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12:11 AM
@bobble here you go
attempted chromebook art
 
it is beautiful
 
:)
 
except that is an invalid solution
because the unshaded squares are not connected
 
well whatever
 
@Sciborg, opinions?
 
12:13 AM
adorbs
 
:)))
 
12:25 AM
hewwo oAlt
 
hey voldy!
 
12:41 AM
hi merrybot (matt)
just made a Mega-Splitter™ puzzle
kinda nervous cuz idk how ppl will react
like with all my puzzles
 
12:56 AM
0
Q: The New Mega-Splitter™: What's Next?

Voldemort's WrathHere we have the great pyramid. The brand new 50-50, Out-to-In Mega-Splitter™. Fill in the question marks with the next numbers! All the hints you should need are in the question!

 
1:35 AM
so, i got bored and made some post-it doodles
user image
5
boss rush concept art
lol
 
2:04 AM
ooh neat
(also hello!)
 
why are you so good at drawing
that's amazing
 
^
 
2:59 AM
1
Q: The physicist's puzzle

DenverCoder1An unknown physic1st left behind this puzzle with his belongin9s and he can no longer Be found. Here is the puzzle he left with u5 before disappEaring. Can you figure who this mysterious physicist was and what was the message he left behind?

 
3:15 AM
ok, i solved the nonogram.. and now I'm stuck. the numbers and letters don't link to an imgur image at all either...
 
yeah also not sure what to do after the nonogram
 
oof
 
3:38 AM
If Deus doesn't know, then you know you're screwed
 
4:10 AM
In this post the OP added a second question after there was already an answer, and then attempted to edit the answer to note that it only answered the first (originally only) question. I rejected the answer edit and then rolled back the question to where it was when it was answered - namely, with only one question. This is a general alert in case they try to edit again.
 
0
Q: Where does my friend live? 7

00xxqhxx00My friend, Jimmy, is a puzzle creator. He posted this for his country on a social media account. 972 mulini a vento rossi in croci bianche ha un canguro all'interno Do you know where he is?

 
4:47 AM
yeah i gave up on the puzzle for now and instead tryna make an entry for FTC
 
First step of making my Double-Tetromino Nurikabe: randomly fit pieces into a 10x10 grid to confirm that this size works
update: it doesn't. trying 9x9
ahh 9x9 isn't working as well
 
 
1 hour later…
6:00 AM
okay, got a legal solution in an 8x11, going with this
 
 
1 hour later…
7:13 AM
@Sphinx braille doesn't seem to work either
 
7:32 AM
0
Q: Equilateral triangle inscribed in a square

Dmitry KamenetskyA square is drawn on a piece of paper. How can you draw an equilateral triangle such that its vertices lie on the boundary of this square?

 
 
3 hours later…
10:25 AM
0
Q: An experimental sudoku

u-ndefined(Here is an experimental Sudoku created by me, however, the "box" constraint is not originally mine, but it'd be fun to try out this constraint.) Rules: Normal Sudoku rules apply. Additionally, each 1x3 (or 3x1) box either contains the numbers (1,4,7), (2,5,8), or (3,6,9) in any order. Puzzle...

 
11:14 AM
0
Q: Rainbow and numbers

hdusjaThe Rainbow and numbers: My friend sent this puzzle and I am stuck in it from 1 day. Count the number of ways to start across the rainbow . (make a reasonable one word ) INDIGO[1] RED[7] BLUE[3] YELLOW[20] VIOLET[3] DARK GREEN[13] LIGHT GREEN[1] ORANGE[12]

 
11:50 AM
How long does it take for an inactive chatroom to be closed?
 
12:30 PM
@oAlt I think about 14 days
 
12:41 PM
thanks
 
 
2 hours later…
2:44 PM
ah, duh. @msh210 Solution to your CCCC is GUYS (folk), which sounds like GUISE (cover). I don't remotely see how "musical" means "homophone", but never mind that :-).
 
 
1 hour later…
3:46 PM
0
Q: Can you i.d. this (old) game?

DanielWhen I was young in the 1960s, a friend had the following game (my memory is rusty so take this description with a grain of salt). It was a small square pegboard, with two sets of pegs (silver and gold), one for him and one for me. The interesting part: his job was defense (to protect the center...

 
4:24 PM
yep, we were all missing something obvious
 
4:37 PM
wow, yeah
 
Nov 3 at 15:58, by bobble
and one would have to have a different number of letters, to prevent answer ambiguity
(discussion about a possible homophone)
 
4:50 PM
The board games SE has 47 questions with , presumably all from migrations
that's a lot, seems like someone should have tagged those questions properly
We have 0 questions which are
 
yeah, i guess migrations aren't often their biggest concerns
or something ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
how often are there migrations to/from here?
 
this is the only one i can remember
though i'm sure there have been a few more -- at least one or two
 
searching for questions that have been migrated (is:q migrated:yes) brings up 28 hits
two random ones near the top were both from math.SE
7 of those have been closed, 6 of those closures were as duplicate
very useful information, I know
 
i think you forgot the deadpan period on that one.
 
5:03 PM
oops 5 of the closures were duplicates
1 was off-topic, 1 was a question migrated out
 
6:00 PM
@Deusovi, I edited out yesterday, but today the poster added it back in. I'm don't want to start an edit war, but I feel the tag adds absolutely no value. Thoughts?
oh, I see that the OP is here
 
you're right that the tag doesn't seem to be useful
 
@melfnt, see this discussion about single-use tags where Deus concluded that wasn't useful
 
if we need a tag for mnemonics it won't be an issue going back to edit it in - i find it very unlikely that we will though
 
a search for "is:q mnemonic" brings up 6 results. Manually checking reveals that a mnemonic is an important part of the puzzle for 3 of them. This includes the question tagged
 
6:39 PM
0
Q: The unknown wheat-and-chessboard problem

iBugYou can read the original story of the Wheat and Chessboard problem on Wikipedia. (But you won't get anything useful from it :)) An eternity after the original creation of chess, a score of Swedish men re-invented the game, which was laid out in the warped space of the 378547252nd dimension, and...

 
6:49 PM
@GarethMcCaughan Ohhhhhhh
Duh
 
It was right there all along
Hi, gerbil!
 
gerbil?
must've missed him
 
ah yes, apple emoji
 
7:05 PM
Hey friends :)
 
hey mick!
 
'borg!
 
Bobble!
 
:D
 
:D
 
7:06 PM
i made a bobblie drawing as per request
 
D'awww that's adorable
Now I want to draw the Star Trek crew but as bobblies
 
which crew?
as far as I know there are many different spaceships with different crews
 
TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager ...?
 
The only Trek series I've watched every episode of is TOS, so probably Kirk and crew :D
 
sounds good :)
 
7:09 PM
are there SHIELD or Statue Park updates?
 
Not yet, I've had a super busy social day, but we're gonna sit down and watch Episode 2 tonight :D
 
The only socializing I had to do yesterday was the Weekly Grandparents Dinner :)
 
That sounds adorable
Is it a family tradition?
 
my grandparents moved to be closer to us (right before The Pandemic), and when they got their own place they kept inviting us over for weekly dinners
 
That's super neat!! You gotta treasure your time with them as much as you can.
 
7:14 PM
did you see I posted another question to Lit?
questions are much easier to write than answers :D
 
Ooh, I didn't see
Aw man I love the Pern novels, that's a good question
Skippity skote, you get an upvote
 
my dad I have Dragonflight, Dragondrums, the two Menolly ones, and the Masterharper one
 
Nice
 
the chat always lights up when you're around
2
 
bobble, that might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me
 
7:19 PM
@bobble 100% agreed
 
how about your partner?
 
close second
i might cry
 
did you see the C4 solution?
 
@sciborg virtual hugs
 
Yes! Gareth saved us
 
7:21 PM
it was disguised right in front of use all along
 
I'm so mad that I never thought of "guys" meaning "folk"
Was "musical" a homophone indicator then?
 
somehow, yes
 
Hmm
 
Homophone indicators have to suggest sound or hearing, and I guess "musical" fits in?
 
I guess so, it might be a little iffy
But it was a very clever C4
 
7:23 PM
My "C over" rabbit hole made me want to write a clue where "do-over" meant "DO before _"
 
Ooh
That tracks to me, it might not be the most obvious reading but it works
I dig it
 
CMC: make a "palindromic clue" of sorts
 
hi jafe!
 
Hello jafe! :D
 
jello hafe
 
7:29 PM
hello all :D
 
How's it going?
 
can you make a CC where do-over means "DO before"? you are a cryptic master
 
pretty good, thanks!
there are cryptic masters in this room but i'm afraid i'm not one of them :)
can't believe everyone missed "guys" even after we were specifically looking for homophones!
 
CC: Do-over with sufficient skill: is it possible? (6)
 
that is very meta, i like it
 
7:34 PM
whistles smooth surface there
 
chef kiss Perfection
DO+ABLE
 
nice
 
I'm not sure about def though - "it possible" doesn't work, "is it possible" doesn't work
 
i suppose do-over could clue OD as well
 
The def part is "is it possible" - "with sufficient skill" clues ABLE
Definition could be tweaked I think
 
7:36 PM
chat mega challenge: make a CC that clues BOBBLE and MICK
 
I think just "possible" would work better
Mith!
 
yayy mith!
 
Hmm, BOBBLE is a toughie
Hi Mith! :D
 
Jerky movement of King trapped by tree trunk (6) <-- first CC that I found for BOBBLE with a quick search
 
how
 
7:39 PM
Interesting one
 
bole means tree trunk?
 
I guess?
how is "King" = BB?
 
BB king the musician
 
Ohh
 
I would never have gotten that
 
7:40 PM
Me neither
 
but like
can you make a clue that clues BOBBLE or MICK depending on how it's interpreted?
 
C4s have to be unambiguous
 
you mean a Schrödinger?
8
Q: Wordplay tricks for "Schrödinger" cryptic clues

jafeI'm trying to write a "Schrödinger" cryptic clue. That is, a clue which can be solved in two different ways resulting in two valid answers, potentially with a different number of letters. What tricks can we use to write the wordplay part of a clue like this? As an example, let's say our answers...

 
yep
 
Ahh, I didn't know about those! Neat
Those must be super hard to make
 
7:42 PM
there was a recent election-themed puzzle which used that
 
ok woww
 
Anyone who can design Schrodinger cryptic clues probably works for the NSA in their spare time.
 
Oh... my god
 
only 1 was used once
 
7:50 PM
whattttt
 
and 2 (2!!) were used thrice
oops 2
 
jafe: "i'm not a cryptic master"
also jafe: *makes this absolute legend of a puzzle*
 
counted wrong hehe
 
heheh
 
What is your secret and/or how can we send the bobblies to steal your powers
Answer us, the world needs to know
 
7:53 PM
or?
 
Or I'll send Poofy after you
Poofy is very squishy but they are also very scary
 
Oct 18 at 22:50, by bobble
Oh by the way the bobblies in your apartment want me to tell you to leave it out on the table for at least one night. That way they can all go out and jump on it.
did you do that?
 
Poofy doesn't like being left alone, they kept sneaking back into my office
Tried my best
 
should this be interpreted as "I wanted Poofy in my office"?
 
poofy may or may not be my new office buddy
 
7:57 PM
I will leave for right now
poof of yellow smoke
 
Hi msh210!
 
@GarethMcCaughan Thank you! I was starting to despair.
@Sciborg ¡hola!
 
I think we all had a moment of "why did nobody think of that"
There was some discussion over "musical" as a homophone indicator, since it's unusual.
 
@Sciborg Yeah, but people discuss
ing the clue before solving it had already realized that that might be it.
 
Totally fair. It was a good C4!
 
8:13 PM
And yeah it's an unconventional homophone indicator but I don't think it's too "out there".
@Sciborg thanks
 
@bobble \o
 
ヾ(^∇^)
 
@Mithical o/
A mod should probably unpin all the stuff related to the latest C4, now that the answer is confirmed
 
8:39 PM
'borg, do you want to solve puzzles? :D I want to help you solve puzzles
 
Sure! :p I have to bring up #13 again, hang on
 
oh no, was there window-smashing?
 
There was window-smashing
Specifically, after I placed the oceans on the top left, I made deductions and then realized I did them wrong
 
I had to back up for #13 as well - twice - before I figured out the issue
 
That's basically what happened, yeah
So I'm back to here:
 
8:42 PM
okay, let's look at R3C2
what happens if it is island?
 
0
Q: 6X6 superimposed by repetition latin squares

Vassilis ParassidisLet's have two 6x6 latin squares and let's superimpose them to obtain a 6x6 superimposed by repetition latin square. The number of combinations and their repetitions are shown below. 1,1 1 1,2 1 2,2 1 1,3 2 3,3 1 1,4 2 4,4 1 1,5 2 5,5 ...

0
Q: Going back the the dance floor

Rewan DemontayJohnny, the White monarch, is homesick, and his friend Carla, the h1 rook, is away, using her time to help the lower citizens of the Black kingdom. They use to do such wonderful fun, but their favorite act was a form of dance known as castling. Recently, he gave Carla a call, and she agreed to co...

0
Q: A Tribute to Alex Trebek

QuantumTwinkieThis is a very sad day for puzzlers and Jeopardy! lovers alike. I decided to create this puzzle to commemorate Alex because he is the reason I got into making puzzles. This is a typical connect wall, so it has 4 sets of 4 words that will lead you to the final word I have in mind. I picked the fin...

 
If R3C2 is island, then it has to be the S piece
Wait, no it could also be L
 
specifically, can the ocean above it connect to the rest?
 
Ooh, no, it can't
 
can you make deductions?
 
8:44 PM
Now I can, that's what I was missing
I had a different deduction that made sense to me but then I realized it was completely wrong and had to backtrack like 3 pictures
 
Sometimes you just have to go "what if..." and then run into a contradiction
The reason I looked there first is because either R3C2 or R2C3 must be island, and so there are few options
 
Yup, the cramped-ness is definitely the key
 
the place i'd look is actually against the far right wall
hm actually never mind, ignore me
 
Deus! You have arrived!
 
Deus has appeared
 
8:46 PM
dramatic Boss Rush music
 
boss music starts
 
great minds think alike
 
dun dun DUN DUN DUN DUN, DUN dun dun DUN DUN
 
hello!
 
we're starting another round of Sciborg Does Statue Park
 
8:48 PM
I have to leave for dinner at 4:30 but I think I have time to finish this one really quick :D
 
sounds good!
 
With bobble's deduction I think I've got it
 
(after taking a closer look, r3c2 is where i looked too, but i think there's something else that can be done)
 
The top right corner is interesting because since we know a T has to go in that group, we can deduce there too
i'm guessing that is the far right wall deduction you mentioned
 
I am simultaneously attempting to process a very dense Nature article
 
8:53 PM
ooh, what's it about?
 
studying a geologic record of fish from Long Ago, and concluding that high temperatures increased certain fish populations
but it has sentences like this
> The model propagates a size-specific primary productivity distribution through secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and quinary productivity, assuming means and standard deviations in the predator–prey size ratios and fractional trophic transfer efficiencies.
 
After the first eight-ish words my brain shuts off and refuses to go any further
 
I have learned the world "quinary", though, so yay?
 
Yay(?)
 
ooh, another good one
> Importantly, we were limited in model complexity by the trophically aggregated ichthyolith record.
it's short, but those last four words...
 
8:57 PM
the what of the huh
 
do you want layman's explanation?
 
I can parse all of it except "trophically"
 
ichtyolith = fish-stone ?= fossil
 
Yup
 
neat
 
8:59 PM
but "trophic" as a word is new to me
 
"trophic" levels are levels in the food chain - primary producers, secondary consumers, etc.
 
So "trophically aggregated" means...?
Assembled by food chain level?
 
fossils of fish food?
 
so "trophically aggregated" means many levels are in the same fossil spot. Plankton and fish together, basically
 
9:00 PM
Ahh
 
what's sad is I understand it on first reading
my brain, it knows many strange things
 
I wrote a research paper for biochemistry last summer, so I'm mostly accustomed to writing with that weird science-y language, but still, this one's insane.
(i would link you to the paper on arxiv, but... doxxing and all)
 
I'm only pretty sure my interpretation of "trophically aggregated" is correct, but I can't find anything better and it makes sense so I'm going with it
 
You're probably completely on the money, I'm just baffled that it exists.
 
I would link to the site where I do write-ups of marine biology articles in layman's terms, but ... doxing and all
 
9:06 PM
:p
If it helps, my two papers are 1) a very boring astrophysics paper on pulsars and 2) an extremely dry biochemistry paper on machine learning usage in water analysis.
Like, they're definitely not exciting
 
but they're PUBLISHED and that is cool
also did you finish #13?
 
My name came last on the first one which was fair, I was pretty much just the code contributor, but I got to have my name first on the second one which was pretty awesome.
Almost done with #13!
There, I got it
 
looks legal!
 
That one was hard but really fun, thank you for the deduction poke :D
 
I am lost
(to be safe: citation)
Britten, G.L., Sibert, E.C. Enhanced fish production during a period of extreme global warmth. Nat Commun 11, 5636 (2020). doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19462-w
 
9:16 PM
Oh my god
 
Okay, so, uh... trying to parse this
"alpha" is "trophic efficiency" which means... food chain efficiency?
"Trophic efficiency: The ratio of production at one trophic level to production at the next lower trophic level. is calculated by the percentage of energy that consumers in one trophic level gain and convert into biomass from the total stored energy of the previous trophic level."
 
yeah, so if there is 100J of energy produced by plant from sun, and a cow gets 10J of energy from it, that is trophic efficiency of 10%
 
Right, exactly. So that's what alpha means in the equation
Now we have "the proportion of size i at trophic level l"
So the size of the organism proportional to its trophic level?
 
there are two more very complicated equations after this, by the way
> The total productivity at a particular size class i in a particular trophic level is given by the sum over all the size classes in the trophic level below, weighted by the proportion of that size class in the diet and multiplied by the trophic transfer efficiency; specifically
(is what I found about i)
 
9:20 PM
this is making my brain hurt
 
I'm going to gloss over this in my write-up and call it a "simple model"
 
Sounds good to me
I should get going to dinner but I'll be back later tonight :)
 
seeya!
 
@bobble what, also why does the square root sign have no top?
 
I don't know. I don't understand that whole section
 
9:26 PM
hm
 
At least the fraction line isn't made out of underscores :D
 
that would be <expletive> terrible
[random question] which is funnier without context: "okporo" or "traffic"?
 
10:28 PM
@Sciborg If you're trying to avoid being identified…
 
10:54 PM
@Deusovi I have looked through the Fillomino pack and concluded that it is AWESOME and I will definitely be trying it.
 
11:11 PM
3
Q: A Chaotik-Evil Encrypted Doppelblock

athin This is a birthday gift for my friend: Ivan a.k.a. chaotic_iak! ^^ As noted, you may need this clue if you want to solve this logically (otherwise, challenge yourself like Ivan):

 
11:25 PM
@msh210 ???
Not sure what that means :p
 
hey, 'borg is back!
 
Hello!
I had a nice dinner with parents, I'm back
 
Was the dinner nice, or the parents? :P
 
Both :D
Now I get to start on Statue Park #14, which looks absolutely terrifying
 
"get"?
 
11:28 PM
"get"
I may have had an.... adult beverage so we'll see if my puzzling skills are up to snuff :p
 
gasp
 
stage gasp
 
I have backed down from Double-Tetromino Nurikabe to just another Tetromino Nurikabe, since I thought of a cool deduction. Also Double-Tetromino Nurikabe is big.
 
I was curious how that was going, it seems like a really tough puzzle to make
 
Creating a legal solution is half luck and half "well, this would mean this and then that would have to happen, or this perhaps..."
Most of the clue arrangements I make have no solution
Rand wrote a very good answer to my Pern question :D
 
11:38 PM
Rand is awesome!
I like the "minced oaths" analysis
Also, er, how do I solve a Statue Park with no black circles
 
2 days ago, by Sciborg
user image
like this?
 
That one was with single tetronimoes.... now I have to fit ten
i am scared
 
I really want to edit Rand's "Cf." into a proper word. My brain doesn't accept abbreviations or slang as words, so it basically screeches to a halt, switches modes, consults my inner dictionary of slang, reads out the abbreviation as (a) word(s), and then starts back up. It's VERY ANNOYING.
 
That admittedly bothered me too, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you edited it
 
@Sciborg Don't be afraid, be brave. Logic is the key.
 
11:45 PM
Bubbler is out here with the facts and I respect it
Thank you, wise Wizard Kirby
 
Btw, I've seen "Cf." a lot in non-slang contexts
 
I also have trouble with chat abbreviations, so sometimes reading the messages here sends me off the metaphorical cliff.
Sep 4 at 14:38, by bobble
define "cf"? I'm getting contradictory stuff from my usual frantic google
first time I saw it was here
 
I can try to avoid "lol" and similar in the future if that would help with the brain hitches
 
It would, thank you
 
Will do, sorry if I ever unknowingly itched your brain
 
HTM
11:49 PM
@Sciborg “lol” is a guy holding his arms above his head
 
also IOI is evil corp from Ready Player One
 
I accept both of these alternate interpretations as fact
 
HTM
The implication being, of course, that the statement was so funny that you had to throw your hands up in the air and give up on the Internet
 
There are certain words that send me too, but it's never been an issue in this chatroom, I doubt they would ever come up. So no worries
 
How do other people read, for example, "lol"? Is "lol" a word by itself to your brain, do you replace it with "laughing out loud" without thinking, or something else?
I'm genuinely curious, as I have only ever experienced my brain.
 
11:51 PM
My brain just treats it as a mental shorthand for "I thought that was funny."
 
HTM
@bobble I like to use it sort of like “/s” to denote something that shouldn’t be taken seriously
 
I don't replace it with anything mentally, it's just become its own mental construct at this point.
 
I also had to look up /s when I saw it in this chatroom
 
HTM
But others use it way too generously, so I don’t know if that’s really the canonical usage
 
Despite being a teenager, I am not a native Internetian
 
11:53 PM
Everyone has to look up something (or ask) when they see it the first time
 
I am a big time Gen Z human being, so I sometimes have to actively avoid using slang phrases in this chatroom that I know not everyone gets
Stuff like "flex", "big mood", that kind of thing
 
I get some slang, but only because I made friends that are more up-to-date than me
 
I remember Deus and msh210 trying to Google some of the slang words I used in a conversation with matt
 
HTM
@Sciborg The worst of those is probably “simp” imo
There’s just something so... off about it, even though it’s a short word
 
@HTM Don't think I have ever used that word, I just kinda hate it.
 
11:56 PM
(oops, forgot a step in my explanation earlier) Before the screeching halt, my brain sounds each letter out - I see "imo" and think "I M O" - then to figure out the meaning I have to go through screeching-halting
 
HTM
@bobble Don’t worry, I really am O
 
Maybe I've used slang for so long in Discord and college life that I've just become completely used to it? I don't know
Language is always an interesting topic because everyone has a different experience
 
HTM
It all comes down to social situations really, different jargon for different groups
 
I just noticed how much I was stimming because I wasn't able to type - one hand was too busy running fingers along my hair
 
True. There's definitely a difference between how I talk here, how I talk in Discord/other apps, how I talk to professors and coworkers, and how I talk to my college friends.
 

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