The Sphinx's Lair

Chris Cudmore

00:15

@Sphinx Anyone tried this? I'm not sure the clues are proper cryptics.

bobble

@ChrisCudmore I haven't tried that at all, but perhaps they're more liberal in their setting than the average, Deusovi-fearing cryptic setter you find 'round these parts

Chris Cudmore

Example: To satisfy angrily would be to make twice of a vegetable. PEA (From APPEASE* But there's no indicator to drop the S

bobble

That would be an indirect anagram anyhow

Chris Cudmore

I don't like them, but I'll grudgingly accept them.

bobble

If you want, a comment pointing to our Cryptic Clue Guide and a gentle note that our community can be rather strict in its expectations for cryptic clues, would probably not go amiss

Chris Cudmore

00:20

Good Idea

msh210

06:14

CCCC: Comfortable pants of the shrouds (4)

Not, presumably, that you care at that point.

oAlt

Oops I have to make one again

M Oehm

@msh210 That's SOFT, shrouded by (pant)S OF T(he), I think.

oAlt

Never mind hahahah

msh210

06:37

@MOehm it is indeed

M Oehm

CCCC: Takes a broad stance: Resistance after no end to bathhouse puzzles (9)

msh210

06:50

@MOehm :-)

M Oehm

Thanks. I wanted to post this while Amoz's relevant comment was still on the starboard.

Jafe

07:25

@MOehm SP(-a)+R+ADDLES

M Oehm

@Jafe Yes!

Jafe

07:40

CCCC: Bearded war veteran shot MiG Fighter Jet (5)

Stiv

@Jafe GIMLI (Bearded war veteran) = MIG* + LI (Jet Li)

M Oehm

"Self-contained bearded war fighter"

Jafe

08:00

@Stiv yep!

Stiv

08:16

The def made me laugh for that one :)

Sid

08:34

@Jafe explanation for the dumb ones like me? How do you get SP(-a)?

oh bathhouse = spa

I am dumb

Stiv

CCCC: Particle identified in hydrogen-radon mixture (6)

TakingNotes

H+ADRON*?

@Stiv oop forgot to reply

Stiv

@TakingNotes Yes indeed :)

@MOehm Ha! I just got the surface to this! :D

AncientSwordRage

08:54

I thought Hadrons were a type of particle? there's no one "Hadron Particle"

TakingNotes

CCCC: On Scottish island, trainee starts conversation between two students: “Household retailer plagiarised Atlanta’s first yearly St. Robert’s Celebration?" (13, 4, 4, 1, 6, 3)

Jafe

09:11

holy cow

msh210

Hey! You copied that from a 31×31 crossword I was doing the other day!

Jafe

hehehe

Stiv

@TakingNotes INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY = (INTERN AT IONA)+L(TALK)L+IKEA+PIRATED+A(-tlanta)+Y

M Oehm

09:26

Arrrr!

Stiv

Robert Newton is the "patron saint" of the day, so it's "St Robert's Celebration?"

Phew, what a clue!

msh210

wow

TakingNotes

@Stiv Absolutely correct, good job!

Stiv

A day close to my heart - I got married on it!

TakingNotes

"Aye, till' Davy Jones' locker do ye part."

Stiv

09:40

"I now pronounce ye cap'n and first mate"

Anonymus 25

Awwwww

Stiv

CCCC: Drive south and drink a little something from the grapevine? (6)

msh210

10:03

@Stiv go s sip

cute

Stiv

@msh210 Yup!

msh210

CCCC: Ride, or drive (5)

Anonymus 25

@msh210 MOUNT

ddef

msh210

How does "drive" clue MOUNT?

Anonymus 25

Mounting something is like mounting a car

msh210

10:08

I've never heard of mounting a car, except on cinderblocks.

AncientSwordRage

You mount a hard drive

msh210

Anyway, that's not the intended solution.

AncientSwordRage

either physically or via commands in linux

msh210

@AncientSwordRage yes, that's true. So?

Anonymus 25

I was also thinking of STEER

AncientSwordRage

10:09

@msh210 can't a thing just be true ?:D

msh210

@AncientSwordRage fair enough! :-)

AncientSwordRage

I mentioned it as an alternative reason for MOUNT to be correct, but it's also just a thing

Anonymus 25

@msh210 I was saying, how about STEER? Makes more sense

msh210

@Anonymus25 How does it work?

Anonymus 25

sit on and control the movement of (an animal, especially a horse), typically as a recreation or sport.

Quoting google, STEER s a synonym of ride in that way

msh210

10:13

and of "drive"

Anonymus 25

Yes

msh210

Right. So that wouldn't be a double definition: it's the same definition twice.

Anonymus 25

Ohhhhh

AncientSwordRage

10:29

I'm going to be told this doesn't work, but can I hazard a guess at ANNOY ? Ride "NORTH AMERICAN: annoy, pester, or tease. "if you don't give all the kids a chance to play, the parents ride you" "

and Drive as in "Drive mad"

TakingNotes

"The parents ride you"

Man I don't know what you've been seeing on the internet recently

3

AncientSwordRage

@TakingNotes I've never heard it used that way before

msh210

10:50

@AncientSwordRage correct!

I mean, correct that you're going to be told it doesn't work.

At least, not imo. Drive ≠ drive mad, and drive mad ≠ annoy.

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 I'm sorry, but I'm ignoring your next to messages

(NOT)CCCC: refuse to listen to Stuart; half-baked suggestion brought into existence ( 8 ) (NOT the real CCCC, please ignore)

oAlt

11:06

@TakingNotes what the heck lol

Quite epic though

Stiv

@AncientSwordRage You seem a little STUBBORN today... ;-)

AncientSwordRage

@Stiv most days it seems

Jeremy Dover

14:01

Etiquette question: the answer to my Sub Battle Sudoku is correct, but doesn't describe the two important logic steps. Since it's solved, I think it's unlikely anyone is going to circle back and provide them. Would there be an issue with self-answering with those steps, or should I just let it go?

bobble

Another option would be commenting to the effect of "any answer which explains the missing logical steps is promised a bounty" and then waiting more

19

Q: List of bounties with no deadlines

This is a list of unofficial, deadline-less (hence not searchable) bounties offered by users on various challenges on the main site. Disclaimer: There is no guarantee that the user will award the bounty for you in case you fulfill its requirement. Especially if the user isn't an active member an...

Jeremy Dover

Hmm...did not know such a thing existed. I originally thought I didn't want to put a bounty on it, but maybe that is the right approach. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Beastly Gerbil

14:18

Before you do, I am willing to have another look without a bounty incentive

bobble

Did you mean to start an actual bounty?

Beastly Gerbil

I got to the 25 digit mark fairly easy enough so if I take another look I might spot the missing logic for the next bit

Jeremy Dover

Yeah, figured I'd just go for it. When I went to explain why I didn't want to put on a bounty, all of my reasons were dumb. The bounty system exists for literally what I wanted to happen.

Not just literally, but literally literally.

Beastly Gerbil

Fair enough, I'll take another look, didn't see theres a couple hints now too

AncientSwordRage

@JeremyDover in your case the current correct answer may have the logical leaps as well, but in the case they don't your bounty could expire before a new answer appears/is updated

Jeremy Dover

14:39

True, but I reckon it's more an attention issue, and someone will step up to the plate. It's not that hard, I'm just looking for a little more than "putting 7 here gives a contradiction, so it's a 4".

Stiv

Re the CCCC, I really want there to be a way that 'MOT' means 'ride', so that the additional OR gives 'MOTOR' for 'drive'. Alternatively, another 3-letter word that with OR makes xxxOR, a word for 'drive'... No luck though.

bobble

4 hours ago, by AncientSwordRage

I'm going to be told this doesn't work, but can I hazard a guess at ANNOY ? Ride "NORTH AMERICAN: annoy, pester, or tease. "if you don't give all the kids a chance to play, the parents ride you" "

for an amusing failed solve

:)

Sid

Can OR be "bar"? OR = || in programming

M Oehm

14:56

Not really. At least I don't think so: a || b is "a or b". The bars are just symbols.

AncientSwordRage

@Sid I think of them as pipes

@bobble what do you mean failed???

4 hours ago, by msh210

@AncientSwordRage correct!

bobble

15:08

4 hours ago, by msh210

I mean, correct that you're going to be told it doesn't work.

Jeremy Dover

CCCC: SALLY (Sally Ride and sally: a venturing forth, or jaunt) #DubiousDoubleDefinitions

Not really convinced, looking to get squashed amusingly.

AncientSwordRage

@bobble shhh

5 hours ago, by TakingNotes

Man I don't know what you've been seeing on the internet recently

Beastly Gerbil

16:30

@JeremyDover ok I've posted an answer which I think is what you're looking for, but if you want me to explain anything in more detail I'm happy to go back and rewrite it!

Jeremy Dover

Thank you @BeastlyGerbil. That is exactly what I was looking for. Can't award the bounty until tomorrow, but it will be yours. Oh yes, it will be yours.

Beastly Gerbil

Sorry bout the bounty, I'd already started relooking at it before you'd even offered it, would have been happy to do it without! I also would have got the logic much much quicker if I didnt get rows and columns the wrong way round when looking at the hints :P

Jeremy Dover

No worries...it's just a number. Glad they're finding a good home :-)

bobble

17:21

\o Hiya @Slate!

Slate

Hiya, @bobble! :>

How's it going?

bobble

Currently procrastinating, how 'bout you?

Slate

Currently procrastinating ;)

Reading soon. Just sitting here thinking about Stack, right now.

bobble

any particular part of it? I have stories from the moderation trenches if you're ever interested :)

Slate

I'm always up for listening to stories :)

today I am pondering: how the impact of Stack's gamification systems has changed over the years, as gamification has slowly become something people deliberately engage with / can opt out of in their day to day lives, to nowadays when it is very much a part of the background drone of life...

bobble

17:28

Gamification has, embarrassingly, been relevant to how I interact with Literature - I'm less inclined to go digging through the archives for old Qs to answer since my last few such answers were low-voted.

Slate

Huh, yeah, I always had some of that "what's the point to answering this? no one will see it" in the back of my mind, but haven't yet thought about it intentionally.

bobble

When I pulled an old Unanswered Q from the depths and got a Necromancer for my troubles, I was extremely motivated to look for more. But if all I get is a measly +1 then it's almost like, why bother? It takes a while to sit down and research a good answer.

Slate

(I don't think it's embarrassing, really, either... it's just what the system says is (not) valuable.)

bobble

Similar to here - I was answering old grid-deduction puzzles which lacked any explanation of their logical path, but that slacked off, partially because I was getting decreasing rewards

Slate

Yeah. I wonder how many people actually see Necromancer answers, to be honest

AncientSwordRage

17:32

In theory a monthly/quarterly meta post about best answers could include those Necromancer answers

bobble

It was also frustrating that it seemed like longer answers would be looked at and voted on less, simply because they were so big - this week-long beauty netted half of this one I dashed off in one sitting

AncientSwordRage

and they could either then be voted on or bountied

I would be happy voting/bountying grid-deduction ones if I could follow the question let alone the answer

bobble

Then, this one got even less than the very long one, but I think I went too into detail there, actually - probably would be better to summarize in less pictures

AncientSwordRage

My wife will nail a 'super hard' Sudoku in <10 minutes, and I'm left here wondering if I've spelt the word right

Slate

@bobble That's honestly a beautiful puzzle. I love it a lot.

I agree, your answer deserves more recognition than it got...

bobble

17:36

@AncientSwordRage Sciborg has a few beginner-level Nurikabes to check out if you want

I have different expectations for votes here vs on Literature; a good Q on Lit might get me +4 at most without an HNQ but a good one here will probably HNQ and get ~+10

And my Lit Qs HNQ less often than Puzzling ones because the Puzzling ones are, well, designed to be answered - whereas my Lit ones are genuine curiosity questions that will probably take research

AncientSwordRage

@bobble will do when/if I ever get time

bobble

Five Lit posts have cracked +10, 33 Puzzling ones have

And I have more Lit posts than Puzzling ones.

AncientSwordRage

bobble, do you ever capitalise your name?

bobble

Never. I respond to the capitalized version, though

Anyways, this is a long way of saying that the gamification features of Stack Exchange end up partially dictating how I split my time between different activities here.

Slate

Threw together a tiny query and, yeah, the effect of post length on vote count is pretty clear on Puzzling. It's cool to see, and makes me think. (And, ofc, querying the actual post length as it appears on the site is hard, with images and all.)

bobble

17:41

Though, to contradict that, I spend most of my time on-site moderating stuff (editing, commenting, closing, flagging) and that gets me nothing but a few badges

@Slate ooh, picture of a graph for us?

Slate

1s

bobble

@bobble on that note, here are 15 Literature questions that I would be interested in answers to, including my latest, Who is “The Rithmatist”?. *wink wink nudge nudge*

Slate

@bobble data.stackexchange.com/puzzling/query/1444499

X: score: Y: post length

bobble

@Slate I would guess the later-on funkiness is due to having not that many extremely-high voted things?

Slate

Yeah absolutely, it went out to like 350 or something, I cut it off at 100 because it just gets too noisy

bobble

17:54

But in the "normal" range of ~0-20, there is a downward trend. Interesting!

Well, up to a peak and then down

Slate

There are a lot of caveats with this query, but it's interesting to see, yeah.

AncientSwordRage

@bobble I can answer one of those, however I only listened to the Mistborn trilogy and it was a while back. I couldn't grab quotes easily, and I'm not as familiar with Lit etiquette as I am with SFF

bobble

@AncientSwordRage one of the answers I love the most to a Q of mine, here uses no direct quotes but instead makes general arguments using character and plot structure. That what you were thinking of?

Quotes can be used to highlight things, but there are cases where a perfectly good expert answer requires only a knowledge of the internal workings of the book

AncientSwordRage

@bobble Mare gives the flower to Kelsier as a symbol of hope, and to remind him there was a world before the Lord Ruler

Kelsier does the same thing for Vin and Vin is passing on the same thing to Sazed

I could go further but I'm aware of spoilers

Slate

Wow, it's been so long since I've read Mistborn, memories are tickled by these words

bobble

17:59

I've read only the first three books, and am fine with light spoilers further out

AncientSwordRage

@bobble I mean of anybody else in chat

bobble

The most memorable spoiler I've ever gotten is when someone saw me reading a book, came up and said "Did you get to the point where <character name> died yet?" and I nearly hit them over the head.

@AncientSwordRage I invite you to answer my Lit Q :)

AncientSwordRage

@bobble thank ye

@bobble you show great restraint

Answer posted as I would have on SFF, let me know if anything is lacking/missing from my analysis

@bobble Gaaaah I can do too many spoilers or not enough I fear

bobble

18:15

I hope this was a stimulating procrastinatory conversation, @Slate

@AncientSwordRage better :) I traditionally wait ~3 days to accept answers, just to give time for other people to take a crack. Likely you'll get a checkmark then.

AncientSwordRage

@bobble thanks

I'm sure somebody could word their answer better than mine is worded

also waiting 3 days is smart, I don't think I ever remember to do that

bobble

18:31

Here on Puzzling, I accept answers much quicker; the first logically-explained answer to a grid-deduction, for example, will get a checkmark from me

AncientSwordRage

@bobble that makes sense

bobble

And it only took two minutes after posting for me to accept this lovely Jeremy Dover answer :)

AncientSwordRage

@bobble that is very clever

bobble

Another thing I find interesting is that my grid-deduction answers here tend to start in the plural first person ("we") and shift to singular first person ("I") as the answer gets longer

Sphinx

19:25

1

Q: Nurikabe: An Inconvenient Twelve

This puzzle is a Nurikabe. I've been busy and haven't made my trademark puzzle in a couple of months, so consider this my comeback puzzle and my apology! Hopefully you enjoy. Rules of a Nurikabe (copied from my previous puzzle): This is a Nurikabe puzzle. The goal is to paint some cells black so...

logical-deduction grid-deduction

Jeremy Dover

19:53

And it's Beastly Gerbil by a nose!

Beastly Gerbil

Whoops did I snipe someone!

Jeremy Dover

Got Reinier by about 47 seconds, me by about 2 minutes.

Beastly Gerbil

Oh wow 2 snipes sorry guys :P Was a fun puzzle either way though!

Sphinx

20:15

1

Q: Reconstructing sport climbing results

Sport climbing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's combined Warmup Sport climbing is a new event (one of four) at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and it just finished. Two events were held, one for men and one for women. The format consists of three disciplines: lead climbing, speed climbin...

mathematics real sports

Jeremy Dover

It's not sniping if you win the race :-)

Sphinx

23:34

0

Q: Prisoners splitting Gold

During mass prison escape, 1000 prisoners managed to break into prison safe and steal 100 gold bars. Since all prisoners wear shirts with consecutive numbers from #1 to #1000, they decided to split that gold in following way: prisoner with highest number will propose split ( starting with #1000)...

mathematics logical-deduction

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