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00:00 - 20:0020:00 - 00:00

12:01 AM
(there's one "p" too many in hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia there)
 
12:18 AM
I can't find a classical Greek word that means exactly "pickle" (noun). There are some verbs with the right meaning. I don't know enough to tell whether e.g. they refer to different sorts of pickling. My guess is that the usual verb "I pickle" is halmeuo, but that would refer to pickling in brine and I think you probably want pickling in vinegar.
Nearest I can see to that is a word tubaris which means specifically celery pickled in vinegar.
So tubariphobia would be fear of celery pickled in vinegar, and maybe it could be used for other sorts of vinegary pickle?
So far as I can see, the word tubariphobia has never been used before. Here in the Sphinx's Lair we're at the cutting edge of linguistic innovation.
13
 
 
2 hours later…
Avi
2:31 AM
He's not the top in chess (4) - w.r.t GM Robert (-c)Hess
 
3:10 AM
@Avi this
 
4:07 AM
@msh210 yeah i get what you mean... should have used an example there instead of the word "island" directly
also "isles" is in the grid so a reference to that would have been an option as well
@Deusovi illegal even when the answer is "inlanders"? i'm not sure... i mean, i could have just put "islanders" in the clue and i would have been valid, no?
if island dwellers was the def then yeah i agree
 
yeah, the issue isn't with the clue answer but with the synonymizing (which generally has the same rules as definitions as a whole do)
 
ah i see
hadn't thought about it like that
 
 
1 hour later…
5:45 AM
0
Q: Someone Shoot Me!

ExalReal-life situation, this time. I was at work the other day and had just done something. I needed to tell a coworker he needed to do it as well, but he was on the phone at the time. Not wanting to wait around til he was done nor interrupt his conversation, I got his attention and gestured. Fir...

 
6:35 AM
@GarethMcCaughan Amazing. That will be the title of the puzzle I wanted to post ~2 weeks ago, but never had time or energy for it. But now I have :)
My question will be the one and only google search result for tubariphobia. So excited! :P
(unless google crawls this chat, too. Which it probably does)
 
7:16 AM
1
Q: How do you draw the grid puzzles (and partial solutions)?

BubblerI'm a fan of sudoku, nonogram, and other various grid logic puzzles. I really liked to see something like this and this. But to post such a puzzle (or a solution to such a puzzle), I need to draw them. And I want them to be nice to see and use. How do you draw such puzzles (and partial solutions)...

 
8:15 AM
0
Q: Are you guys ready for a QUESTion?

Deepthinker101Chase me and my feet are not slow Catch me then skywards I go What am I? Hint:

 
 
3 hours later…
10:57 AM
@JeremyDover Okay, I finally finished the puzzle I was working on at the same time as you - re my earlier comments about complexity... I take them back...!
 
11:11 AM
4
Q: This new puzzle type needs a name {EXTREME EDITION}

StivA companion puzzle to the 'This new puzzle type needs a name' series, and inspired in part by @JeremyDover's answer to a recent question. Usually, puzzles in this series comprise a mash-up of two puzzle types, and the solver is challenged to solve the first, identify and solve the second, then d...

 
11:36 AM
0
Q: NSE iq test please teach me

user71656http://free.ultimaiq.net/nse.htm 35, 147, ?, 2387 357, 1251, 152, ?, ?, 0 452801, 773924, 102410, 471056, ? 011010, 100010, 100010, 100010, 000010, ?, 100010 1001, 4524, 4299, 3984, ? 91420512, 1297514, 35172115, ? 53274, 71067, 7776, 14137, ? 4456, 8111, 6243, ? 43451, 55572, ?, 797114 45, 900,...

 
12:17 PM
@Stiv I'm looking forward to working on it! Alas I probably won't be in the mix for the checkmark, since my day is already packed...all the things I put off for the puzzle I'm working on :-)
 
1:17 PM
-2
Q: NSE iq test Please teach me

dongwoo lee 357, 1251, 152, ?, ?, 0 452801, 773924, 102410, 471056, ? 011010, 100010, 100010, 100010, 000010, ?, 100010 53274, 71067, 7776, 14137, ? 4456, 8111, 6243, ? 120, 10, 3, ?, ? 122540, 577697, ?, ? 50625, 1296, 8100, 3240, ? 256243305, 804, 484512270, ? 2759, 4248, 1152, ? 123456, 17636, 2519, ?, ?...

 
2:07 PM
3
Q: Tubariphobia - The fear of pickles

Lukas RotterThere are many topics that polarize. But not a single topic comes close to the one and only, age-old question that some claim is the root of all division between people: "Are pickles disgusting or not?" I'm not taking sides at all here. But since I assume you, the reader, is an intelligent and mo...

 
@bobble Sorry I missed yesterday...quality check turned up a problem (one letter wrong, took three hours to fix). Since you are busy and Stiv put up another opus, I went with a cryptic family reunion today. Please let me know if any day later this week works better than others!
 
@LukasRotter WOOOHOOOOOOO
 
2:32 PM
2
Q: Cryptic Family Reunion: Flowing ever on

Jeremy DoverThe answer to this puzzle is a list of ten thematically related words or proper names or phrases. Each of these is clued cryptically, and the theme is to be determined. Since the definition part of a cryptic clue would give away the theme, these cryptic clues use a family member (e.g., mom, siste...

0
Q: iq test please solve it

dongwoo lee1.357, 1251, 152, ?, ?, 0 2.452801, 773924, 102410, 471056, ? 3.011010, 100010, 100010, 100010, 000010, ?, 100010 4.53274, 71067, 7776, 14137, ? 5.4456, 8111, 6243, ? 6.120, 10, 3, ?, ? 7.122540, 577697, ?, ? 8.50625, 1296, 8100, 3240, ? 9.256243305, 804, 484512270, ? 10.2759, 4248, 1152, ? 11.12...

 
@JeremyDover Today isn't good (I'm doing two tutoring sessions). I will know by ~1PM PDT whether I'll have time that afternoon.
@LukasRotter It's not in the search results yet; I checked
 
@GarethMcCaughan pickle as a noun in Greek is just πίκλα pikla so perhaps we could call it piklaphobia?
 
Side note: why does Gareth's creation of "tubariphodia" have 8 stars?
 
i have no idea
 
are you one of the stars?
 
2:42 PM
no; see my above linguistic masterpiece :P
1 min ago, by matt
@GarethMcCaughan pickle as a noun in Greek is just πίκλα pikla so perhaps we could call it piklaphobia?
what do you think?
 
@matt How did you get that?
Pickles didn't exist in Greek
 
hm
modern Greek?
 
It looks like you just got the transliterated version of the English word "pickle"
@matt Wouldn't count
 
ah ok so i need an ancient greek translator then
 
Well Gareth has already done the hard work for you
 
2:45 PM
hmmmm
well ok then, tubariphobia it is
:/
@Sphinx I only have one question about this - how does pickle s** work?
 
3:00 PM
@matt uh... I don't think that was the intent
 
@matt Ask Mith
@bobble For a new website it takes google about 5 days. No idea how long it takes for new sites within a website
* between 4 days and 4 weeks
 
@LukasRotter Okay that's a bit sus of a comment
 
i can't believe gareth here has a 10-star message LOL
 
3:15 PM
It shows you how sophisticated we are here in the Lair
 
right as we talked it's now 11 hahah
 
Whereas my message about having Deus as a nightmare figure only got 5
And it is clearly more relatable
 
C4 hints: (1) "Quaint or rubbish?" is so worded so as to be similar to a recent C4; otherwise, "Rubbish?" alone would suffice. (2) R is the 5th letter.
 
@bobble linguistic innovation is far more superior
jk idk what to say anymore
 
ok then @mithical
 
3:21 PM
pickle... what?
 
@matt I don't think you should keep pursuing that
 
@oAlt i can appreciate that, as a fellow amateur linguist
@NorthLæraðr yeah
 
@Mithical I think he means "sex". Not sure why the asterisks.
 
mhm
 
@msh210 censorship
 
3:22 PM
@bobble No, I agree with Bobble, Deus-nightmares are FAR more uh starboard-y
 
@matt you're weird, get out
 
@matt I knew you were using the asterisks as censorship. I meant, I'm not sure why you were censoring that word.
 
@Mithical bye then
 
I mean, I gotta side with Mith, that was kinda weird
 
hits "leave" button"
 
3:23 PM
As we speak... the gap between Deusovi and Rand is a mere 9 reputation
dramatic music intensifies
 
any one of us could tip the fight!
 
ohmy that is unbelievable
 
@BeastlyGerbil !!
Do I upvote Deusovi?!?!
@BeastlyGerbil Boss music
 
Which one is the boss?
 
Everybody listen to this song as this develops
 
3:25 PM
Considering Deus has (at least) two answers currently in HNQ, even if no-one here did anything then someone else will tip it (for now at least) very soon
 
i can't believe deus caught up so quickly
 
matt's back
 
Deus has been on a roll lately
 
mwahaha
 
first surpassing gareth and now boutta overtake rand
 
3:26 PM
@bobble Good question
So Deus is about to become the highest rep user here
 
I can't even cast close votes :(
 
Dw... it wont be long until @Stiv joins the battle :P
 
@bobble how many rep so you have?
 
I'd say Rand is the final boss, and Deus is the overlevelled main hero
 
2.6K
 
3:27 PM
also @JeremyDover i can't believe i did not see that in number 6 of your latest cryptic family reunion. i should be used to seeing those things by now :<<
 
Just sitting on the users page hitting refresh until something happens
 
heh
 
Though I must admit, Rand has been pretty busy on Lit SE as a mod
 
@NorthLæraðr i reckon they'd switch between being the boss and the hero
 
@oAlt It's like how the boss has multiple forms
 
3:29 PM
and at least 42 brains
 
Or they could be the gods squabbling over the top spot
 
(unless there's completely no hope for rand)
yeah
 
Rand is a mod on literature and has 100k+ rep on two sites, so it's no wonder hes busy
 
w o w
 
If there's anything mythology Riordan has taught me, it's that the gods get into fights
 
3:30 PM
yes
that is true
 
Gareth is the quiet son waiting in the corner waiting for the fight to end so he can overthrow them both out of nowhere
 
linguistic innovation now has 11 stars
 
hooray for the amateur linguists
 
@BeastlyGerbil Maybe Gareth will invent another word
@matt I wouldn't call Gareth an amateur linguist
 
@NorthLæraðr like "puzacech"
@NorthLæraðr yeah
 
3:32 PM
( @BeastlyGerbil quite or quiet? :0 )
 
IT HAS HAPPENED
 
No! I must save Rand
 
We have a new top user, congrats at @Deusovi !!
(For now :P)
 
and there it is
 
3:33 PM
oh, neat!
 
Oh, nope rand is back on top :P
The drama continues
 
Ahahahaha
 
same here
 
IT HAS UNHAPPENED
 
19 pt difference
 
3:33 PM
@bobble why is this so funny
 
Oh Deusovi is back on top
 
It has rehappened!
 
1 pt difference and deus in lead
 
I, the agent of chaos
 
O-ONE POINT
 
3:34 PM
IT HAS REHAPPEND
 
Damn someone take notes, this is the next big hollywood drama
 
(you have to put it in all caps)
 
time to upvote rand jk
 
Well it just reunhappend :P
 
@BeastlyGerbil yep
 
3:35 PM
IT HAS REUNHAPPENED
 
oh ok, i did not do that
 
I THE AGENT OF TRUE CHAOS
 
oh gosh
 
Who should I upvote next....
 
Vote on content, not user!
 
3:37 PM
i would have remained watching this battle continue if it weren't for the fact that it's late night here already
 
BREAKING NEWS: I come to you live from PSE as we follow this story, a new drama is unfolding. Deusovi has officially HIT THE REP CAP for today, meaning Rand survives another day!
5
 
@bobble Well, plausible deniability, the content IS amazing!
@BeastlyGerbil Ahahahahahaha
 
oh, i forgot rep caps existed LOL
 
@BeastlyGerbil what is a rep cap
 
If you vote too much too fast on him, it could get reversed by the serial-voting script
 
3:38 PM
@bobble I'm not stupid
 
only 200 rep per day
 
Teccccchnically, I still have a checkmark to award Deus, meaning the power to tip him over is in my hands
 
But wait! Deusovi can still earn rep from accepts!
 
I can get him to 230
 
And bounties!
 
3:38 PM
@JohnDvorak this
 
@BeastlyGerbil And bounties
 
@bobble and this
 
Yknow what, I like drama. Its time.... mwahahaha
 
Alright so anybody with me to award random bounties?
Jkjkjk
 
Oh someone else upvoted rand meaning I didn't even tip deus with the accept :P
 
3:40 PM
@BeastlyGerbil Wait, wouldn't it tip Deus up by 1?
Yeah it's 220 vs 216
 
Accept is + 15, and I did it at 9 behind but someone upvoted meaning the difference is now just 4 rep
 
Oh
Right
 
And it would seem that would be the drama for today! After a brief struggle, Deus retreats, waiting for the morning to strike again
 
This is so funny
@BeastlyGerbil As in 0 UTC
 
Yes I think it restes at 1AM GMT, or 0 UTC
 
3:43 PM
yup
Hah, it'll only be 4 pm in my time, so I can give you guys the minute by minute report!
or 5 pm
In the next episode of Dragonball Z
 
@NorthLæraðr same for me, is there perhaps a "co-host" positon? :P
 
Hmmmmmm
Actually you might just be "full-host" bc I'll prob be doing hw
 
aight then, maybe
 
4:04 PM
currently trying to figure out how to use the shapes on Stiv's recent puzzle... there are a lot of layers
 
I started... but gave up quick :P
I started on the heyawake, as it seemed the easiest one
But can't work out how it is gonna work with everything else
 
hmm
 
4:29 PM
ugh I have to leave for now, but got past the shapes part
 
@oAlt Understood :-) I'm trying to get better about hiding them.
 
0
Q: Minimise battle time in Monster's Den

George MenoutisSo there is this excellent flash game, Monster's Den. In order to make a high score, I must complete many battles..this question is about battles with the Legendary Monsters. The target is to reduce the single enemy's HPs to 0 as quickly as possible. To do this, physical damage is very slow (thes...

 
 
1 hour later…
6:07 PM
I just posted a new puzzle to stay ahead of Deus a bit longer :-P
Hoping it hits HNQ just to confuse network people with the title.
 
upvoted
 
Hi Lukas! Long time no see.
 
@Randal'Thor dw you're safe for today :P
 
Yep, when I came back it saddened me to see you are less active on PSE now. Can we expect a rise of activity due to the ongoing rivalry? :P
 
My activity level comes and goes. I've been busy IRL for the last while, hence prioritising my mod sites as far as SE stuff goes.
That kind of "rivalry" isn't enough by itself to make my activity rise, unless I think there's a genuine chance I can stay ahead in the long run.
 
6:18 PM
3
Q: Please feature this meta post

Rand al'ThorMy first could describe a call or a fell, in two ways, And it sounds like a way of going fast in olden times. My second could describe a paper or a cloud, in two ways, And docked it's almost my first, but not in truth. My whole is used to know what's important, Like for instance a featured SE post.

 
Sockpuppets?
 
I gracefully gave way to Gareth last year (and pulled back ahead of him only due to the question rep change).
Maybe I should post an answer to that meta post congratulating Deusovi in a day or two.
 
@LukasRotter Did someone say sockpuppets?
 
lol
btw, what's your opinion on pickles? (very important)
 
...
 
6:23 PM
Pickled eggs are the best.
 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
 
can we call a temporary alliance and defenstrate Rand together
 
Yes
Pickled eggs are not the pickles we are hating for now
 
How do we do this?
 
It's like France and Spain
 
6:24 PM
also: linguistic innovation is off the starboard :(
 
Both hate each other but ally to fight a greater cause
@bobble Not for me
 
@NorthLæraðr Meaning Britain?
 
@Randal'Thor Yup
In this case Deus
Well
We love Deus
But
@Mithical Wait defenstrate means to throw someone out?
 
The end justifies the means.
 
Hell naw
Rand is MY MOD
 
6:28 PM
@NorthLæraðr Of a window, specifically.
 
@NorthLæraðr Didn't Deus use to keep all the "love the puzzle, hate you" comments in his profile?
 
@LukasRotter The product of the extremes is the product of the means.
 
@Randal'Thor Some of them
 
Specifically, for enjoying pickled eggs. I feel like that's a violation of the NPG's rules, as well as mine.
 
@Mithical Hm
 
6:29 PM
@LukasRotter And the medians. Maybe even the modes.
 
Someone put on dramatic music!
 
@Mithical The NPG would enjoy egging pickles, I suspect.
 
@msh210 Ew
 
We'd prefer for pickles to not exist
 
@Mithical NPG?
Nibbling Pickles Group?
 
6:30 PM
No Pickle Gang
 
Naked Puzzlers Gang?
 
@Randal'Thor HELL no
 
No Puppets Going?
 
@Randal'Thor I'm still here.
 
Nasty Panda Gang
 
6:31 PM
@LewsTherinTelamon Well you shouldn't be.
 
oh dear
how many do you have of these?
 
The Collective is endless...
 
(That one's mine, not Rand's.)
 
Cant wait to see this: i.stack.imgur.com/QNNOg.png
 
6:37 PM
...fair point, @Lews. Fair point.
 
@LukasRotter What
NO PICKLE GANG
 
pickled body pillow
 
For once, I'm thankful that the imgur picture isn't loading
 
6:55 PM
@LukasRotter I don't think I could handle seeing a pickle body pillow
 
We have to familiarize ourselves with their habits and objects of interest if we want to see them crumble at one point.
 
@NorthLæraðr don't worry, it's just an oversized bag of green lycra.
With pimples.
 
7:13 PM
@JohnDvorak good
pickles must be exterminated
how's the Great Rep Battle between Deus & Rand going?
 
7:39 PM
Rand is enjoying his last days at the top
 
7:53 PM
@LukasRotter haha
 
'Community' really wants this puzzle solved. I think it was bumped 3 times over the last few months...
 
wow
 
I hope the commonmark migration didn't screw the formatting up... Could be detrimental for a regex puzzle
 
i checked; it did not
 
the community user has very interesting opinions on which puzzles should be dug up and revisited
 
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