The Sphinx's Lair

2:19 AM

ugh, calling for formatting help - i edited the numbering on my previous crossword but the down clues' formatting suddenly went all wrong... and i don't know why it went wrong :///

(i don't want to have to edit it again because it's going to look like spam-editing)

Sphinx

2:59 AM

0

Q: Whats the last number in my wordy number sequence?

I have a wordy number sequence, partially shown below: $ {1, 45.2548, 1262.6650, 32768, 390625, 10077696, 282475249, 3037000499.976, 31381059609, ... }$ Can you find the last number in the sequence?

Jafe

4:04 AM

@oAlt fixed

if you start with 1 you have to have a backslash before the .

otherwise it ignores the numbers you have and just puts 1, 2, 3...

oAlt

Ah so that's why

Thx v much :0

Sphinx

0

Q: Answer to the question: "Who Wins?"

Crié ala caleverti miku'ilatmo doci pramilerfu

wordplay enigmatic-puzzle rebus language music

Parcly Taxel

6:29 AM

First "true" mathematics puzzle I've posted, see if it's off-topic puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/110592/…

Sphinx

6:43 AM

1

Q: Can you irrigate your lawn with 23 sprinklers?

You have a perfectly circular lawn with radius exactly 4 metres. Lately the grass has been turning yellow and quite rough, so you go to Stiv's Diabolical Instruments and describe your problem. "All we've got for you is 23 sprinklers, each one irrigating a perfectly circular area exactly 1 metre i...

mathematics geometry optimization

Sphinx

7:07 AM

0

Q: Lines and Squares

This 'puzzle' is from the New York Times website, from its puzzles. I decided it was fun and so I would share it with you. Question Here are 10 straight lines and 17 squares. Here are 9 straight lines and 20 squares. Find the smallest number of lines needed to make exactly 100 squares. Once you...

geometry

msh210

7:26 AM

In the C4, "points arranged…" can mean an argument/syllogism/proof. Or, in other words, a THESIS. But that leaves "Dash and twelve" as the wordplay — which almost fits the Morse code wordplay aforementioned, but I don't see that "twelve" can mean twelve dots.

Oh, and anyway it was THESES… THESIS has thirteen dots.

Rand al'Thor

7:49 AM

Whose sis has thirteen dots?

oAlt

8:25 AM

crossword progress: 8 words left to clue :0

Graylocke

9:04 AM

Does this mean I should put up a vague clue?

Jafe

i'd appreciate a hint

Graylocke

Uhm… A letter, another cryptic hint or a generally vague statement? (I feel bad because I offered you a turn and then took it away like an ass)

Jafe

hehe no worries, it was your turn after all

letter maybe?

Graylocke

CCCCClue: _ _ _ _ E _

That is pretty unhelpful, but I will say that it isn’t THESIS or THESES no matter how much it would be nice if it were ;p

Jafe

9:27 AM

"arranged one in front of the other" seems pretty promising as the def for a word ending -ed

Sphinx

10:01 AM

0

Q: Hole community (HU)

Try make sense of the image below. Answer: 2 3 1 3 1 2

knowledge enigmatic-puzzle visual

Jafe

over 40% of gladys meta done

oAlt

10:34 AM

Depending on my progress I think I might also release on Friday... A bit excited

Jafe

sounds good

Stiv

10:49 AM

@Graylocke I reckon the answer is likely TANDEM ('one in front of the other'), with the wordplay something like T (twelve points) + AND + EM (dash), where 'arranged' implies reordering them like this. However, I don't know why T = twelve points, other than noting that it begins with a 'T' - can 'points' clue an initial??

AncientSwordRage

11:01 AM

@Stiv looks promising

Stiv

I note that each side of a backgammon board has '12 points'. I also suspect this is probably irrelevant :)

Jafe

a sharp object's point is its end, so could twelve points be T_E somehow?

that said surely the EM is the dash so that wouldn't make any sense either way

Stiv

Ah okay, so T AND E from '12 points' and just 'M' for the dash?

Jafe

not sure i like just N/M for "dash"

Graylocke

11:17 AM

er

the answer is correct but the construction is somewhat simpler (and I should have stuck with me first construction)

my >.<

@Stiv Do you want my construction or are you happy tinkering? :)

I mean technically you are correct with your construction, you just don't need to order it that way.

AncientSwordRage

@Graylocke we all know that is the best kind of correct

Stiv

So is it not 'T AND E' + M 'arranged' to give 'one in front of the other', or is 'one in front of the other' doing double duty? (Or something else altogether...)

OH

Graylocke

No it's T (a dash in Morse code) AND (literal) EM (a unit of measurement equal to 12 points)

Stiv

I see it's T (dash in Morse code) + AND + EM

Graylocke

which is the length of a long dash (as well)

Stiv

11:25 AM

Ha, crossed messages there!

Graylocke

so I was going to have "A dash and a long dash arranged one in front of the other"

but I thought people might not like "em" = "a long dash"

so I went with the other definition... which was frustrating because you latched onto dash = em ^^; but ALSO the morse code... just not together

^^;

Stiv

I get it now. Found it tricky splitting the clue into its wordplay and definition parts for quite a while...!

Graylocke

I mean... I think it is valid, right? >.>;

Stiv

It seems valid to me, just equating '12 points' to 'EM' requires a specific way of thinking, I'd say...

Graylocke

well it's the sort of the same thinking as getting em for dash ^^;

Stiv

11:28 AM

(especially when dash=EM comes more naturally - hence my multiple confusions!)

AncientSwordRage

@Stiv I still don't follow that part

Graylocke

I was so pleased with a dash and a dash, but it sounded weird ^^;

Teaches me not to overthink things... ^^;

Stiv

@AncientSwordRage See the 'Printing' section here

"a measure for 12-point type; a pica"

msh210

@Graylocke very much so IMO. nice clue

oAlt

Aha, so that's why there were suspiciously more X's than usual in that crossword @Jafe :P

Graylocke

11:37 AM

Everyone was so quick on both Morse and printing :)

Jafe

@oAlt heheh

msh210

@Jafe glad y'say so

Jafe

in retrospect i should have mentioned there was a theme in that one... especially since i remember a puzzle where someone asked if there was a theme and i was like "i usually mention it if there's something more going on"

AncientSwordRage

@Stiv gotcha

oAlt

@Jafe ah fair point

Parcly Taxel

12:17 PM

@Stiv I used your name in my most recent puzzle. I hope you don't mind

How have my puzzles been doing?

Stiv

@ParclyTaxel That depends - have you made me a serial killer?!

Parcly Taxel

no, it's just a name there...

I know that you are a prominent puzzle setter/solver on this site

Jafe

a diabolical instrument peddler, it seems

Parcly Taxel

However, the puzzle was not inspired by any of Stiv's puzzles. I had to verify that it was OK

Stiv

Aha, I hadn't spotted that one today - looks pretty harmless :)

CCCC: Eddy Merckx's last victory: looked triumphant at ten seconds ahead (6)

Jafe

12:24 PM

nice surface

Stiv

Thanks - it's taken me AGES to make this one work! :)

Jafe

i think it's V (victory) + ORTE (second letters of "looked triumphant at ten") ahead of X (merckx's last) = VORTEX (eddy)

Graylocke

very nice...

Jerry Dean

The longer I stay in this chatroom, the more aware I am of my stupidity... :(

Graylocke

If it makes you feel better, I feel that too? ;p

Jerry Dean

12:32 PM

nope man, the one you made was also very nice

Sid

@Jafe eddy = Vortex?

Graylocke

@Sid like a whirlpool

Jafe

eddy

Sid

Oh. Didn't know that actually.

Jafe

@Stiv ^

forgot to ping

because i was excited

Graylocke

12:35 PM

@JerryDean heh thanks :) but it still comes with feeling stupid compared to other people ... the rest is practice and learning from other people's solve paths :)

Gareth McCaughan

"Eddies in the space-time continuum!"

Jerry Dean

@Graylocke Guess I'll keep practising then!

Graylocke

@GarethMcCaughan It's some kind of... Eddy

The only line in Voyager: "It's some kind of..."

Gareth McCaughan

(Mine was from one of Douglas Adams's books. Ford says he's detected "eddies in the space-time continuum". Arthur, who isn't all that bright and isn't really paying attention, says "Ah, is he, is he?" and then "Who is Eddy, exactly?". So the exact same eddy/Eddy pun as in the clue.)

Graylocke

Ah - I should have remembered where that came from.

@JerryDean That's what I do! I am trying to build my own puzzles but they keep having problems :)

Stiv

1:01 PM

@Jafe Indeed :)

Jafe

CCCC: Jason Statham role: Bellboy in bellgirl's body? (11)

Stiv

@Jafe TRANSPORTER! (cdef where 'porter' = bellboy)

Jafe

yep!

Graylocke

heh

Sphinx

1:19 PM

0

Q: Long string no spaces , related to turing

Message : JEDSIOTRNSIFTITIAETENNETNCERALORR hint: Germany The Germans are shipping Krupp K5s to the English Channel.So stay away from the rails.

cipher

Stiv

1:40 PM

CCCC: Paradise found in uncut opiates (6)

msh210

@Stiv beautiful

Stiv

Thanks :)

The latest one is much more rough and ready than that...

@Stiv _ut opia_

Absolutely :)

heheh

1:44 PM

@Graylocke CCCC: Arrange one in front of the other? That's offensive (6)

Jerry Dean

uh, hooter?

anagram for o+other, and can be a slang for a private part

@msh210

msh210

Not my intended solution, I'm afraid. I'm also not sure how "one" clues O.

Jerry Dean

2:00 PM

Yeah, that's a bit of a stretch.

Sphinx

0

Q: An Altered List

The following list of items has been altered. They all use some form of wordplay originating from the item, with some being very literal and straightfoward, while others are obscure and challenging. You need not solve all of the items (but congrats if you do!), the answer is the category of the o...

word wordplay

Parcly Taxel

2:21 PM

Let's solve the above together

...but where can we discuss?

msh210

Here?

Parcly Taxel

OK, the number is clearly sin(4°)

msh210

CCCC is Cryptic Clue Chat Chains! Latest clue is ⤴/⤵ there! Join the fun! See Deusovi's Cryptic Clue Guide and GPR's Archive & Statistics of past clues.

4

@ParclyTaxel yes, but is that the intended "item"? maybe so, but I doubt it

Parcly Taxel

(The above puzzle was set by the one who solved my No Time to Die one, so that perked me up)

@msh210 that is merely my observation

One guess is SIGNATURE as it's a "sign for"

Swati

2:49 PM

Hello to all .. can i ask here puzzle creation suggestion ?

Parcly Taxel

Yes, what?

@Swati are you up?

Swati

I want to create puzzle on anime theme ..so any suggestion on that ? How can i make my puzzle easy for all to solve not just people who watch animes ?

Parcly Taxel

Altered List: first item seems to be ARROWHEAD since it's an arrow into a head

@Swati What I do is scatter multiple references to the anime throughout the puzzle text. Either explicitly or in the intermediate answers

That way there is a thread informing solvers that it is related to the particular anime

Sid

@Swati that's a tough one. What do you have in mind? Riddle or crossword or something else?

Swati

@ParclyTaxel Nice way to solve .Thank you for your time :)

Parcly Taxel

3:00 PM

What are you talking about?

Swati

@Sid Thinking of picture puzzle related to anime series,,

Jerry Dean

@ParclyTaxel That resembles a stick man figure to me XD

Parcly Taxel

Which NFL teams have red helmets?

Jerry Dean

foxsports.com/nfl/gallery/…

this site could help

Sid

@Swati Picture Puzzle? You mean Rebus?

Parcly Taxel

3:10 PM

Well the Chiefs are the only team to definitively wear red helmets (Bengals are more like orange.) But wait, Chiefs play in Arrowhead Stadium

Is that one CHIEFS, then?

Jerry Dean

@ParclyTaxel stiv has solved it XD

Stiv

Ah, I see you guys are talking about the Altered List puzzle - afraid to say I cracked that these are actually Sherlock Holmes book titles and posted an answer a little while ago, sorry! But I'm still missing a few if you want something to get your teeth into?

Jerry Dean

3:31 PM

It's ok, we are too slow anyways :(

Stiv

Hey, slow isn't always a bad thing... :)

Sphinx

4:37 PM

0

Q: I close in all around you, making you nervous. What am I?

I close in all around you, making you nervous. You want to evade me as much as possible. Lifts, Tunnels, and under your bed. What am I?

riddle

Feryll

6:48 PM

Is this a place where I can ask for an explanation on why my latest puzzle was closed?

People complained that it "lacked details or clarity" as an /enigmatic puzzle/.

There was also a complaint that it linked to a Youtube video I'd created for the puzzle, while frankly there are plenty of other (also enigmatic) puzzles that do the same, e.g. puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/106466/…

Sphinx

7:06 PM

0

Q: What is an Amoeboid Word™?

This is in the spirit of the What is a Word/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles. If a word conforms to a special rule, I like to call it an Amoeboid Word™. Find the rule that decides whether a word is an Amoeboid Word™ or not, and why they are called ...

pattern word-property

-2

Q: A Z340 question from a competition anybody know how to solve it?

ACFSOAGGSDEOFEEDC BRSAOBNLHHHOESOVP EWWEALRADAATOWLER TFLIITNECBENSWRNE TTRICTTBANHBRTYAT NEOTONOHHOLGAAWUZ RUTNTETAUGOMYIRGH EAIMTIHROLPASBTNL EEWTNIOTRTRLLNEEI is the output from https://www.dcode.fr/zodiac-killer-cipher I tried azdecrypt but no luck (I'm new to this) the previous questions of...

cipher

Feryll

If it's otherwise something that needs to be brought up on meta or somewhere else, let me know

Lukas Rotter

For me, a YT video created by the OP being required definitely cuts it (I assume everyone draws the line somewhere else, there's not hard-set rule AFAIK), which is why I VTCd. I did pick the wrong close reason because I simply chose the one which other people have already voted for. (wrong in the sense that I don't think it necessarily lacks details)

Feryll

7:22 PM

Why is this rule being applied so unevenly, then? I could narc on so many other (well received) puzzles that appeal to external resources.

I also don't see how "being created by the OP" makes it worse; if it weren't created/hosted by me, it would suffer more from the ability to become outdated, not less.

Lukas Rotter

I don't know why and I haven't looked into how unevenly this is applied, I can only speak for myself... I'd be in favor of closing the linked question as well.

*would've been, now there's no point

Feryll

What is the "point" exactly? Isn't it a matter of principle?

Lukas Rotter

Old question, solved, no attention

Not for me

Feryll

So what is your take on why videos aren't an acceptable puzzle format?

I don't think, e.g., that it's anything more than a virtual concern that one day Youtube will become a deadlink

Lukas Rotter

7:50 PM

External resource. It's a soft rule the community has seemed to have agreed upon. I wouldn't trust that the video link stays up for years to come. I don't think the OP is more trustworthy than some random youtuber. I cannot give you clear-cut if thens I go by, I judge it on a question per question basis. You can ask on meta if you feel like this should be well-defined within our guidelines/close reasons.

(in cases there isn't such a meta thread already)

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