The Sphinx's Lair

Anonymus 25

00:23

Can Mr mean beginning?

Jafe

jo johnson is starting to look promising

Anonymus 25

@Jafe Not Jo, it's 4,4

Jafe

the answer is JO+H(N.B.)ULL

Anonymus 25

Nice!

AncientSwordRage

01:00

@Jafe clever

Sphinx

01:51

0

Q: Coin Flipping Riddle

This is a repost from Math section of StackExchange see here 2 criminals A and B, were recently captured and brought to prison. They were then locked in two separate rooms. Known for being exceedingly smart, the prison warden set a test for them. They flip a fair coin an infinite number of times ...

Anonymus 25

@msh210 Jafe got it

102152111

02:35

I have made an edit on puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/111634/…. If anyone could go and review it would be nice. :)

bobble

@102152111 I've approved it, but was dithering about whether to do so or not. It's a really, really minor edit, and I chose Improve Edit over Reject and Edit partially because I can tell you're genuinely trying to contribute here, and partially because putting a space in "Stack Exchange" was an unambiguous improvement (cont.)

However, doing a lot of edits that are just changing which part of the sentence is linked would be... discouraged? Please try to make more thorough edits when possible. We've had problems in the past of people making a load of extremely minor edits to old posts what appeared to be an attempt to get reputation; I'm not saying that you're doing this but do understand that is why edits should be non-minor.

Though do try your hand at making more edits! I'd love for someone else to help with the minor grammar/formatting/tag fixes that make up the majority of my edits here.

102152111

@bobble ok, bobble. I understand about the extremely minor edits to old posts and how that could be very annoying. It just was when i opened the question that StackExchange was really annoying my OCD. And sure! I would love to try!

bobble

As you can see in the yearly editor rankings, I edit... a lot. Like, maybe more than is healthy. But I do it because I care about cleaning up posts (and those minor things really bother me).

102152111

02:51

Wow! That is a lot... I do think that might be too much! (Those minor things don't just also bother me here though, it botheres me in everday life! Like whenever the table moves a bit I go and move it back where it was (and it moves every minute))

bobble

Part of why I like Stack Exchange is it lets me fix things. Usually on the Internet when I see an its/it's mistake, I can't do anything. But here I can!

And so on and so forth.

At 2k rep, edits even go through immediately! (Though I know that can seem an impossible distance away)

102152111

@bobble Yes, I know. Though it seems like a painfully long way away from where I am standing right now... (Its still painful to be so close to 500)

bobble

I can provide some help for grid-deductions (creating & solving) as well as crosswords/cryptics (creating, mostly) if you want to try those. Posting good puzzles is a pretty surefire way to get rep

102152111

@bobble Ok! That would be a nice thing to try out! I'd had an idea for a logical-deduction puzzle, now I'm not sure about it... But I've seen all of the grid-deduction questions and they look really good!

bobble

First I'd point you to our grid-deduction creation questions, especially this Deusovi answer. Then I'd offer that the best way to make good grid-deductions starts by solving several in whichever genre you're planning to make; that gives you a handle of what the deductions should look like.

Next I'd point you to our grid-deduction solving chatroom offers a place to practice/get help with solving. I'd wrap that up by saying you could also ask a grid-deduction creation question if you need help with some specific part of the process - a question which could itself net you rep!

Of course, only if you wanted me to :)

102152111

03:04

@bobble Though most of the time you get there first :)

bobble

Other people have said that too >.> <.<

102152111

@bobble I appreciate that! Thanks!

bobble

I can back off a bit on edits to the recent questions. Give others time to get to 'em first. But then I'd have to see a problem and not fix it...

102152111

Oh no here come's Bobble again going on an editing frenzy!

bobble

Contrary to popular belief, I do not actually spend all day online, lying in wait for questions to edit :P But when I am available to do edits/comments etc., I have the experience to do them fast.

102152111

03:11

I remember once I think last month when I pressed edit and starting editing but in the middle of editing you finished editing.

bobble

Here's an example of something I wish more people would catch and help on: accessibility problems. This question has an image with the default "enter image description here" text, which should have proper alt text instead; it also uses Unicode bullets instead of SE's built-in list formatting, which means screen readers won't interpret the list as a list.

Basically anytime there's a post with an image, I try to check to see if they added a good image description... if I remember to... and when I do remember to, I often find that they didn't bother

Granted, a lot of images here can't be properly represented by text: images of complicated puzzle grids, for example. But there are also plenty that can be but aren't.

(I do apologize for my long monologues on editing; I have quite a lot of words stored up in my head and when that couples with fast typing and what appears to be a receptive audience, it sorta spills out)

102152111

starts bookmarking every thing that Bobble told me

@bobble Dont worry, I type pretty fast myself and sometimes when I read things out loud I talk at the pace of an emu!

Well thanks a lot bobble, looks like without you i'd probably be stuck at around 480 rep forever :)

msh210

06:42

@Jafe it is indeed, well done

Jafe

07:35

CCCC: NYC teenager giving musical instrument free of charge – zero cents (9)

Sciborg

07:55

If this cryptic isn't a thinly veiled 50 Cent joke, I'll be very upset

PENNILESS, MONEYLESS, DESTITUTE, and INSOLVENT are all promising nine-letter words relating to lack of money, if that helps anyone.

@102152111 Usually a wise move :)

102152111

08:17

@Sciborg :) yes, i decided that was the best move. If bobble says good, then it probably is good. After all. there is only so many 'bobbles' in PSE. I feel like this will probably be the move that gives me more rep :)

Anonymus 25

Blunder: Band of bards initially ends table (6)

BOB+ (ta)BLE

msh210

I don't like "ends table" for BLE.

Anonymus 25

How about "table ends"?

Changes the surface, but it's reasonable

Sphinx

0

Q: 9x9 Vanilla Tapa

Rules of Tapa: Shade some cells so that all shaded cells form one orthogonally connected area. Clues cannot be shaded and represent the lengths of the shaded cell surrounding that clue. If there are two or more number on clue, then the shaded cell must be separated by at least one unshaded tile ...

logical-deduction grid-deduction

msh210

That's better, but I still don't like it, or other "ends"/"starts" indicators for multiple letters like that. (And it ruins the surface.)

Anonymus 25

08:29

Yeah

@Sphinx Athin has a new puzzle. it seems. Tapa, not my style however, I only did 1 tapa successfully, and that's with constant hints

msh210

Blunder: Band of bards initially sits on most of table (6) is perhaps better, but "most of" usually means the initial majority substring, not the final one, so I'm not happy with it.

M Oehm

You could try to do something like "... table - no thanks!" to remove the TA from TABLE.

Anonymus 25

Yeah

That works better

AncientSwordRage

09:00

@bobble is there a benefit to a "bobble's editing on PSE 101" style meta post?

@msh210 divides table?

"Mostly bleh"?

Rand al'Thor

bleh, anywhere

3.6k 1 15 32

riddle cipher mathematics logical-deduction matches enigmatic-puzzle formation-of-numbers

Anonymus 25

Lol

Waves

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe DONATELLO = giving(DONATE) +(instrument(CELLO) free of charge (-E) zero cents (-C)).

Stiv

@AncientSwordRage Where does CE come from? Wouldn't DONATING fit the tense of 'giving' better? (But then you'd need to explain the loss of INGC instead...)

102152111

stares at the new question, trying to improve the post

Stiv

09:10

Or does 'zero cents' imply 'zero centre letters', so it's free of C(-harg)E?

AncientSwordRage

Charge is E, cents is C

As in electric charge

M Oehm

Yes, that might work - remove an E and all C's from the instrument.

Stiv

Oh. I always thought electrical charge was 'q'...

Still not sure about donate vs donating but the rest seems nice

AncientSwordRage

It's many thing? I guess

Anonymus 25

Nice!

M Oehm

09:12

I think it's e as in the charge of an electron.

AncientSwordRage

@Stiv yes agreed

@MOehm yes, sorry I could have been clearer

NYC teenager just struck me as too perfect to not be one of the turtles .. 😍

Love that franchise 😁

(this is also the only way I got SUPERMARIONATION)

Stiv

@AncientSwordRage Agreed - that's a great 'in'...

Jafe

@AncientSwordRage this is basically correct, although i was thinking "ion" instead of "e" for the charge

i was expecting that to take longer!

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe oh so it would be DONTATION-ION?

Stiv

That makes sense of givING then...

Jafe

09:26

yeah donat(-ion)

AncientSwordRage

DONATELLO = giving(DONATION) +(instrument(CELLO) free of charge (-ION) zero cents (-C)).

CCCC: Polarising incidents echo ale maker's motive (9, 5)

msh210

@Jafe oh, nice

Jafe

thanks!

msh210

09:59

@AncientSwordRage Brewster's angle, ddef (though the physics definition is really of incidence not incidents)

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 'echo' here is a sounds like indicator, but yes, that's right!

I hope that was ok?

msh210

I think that "echo" works as a homophony indicator.

Anonymus 25

11:05

For some reason, now that everytime I read a text message now with randomised capitals, I always take note of the capitals thinking if there is a secret cipher message there, and then rot13 it just in case, waht has my world gone to :P

And then I get disappointed that it leads to nothing

Sphinx

11:22

0

Q: It's a LITS! And a... um

I've combined two puzzle types - a LITS grid-deduction puzzle and a, er... a, um... you know, I could have sworn I wrote it down here somewhere! Click on the image for a resolution where the small words held within it are readable. A wordless version of the grid for solving the LITS puzzle can b...

logical-deduction word grid-deduction connect-wall polyomino

Anonymus 25

@Sphinx Crazy LITS record (4)

Jafe

12:44

argh, messed up in the LITS and the undo buffer doesn't go back far enough

head, meet desk

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe oh no

@Jafe Desk says hi

Anonymus 25

@Jafe I believe it's broken, see my answer

Stiv

A promising start, but your last two images contain several logical errors. Go back a couple of steps and make sure everything you're doing is logically sound and not based on any guesswork. I guarantee you it's solvable :) PS Probably not worth posting a partial answer to seek help on a grid-deduction puzzle - you could always use the chatroom... — Stiv 20 secs ago

Not broken - you just haven't found the 100% logical path yet!

Won't lie - it's not an easy one. There are a couple of interesting steps in my opinion.

(You started well though!)

Sphinx

13:26

0

Q: Can you guess? You won't be able to answer!

I am Half of nothing Part of one More or less Favorite of children But fully a villain! Can you guess this word?

word

AncientSwordRage

14:25

@Sphinx a pending edit... who could that be :D

AncientSwordRage

17:19

@Sphinx ahhhhh

M Oehm

@AncientSwordRage Very good. The question in the title (and OP's claim), fits your answer, too.

AncientSwordRage

@MOehm That bit is a little confusing? Is my answer still a guess if I can back it up with supporting logic?

@MOehm is that an ok edit?

M Oehm

17:37

I think the idea behind the title is that if you answer with your answer, you say NO to "Can you guess?" and therefore won't be able to answer. (But I may be stretching it a bit. Not so convinced any more after reading it typed out. Sorry for waking ap sleeping dogs here.)

AncientSwordRage

@MOehm no worries, I hope the OP likes my answer regardless?

M Oehm

Why not? If not, they will tell you.

AncientSwordRage

I just got confused by "Can you guess?" I can, but I haven't made a 'guess' I've given an answer :S, but then "You won't be able to answer!" is just false...? Because I have.

so Can you guess - yes. You won't be able to answer - no. Seems backwards to me?

M Oehm

Well, I think there must be something to the title, but I don't really know what. I'm not really a fan of (read: not really good at) the knight-and-knaves logic puzzles, so that's probably why.

bobble

@AncientSwordRage after I finish the Attribution 101 meta post I promised @Rubio a while back...

AncientSwordRage

17:49

@MOehm yeah I agree on both parts

@bobble ahhh ok I see

a bustling bobble backlog

bobble

There's also a backlog of 1 Meta SE question, 2 Lit questions, and 1 Puzzling answer that I have all the necessary information for but just have to write it up nicely. In addition to the Lit Q&A pair that I did some preliminary research for already.

AncientSwordRage

I'm impressed by your list

Chris Cudmore

I'm really hoping he's talking about the master for the new ABBA album: security.stackexchange.com/questions/255136/…

AncientSwordRage

It's not that I should make more lists, its that I should a) not lose them and b) do things on them

rot13(Lbh unir rirelguvat evtug. Jnvg. AB. Vg vf unys bs Abar. Naq cneg bs HAB.) — DrD 7 mins ago

🤷‍♂️

AncientSwordRage

18:17

So I don't know if that means I'm right or wrong

Sphinx

0

Q: The Turing Test "It doesn't Add Up question"

In the square below, change the position of six numbers, one per horizontal row, vertical column and long diagonal line of six smaller squares, in such a way so the numbers in each row, column or diagonal line total exactly 246. any number may appear more than once in each row, column or line. ...

logical-deduction

M Oehm

18:34

@AncientSwordRage The overall answer is correct, but DrD wants you to fix those two points. (I'm not sure I like "uno" for "one" without further indication of a foreign word. I thought about "none", too, but it doesn't mean nothing.)

AncientSwordRage

19:06

@MOehm I did am update 🤷🏻‍♂️

M Oehm

I've seen it. I like the defiant alternative answer to "part of one". :)

Chris Cudmore

Me too.

There's so many ways that could go, I'd say "close enough" to the original edit.

AncientSwordRage

19:24

I came very close to stringing together some nonsense that linked all the answers

AncientSwordRage

21:20

I still might 🤔

What is the name for cryptic indicators that indicates interweaving letters?

One or more of the words stay in order

Chris Cudmore

Not sure if they have a name. Never came across it in my reading. I'm guessing it's a subset of containers though.

Technically, it could be an anagram.

msh210

@AncientSwordRage you mean like this (solution)?

AncientSwordRage

Yes! Does it have a name? I'm sure I've seen it clued as "through" or similar?

Or "across"

msh210

21:38

dunno what its name might be

Chris Cudmore

Well, then we can name it. It's the "PSE Interleaver."'

AncientSwordRage

22:13

@ChrisCudmore Like: lots of bagels carried across road (10)

Chris Cudmore

Is there indirection in that?

msh210

22:35

CCCC: A PSE user and I agree old folks are left with their last years. (16)

102152111

opens up PSE, sees new questions to edit, only to be edited by bobble

bobble

whistles innocently

102152111

:)

@bobble Think I got a puzzle thats enigmatic as well :) (took all of last night to think of one)

bobble

If you want a project, converting a connect-wall every day or so from images/MathJax/code to Markdown tables would not go amiss...

102152111

when you don't know how to use Markdown tables but tries to be nice to bobble

Chris Cudmore

22:42

Is there a web utility that takes html as input and converts it to markdown?

Because I hate markdown.

bobble

737

Q: New Feature: Table Support

Update: I've just enabled this feature network-wide. All sites across Stack Exchange are now able to use tables. Thanks for all the feedback. We'll keep monitoring this question and we'll continue to iron out some of the rough edges. No waffling, right to the point: What? When? Where? Ta...

discussion markdown announcements tables

102152111

opens up a question edited by bobble for the mark down table and tries to remember how to do it

well i better eat breakfast or i'll be super hungry :)

bobble

@ChrisCudmore A few. I recall seeing one cited in a Q on Meta SE

-5

Q: Markdown to HTML online converters not converting spoiler tags properly

Context: When I write questions or answers on puzzling.stackexchange.com, I want to copy paste these questions and answers to my own site also. I believe that puzzling.stackexchange uses Markdown and I understand the formatting rules. Now, I want to copy-paste this text written in Markdown to my ...

support markdown spoilers

Oh wait, that's Markdown -> HTML, wrong way

3

A: Is there an easy way to paste rich text into posts?

If you have a good answer for ChrisF's question you might be interested in various third-party converters: PanDoc (link goes to a online live trial) Markdownify is a PHP tool for converting HTML to Markdown.

There's an alpha test on Meta SE for a rich-text editor that promises to let you copy-paste things, but the thing has bugs (hence, alpha test)

102152111

22:57

@bobble is there any website that can check if your Nurikabe puzzle solution is unique?

AncientSwordRage

@ChrisCudmore no, I don't think so?

@102152111 there's an example in the formatting bar

bobble

@102152111 I'd be willing to test-solve if you want - drop me a link in the grid-deduction chatroom and I'll try to get to it tonight. (For context, it's 4PM here). Using onetimesecret would keep it secure if that is a worry.

102152111

@AncientSwordRage just noticed :) well thats gonna make life easier.

@bobble Onetimesecret?

bobble

onetimesecret.com

102152111

oh

@bobble now I can't find it... hmmmmmmmmm maybe in 1/2 hour when I go find it in one of my folders :) hmmm not in this one...

Found it!

AncientSwordRage

23:08

@msh210 .... ANCIENTSWORDRAGE? PSE user (that's me! 😱) old folks = Ancients, agree = word (as in we agree/you have my word?), and are left is putting an R to left of the last part, years = age?

Apologies for the partial very excited/star-struck atm at potential of being a CCCC

102152111

@bobble not going to work. Its a picture, after all.

bobble

Upload to i.stack.imgur, then send the image link

102152111

If thats unique then I will go post my first grid deduction-enigmatic puzzle.

oAlt

@AncientSwordRage (cc: @msh210 ) hmm, I think "old folks are left" means "'ancients' is placed to the left of 'word'" and "with their last" means "plus the last letter of 'their'" = R; in summary, WORD to the left of ANCIENT, with R + AGE

(I'm not sure about the 'word' part though, as "word" = "agree" seems a bit too indirect for me? :0 )

AncientSwordRage

@oAlt that last word/agree part is the part I'm not confident in

oAlt

23:17

Ahh

AncientSwordRage

But otherwise your wordplay is much better

Chris Cudmore

I think we have to go back to 80's hip hop lingo. Word! meaning agreement.

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