The Sphinx's Lair

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6:16 AM

Can you place 16 mines on a 6x6 Minesweeper grid such that each number is a 3? Bonus: can you find multiple solutions? Good luck! Related question: Paint Eleven Squares

Sid

FWIW, ROUNDED BRACKET is (7,7) in enumeration. So, if we can somehow show (8,0) as meaning "Rounded", it might be a plausible answer.

MikeQ

But that doesn't explain why the enumeration is missing from the clue, does it?

msh210

7:05 AM

6 hours ago, by TakingNotes

I feel like it's important to note that the (8,0) enumeration is incorrect, rather it is the correct enumeration with some effect applied to it.

So (8,0) is (7,7) "with some effect applied to it". What effect, then?

Jafe

8.0 is 7.7 rounded up... going with the assumption above that the , stands for the decimal point

MikeQ

ROUNDED NUMBERS.

Because 8 and 0 are round-shaped, and it's 7,7 rounded up to 8,0 in the enumeration. Is that valid?

On the other hand, it doesn't really explain why the enumeration is missing...

Jafe

that's super indirect but at this point i'm willing to accept any explanation

Sciborg

how in the holy goodness were we supposed to take 8.0 and say "ah, yes, it's 7.7 rounded up! so obvious!"

what even is this clue

John Dvorak

7:23 AM

🤷‍♂

Sciborg

can we just make a solvable legal one and move on in the chain

John Dvorak

ngl, it is very novel

msh210

@MikeQ Valid? Dunno about that, but it may well be intended by the setter.

Ankoganit

...huh

That is pretty clever

Fairness is debatable

Sciborg

i appreciate the idea of making a novel clue, but i criticize the lack of fair/legal cluing, the absence of proper enumeration, and the evidently very indirect solution. this is not a clue that i feel was fair or properly constructed, i was hoping for some clever trick that would reveal it was properly constructed all along but evidently that's not the intent.

John Dvorak

7:30 AM

maybe in a crosword it would be fine?

Ankoganit

Maaaaybe

Sciborg

my constructive criticism being submitted, i now go back to bed

John Dvorak

I'd be okay with it in a crossword (that isn't full of those0

oAlt

@Jafe same

msh210

@Sciborg you mean criticism of the construction?

oAlt

7:36 AM

Constructive criticism of the construction :o

Jafe

@MikeQ ping @TakingNotes

TakingNotes

7:54 AM

@Sid This is the correct answer, going by Jafe's "ROUNDED" reasoning which is below it.

Sorry for such a confusing clue, it was more a challenge for me to make a clue inside an enumeration and I don’t know if I should have posted it here.

MikeQ

Rounded bracket? What's the wordplay? And why was the enumeration missing?

TakingNotes

"(" is the def, "8,0" means rounded and ")" means bracket.

If you want me to write a clue as (8,0)? (7,7) well I don't know what to think.

Sid

I am not really sold on 8,0 = rounded.
I can understand 0 = round but would it also mean "rounded"? Maybe I don't know correctly but I always thought rounded != "Of round shape"

MikeQ

"8,0" only makes sense as "rounded" if the enumeration 7,7 was provided with the clue. Excluding the enumeration doesn't make sense for this clue.

John Dvorak

agree - it would be a fair clue if the enumeration was included

fair...er

gateprep

8:03 AM

Can someone assist me with this

-4

Q: Overlapping in Order and ranking

For order and ranking questions there are a couple of the questions which require to find the total number of persons along with maximum and minimum condition which is difficult for me to comprehend. A slight explanation with a schematic is most certainly welcome. Particularly the overlapping sit...

combinatorics find-the-order

I have been on Puzzling SE for quite sometime but I have never used the chat feature.

Deusovi

8:20 AM

@TakingNotes no, i don't think that makes sense either. "8,0" cannot define ROUNDED in this way - it happens to be something that has been rounded, but that doesn't mean it works as a definition

John Dvorak

it's ROUNDED NUMBERS, not just ROUNDED

Deusovi

well, no

it's ROUNDED BRACKET

John Dvorak

(which doesn't work either, because 7,7 is just one number)

Deusovi

26 mins ago, by TakingNotes

"(" is the def, "8,0" means rounded and ")" means bracket.

John Dvorak

... what.

Anonymus 25- Reinstate Monica

8:23 AM

@TakingNotes Ao, who takes ir? Jafe or Sid?

Sid

8:34 AM

CCCC: Princess's money taken by half father (6)

Anonymus 25- Reinstate Monica

8:47 AM

I don't know why I think the answer is PRIEST, Taking away Ncess from princess (Cents), By Half should clue EST

#BadC4Solutions

msh210

9:43 AM

@MikeQ I like this solution better, tbh.

oAlt

9:53 AM

@Sid I think this is EURO + PA but I can't justify the "taken by half" part

TakingNotes

maybe the "taken by half" refers to half of PAPA? Seems counterintuitive though...

2 hours later…

Sid

12:15 PM

@oAlt this is correct

It was a hastily done clue. Half father = half of Papa.

I just forgot that PA also means father

1 hour later…

oAlt

1:43 PM

Ah, nice then

I will make one later

1 hour later…

Jafe

2:54 PM

no issue with the half-father part but i was expecting "taken by" to mean "inside" instead of "beside"

msh210

3:46 PM

@Jafe me too, but it's not wrong. After all, "taken" can mean "considered", and "by" can mean "near".

Jafe

i suppose

Jafe

3:58 PM

a shocking revelation: very small countries often have fewer exciting things to see than very large countries

bobble

laughs in 'murica

Jafe

who woulda thunk it?

msh210

4:19 PM

@Jafe but those few are nearer each other and thus easier to get to

Jafe

also true

Deusovi

unfortunately i don't think plausibility of quick travel is really the important thing for jafe's cryptics

msh210

@Deusovi naturally. I was merely pointing out a real-life benefit.

Jafe

4:36 PM

speaking of cryptics (come on sphinx, in sync now)... bam!

Sphinx

4:53 PM

Q: The world's best and brightest

This is part 5 of the puzzle series that started at Living the traveller's dream. Each part is solvable on its own. Dear Puzzling, Hi, it's me again! I don't know if you have noticed, but there are a lot of things in geography that have multiple claimants for being the "largest" of one categor...

geography cryptic-crosswords

Deusovi

oh neat, cryptic time

i now see why you were complaining about small countries

2 hours later…

Sphinx

6:36 PM

-1

Q: You rely on me to find your way. I'll always look in one direction

You rely on me to find your way. I'll always look in one direction. Left, down, right and up. What am I? The answer is useful for helping people when they are lost.

riddle

4 hours later…

Sphinx

10:26 PM

Q: any tools/sites/algorithms to decipher garbled text based on improper hand position on a keyboard?

Not sure if this is the proper place to ask, but I sometimes come across garbled text (see example below). My suspicion is that the garbled text is due to a person temporarily placing their hands in the wrong position on a keyboard. I'm wondering if there are any algorithms/sites/resources that a...