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12:51 AM
0
Q: Double sudoku with specific rules listed in the body

IdenticonnUsing distinct 2-digit numbers from 11-99 that have no zeros, fill in the grid so that the tens digits form a Sudoku and the units digits form a (different) Sudoku. There might be a mathematical way to solve this problem since I found it in a fun math book.

 
1:18 AM
many synonyms of "starting" are in the form xxxxing off/out: taking off, setting off, setting out, heading out...
i think the c4 could be something like [abbr. for king] + [starting] making a 2-word phrase that means "a trek"
abbreviations for king include K (from chess), R (from latin) and perhaps even specific abbreviations for british monarchs like GR for king george
there's also BB king but BB is not really a prime candidate to start a word
 
The only other thing I could think of that fit the (8,3) was "Someone Rex" (if it were clued the other way around) but then I couldn't work out how trek fits that? There aren't many words ending in "-REX"
(Clearly an actual person, not "Someone" >.>)
 
yeah pretty hard to fit a word for "trek" there
qat knows 14 words ending in "rex", none of them look all that promising [edit: broken link]
aaand i fail at markup
now if the clue was "king startling a t-rex" it would be another story :P
 
hehe - or wearing purple dye...
So... Is your expectation that it is a specific trek? Because I can't workout what words would indicate a trek without overlapping too much into your "starting" list.
well - actually "a" being there makes me wonder if it is actually on purpose... because otherwise it is specifying trek-noun rather than trek-verb... which is too helpful ;p
 
1:38 AM
i was thinking it's something like "camping out"
obv not that exactly but a similar phrase
 
There is Stephen KING, but Stephen is 7 letters
MOUNTAIN is 8 letters though
As in trekking up a mountain
 
hah! although it would be amusing, I doubt the second word is "RIP".
 
the first thing i looked for was actually kings with the name (something) Rip :)
(i didn't find any)
 
1:54 AM
hahaha
I was imagining it like R.I.P. which is why I didn't think it was likely.
 
hehe
 
2:10 AM
YEAAAAAHHHHHH
 
yep already aware of it
looking forward to it!
 
2:29 AM
What's your team name? Doesn't it usually have a semicolon in it or something?
Like
Something Something ; Please Ignore?
Actually, it's Needlessly Eating Short-Sightness, isn't it? :P
 
3:16 AM
0
Q: Fill in a 4x4 multiplicative magic square

jxia1234Suppose we have 4 by 4 grid with numbers 1, 2, .., 16. Can we fill the grid so that the product of the first row is equal to the product of the first column, the product of the second row is equal to the product of the second column, ..., etc? I have already gotten answer here for n=5: Fill in a ...

 
@PrinceNorthLæraðr How puzzling...
 
@PrinceNorthLæraðr haven't signed up yet, still getting the gang together. we go with a different backronym of TSBI each hunt
(TSBI comes from "Test Solution; Bees Ignore", which comes from "Test Solution; Please Ignore" after a merge with the team "Aviation Laws")
so for a board-game-themed hunt our name was"Tokens Swept, Board Inverted"; for a Pixar-themed one we were "Tireless Stomping Bouncing Illuminator"; and for a fine art class theme, "Tired Students Battling Insomnia"
 
3:58 AM
Ah
I thought you just like
Randomly made a string of 4 letter words :P
I'm getting a team together too: I think Gray, Bobble, 'borg and I will be a team :P
@Deusovi Why TS;PI?
 
that was the original team name - it's based on a reddit post that just says "test post, please ignore" and got a ridiculously high amount of upvotes
also, sounds exciting! if this is your first hunt, you're in for a wild ride
 
@Deusovi This is my third, deus -_-;
@Deusovi Oh lol okay
 
sorry, i have a bad memory
and i at least don't remember you talking about it here - again, sorry!
 
Lmao I think you were the one that introduced me to it
I was gushing about the Alien Cookbook from Galactic Bake Off :P
 
yeah, i've mentioned puzzle hunts here a few times but i'm never sure if people actually try them or just go "oh that's nice" to get me to stop rambling
ahh yeah! i remember that now
 
4:03 AM
Huh, you have a reddit page now? :P
 
hm?
 
oh, yeah, TSPI was "the reddit team" for a while, because that's where most of the recruiting was done
 
Dang, Deus, didn't know you were a redditer
It kind of feels like odd seeing like stuff that I associate with PSE spill onto other platforms
 
heh yeah i've met a few people in some completely different places - it's interesting
i met one person in three entirely different communities, and that was a weird experience for both of us
 
4:08 AM
Bwahaha
Did you realize?
 
yeah, it was just confusing to see each other over and over
 
heh
"Oh, I know you"
 
 
7 hours later…
11:20 AM
0
Q: Can anyone please tell me what this is?

Kyline MordashovSo my friend ask me to look for what kind of code or cipher or anything this thing is, and I have been researching for a while now without any luck. The code: ++ ×× -- / ×= ×÷ -- -÷ / -= ×÷

 
11:45 AM
0
Q: Sorting 6 boxes by selecting 3 boxes each time

Dmitry KamenetskyThere are 6 boxes, each containing a distinct number. You can select 3 boxes and the Oracle will tell you which box has the smallest number and which has the largest number of the three selected boxes. Can you use 6 steps (selections) to work out the exact order of numbers in each box, from small...

 
12:11 PM
0
Q: Four queens on public transport

Albert.LangThe enlightened but, sadly, fictional country of Switzerland has it all: A strong democracy that rejects centralism, a reliable public transport network and its own version of chess. Swiss chess reflects the values of the Swiss and does not tolerate the obsession with the centre that has so discr...

 
 
3 hours later…
2:56 PM
I hadn't realised that the TSPI (now TSBI) team was so large. I thought they were so successful just because the team is full of people like Deusovi who are absurdly OP, but if they have 50-60 people working in parallel then (at least for some puzzles / sets of puzzles) that greatly increases how fast they can do stuff.
 
3:06 PM
@GarethMcCaughan Well, the Galactic Puzzle Hunt has limit of 10 people per team
And I'm sure it's like 10 people who is on par with Deusovi (aka absurdly OP) so
 
for the MIT Mystery Hunt we have a lot of people (as do a lot of other teams)
 
but most other competitive hunts are limited (usually either 6 or 10 people), and there's a group of us who does those as the "TSBI Competitive" team
 
(we also often have a "casual" team or two that uses a different backronym)
 
3:17 PM
"the A-Squad"
 
heh, kinda
it wasn't explicitly assembled for the purpose of ruthless efficiency - we're just all generally good friends and fairly competitive puzzle hunters
 
"ruthless efficiency" :P
"Alright, everyone: Whoever can solve this cryptic crossword in under one minute make it to the team. Go!" whistle blows
@Deusovi How did you get so good at puzzles, and so many variety of puzzles?
It's one thing to be like good at a couple of genres, but you're so good at so many different types as well
 
3:40 PM
not sure i have any advice except 'practice'? i wouldn't say i'm good at every type of puzzle, but it probably helps that puzzles are my biggest hobby by far
 
Like... I've test-solved so many of my family's puzzles for our business that I can recognize a style and solve a puzzle in under five minutes that when we release it takes talented puzzlers hours to figure out that same puzzle. Familiarizing yourself with patterns and recognizing common themes is definitely helpful
 
I fear the answer is a combination of "practice" as already mentioned and "be extremely intelligent" which I'm sure Deusovi is too polite to say out loud (and unfortunately is even less helpful as advice than "practice").
 
Mm
@GarethMcCaughan Hahahaha
"Have a big brain like me, and you'll be fine."
 
("Intelligent" isn't quite the right word; there are different varieties of good-at-thinking, though they all tend to correlate, and puzzles definitely use some more than others.)
 
3:47 PM
...and you may be good at some types of puzzles but not others. As my family knows by now, I can't solve anagrams to save my life. :P
 
o/
 
\o
 
4:03 PM
@Mithical Your family business is puzzles? That's so cool (sparking eyes)
 
you may want to see an eye doctor if your eyes regularly spark. or perhaps an electrician... or an exorcist
2
 
spinning head
barfs on mith
 
Do we have a doctor around here?
 
"I'm puzzler, Mith, not a doctor!"
 
4:40 PM
I'm pretty sure that at least three regulars here in the Lair are doctors. Not quite the sort of doctor you probably have in mind. (All are mathematics PhDs.) I suspect the number is actually bigger than 3. One of the three I don't know for sure but am guessing with reasonable confidence. (I know I'm a maths PhD. I know msh210 is. I bet Rand is. There are some other Puzzling folks who I would not be at all surprised to find are also mathematics PhDs. Dunno about other subjects.)
 
hehe
Dr. McCaughan
Deus is probably going to get a doctorate one day as well :P
 
I can't see the picture
 
I will be very unsurprised if Deusovi does a PhD, but he's not at that point yet :-).
 
Sid
4:43 PM
@Mithical that is harsh.
 
> Dang it, Jim, I'm an astronomer, not a doctor! I mean, I am a doctor. But I'm not that kind of doctor. I have a doctorate. It's not the same thing. You can't help people with a doctorate. You just sit there and you're useless!
 
(from Treasure Planet, I believe)
 
5:17 PM
0
Q: Four pacifist queens

Albert.LangEarlier, I introduced the beautiful game of Swiss chess. Unlike the peace-loving Swiss, we are interested in "domination", the art of threatening or occupying every square of the board using a given set of pieces, four Swiss queens for this puzzle. But how to persuade four pacifist queens to do s...

 
 
1 hour later…
6:33 PM
-2
Q: A Clear, Simple, Geometry Problem

marsnebulasoupDraw a shape consisting of all the points equidistant from a specific point. Furthermore, draw a segment passing through a side of the shape exactly twice, and draw another segment so that it also passes through the shape exactly twice, but intersects with the other segment at one of the points w...

 
 
4 hours later…
10:59 PM
C4 hint: The ninth letter is O.
 
11:18 PM
@Jafe I think your off/out might be onto something
 
hmmm
 
But on the other hand, "king" might be hard to pair with "out" or "off"
At least it's not king=rex
 
I'm getting the impression of "<adjective> one"
 
Might work for king?
 
Maybe
 
11:26 PM
"starting" here is just a verb right?
It's not like a fancy grammar rule like "it's actually an adjective/noun that just looks like a verb!" thing?
Hm, tentative guess of like
HEADING OUT?
Because a king is like the head of the country???
Okay yeah no that's bad
ALso not sure if HEADING OUT = TREK. Feels like a part of speech mismatch
 
It's not even (8,3)
 
Well, I can't count, can I?
 

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