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12:47 AM
1
Q: The fearsome maiden

Jafe Fair maiden of ___, most feared in these parts, with terrible power thou ___ men's hearts. The beaux of all kingdoms thou ___ to doom; thy ___ and light they seek, but find their tomb. Excited, the ___ all play, sing and dance; each soldier and ___ falls under your trance. The suitors all ___ wi...

 
1:31 AM
I'm inclined to think that this certain word fits but this anagram finder isn't cooperating
 
my go-to trick is move the letters around in notepad
i hear after a while you learn to do it in your head but i'm not there yet
 
Same
Hmm I think I found the word though... only one anagram missing
 
2:10 AM
hehe now i'm refreshing every 2 minutes instead of the usual 10
 
I have a possible complete answer but I don't like the 8th at all
 
That is also what I'm stuck on >_<
 
meh, I'll post it: it could be what Jafe intends. If I'm wrong, then you have the chance to swoop in with something better if you find it :-).
(done)
 
Yeah
 
(no anagram-finders used other than my own brain)
 
2:19 AM
Yup, pretty much what I had, hehe. Still trying to figure out what the eighth might be though
 
The thing I've put there does kinda make sense, but the structure of the sentence seems gratuitously contorted if it's right. (Though I'm not sure how it would be less so with anything else, whatever it might mean...)
It might just be that cramming them all in required a somewhat contorted sentence structure :-).
yay, turns out my word for line 8 was in fact correct
 
Nice!
That was an interesting puzzle when I read it
 
hmm, two questions, what's the difference between "lustre" and "luster" (because i thought they were merely different in spelling and not meaning), and how does "luster" relate to "peasants and lords"?
 
2:35 AM
LUSTER can be a synonym for LUSTRE, but here it has to be LUSTRE in line 4 because we need LUSTER elsewhere. In line 8 it means "one who lusts".
That is: "all the peasants and all the lords are lusting after you".
 
Ahhhh
Thanks thanks
And here I thought the maiden was bestowed a weapon used by peasants and lords which was also an anagram... which was completely darn off hahahah
 
3:06 AM
@oAlt PERPENDICULAR = def: normal; PEN (writer) + (R+LUCID)< (real + brilliant returning) containing A_ (with award initially) with REP< at the start
 
Nice solve, your turn @samm82 :D
 
Man, that wordplay was sure pulling its weight lol - fun clue!
 
thanks :D it wasn't so easy to make, however. in the end, i was forced to use indicators that i've used more than once before. lol
 
CCCC: Genre of music from Niue's capital needs a clear dance (4,3,3)
 
3:22 AM
yikes, a capital i actually have to look up
 
(-a)LOFI HIP HOP but idk how "needs a clear" means "-a"
aside from the fact that clear can mean transparent
but i'm not sure if it can mean "gone"/"invisible"
 
needs a is the (-a)
not sure about what "clear" is doing either
 
ah, like needs = lacks? though i can't find it in merriam webster... need (pun fully intended) to look at other thesauruses i guess
 
if i need x i don't have x, isn't that the plain meaning?
 
did your shift key break, Jafe?
 
3:31 AM
what do you mean
 
"I"
 
key's working fine, just chose not to use it there :P
i do use caps in chat when they add something, eg. the US vs the us
 
@oAlt "clear" can mean removed
 
ahh
 
ah right
 
3:40 AM
like "the floor needs the mess clear[ed] if we want to be able to walk through this room"
 
:00
 
"the dust is clear, so now the dresser's nice and clean", etc
 
@Jafe I guess that's true (noun sense 1), although it's still weird (to me at least) because I'd be more inclined to interpret needing something as a consequence of lacking something; they're not exactly the same action
 
yeah you're right, you can not have x and not need x either
 
3:55 AM
It seems like I could've made this clue more CLEAR :')
 
you're still our favorite samm82 around, don't worry
 
Y'all are like 95% of the way there; not sure if that's enough to merit an explanation or if I should let you puzzle it out a bit more
@bobble Aww thanks :)
 
4:11 AM
@samm82 clearer* hehehe
 
Actually looking through the chat y'all found another possible parsing and I'm off to bed anyways so I'll just share the intended wp (I think that makes @oAlt up next)
 
Ayt
 
My intention was was "clear" = HIP ("to give information to", verb def 11 here and "dance" = HOP (as in a place where a dance is occurring); I originally had "cool dance", where "cool" = HIP, but that def of "hip" is where the genre got its name
Ironically, after all my etymology-checking, I completely forgot "hip hop" was also a dance....
 
4:32 AM
Ah so it seems we found a different parsing altogether then
@samm82 I see I see
 
 
4 hours later…
8:06 AM
It is clue making time once again
 
 
1 hour later…
9:10 AM
yall get an easy one, i have no time to think further
CCCC: Brand of carbonated drink from two to nine, perhaps (5, 2)
 
@oAlt SEVEN UP?
(ddef: carbonated drink, and seven up from two is nine)
 
Correct @Ankoganit
 
CCCC: About tailors/about apparels, essentially! (9)
(slightly dubious indicator alert)
 
9:26 AM
s(_ar_)torial* &lit.
 
ohh
 
first "about" is anagramming, second insertion
 
10:01 AM
@Jafe yep
Now that it's solved, what do you guys think of "about [fodder]" indicating anagram?
I felt slightly iffy, not entirely sure why
 
10:16 AM
the way i understand the use of "about" as an anagram indicator (MW saving the day again), it seems that it would be more proper to do "[fodder] about" compared to "about [fodder]", so i think your feelings and the iffiness of the indicator are validated @Ankoganit
CMIIW though
 
So maybe "cannon fodder" is good in a lcue
 
@oAlt yeah, makes sense
 
CCCC: Some seafood before finale of Irving Berlin's Mr. Popular (7)
 
10:39 AM
i've been under the impression that "x about" is ok but not "about x" and i've certainly seen the former used before, but come to think of it i can't actually come up with a sentence where "about" would mean something like anagramming in an actual sentence
also, before anyone checks, Mr. Popular is not an actual musical... the clue just wouldn't work with Mr. President
 
 
1 hour later…
11:50 AM
@Jafe HERR + IN + _G
 
@oAlt that's right
 
@oAlt How does "before"= HERR?
 
nope, "Berlin's Mr." = "translation of Mr. in Germany" = "Herr", then popular = "in" (i only know this because of learning some cryptic clue tricks; i would never say "dude this t-shirt brand is so in" in real life), all coming before "finale of Irving" (which is g)
However, the confusion is slightly excusable; for best wordplay there should be a comma after "before finale of Irving". That would make the surface awkward, though, which is why I think Jafe didn't include it
CCCC: Initially, President eating dinner outside is not depicted (7)
 
12:05 PM
Ohhhh
Initially seems like it is drawing us toward letter taking, but it could be a misleading def
 
if one side is an obvious indicator i tend to assume the def is at the other end
but you could be right
"outside is not depicted" could just clue something like "remove first and last letter"
 
So that makes P_inne
 
"initially, president" could be something like P.O.T.U.S. (president of the US)
that eats the outside of D(inne)R and we get... PODRTUS? POTUDRS?
 
I was thinking more like just P, but I may be wrong
@Jafe Seems weird
 
yea P could be it but then "eating" can't be an insertion indicator which it often is
"eating dinner" could be DINING or something
that outside P would be DINPING but i don't think that's a word
 
12:13 PM
So using the "outside is not depicted" indicator it's ININ
@Jafe No it is not, googled it
 
initially could clue "take first letters of following words" but that doesn't seem to produce anything useful either
 
I don't know why, but PORTRAY bothers me
 
portray means depict but that can't be the answer because the answer would have to be in the same tense as the definition (so depicted -> portrayed)
 
PAINTED is probably possible, oh wait, no
 
hmm that sounds plausible... is not = AINT
 
Sid
12:19 PM
yeah that is it probably
 
i think you can figure out the rest anon
 
Ohhh, wait, P___ED from eating dinner
 
yeah
 
@oalt
Answer: Initials of PED outside of AINT to make PAINTED, def: Depicted
 
Correct :D @Anonymus25-ReinstateMonica 's turn I think
 
12:27 PM
nice!
 
Sid
"is not" = aint is rather nice. However shouldn't it be "ain't"?
 
as a setter who doesn't indicate &lits with !, do i have to avoid ! at the end of non-&lit clues anyway?
 
@Jafe good thing i kept my hands away from my keyboard on this one; any message from me could have been quite sus :P
 
hehe
 
Ok, this'll take some time
Anyone willing to test-solve?
 
12:30 PM
me me
@Sid yeah it's "ain't"
last used on PSE 2 weeks ago (1 across here) :P
 
do i respond with a OTS? or i can share a google doc for easier correspondence
 
if you're willing to OTS me your email address i can do that
if not i can just make an OTS with my comments
whichever you prefer
 
Just chat the OTS here
 
12:39 PM
ok
chat challenge: make a homophone &lit for MARX (or MARKS if you prefer)
marx was a german who wrote about capital and marks were once german capital (as in money) but i can't make it work
 
Hoping my best for this clue to be better than Google flap (my old C4, which Deus remarked, not a clue)
 
argh i closed the tab, what was the original clue again?
 
And I forgot as well, wait, I'll try to remember
@jafe ? You there?
 
Hmm, thought I might share: I just graduated from high school today :00
 
Thankss :D only one more person can congratulate me so as to not clutter the chat, half-kidding
 
cong---rats--- (half redacted to not clutter the chat)
 
1:23 PM
:p
 
except i fail at markup, further cluttering the chat... oh well
 
Oh no
 
1:38 PM
@anon that makes sense
 
Ok, so it's settled
 
Ooh
 
any plans afterwards, @oAlt? (ofc feel free not to answer)
 
Let's do this:
CCCC: Circuit to go above electronic device (6)
VERY easy
 
obv not answering this one
 
1:39 PM
Probably will go down quickly
 
gladys progress: 5/14 posted, 7/14 clued, 13/14 gridded
 
@Jafe Just gonna stay in my own country so that I don't get homesick
And do music stuff too I love it
 
sounds good
 
Ye
Ok c4 solve time
 
i sold my instruments when we moved, now i kinda want to buy one again
 
1:44 PM
Ooh, guitar or smth else?
Circuit could be IC and electronic E but can't be both since 6≠3
 
Guitar sounds good, but I'm not so good at musical instruments
 
bass probably, that's my main instrument
used to play guitar and keyboards too but way less
 
:0 epic
 
Can someone pin the C4?
 
admins only i think... i starred it though
 
1:50 PM
@Anonymus25-ReinstateMonica same initially (well I mean I'm still not that good but anyway), but I had the desire to learn and then kept going :)
 
hehe
what do you play oAlt?
 
directs Jafe to oAlt's profile
Lolol
 
aha!
 
(Lol in retrospect we cluttered the chat anyway so frick it)
 
Back to the important thing: the C4 ;)
 
1:55 PM
Heh
 
profile says "high school student" so clearly out of date :P
 
Hahahah
Currently I'm parsing the c4 as E + Circuit = Device with no successful attempts so far
Wait oops my reading comprehension has weakened
 
If it's of any help, apparently 'circuit' can clue the letter O
 
Circuit + E**
Ooh
Hmm, could also be "to go above" + "electronic device"
Though not seeing so far how that would work
But alas, sometimes even a cryptic clue solver needs to eat dinner
OA(DINNER)LT
 
Sid
@Ankoganit how?
 
2:43 PM
@Sid I think "circuit" as in "circular route", which resembles an O
 
Tonight, when I sleep, someone will kill the clue. Guaranteed
 
3:08 PM
@Sid probably circuit=loop=O
 
4:03 PM
@Anonymus25-ReinstateMonica Is it LAPTOP? Circuit=Lap, to go above = top, def = electronic device
 
4:29 PM
Darn, also considered "electronic device" being a single unit but didn't explore further
 

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