The Sphinx's Lair

oAlt

12:08 AM

@msh210 HAHA mood. that sat there undisturbed for quite a while

bobble

Jul 19 at 3:02, by Deusovi

wow, it's been several hours and nobody's sniped the cryptic yet? that's surprising

msh210

3:32 AM

@oAlt Sorry? I don't understand.

Sphinx

1

Q: Can you provide a hint on how to solve this Hex Cube puzzle?

I've been tackling this puzzle named "Hex Cube" which comes the instructions "Can you decipher the message? You should be able to if you go back to basics and use a little bit of logic.": Reproduced here in black and white ASCII: 22 5b 61 50 76 6d 77 2a 63 2a 6d 74 70 ...

bobble

One of my flags (Not an Answer) is listed as "pending", but the answer it's for has been deleted. What should I do?

oAlt

4:35 AM

@msh210 I am also relieved that the love ins crossword has been put to rest after such a long time

Sphinx

6:07 AM

0

Q: Decode the Code

Everything is contained in the image. For any clarification, comment down below.

mastermind numbers codedecode

0

Q: How do I solve Ancient 3x3 Irregular Magic Cube

I recently bought this cube. Currently, it is jumbled. How do I solve it?

rubiks-cube

Sphinx

6:32 AM

0

Q: Travelling straight forward, but not in a straightforward way

I started with Romania on my north side, and Hungary to my east, and kept travelling as far southwest as I could, never turning. Which country did I end up in?

enigmatic-puzzle geography

msh210

7:18 AM

@oAlt Ah, I see. "Mood Used to express that something is relatable. Similar to 'Same,' but 'Mood' became more common around 2016" (Urban Dictionary). I must say I've never come across this before AFAIR.

Sphinx

0

Q: Cryptarithmetic - Solve it

Cryptarithmetic Everything is contained in the image. For any clarification, comment down below.

logical-deduction decode cryptarithmetic lettersanddigits

0

Q: Sequenception - Solve it

Sequenception Use logic to find the missing terms in the sequences. For any clarification, comment down below.

logical-deduction sequence numbers series sequenception

0

Q: Letter Equations - Solve it

Letter Equations Many of these are quite common. Some others I've added on my own which you'll not find anywhere on the internet.For any clarification, comment down below.

logical-deduction letterequation deduction equations

0

Q: Its All Paradox - Solve It

Its all Paradox How many and which of the statements are true? For any clarification, comment down below.

logical-deduction paradox trueorfalse

Stiv

8:02 AM

@Randal'Thor Nothing like a little retagging to start the week, huh?! ;-)

Lukas Rotter

I think OP created like 5 new tags in the posting of these puzzles

Sphinx

9:00 AM

0

Q: Five from three -- what am I?

Another puzzle in the tradition of five from four: I am three, but my second can be any of the five. My first is placed above you. My second believes itself normative. My third is of wild popularity. My fourth is alluring and desirable. My fifth can be all around you.

wordplay letters

oAlt

@msh210 I see as well :0

Sphinx

11:04 AM

1

Q: Jail-Maze Crescendo: On charting a dot-path home

You wake up and find yourself lying on a cold, stone floor. Every part of you aches after your fall through the trapdoor. Ahead of you stands a wooden door, beyond which lies the labyrinth. Your captor’s instructions were clear: Find your way through the maze, following the path of words and c...

knowledge enigmatic-puzzle mazes

Gareth McCaughan

@msh210 I believe the solution to the CCCC is CAP SIZES, though I have a couple of quibbles.

(Though the quibbles don't stop it being a most ingenious clue.)

The most important quibble is that I think the definition is wrong; to capsize is to turn upside-down and to founder is to fill with water and sink, and while one of those may lead to the other they aren't at all the same thing.

The other thing is that it's not clear what "of the United States" is doing. If it's indicating -IZE rather than -ISE then it isn't needed; "capsize" is spelt that way even in the UK, unless I'm very confused. If it's indicating US hat sizes, it seems ungrammatical to me.

Again, very ingenious clue and I'm sorry to complain :-).

msh210

11:55 AM

Your solution is right. Re your "most important quibble": if you're right, then I erred. I thought both words meant to fill with water (and, in founder's case, sink). And (I just checked) you are right. Sorry about that. Re your "other thing": what are cap sizes? well, the ones of the United States are 6⅝ and 7¼, for example. I guess "in" woulda been better. :-/ Re "ingenious": thanks! -- but I'm not sure the ingeniousness outweighs the objections.

msh210

12:08 PM

There's probably a better clue using the same basic structure (capsize(s)=cap+size(s)).

@MickO'Hea hi

bobble

2:52 PM

crossword just posted: sorry, it's a big one :)

bobble

3:02 PM

@msh210 Top it off, look over, and flip out (7)

Deusovi

ooh, crossword

bobble

two crosswords :)

Sphinx

3

Q: The Cryptic Cat strikes again! (2 Marching Bands)

Conversation with the Cryptic Cat after my last crossword: Cat: WHERE WERE THE CRYPTIC CLUES Me: Calm down! I just wanted to make a normal- Cat: Normal? What’s the point of a normal crossword? Cryptics are the way to go. Me: Okay, okay, I’ll put some cryptics in my next one. Thing is, I want to ...

word cryptic-clues crosswords

0

Q: My prefix is a guilty pleasure, My suffix is a nasty thing

My prefix is a guilty pleasure. My suffix is a nasty thing. My infix is in total measure. My whole comes out in spring.

riddle rhyme

Sphinx

4:05 PM

0

Q: Hypothetically, I

Hypothetically, I am an infix for raising you high am an infix for tearing apart am an infix for what relies on your heart Am the reverse of the start of your health am an infix for the start of much wealth Am an infix for a thing with a blade Am the reverse of the start of an aid ! Somewhere ab...

riddle wordplay

Deusovi

@bobble I think there might be an issue in your puzzle... specifically, "notable rabbit chaser"

bobble

What issue exactly?

Deusovi

a conflict where its ending doesn't work with the row word there

bobble

oh... gods... you're right

smacks head how could I not see that!

suggestions?

Deusovi

it's not a big deal, i've done much worse!

bobble

4:12 PM

I'll post a note saying the last two letters should be reversed

Deusovi

you might be able to regrid the bottom section - maybe something with ALIEN?

bobble

I'll put up the notice and see if I can fix it

Deusovi

I've filled both grids and am now trying to solve the cryptic clues

also, it's "left-to-right, then right-to-left" for the diagonals, right? not the other way around?

bobble

yes, read left-to-right down, then right-to-left down

there should be clear words that way

Deusovi

the question says it's the other way around, but \ / gives me nice words and / \ doesn't

bobble

4:20 PM

oh, sorry, I'll fix that

Errors are now fixed. So, so sorry

Deusovi

that's fine! good thing they were easy to fix

bobble

The replacement words aren't as nice, but they're legal

Deusovi

hm, that second clue is giving me a bit of trouble

bobble

again, I wasn't able to replace with nice words. This was a frantic onelook search

Deusovi

oh sorry, I mean the second cryptic clue

I have the grids filled

bobble

4:34 PM

Small nudge: rot13(Gurer'f n grpuavpnyyl haarprffnel nqwrpgvir)

bobble

4:58 PM

will be away for a while-sorry! If your answer is up when I get back I'll probably accept it

Deusovi

5:13 PM

ahh, got it - was looking for something else with regard to the final answer

bobble

6:02 PM

Feedback on the puzzle? Was the mixed-up clues gimmick fun?

Deusovi

6:45 PM

it was nice! I liked a lot of the general cluing style, especially blue-3C and 4C

the fill was mostly pretty good - a few parts that I think could've been improved with some more fiddling, but there were some nice words in there

bobble

Yay! Praise from Deus :)

Deusovi

the gimmick reminded me of "Siamese Twins" crosswords. it wasn't too hard to deal with, but it did make things a bit more challenging

(for the fill, the main thing I might change is the ELATH area - it could be made into EDITH / RDI / EDU / SUSHI / SHIBE / BESIDE, for example)

bobble

That area I fiddled with for 4 days before it got legal - I was sick and done of it

Deusovi

completely understandable

it doesn't look super pleasant to fill, and I'm not quite happy with my suggestion (specifically RDI)

bobble

(also, I found an error in your grids: Blue row 10, column 1 should be F and not R. NSF= Non-sufficient funds)

Deusovi

6:51 PM

ah whoops, typo there

oh also, one other minor issue I saw - 7a-blue repeats a word very similar to one in the grid

bobble

Your FLOR/NSR don't agree

@Deusovi which one?

Deusovi

the word TEMPO is in the clue, but one grid has TEMPI

bobble

is that usually frowned upon?

Deusovi

yeah - there's the main rule that clues shouldn't contain a form of their answer word (cluing SKIS with "Skier's tools" is a Bad Thing)

but also, it's generally bad to repeat a word from the grid in a different clue

bobble

I'll keep that in mind- only ever saw the first half of that rule

My favorite clues were "Frank diary writer" (I like hiding capitals at the start of clues), "Singular friend" (each word clued separately, but with a non-obvious interpretation of "singular"), and "Seat fit for a monarch" (using the literal meaning of the phrase)

Deusovi

7:01 PM

hm, some of those were the weirdest clues to me

"Frank diary writer" would be more grammatically correct as "Diary writer Frank"; "singular friend" was a bit weird because A PAL is not really a common phrase; and "fit for a king" is the usual phrase as I've heard it

bobble

:( Well, they're legal at least, right? shrugs

Deusovi

crossword editors would probably take umbrage with the first two (if these clues were to be part of a syndicated puzzle)

bobble

Okay, will remember. How would you have clued "A PAL"? It was literally my only option there, short of backing up a day's worth of work

Deusovi

unfortunately, I think regridding would be your only option there

bobble

Not much I can do now. Thanks for solving, though!

Deusovi

7:07 PM

you could maybe do ZAPOTA / OPAL, cluing ZAPOTA as the species name of sapodilla, but that's really obscure

thanks for the puzzle! I enjoyed it overall

bobble

Yeah, I try to avoid science-y names as much as possible

and I must go now. see you later!

Deusovi

see ya!

you may enjoy "something different" crosswords, where entries like that are not just allowed but encouraged

one example from the MIT Mystery Hunt (which happened to have a specially-marked unclued set of entries used for extraction -- those aren't usually part of the puzzle type): web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/2015/puzzle/erraticism

for instance, "Poet’s request after finishing a first draft" clues the "answer" CAN YOU EDIT MY ODE

"Finally defeat Bolt in a race" clues STOP THE USAIN ERA, and "LotR-branded modeling clay" clues FRO-DOH

Deusovi

7:24 PM

devilcross.com/2015/03/21/puzzle-40-something-different here's another one, by talented constructor Evan Birnholz (warning: a bit of crude/NSFW language in both clues and answers)

Sphinx

0

Q: Orchard Inc. - running round in circles

As the new CCO (Chief Circular Operator) here at Orchard Inc. it is your task to design orchards for a broad range of customers and budgets. With the market close to saturation (Orchard planting problem for squares, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchard-planting_problem, https://mathworld.wolfr...

mathematics geometry no-computers combinatorics

msh210

@bobble the correct term is "Deus vult"

bobble

7:44 PM

@Deusovi hmm, I'll try making one of those. I've actually never made a normal crossword grid shaped.

bobble

8:09 PM

Just realized... sorry @NorthLæraðr! I forgot to ping you when the crossword went out

Though Deus saw it so quickly, I don't think anyone had a chance

North Læraðr

9:28 PM

@bobble No problem! Thanks for the ping

Sphinx

-3

Q: Let me see how good you are :)

VFVSRmQwMVVSWGROUkVGM1RVUkZkMDFVUlhkTlZFRjRUVVJCZUUxVVFYZE5SRVYzVFVSRmQwMUVSWGROUkVWM1RWUkZkMDFVUVhoTlJFVjRUVVJCZDAxRVFYaE5SRVY0VFVSRmQwMVVRWGhOVkVGM1RVUkJlRTFFUVhoTlJFRjRUVVJCZUUxRVJYaE5SRVYzVFZSQmQwMVVSWGROUkVGNFRVUkZlRTFFUVhkTlJFVjNUVVJGZDAxRVJYZE5SRVYzVFZSRmQwMVVRWGhOUkVWNFRVUkJkMDFFUlhkTlJFV...

computer-puzzle

Gareth McCaughan

9:49 PM

CCCC: Parties of right and left lead country, getting harsh criticism (12)

bobble

That's a beautiful surface. Now for solving it...

Lukas Rotter

10:23 PM

I'd have a full explanation if one letter was different :)

well I'm just gonna throw it out there since I have to go soon: condemnation Def: Harsh criticism, connector = getting, Parties of right and left (dem(ocrats) and ????? (republiCONs?)) lead (before) country (= nation). Maybe I'm missing something obvious here.

bobble

While Dem. is a valid abbreviation for Democrat, Con. is not valid for Republican

Lukas Rotter

hence the 5 question marks

CON is apparently the official "party label" for constitution, so one could perhaps make the case that "right"" is meant in the context of law while left is not... Maybe thats far-fetched...

North Læraðr

11:07 PM

@bobble Perhaps CONservative?

Though CONDEMNATION and harsh criticism seems a bit stretched but who knows

Looks right, I guess

bobble

As far as I know, Con. isn't a valid abbreviation for conservative

but then I haven't been following politics for very long - I started during the 2016 election

and I only read small updates daily

North Læraðr

Idk

But I saw CON and right and I thought conservative

Idk. It seems right

@bobble Haha! According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossword_abbreviations CON is a valid acronym for CONSERVATIVE

bobble

How to parse then? "Parties of right" = CON(servatives) + (and) "left" = DEM(ocrat) + (lead) "country" = NATION -> (getting) "harsh criticism" = CONDEMNATION?

Hm. I was trying to convince myself that it wouldn't work.

North Læraðr

Haha LOL

Nice job LukasRotter for getting majority of stuff nice job ME for finding the wordplay XD

bobble

I'll ping @GarethMcCaughan. Did we get it or are we totally off the mark?

North Læraðr

11:21 PM

I'm not sure how it wouldn't work

bobble

Side question, who gets credit? Lukas (main idea), North (important tweak), and me (formally parsing correct wordplay) all have claims, though I would vote for Lukas since he did most of the work

North Læraðr

Yeah same

Technically LukasRotter did most of the parsing as well

bobble

that was the "main idea" part

North Læraðr

Though I would be happy to take the C4 lol

bobble

Have you ever got one?

North Læraðr

11:24 PM

Two I think

bobble

I've solved two (SEDIMENTARY and SEINE)

Jul 20 at 15:06, by bobble

I GOT A CCCC

North Læraðr

I solved TRIPPING and I think another one a while back

bobble

I have to leave soon. I therefore forfeit my right to the next CCCC (sadness - I had a great idea!), since there'd be quite a lag time before posting.

(of course, that assumes that CONDEMNATION is correct)

North Læraðr

@bobble I've gotten two as well

Solved TRIPPING and OLD BROWN

Granted OLD BROWN was me kind of piggy-backing Deus

Ah yes, the first C4 I made

May 14 at 20:31, by North Læraðr

Spectacular --> WICKED (i.e. informal for amazing), the musical Wicked, extremely --> (intensified, WICKED), absorbed----> past participle of WICK, certain tuna (wasn't sure about this) WICKED tuna, capable of damaging ---> (literally WICKED), digustingly unpleasant ---> (also literal def WICKED), arch (i.e. mischievous) WICKED, otherwise (split), terrible ---> (WICKED i.e. evil).

I think I hold the record for most amount of "double-def" in the C4. I mean one of the def wasn't legal so maybe my C4 is disqualified

Btw I'm not gonna take the C4 either bc I gotta go as well

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