryptic wordplay

so effectively you have the "solution" and your goal is to figure out the "clue"

John Dvorak

well put

Deusovi

(that means the answer is almost always two or more words, because you need at least one wordplay indicator in there)

oAlt

@Deusovi yup, turns out my instinct was correct

@Deusovi yup as well

John Dvorak

well, ~~definition by example~~ reverse definition doesn't need a wordplay indicator.

Sid

@Deusovi but then it wouldn't be unique, no?

John Dvorak

4:14 PM

You'd have a separate definition as well.

Deusovi

Nope! Generally you're expected to rely on your knowledge that it will form a sensible phrase. (The classic example is "GEGS? (9, 4)".)

In practice, you usually just need a bunch of crossings.

Sid

Ugh. Sounds... tedious

Deusovi

Ideally you'd have a separate definition. Even more ideally, you would have actual wordplay instead of reverse wordplay.

John Dvorak

...

Sid

@Deusovi How does this example work/

Deusovi

4:19 PM

@Sid The answer is "Scrambled eggs".

Sid

oh

John Dvorak

Google helps on this one

even without the enumeration

Sid

Ah, so it has to be a common phrase?

John Dvorak

Scrambled eggs

Scrambled eggs is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs) stirred or beaten together in a pan while being gently heated, typically with salt, butter and sometimes other ingredients. == Preparation == Only eggs are necessary to make scrambled eggs, but salt is often used, and other ingredients such as water, milk, butter, chives, cream or in some cases crème fraîche, sour cream, or grated cheese may be added. Ground black pepper is sometimes used as an ingredient. The eggs are cracked into a bowl with some salt and pepper, and the mixture is stirred or whisked: alternatively, the eggs...

Deusovi

Right - it can't be a "green paint" phrase.

John Dvorak

4:21 PM

is reverse-cryptic-legal == codenames-legal?

Deusovi

Yeah, probably. Same type of thing.

("Green paint" is crosswordese terminology for a phrase that has words that could go together, but don't mean anything special together. "Green paint" itself is the prototypical example.)

John Dvorak

doesn't that, ironically, make "green paint" reverse-cryptic-legal?

Deusovi

Yep!

John Dvorak

nice!

Sphinx

6:29 PM

0

Q: Connect Wall: Americana

In honor of Flag Day here in the United States, I hope you're up for another connect wall! The set of sixteen words below can be partitioned into groups of four words that have something in common. And of course the commonalities have something in common, which is related to the title of the puzz...

history connect-wall

msh210

7:32 PM

I've just added yet another hint to my "game of charades".

jafe

7:45 PM

i'm starting to rule out NC for "duke's state"

Sphinx

8:03 PM

0

Q: Scientifically Themed Rebus/Dingbat Puzzles

Below I have created a list of a few "scientific" expressions that represent some form of popular media, with the type stated. Hope you enjoy.

mathematics rebus science physics chemistry

Sphinx

8:51 PM

0

Q: Exam statistics

250 teenagers gather for an exam. Looking at the roll, a math-inclined among them note that if they are split into 10 groups of 25 per alphabetical order, then in each group, there are two with the same birthday, which would be quite remarkable at college. But that comes to no surprise. Why?

mathematics probability

msh210

10:00 PM

@jafe Considering it's a "charades" clue, that'd mean that "sober" would be cluing "NC". I don't see offhand how that would work.

msh210

10:10 PM

(Unless perhaps it stands for "no Chablis".)

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