The Sphinx's Lair

Stevo

00:05

now... what can we do...

Avi

invent a puzzle

but only use the numbers 0 and 2

Stevo

oh.

um...

Avi

any form of binary or ascii is disallowed

maybe do a grid-deduction puzzle?

Stevo

yes

statuepark

Anonymus 25

@Avi Slitherlink

Definitely

Stevo

00:22

uh

slitherlink...

Avi

01:06

Slitherlink would be the easiest to construct with those limitations, but it's not necessarily the only one

Sphinx

02:25

1

Q: What's the longest radiation-hardened Scrabble word?

Let's define a radiation-hardened word (a homage to radiation-hardened quines in programming) to be a word that, with any one letter removed, is still a valid English word. For example, "seat" is such a word: sea sat set eat are all valid words, but "seats" isn't, since "sats" isn't a valid wor...

Stevo

03:43

@msh210 is it a good idea to edit the actual answer into your post? (as u have the correct answer...)

Sphinx

04:07

0

Q: What is the most STAMINA-efficient strategy to escape the well?

You are roleplaying as an adventurer under the direction of a sadistic DM who has just thrown your character down a well. In order to escape, you have unlimited chances at a STAMINA check, difficulty level 21. Such a check entails spending some number of STAMINA reserve points (currently you have...

optimization probability

M Oehm

04:25

@msh210 Thanks. That's correct, of course.

Here, autumn has just arrived with a drop of temperature, rain showers and mist, so a tropical C4 theme is more than welcome.

(Fun fact that may be useful for anyone pursuing the nascent seafood-and-tropical-ilands fad: The full ISO 3166 code for Hawaii is US-HI.)

Stevo

totally understanding

Taco タコス

Ughhhh I hate fighting with Azure... :facepalm: I need sleep and I'm still working...

oAlt

@msh210 I'm not Jafe, but I also think it's not a ddef because the other half of the clue is still technically wordplay :0

M Oehm

Perhaps it's a "def + cryptic def"?

oAlt

Ah true, could be

Stevo

04:41

uh, lets make a puzzle to put me out of my misery

M Oehm

(Despite what I've said above, I quite like autumn. There are still some nice days and when the weather is really bad, you can use it as an excuse to stay at home. I'd probably even prefer the Central European autumn to a tropical island vacation.)

Taco タコス

@MOehm Autumn here is still summer, so meh lol

It was 87*F outside today.

I can't wait for winter weather here.

Stevo

@Tacoタコス speaking of winter... I wished it snowed in Australia.

Taco タコス

You know, I'd never thought about it until now, but that makes perfect sense lol

Speaking of snow, I want to visit Mt. Fuji some day. :)

Anonymus 25

@Sphinx Flagged as "needs improvement"

Stevo

04:54

@Anonymus25 yep

M Oehm

@Tacoタコス We have "late summer" and "golden October" here, too -- some years. This year, they seem to have gone for good. Today it's below 50°F/10°C. You know summer's over when you crave a nice, fatty stew.

Taco タコス

@MOehm I don't usually get that way until February :(

And it's gone by late March lol

Stevo

I know understand where the Riley Riddle came from. I feel like an idiot.

msh210

@oAlt @MOehm okay, fair enough

@Stevo iirc it snows in Tasmania sometimes

Stevo

@msh210 I totally live in Tasmania though.

Avi

05:10

;-;

Jafe

@Stevo as someone who moved here from the freezing cold i have to disagree hehe

Avi

just tried to "pip install math", not realizing that "math" is one of the default packages that come in-built with python

Jafe

don't get me wrong there are plenty of fun things to do in the snow / on the ice, but i still prefer not having to put on three layers of clothes every time i leave the house

Avi

@Jafe then just don't put on clothes and do the fun things

Stevo

uh... it just never snowed... you know? Maybe if I go into the northern hemisphere...

Jafe

05:11

jafe the shirtless skier?

msh210

@Avi dumb ways to die…

Avi

fun* ways to die

Jafe

lol

Stevo

very fun...

Avi

Dashing through the snow, with a no-clothes open ski...

2

Over the hills we go, no one freezes faster than me!

Stevo

05:13

LOL

Avi

no one is more chill than me, I guess

Anonymus 25

Jingle jafe jingle jafe traveling gladys crazier...

Jafe

also i definitely don't miss the long in-between time when you can't do the cool winter things yet and it's just grey and dark and cold and rains all the time

Anonymus 25

"Failed continuation"

Avi

D:

Stevo

05:13

@Anonymus25 gladys? who is she

Avi

continuations are the most powerful programming abstraction that I never fully understood

and by the time I understood them I had forgotten the first half

Anonymus 25

@Stevo A jafe-mada person

Jafe

your understanding had a discontinuation

Anonymus 25

Wait, Gladys is female, right?

Avi

@Jafe pain

Stevo

05:15

@Anonymus25 Gladys Berijiklian?

msh210

@Jafe I don't think northern Finland was designed to be lived in. When He made it, He intended for it to be admired from afar.

Anonymus 25

@Stevo Ummmm

Avi

I pretty much understood after reviewing, but I still didn't understand how to implement in a programming language without compiling to assembly

major sadness, because assembly is pretty awful

Jafe

@Stevo starts here

Stevo

oh

um

Avi

05:16

ooh

I liked that puzzle

but then I couldn't do it again since it's been done before

Stevo

hey... just got an idea for editing

im gonna go back

into the oldest posts

and gonna poke around

seeing anything that needs fixing

Avi

alright, I'm heading out to see if nude skiing is legal so you know what happened if I don't come back

Anonymus 25

@Jafe Ooooh, never knew Gladys first adventure was in 26 parts!

Stevo

lol

Jafe

no relation to berejiklian, because two years ago i had no idea who that was

Stevo

05:20

oh... i c

Anonymus 25

storynory.com/gladys-and-the-chix Gladys is a band member! :P

msh210

CCCC: Going on vacation in a traditional mode of transportation (I can't fly a broomstick!) (6)

Jafe

nice surface

msh210

@Anonymus25 and of course Gladys Knight and the Pipps

@Jafe thanks

Stevo

u can't fly a broomstick?

let me guess...

Potter!

Jafe

05:23

pretty sure he can :P

Stevo

@Jafe uh.... neville? (thats 7 letters long...)

Anonymus 25

@Jafe Yer a wizard of crosswords, jafe :P

Jafe

you have the right franchise, though

because the answer is G(oin)G in MULE = MUGGLE

msh210

@Jafe yes, of course

Stevo

OH

palmface

Anonymus 25

05:28

Oh damn, nice clue!

Which movie do you like best btw?

Stevo

if only banana reversed was a word...

Anonymus 25

@Stevo ananab

Stevo

its not a word...

msh210

@Anonymus25 thanks

Anonymus 25

@Stevo urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ananab

msh210

05:30

@Anonymus25 Not sure. Possibly Airplane!. Why do you ask?

Anonymus 25

From Harry Potter I mean

msh210

@Anonymus25 haven't seen 'em

Stevo

@Anonymus25 ananab meaning: banana reversed. :l

@Anonymus25 ngl i think i liked deathly hallows pt 2

whats a cryptic clue for banana with a good surface?

Anonymus 25

Yellow flag removes Anna's stomach and tail (6)

Stevo

flag?

Oct 8 at 3:01, by Anonymus 25

I am an expert at bad cryptics, so unfortunately I can't give advice :P

Anonymus 25

05:38

@Stevo Flag= BAN, not sure if legal

Stevo

oh

yellow is not a good def...

wait

uh

Jafe

CCCC: Good place for tropical vacation getaway to reflect, do some scuba and a little surfing (8)

Stevo

@Jafe i don't know the answer... but my newly cryptic'ed brain tells me that some scuba means takes some letters from that, same with little surfing

Sid

Cryptic'ed brain is a very bad thing.

At work, I am seeing "control plane" and I am already thinking "control could be a anagrind"

Stevo

lol

Jafe

05:50

hehehe

Stevo

A very fruitful riddle...

Jafe

"did you hear about brian? he's a cryptic brain"

3

Stevo

omg

i just thought of a puzzle

Sphinx

06:09

0

Q: Riley Riddles can be fruitful you know

My first Riley riddle... Hope you enjoy! My prefix might mean I kicked you My suffix gives a value. My infix might be a mother Altogether it has a bright colour

riddle rhyme affix-riddle

Stevo

06:36

bye!

msh210

@Jafe mal< dive s_

Jafe

07:16

@msh210 that's correct

Avi

07:53

@Stevo is this YELLOW? Yell could indicate a kick, low could be a low value, and ELL might be indicating a female in some other language?

Hi, Deusovi

M Oehm

I think it's something yellow and you can find the word if you scroll up a bit here.

Avi

ah, true

I came here after seeing the puzzle and realizing it might be "yellow"

but not really liking whatever was going on with the "might be a mother" so I came here to check

M Oehm

Hm. Nan is a grandmother, so definitely a mother, too.

Avi

banana lol

N/A is a value of sorts

although I would be suspicious if someone BANs you for kicking them

or baas

M Oehm

A ban might get yu kicked out, I guess.

Avi

07:59

just realized entropy is an anagram of not prey :O

ooh

that might just be it

BAN-NAN-N/A

Jafe

nana's not an infix, though

ah right it's nan

Avi

fixed

Jafe

when you read the latest message but not the ones above it...

Avi

uh oh

we got sniped

correct answer but wrong explanation

alright back to ML

enjoy!

msh210

09:35

CCCC: Foul, unpleasant region: not exactly a tropical vacation spot (4)

Jafe

10:00

inline explanation link, nice

M Oehm

10:11

@msh210 So that's a "region" of (f) OUL U (npleasant). I'm not qualified to comment on the surface reading as extended definition, I'm afraid.

Jafe

let's just say the climate is not exactly tropical there

msh210

@MOehm yes indeed. And I meant only what @Jafe just said. :-)

M Oehm

I thought as much. :)

M Oehm

10:27

CCCC: One pressed to interrupt getaway on tropical island? (6, 3)

Jafe

aand i totally misunderstood what MOehm said... oh well

(no opinion on oulu, i've only ever driven through very briefly)

M Oehm

I just hope that "foul and unpleasant" was an exaggeration.

Not super fond of the cumbersome markup that msh210's innovation entails, but let's see whether it sticks.

AncientSwordRage

@MOehm I think it's merely the wordplay, c.f. this is not the def

Jafe

@MOehm ESCAPE+KEY (one pressed to interrupt)

Anonymus 25

Yet another C4 theme: Vacation! (And I really need one right now because covid happened)

Jafe

10:34

like the double-mislead there

msh210

@MOehm nor I, but it may be easier than repinning the instructions all the time... maybe not

@MOehm very nice

Anonymus 25

@Jafe How is tropical island KEY?

msh210

@Anonymus25 e.g. Key Largo

Jafe

key

Anonymus 25

TIL

M Oehm

10:36

@Jafe Yep!

Jafe

CCCC: Retired Palestinian leader avoiding real work during tropical vacation (10)

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe I was thinking of key west... not quite tropical maybe

Jafe

key west's not tropical?

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe not sure on my geography here

Jafe

i was under the impression the south of florida has a tropical climate but i can easily be mistaken

AncientSwordRage

10:39

@Jafe sub-tropical

Stiv

@Jafe SABBATICAL = ABBAS< + T(-r -op)ICAL

Anonymus 25

Nice!

Wait, what are Stiv's C4 so far? Lost count :P

msh210

@Stiv how does work=OP?

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 operation?

msh210

oh

Stiv

10:42

@msh210 It's often used as an abbreviation for 'operation' or 'opus'

msh210

oh. thanks

M Oehm

@msh210 In practice, you have to do this only once and then copy/paste it. Getting rid of the explanation also leaves more room for other messages on the starboard.

Stiv

(Very common in GB cryptics - one of the first ones I learned!)

msh210

I guess I shoulda known that, from classical musical pieces' titles.

("Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67")

Anonymus 25

NEPHRECTOMY, BOATBUILDER, WATER COOLER, ARCHIPELAGO, CANNIBALISM

Everybody take notes! :P (Stiv's past C4s)

Jafe

10:49

@Stiv that's right

Anonymus 25

Rubs palms toegether

Stiv

@Jafe I liked that - I was working with T_L for too long!

M Oehm

@Anonymus25 Well, you should have a pretty good idea of what the middle letter of the next clue is ...

Anonymus 25

E, U, O, P, B

Stiv

CCCC: Is yours truly taking Bono on vacation, in front of people? HORROR! (11)

Anonymus 25

10:57

If o is actually c, then it could be anagram-solver.net/detail/eucbp?detail=P-Cube

msh210

@Stiv a(B…o)m I nation

Stiv

@msh210 That's correct :)

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 which part makes bono b..o ?

Stiv

'on vacation'

i.e. 'on emptying'

AncientSwordRage

ahhh ok

msh210

11:10

@Stiv I was kidding.

Stiv

I know :)

Jafe

11:32

@AncientSwordRage ah right, not geographically in the tropics but apparently still has a tropical climate

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe yeah, goot spot

Jafe

i wonder what the coldest place in the geographical tropics is

somewhere high up in the andes maybe?

google suggests mount cayambe in ecuador but more research is needed... and by research i mean donations of flight tickets to ecuador for me

3

msh210

CCCC: In essence, Bono and the Edge rule a band (3,9)

Jafe

11:54

@msh210 (b)ON(o) + (th)E + DIRECTION

(and also they literally do)

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 (in essence) MID (festival with Bono and Edge) LATITUDE (rule ~ succeeds)S

msh210

@Jafe yep

AncientSwordRage

latitude is a bit of a panic solve when I saw Jafe's...

Jafe

CCCC: A mountain range in Europe (9)

AncientSwordRage

12:19

@Jafe CAUCASIAN ddef?

Jafe

not the intended answer, i'm afraid

AncientSwordRage

darn, it's not a great fit so no worries

msh210

@Jafe nice clean surface, looks like it could be a non-cryptic crossword clue

Jafe

thanks! i guess the prefix could be CCC: then :P

or CCCC for "crossword clue chat chain"

msh210

customarily cryptic, 'casionally conventional, crossword clue chat chain

Jafe

12:32

commonly called CCCCCCCC, concisely

how about that, some words look wrong when you spell them incorrectly

i think i mentioned at some point that "battalion" always looks odd to me with two Ts and one L... turns out it's borrowed from french where it's spelt with one T and two Ls, which in turn borrowed it from italian which has two Ts and one L

i'd wager the madness doesn't end there but i've been scared to dig any deeper

AncientSwordRage

12:56

@Jafe PATH (range) in CARIA (sort of in Eurpoe) to form CARPATHIA (mountains of...) .... not sure is you would call them that or need an N at the end?

Jafe

nope, sorry

in particular i wouldn't use "in europe" to clue a place in europe (and also like you said caria isn't exactly in europe)

there's a cryptic clue waiting to be written with that structure, though

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe SEVERAL which makes this hard...

A PENNINES (A + mountain) = APENNINES (range) ?

Jafe

that's it!

AncientSwordRage

I think they're both a range technically, but I like it

Jafe

yesterday, by Jafe

@AncientSwordRage not convinced but this gave me an idea for another clue which i'm definitely stealing

oh, and the intended parsing is A + PENNINES (mountain range in europe) = APENNINES (a mountain range in europe, &lit.)

msh210

13:11

@Jafe nice

Jafe

thanks! that's one of those clues that pretty much writes itself hehe

msh210

yeah, you just need to spot it

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe ahhh that works better

Will just mix up a CCCC, won't be long

Jafe

sc+andes is screaming for the same treatment but that is left as an exercise for the reader

msh210

13:24

@AncientSwordRage if you're mixing it, it's a CCCC Cocktail, or CCCCC

Jafe

no no, cocktail is K

AncientSwordRage

CCCC: Boneless Garibaldi is engaged in 'room service' with sweetheart, should cover Canary Island fare? (4,4)

I stuck to the vacation theme, but if it makes anybody feel better, I just checked and garibaldi happens to be a mountain range as well as a name ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sphinx

13:50

1

Q: What kind of sequence is this?

Start with 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 8 2 1 2 8 ? Your answer should explain what do these numbers represent.

knowledge sequence

bobble

From their Terms & Conditions: "Any product purchased online on www.time4education.com is non-transferable and is intended for the sole use of the buyer only" - the creator has explicitly asked for their content to not be shared, so this is still off-topic. — bobble 1 min ago

Sphinx

15:04

0

Q: Please, I don't know greek!

data key result 7, 2, 17, 82, 56 0 ΛΞλν 1, 3, 8, 127, 65, 8 19 εΤψΒΖ 5, 64, 13, 9, 4, 42 7 δδιΡΠ 13, 9, 8, 657, 31, 3, 7, 5 3 ? Hints

cipher

GentlePurpleRain

15:16

I feel like I've almost got the C4, but can't figure out the last piece. But I could also be completely wrong. Anyone else have any ideas?

I'm thinking Garibaldi somehow resolves to AR (that's the part I'm stuck on), and then is engaged in room service is EATS IN and sweetheart is LOVE. This gives AREATSINLOVE, and boneless means to remove the centre, giving AREA [-TSIN] LOVE. Anagram that (should cover) to get ALOE VERA (Canary Island fare).

AncientSwordRage

making gari a baldi by shaving off the edges is ingenious (along with the rest of the word play) but not what I was intending

GentlePurpleRain

@AncientSwordRage Are you saying I'm completely wrong?

AncientSwordRage

@GentlePurpleRain unfortunately yes

GentlePurpleRain

...back to the drawing board

Mithical

Oh, a wild @GentlePurpleRain has appeared... long time no see

Taco タコス