The Sphinx's Lair - 2021-09-28

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12:02 AM

Posted :)

Have a great night :D

12:20 AM

0

Q: Scrabble with prime numbers!

How to Play Overall, gameplay is very similar to typical Scrabble; however, unlike typical Scrabble, you'll be using numbers instead of letters (we'll cover your tile bag later). The objective is to achieve a higher score than your opponent while building prime numbers: A prime number (or a prim...

mathematics strategy number-property primes scrabble

1 hour later…

1:21 AM

I've got to say, i come back and see 3 puzzles from taco, one i could've answered thats already answered.... and others in which i have no idea. Uhh... better answer some puzzles now

AncientSwordRage

@bobble hours later I'm still baffled on how to approach this

updates to privacy policy they literally changed the whole thing!

@Tacoタコス are we supposed to fill the crossword? If so, I am having a really hard time trying to take the flowers into how they mean... Acrostic... entry number... they must mean something...

0

Q: Topology puzzle: Glueing the edges of a square to itself

It is well known that if you start with a two-dimensional square and could glue — in the most straightforward way — the top and bottom edges to each other, and likewise the left and right edges to each other, then the resulting surface is a torus. Let the square be the points (x,y) of the plane w...

1:37 AM

@Stevo Added a hint. :)

@bobble is this P_+R(IV)ACY?

AncientSwordRage

@Avi 🤦🏻‍♂️😱🤯

hi

AncientSwordRage

Hello

4

Q: Confectionery Crime Conundrum

Yesterday I received one of the strangest cases of my career as an I.S. PI (Insightful Sleuths Private Investigator). I was reclining in my chair, working on the latest crossword puzzle when I received a call out of the blue. "You've got to help us, Investigator!" cried the voice on the other...

enigmatic-puzzle

waves puzzle around

AncientSwordRage

1:45 AM

That's a very good solve if it is correct (I'll be astonished if it's not)

@Avi is the puzzle wet?

@AncientSwordRage read and see

AncientSwordRage

Are you drying it

ah

no, I'm advertising

since it seems like PSE fell asleep after I left

AncientSwordRage

I have disinfectant on my lip and need to head to bed soon

very lively

AncientSwordRage

1:46 AM

@Avi that makes more sense

@Avi racy even

XD

absolutely

@AncientSwordRage also, night!

AncientSwordRage

I'll be a while as things distract me, but definitely eventually

o ok

AncientSwordRage

But rather than a very interesting puzzle question now and less sleep, I'll have a look tomorrow Insha'Allah

👍

1:58 AM

@Avi correct

@Deusovi with your last comment, should we clean the comments up?

Also, thanks for the guidance!

2:21 AM

f=6... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

3:08 AM

CCCC: Flip-flops are food items (7)

Though not very tasty, I'm sure

;)

Are SANDALS even a food? ;)

Ahh, it's PANCAKE because you can flip a pancake

@Avi

3:58 AM

no

that is incorrect

Well... If I can't answer any puzzles, maybe its time to make one...

uh

try mine?

which one is it?

candy caper one

4

Q: Confectionery Crime Conundrum

Yesterday I received one of the strangest cases of my career as an I.S. PI (Insightful Sleuths Private Investigator). I was reclining in my chair, working on the latest crossword puzzle when I received a call out of the blue. "You've got to help us, Investigator!" cried the voice on the other...

enigmatic-puzzle

uhh

number 3 is a slitherlink?

4:10 AM

uh

maybe?

um

that is not reassuring

not sure if I really want to be revealing details that are

present within the puzzle

k

um just gonna go to community solving channel

or maybe here?

can do either, I suppose

@Stevo Pretty sure 3 is a slitherlink, yeah, I'mma try and solve it

4:15 AM

thats what i thought

as well

lets get solving then

Waitttt

ok

It's a liar slitherlink

ok?

Yellow squares are liars

4:19 AM

ok

i c

It means that they are not what they are

ok

wait shouldnt liar slitherinks have one wrong in each row and column?

Hmmmm...

The slitherlink is still broken

It's not a slitherlink

maybe the yellow squares mean something... apart from being a slitherink

:)

4:22 AM

Why is it broken, even after removing yellow squares?

ok

notice how its all 3's and 2's that are coloured yellow

Yes...

uh how does slitherink editor work in puzzlink... how do u solve it

Just drag across dots

There is also rules in "Help"

I'll try solving it as a Five Cells

ok

4:28 AM

Wait, no

Not FiveCells, 0 bottom right breaks it

i dont understand what u mean :)

but sure

Hmmmm, the python could mean it's a Slitherlink, but we need some way to identify which clues are liars

It can't be the yellow ones, because the puzzle would still be broken

the yellows must be some sort of pointer towards another piece of the puzzle

Ooooh, just thought of something

wow

4:34 AM

There is a square traced out in the Slitherlink

Pointed out by 4

"Look inside"

where?

wherres the sqquare?

The mini one by the grey lines

yeah but WHERE in the grid?

@Avi is the drawing in 1 intentional (like rough greens around, whites remaining)?

user image

oh

i c

but there are other squares as well

and number 2 CHR r is route?

4:53 AM

@Stevo that's just microsoft paint's fill command acting up

k

thought it was important

no need to worry about that :)

k

maybe just pretend it's a very sunny day

ok. its so sunny that i can't see properly so everything is a bit blurry :)

4:54 AM

xD

yes yes

but then i still cant understand this... number 3 is so much like a slitherlink

but it isn't

'clues inside' that probs means number 3

It's probably a Slitherlink, as per number 1, the liar clues are probably indicated by another number

:o deusovi is awake 2 hours ago

also 1 hour ago

5:11 AM

Deus never sleeps

Moderator To The Rescue!

Lol

lol

@Anonymus25 :)

hmmm

the yellow squares add up to 16

that might help

It's not a liar Slitherlink, though something similar is going on

i c

so its a slitherlink

5:18 AM

some* of it

i c

It's your job to figure out the other parts and how they connect :)

Hmmmm

ok

number 6 is not ascii cause therres no 200+ stuff... but... if we translate into hex?

um

um

5:28 AM

that didnt work

agreed

but if we place the numbers into alphabet by dividing by 26 and then finding what the letter is...

not the nihilist cipher...

uhhh

not the nihilist cipher

yeah

4 digit numbers are impossible

could u poke me in the right direction?

With the isolated pieces of information available at the beginning of the puzzle, it should be very hard (possibly) or impossible (hopefully) to solve the cipher. You're better off looking for a starting point in the other clues.

5:39 AM

ok

a ded python. hmmm

If you associate one image with Slitherlink, what about the other(s)?

OH

THE SNAKE GAME

THE DED PYTHON IS THE SNAKE GAME!

(is that correct?)

im not sure now... cause slitherink is a deduction game and then the snake game is... u know an actual playing 'video' game

@Avi the other image is the cotton candy weapons

yes

is yes to me or mr. 25?

5:52 AM

mr. 25

ok lol

mine was wrong?

that technically makes a partial answer

uh

uh

generally for good partial answers, a significant step towards solving the final problem is achieved

i know

5:59 AM

ok

im not posting

but was snake game right?

no

hmmm

pointers?

not at the moment

currently quadruple checking the slitherlink part .-.

to make sure it's solvable

i solved it the last 3 times but

always gotta make sure

6:16 AM

k

lol

;(

i went down the tortuous solve path the last time

or maybe I didn't

idk

still not easy, though

but yeah

ok

thats reassuring to know

for number 1, i thought it was the snake game casue the red looked like an apple :)

One image is possibly associated with Slitherlink, one image looks like a grid, and the other image is a clue that should be useful somehow

@Stevo It's biting its tail - how could there be no blood

Welcome to PSE, the magical land where snakes never bleed :P

@Avi oh um... one image is a grid thats no. 3, other image is the candy one?

@Avi LOL

@Stevo yes

6:24 AM

Welcome to PSE, the magical land wherer snakes and bite their tails and never bleed

@Avi Right... now lets get puzzling

the gray lines look like alphabet

@Avi this is a double def of SLIDERS, which can mean both "open-toed sandals" and "small hamburgers"

O>O

i didn't even

intentionally do that

I'll accept it since it's valid

it was intended to be WAFFLES (ddef)

Accidental schrodinger's, I guess

or maybe they're called SLIDES?

o

you may have mis-remembered

tragic

if i hadn't looked it up it would've been

schrodinger's schrodinger's clue

anyways, CCCC on

really liked the surface I came up with, though

not sure how to handle this situation, tbh, but I need to sleep so I'm passing the baton to jafe regardless

night!

6:50 AM

bye!

CCCC: Ford vehicle (3,5,3)

below the start of water and the middle of eye? (im trying out a cryptic clue) im not sure what to expect cause i am a beginner to cryptics

1 hour later…

8:10 AM

@Jafe What a neat, short clue! This is AIR FORCE ONE, which is both the title of a Harrison Ford film and the presidential aeroplane that has carried (among others) Gerald Ford :)

ahhh thats how cryptics work...

I can't erase FOR DVEHI CLE from my head now

@Bubbler lol

@Stiv @Jafe wait so that's a ddef? if so, is vehicle meant to be parsed as "a vehicle for Harrison Ford to acquire fame"?

It's probably more a cryptic defnition, because the words used for both defs are the same.

8:19 AM

@oAlt Vehicle = "a film, television programme, song, etc. that is intended to display the leading performer to the best advantage."

AncientSwordRage

8:58 AM

@MOehm it's pretty darn clever

Sure, I don't deny that. My comment was in reply to oAlt's question whether it is a ddef or not.

9:20 AM

uhh... i have one month to make a puzzle but yet i still haven't started making it... procrastinating... uhhh... maybe its because i have no idea for a puzzle... but then... uh... i need to start... if i have no idea then how do i have an idea for a puzzle... hmm... i know... maybe... cipher... cryptic???... but... no idea how to do cryptic... word ladder?... none of them work...someone help... but i can do it myself... but i cant... someone pls help me put me out of my misery of a blank mind

@Stiv this is correct, nice job!

not a cryptic def... it's an &lit double def where both definitions take up the whole length of the clue

Okay, I never was really any good in taxonomy. Perhaps we can agree on: nifty clue. :)

@Stevo IMO grid deduction is a relatively approachable genre, both for solving (Puzzling SE has many great puzzles from easy to hard) and creating (there's an excellent guide by Deus, and it tends to be well-received)

hmmm that might help

aha

found

an idea

but not sure if it will work

though

anyways, its late here. If i wanted to keep on thinking, i don't think thats benificial. I think that i should think that its best to call it day, i think. (a sentence with thinks, i think)

bye!

9:40 AM

CCCC: Deliver clothing (patterned cloth) back to Timberland, betraying word game I've secretly been playing? (5,3,3)

9:53 AM

@Stiv START AND END = S(TARTAN + _D)END. I guess that's a reference to this little secret game.

@MOehm The answer is correct, but the secret game is not that one...! :)

Well the one that's going on right now then. :) (Need to research, of course)

10:13 AM

The answers to Stiv's last 10 C4 clues were: Stuttgart, Tirana, accelerometer, roost, Taramasalata, Albanian, Newcastle United, David Bowie, Ephesian and Neverland. Their first and last letters spell START AND END two ways: Once going from the S of Stuttgart to the N-D of Neverland via the first letters and then from the S-T of Stuttgart to the D of Neverland via the last letters.

(You can cross from the first path over to the second at any word, of course.)

And that is exactly what I've been doing :) Well found - very thoroughly done!

(The first letter of Stuttgart and last letter of Neverland only appear once, but as a whole the game passes through all 11 letters...)

Yes, that was probably just a very convoluted way of saying that the last letter of each answer is the first letter of the next answer.

I've always known this game as START AND END ever since I was a kid, but the Internet gives it a whole heap of other names: 'First Letter, Last Letter', 'Last Letter Game', 'Word Chain', 'Grab On Behind', 'Last and First', 'Alpha and Omega', 'Quiz Snake'... but I've struggled to find another source that actually calls it what I do! (Led to a small panic this morning...!)

AncientSwordRage

@Stiv it's so meta even this acronym...

11:00 AM

0

Q: What language am I learning?

I arrive at the location I've agreed with my European friend, who is teaching me their native language. Today we're learning some history of their country. But to aid in my learning, I've been banned from speaking in English (my native language). Woe is me however, as I've forgotten how to ask an...

knowledge visual lateral-thinking humor

11:13 AM

@Stiv ahh, haven't heard that usage before lol. Thx

@AncientSwordRage darn, I was about to link to a Puzzling user who had the name "I'm so meta even this acronym" but they changed their name already, lol

AncientSwordRage

11:29 AM

@oAlt hehe

I think I remember them

@Sphinx this was one of the questions I thought would be answered almost immediately

@AncientSwordRage I reverse-image searched the given image and got into depths of the internet I'm not sure I want to delve into

AncientSwordRage

@LukasRotter 😬

I mean the image is on wikipedia, so I'm not sure how deep you need to go

I just got rick-rolled, that's all xD

in a weird way

AncientSwordRage

11:46 AM

Dare I ask?

... c.tenor.com/nnm_ZnoJ8ZkAAAAd/stickbug-rick-astley.gif

AncientSwordRage

@LukasRotter hah :D

12:09 PM

CCCC: Singer is the owner of walled place in southern England (8)

12:22 PM

@AncientSwordRage To be fair, a bit of thinking is involved for a solution since we only know that the symbol relates to what you think the building is called in your friend's native language. I think the language at least originates in Asia, but that's just a hunch lol

Not asking for hints, just pointing out that I don't think an immediate answer was possible lol

Problem with my hunch is that you state that your friend is of European descent.

🤔

@Stiv Yet another minipuzzle :) I think Stiv is trying to walk in the steps of Sp3000

AncientSwordRage

@Tacoタコス correct

The issue is I've been thinking about this puzzle longer than anybody answering it, so I'm not going to have the same mental picture of it as anybody else

For some reason I want to believe you're standing next to a school or library lol

@AncientSwordRage it happens lol

I'm enjoying looking for answers though :)

Oooooooo or a church

Because of the tall pointy bit in the middle

Could be related to a steeple :D

ferociously searches

AncientSwordRage

remember this is lateral-thinking

Oh snap lol I didn't notice that

> connected lines divided into four quadrants. Working clockwise: in the first quadrant one vertical line, in the second two vertical lines one shorter than the other. In the third quadrant two vertical lines of the same length, in the fourth one vertical line joined part way along a horizontal line

Such a screen reader friendly summary lol

I love it

I should do that more often.

Mine usually ends up being along the lines of "Screenshot of aforementioned something."

Lol annnnd there's answer that fits

AncientSwordRage

12:37 PM

@Tacoタコス and it's correct!

0

Q: The Thieves and the Gold Bars II: Greed and Distrust

Two thieves, Bo and Jo, steal 7 gold bars and are driving away when their car is wrecked in an accident. They-and the loot- is intact. They are at Point A at 8 PM and must go to Point B which is 1 mile away. There is a small train station at B. The last train will leave at 11 PM. Before that, the...

mathematics no-computers strategy

AncientSwordRage

@Tacoタコス I have practice from SFF (because of our/@Mithical's crusade against 'enter image desription')

Also sometimes it is better to write 'As per description in text' I thnk?

I concur, and I'm trying to get better about it myself lol

Just wanted to commend your description because it's fantastic!

AncientSwordRage

@Tacoタコス thanks 😊

1:03 PM

1

Q: A weird picture is driving me mad

I discovered this extremely strange thing the other day. I really can't describe to you what it is, but here's a picture of it so you can have a look for yourself and see if you can help me. What is this thing? Is it some sort of deep mine or shaft? Is it a part of a computer system? I'm at my wi...

knowledge enigmatic-puzzle visual

1:59 PM

@Tacoタコス looking forward to seeing how it goes!

2:28 PM

Anyone here good at math? lol

AncientSwordRage

2:41 PM

@Tacoタコス depends on the maths

I am extremely proficient at adding 0 and 0

3:17 PM

@Avi Same lol

Trying to calculate time to collision 🤦‍♀️

3:39 PM

uh

acceleration = a, initial velocity = v_0, distance = d

Figured it out with the help of Math SE lol

Like just now lol

integral of a over t is 1/2a^2

uhhh wait

v = v_0+at

integral over t is v_0t+a/2*t^2

then solve for v_0*t + a/2*t^2 - d = 0

oh, no acceleration

then v = d/t so t = d/v

1 hour later…

4:45 PM

0

Q: Most leads in a "difficult" Sudoku

Since "difficult" is undefined, let me define it arbitrarily: A Sudoku is difficult if it can't be solved by only considering singles (naked or hidden), the most basic solving strategy. How many leads can be given such that a Sudoku is still difficult? (Note: I thought I ran into one candidate, b...

0

Q: Can this puzzle be solved

In April 1971 (it says so on the back of the cards) I made the following puzzle which requires one to form a square with adjacent colours being the same. Can this puzzle be solved and if, yes, what is the solution? Without actually solving the puzzle is there a way of checking if there is a sol...

4:56 PM

Took forever to explain, but finally answered the gold bar puzzle lol

4 hours later…

9:16 PM

1

Q: My High School's Reunion

My high school is celebrating 30 years since graduating its first class and is planning to invite for lunch 20 alumni, 600 in all, from each of those classes. Hosts are planning to sit everyone in tables with the same number of alumni. They also wish to make sure that for any two classes, say yea...

mathematics combinatorics

9:27 PM

trying to post a grid-deduction puzzle but SE is complaining that it's a duplicate of a past puzzle

the image is totally different 😔😔😔

oh well

added a sentence and it stopped complaining

@Avi I had this problem the other day for the first time, trying to add the latest 'Best Of' posts to Puzzling Meta (which of course are the same format as each other, and only differ in a few words, so the algorithm threw it back at me). Had to change the formatting of the bullet points section. Has the detection algorithm been 'upgraded' recently??!

hopefully not >.<

anyways, puzzle posted

I have bunch of AI hw now so I'll be off

was a lot easier to solve this one than set it, though

0

Q: Trichain: Tetrachain

This is a Trichain puzzle. The rules of Trichain are as follows: Numbers must be white, and match the size of their white islands. Each white island can only contain at most one number. Some white islands may have no numbers. Black squares must be part of L-trominoes. Black L-trominoes cannot b...

logical-deduction grid-deduction

10:30 PM

@Avi I think that's the answer. :)

10:42 PM

yep

the intended solution path starts at top left, branches down or right, rejoins at bottom left

someone downvoted your correct answer

rudeeee

especially since it's not even finished posting yet

@Avi probably didn't like the fact that it wasn't supported by logic or that it wasn't a detailed answer.

The only logic I used was trial and error for the diagonal connections. Literally just paint/erase/repeat until I reached a solution.

It's okay though, I'm at the rep limit for the day anyways lol

For at least another hour and 5 minutes anyways

Oh, fun puzzle by the way lol I'm your +1 at the moment :D

11:36 PM

No problem :)

Ooh, a new trichain puzzle

Yeah

I'm going to be honest

I would like a solve using logic

like, a bit of brute force is necessary to get started

but this one is at least 90% pure logic

@Avi ah a good refreshing sleep, its now time to get on with that candy puzzle

there are restrictions on how a tromino must be bordered by a empty space and how a set of empty spaces must be blocked off by a square to prevent overflowing 4 that make the majority of the puzzle pretty trivial

@Stevo good morning, or afternoon, or night :) (whenever you get up)

Lemme make a gif

or actually let me not

i have work to do

cheers, everyone

bye!

i'm still stuck...

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Sep '2128

The Sphinx's Lair

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