The Sphinx's Lair

12:06 AM

@bobble I have an awful habit of looking at the answers if they're given, so I didn't have a proper go

bad ferret! bad ferret! bobble obviously never does that she says while peaking at notes during a practice test

@bobble I feel suitably admonished

12:50 AM

I did like them though. What did you use to make the grid?

1:01 AM

@bobble that was a nice cryptic! as you said, "nothing fancy", but it was a pleasant solve

Oh, I copied the image link from a previous (and poorer quality) 5x5 cryptic of mine

Thanks, Deus! :D

And it appears that image was copied from Graylocke's 5x5

so... you'd have to ask Gray

@bobble hmmm, wondering how useful it would be to ask, as I'd like to make a much much larger one

i'd recommend google sheets if you want to make a grid

it's a good puzzle-formatting tool in general

That's the sensible answer, but definitely not the most exciting... I was thinking of messing around with JavaScript and the html canvas...

Really the one advantage of that is in validating that each clue fits as does it's rotated counterpart

And also you could (potentially) generate it from written clues

1:12 AM

made in Sheets

o\ dinner

@bobble see, sensible. I'll be having none of that.

Oops. That is more the sort of thing I want

so, something like this?

(made in google sheets)

@Deusovi yes, exactly

I'll be clear, I know it's probably much easier to do it in sheets, I just want the extra challenge

fair enough

2:21 AM

@Deusovi bit late, but do you mind sharing which clues you thought were harder or easier? :)

i'd say 1D was definitely the hardest, and 4A was the easiest

But fair, hopefully?

yeah, definitely

if i considered it unfair, you would've known

1 hour later…

msh210

3:39 AM

@GarethMcCaughan Oh, duh. I was thinking of "attacks" as an ad-hoc word for capturing — but of course "attacks" has its own meaning in chess.

@AncientSwordRage see also quinapalus.com/qxw.html

1 hour later…

5:04 AM

updating c4 sheets rn and need bit of help in figuring out how "student" = L

L is used on learner's permits or something, iirc?

Jafe

5:21 AM

yeah, cars have "L" stickers indicating a learner driver (at least here)

not sure how universal that is

ahh

aight thx

1 hour later…

6:55 AM

a small fact: proliferate has been clued by two different cccc's, same wordplay but slightly different surface and definition

1 and 2

(oops not "slightly")

1 hour later…

Jafe

8:17 AM

i think islamabad was also clued twice with the same wp

Anonymus 25- Reinstate Monica

Q: Jumping token on a grid

A token starts at location (0,0) on an infinite grid. On turn $n$ it must jump $n$ units horizontally or vertically, in one of four directions. What is the least number of turns needed for it to reach the location (10,10)? Bonus: what about location (100,100)? Good luck!

2 hours later…

10:00 AM

@TakingNotes C4 hint?

11:00 AM

there was one given recently, should be on the starboard :0

well it's been nearly a day but the hint could be considered "recent" given that it was given more than two days after the release of the clue

but anyway, there is indeed a hint now

11:51 AM

Q: Knight or Knave

On the island of knights and knaves (where knights always tell the truth and knaves lie), you meet two islanders named Penny and Quinru. Penny: Both Quinru and I are knaves! Who is a knight and who is a knave?

logical-deduction liars

number-theory functional-equation

12:44 PM

Q: How is this correct?

How is the following equation is correct?$29$ - $1$ = $30$ Hint-

3 hours later…

3:18 PM

Q: In company of thieves

What am I? With thieves I consort, With the Vilest, in short, I'm quite at ease in depravity, Yet all divines use me, And savants can't lose me, For I am the century of gravity.

riddle wordplay

1 hour later…

4:27 PM

whoa, font switch just happened - it's pretty weird to see

i know i'll get used to it but at the moment it just looks Wrong

Q: How do I memorize parity algorithms for higher-order Rubik's cubes?

I know D:

1 hour later…

samm82

5:38 PM

thanks stack exchange I hate it XD

Puzzling — BOUNTY!

5:54 PM

I know how to solve a Rubik $4\times4\times4$ or $5\times5\times5$ or bigger, but I have problem with a specific algorithm: the parity error. What's the shortest parity algorithm for $n\times n\times n$, or is there a really easy way to memorize parity?

rubiks-cube algorithm mechanical-puzzles twisty-puzzles

Sid

6:52 PM

@Deusovi I just came in here to ask exactly this. :P

A: We are switching to system fonts on May 10, 2021

Custom Fonts User Script: Revert or Improve the Font Updates (Stack Apps) For those of you who prefered the old appearance, or would like a different font to appear in code blocks or across the site as a whole, Custom Fonts is a user script I wrote this morning to allow just that. Features Custom...

if any of you hate it that much

Sciborg

7:25 PM

Lord almighty, the new font is.... something

i don't know why but it's slightly worse on my eyes than the old one, i'm going to use the font switcher to change it back :/

there's something about the slightly thinner text that just makes my diplopia go nuts

Stiv

(screams)