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12:00 AM
1
Q: Where is the pilot flying to? (Second destination)

Anthony Ingram-WestoverAfter a very close call the last time he was making a flight for the mafia, Barry received a new set of orders for his next flight. With the Don's newest encoding scheme, there would be no more need to brute force or guess at any part of the solution like last time. Barry looked at the message s...

 
Avi
CCCC: Flagon of howlet's wing in concoction (5)
 
12:55 AM
@teed Oh, OK, then I understand the Boss better and will adjust my answer accordingly.
 
1:10 AM
@teed OK, so now the Boss's job is "CEO"; "as far apart as possible" just means taking G=6 instead of G=9 (I remark that I completely misunderstood what was meant there and I'm still not really convinced that the question as written can mean what it apparently is meant to mean at that point); there is accordingly no longer a need for decimal decodings.
Still not sure what to make of the influx of R-employees "in a few months" beyond the fact that apparently we're starting to accept people with R in their names, probably meaning A. Why we'd make such a change, I don't know. (Nothing in the question particularly indicates that they couldn't have been employed before, but I take your comments here to mean that.)
Bedtime now; it's after 2am local time :-).
 
0
Q: recreational checker problem

Shiv PrateekAlberto places N checkers in a circle. Some, perhaps all, are black; the others are white. (The distribution of colors is random.) Betiil places new check-ers between the pairs of adjacent checkers in Alberto's ring: she places a white checker between every two that are the same color and a black...

0
Q: How to union a slitherlink and a nonogram?

NickI would like to union two puzzles in one. The first puzzle is a slitherlink, the second is a nonogram. The main idea is: the slitherlink's solution is the entrance for the rows of the nonogram. In the slitherlink one can use only five labels: 0, 1, 2, 3 and None. In my case I used 1, 2, 3 (left ...

 
2:05 AM
0
Q: Riley Riddle: My infix describes its own letters

Ricky TensorMy prefix makes rulers, My suffix is ruled, My infix describes its own letters, My whole keeps food cooled.

 
 
2 hours later…
3:50 AM
@Avi ah, nice
 
4:19 AM
@Avi Clearly, the definition is "flagon of howlet" and the wordplay is (synonym of "wing") + (anagram of "in"). Now to find such a word....
 
anagram of "in"... you mean "ni"? :)
 
Yeah.
ELLNI !!
ellni n. a jug of owls
^ See? Right there.
from The Official msh210 Dictionary
 
4:39 AM
you forgot to add #GreatC4Solutions
 
 
4 hours later…
8:13 AM
Flagon of Howlet sounds like a British title.... like Earl of Chester or Baronet of Cholmondeley or what-have-you
 
 
2 hours later…
10:34 AM
Perhaps you can't tell, but I'm getting tired of Riley riddles.
 
FR: ban Rileys already
 
@bobble I'm going to need a shrubbery.
 
10:53 AM
@msh210 What was the answer? I missed it :(
 
@LukasRotter It was dumb. Purposely so.
 
11:10 AM
I started with rileys, but I eventually made a regular riddle that wasn't that
and then my inspiration ran out and I just played contact and codenames, and then those rooms froze
 
They're played occasionally on Discord now.
 
I know, but I don't know when and I'm too lazy tofollow
 
you can sign up to get pinged for Codenames at least
 
I'm part of one discord server, but I never use it
 
there are no set times
 
11:12 AM
That's the problem; I havea full-time job and I'm back at the office
I could only play on weekends
it's easier to organize here
unrelated, is "wing" an indicator for the first or last letter?
I feel like it could be
"wings" to me would indicate both
 
11:30 AM
0
Q: Now that they've become so popular, should we reconsider creating a specific category and tag for "prefix-infix-suffix" word puzzles?

SciborgBackground Lately I've seen a large profusion of word puzzles on this site that go like this: My prefix is [], My infix is [], My suffix is [], My whole is [] where the goal is to figure out what word the user is talking about. Example, Example, Example, Example, Example, Example, and there are...

 
11:50 AM
@ThePuzzlingPlatypus me too
@ThePuzzlingPlatypus me too
 
I have this problem where I tend to get parts right, but then get stuck
I had that tornado one from earlier in the week, but I was at work and wouldn't have been able to come up with a new one anyway
 
12:17 PM
@msh210 I had underestimated your eminence.
 
12:43 PM
@GarethMcCaughan :-)
 
 
3 hours later…
3:14 PM
I love how he changed his username right after posting, presumably because of the ongoing competition
 
-1
Q: Give answers to Gollum()

MrN{"status": "so far, so good!", "riddle_1": "40 49 55 32 60 32 52 42 51 43 53 41 32 124 124 32 40 56 42 50 32 61 61 32 52 42 52 41 32 38 38 32 33 40 51 43 51 32 61 61 32 54 41", "riddle_2": "33 98 32 63 32 33 98 32 58 32 98", "hint": "Give answers to Gollum() ;) ", "alert": "You have just 10 chanc...

 
4:05 PM
I had to look up synonyms of flagon for this, but
@Avi s(_t)oup
 
4:16 PM
i had to look up "flagon" in the first place
 
furriners, they ought to learn the Queen's English if they want to be in this country
(That's a joke, @jafe. I'm neither British nor living in an anglophone country.)
 
4:36 PM
Heh, I love it when the answer to a puzzle is related to my country
 
which puzzle?
 
Won't tell lol
but in the near future I might just tell where I am especially if I'm bored
 
I could probably guess your timezone by your chat activity :)
but I'm too lazy to
 
 
1 hour later…
Avi
6:03 PM
@msh210 yep
 
CCCC: What PSE regulars enjoy: a meeting with German and Caribbean alcoholic beverages (10)
 
I don't enjoy meetings that have alcoholic beverages available. I would, however, enjoy a meeting with sentient alcoholic beverages.
 
6:19 PM
0
Q: Any help with this riddle?

JESSICA DAVISThere are a dozen places; one is different from the others. The first could change one's state long ago. All can be found in arithmetic. 2-4-16-2-12-18-4

 
@bobble You don't enjoy any meeting that has alcoholic beverages available?
 
Well, I'm a minor, so I can't have them anyways. And I don't like parties - fancy or not.
 
you can also party alone :P Lockdown has taught me the finnish wonders of kalsarikännit
 
6:34 PM
Is that getting drunk alone in your underwear or whatever
 
yeah
 
Avi
Youth these days...
 
While you're drunk, you need to think of lots of ideas for puzzles and write them down for later.
 
Avi
/me coughs in extremely old puzzles
 
@bobble Noted. Will definitely try that out. I bet it will be a great puzzle with no flaws at all.
 
6:38 PM
@LukasRotter It's like how musicians say they are the most "aware" when they're high
@msh210 Sorry, I'm a teetotaler
Trees don't particularly enjoy alcoholic beverages. Can set us on fire, you know
 
@NorthLæraðr You can total as many tees as you like and still attend a meeting with alcohol served.
 
I can see that if you're high on weed, but depressants like alcohol usually don't get you creative or aware at all.
 
@NorthLæraðr Oh, good point.
 
@msh210 Yeah, it gets kind of dangerous for us
You could say I'm a treetotaler
 
/me pours some everclear around @NorthLæraðr's base
 
6:42 PM
@msh210 Okay at least do me good and pour some vodka then
 
Oh.. oh.. I got a great idea everyone! Let's make a crossword where some of the boxes have numbers, and then you use those numbers to make a sudoku, and then you extract the colored numbers to get a nonogram, and then the nonogram solves to a rebus, and then you anagram the letters of the rebus answer to get a description of the solver's mental state at this point. LET'S DO THIS!
 
/me keeps all sources of fire safely away until the everclear has completely evaporated
 
@msh210 Oh you're gonna put the fire after the Everclear evaporates
@bobble I got lost after sudoku
 
/me continues to keep all sources of fire safely away from @NorthLæraðr
 
some of the boxes of the sudoku would be colored, is what I think I was thinking
 
6:43 PM
@msh210 That's kind of you
 
0
Q: Which number should be put on top of the pyramid "? 1 1 2 3 4"

festivSuppose we have the pyramid [The puzzle is from an example test for admission to a postgraduate degree at Sofia University, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, publicly available at: https://www.fmi.uni-sofia.bg/sites/default/files/documents/priem/msc/example_test_kandmag_inf.pdf] Which numb...

 
@bobble You forgot the cipher
You can't forget the cipher
@bobble Hold on... that actually doesn't sound too bad
 
okay, then rebus answer can be the Vigenere key for a riddle, which you solve to get a word, and that's the word you anagram to get a description of the solver's mental state :)
 
@bobble Oh dear Lord have mercy on Bobble
 
@fellow puzzle makers: I challenge you to actually make the a puzzle based on my "drunk" description above. I'll give you a bounty on your "making of" answer :)
 
6:48 PM
@bobble Unfortunately, I am also a minor tree, and as noted above highly flammable
Oh that puzzle with the convoluted steps
 
Oh hey, I'm not a minor anymore...
2
...but I still don't drink.
 
@Mithical In the US you can't drink until 21. Is it different in Israel?
 
18
The US is like the only country that you have to be older than 18.
 
Personal (and unpopular opinion) I don't think alcoholic beverages should be legal but you know
What's the point of alcohol?
 
@Mithical happy birthday
 
6:52 PM
Thanks... but you're over a month late. ;)
 
@Mithical It's your birthday?! HAPPY BIRTHDAY WOO
Oh okay nevermind
 
@NorthLæraðr Depends on the alcohol. gramercywine.com/spirits/… for example is 86.5 proof, so the point of it is 5
 
@msh210 ...what
 
*rolls eyes at @msh210*
 
@msh210 Have you been drinking?
 
6:55 PM
decimals, north, decimals
 
I am so confused
Can someone pin msh's C4 btw
 
Happy (belated) birthday to you,
Unccl oveguqnl gb lbh,
Tiiwg dicfpwhg vo xubapkcl,
BABAAAABAAABBBABAABBBABBBBABBBABABAAABAABAAAABAAABABABAABAAAABAABAABAABABBAABBABBAABB.
 
@bobble tf
 
Three of the simplest ciphers off the top of my head... hehe
 
@bobble I figured out the first one.
 
7:00 PM
the first one is rot13, obviously
 
ROT-26
 
@msh210 Ah my favorite ciphere
I think the fourth one is binary
Third one is probably vigenere
 
baconian
 
Ok
@bobble Aha! The last one is Vigenere with the keyword being MITHICAL
"happy birthday to mithical"
 
@NorthLæraðr Done. Sorry. Shoulda done it from the outset.
 
7:04 PM
Baconian "wepuzzlerslikeyou"
Awww how sweet
Except @bobble how could you possibly like a pickle lover
Or are we just going to overlook that fault
 
0011110000110011
 
I can appreciate Mith's puzzles despite their wrong opinions about pickles
 
objectively wrong, I might add.
 
Mith holds the right to be wrong. Though they are self-harming their tongue, so we might need to do an intervention
 
7:07 PM
yesterday, by Mithical
Your hatred has clouded your vision and dulled the senses, Master Rotter.
I should make a pickle puzzle
 
Pickle me this, pickle me that
 
@Mithical I'll make an anti-pickle puzzle if you do
 
@Mithical Only a pickle lover deals in absolutes. I will do what I must.
 
I'll write an epic poem about them ;)
 
7:09 PM
SE should have votes to pickle in addition to votes to close.
 
@msh210 But we need votes to not pickle
 
@Mithical someone please explain how to decode this. I'm too lazy to think.
 
@bobble Binary in regular ASCII. Says <3
 
There should be a pickle icon next to pickle lovers like a diamond beside moderators, so everyone knows what they're dealing with and rethink if they want to upvote. A horrible comparison comes to mind here, but I refrain.
 
@LukasRotter mm. I agree
 
7:13 PM
*smacks @LukasRotter and @NorthLæraðr*
no.
 
@Mithical ducks
 
That was posted at the exact same time the message "duck sounds plausible" was posted in Discord.
(Codenames)
 
I WILL NOT TOLERATE TOMFOOLERY IN THIS LAIR. -Sphinx
 
@Mithical hahahaha
What's the discord link?
 
7:19 PM
@Mithical it says it's expired or invalid?
 
hmm. I got in.
 
huh, did I accidentally make it one-use?
 
@Mithical no nvm i forgot to capitalize
I'm going from the laptop to my phone
What's double-banned
confusion
 
?
 
betseg?
 
7:22 PM
oh I dunno, they do strange things there
 
Idk I prefer the chatroom
 
7:48 PM
@msh210 hehe i get it... but always useful to clarify when using text-only media
@msh210 the c4 is con + und + rums
 
 
2 hours later…
10:01 PM
@jafe it is indeed
 
 
1 hour later…
11:19 PM
@JonEricson, just noticed that someone new was here. What is your stance on pickles?
(in case it isn't clear, the "someone new" is Jon)
 
11:43 PM
0
Q: Ernie and the Lock-down Puzzle

PenguinoDuring lock-down I was feeling a bit lost for something to do, so one one day I sent Ernie a text reading "Bored". He responded with a text-less message and an attached image (see below). I wasn't sure what it meant so I sent "?", to which he responded "It's a puzzle!". It still wasn't obvious wh...

 

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