The Sphinx's Lair

Taco タコス

12:09 AM

Playing Fortnite and popping in and out of chat lol

makes pew pew noises

Stevo

lol

Taco タコス

Arena games are pretty active tonight

Finally bumped divisions though 🙃

Stevo

totally understanding

Taco タコス

Lol sorry

Stevo

I know about games but...

Jafe

12:15 AM

@Stiv that's correct

Stevo

Ok.

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 I re-read this and it's stuff I've pretty much learned by reading over the main crosswordunclued blogs and/or attempting some my self out of newspapers with work colleagues (this was sometime ago)

But then you hear about "gegs! (9, 4)" and I start to wonder else might be clued by a setter who has their own (perhaps unknown) nuances and tricks

20

A: gegs? (9, 4) - a british cryptic crossword clue

gegs? (9, 4) D R U G G E D U P? (6, 3)

^ probably wants a small tidy up

AncientSwordRage

2:32 AM

@Sphinx @Avi this feels more more like hidden-image than steganography (not sure if you added that tag)

Avi

2:52 AM

we don't have a hidden-image tag :s

AncientSwordRage

3:20 AM

@Avi it's hidden

But my point was I thought steganography was hidden data

Not images

M Oehm

4:45 AM

@Stiv No need to apologize! I'm just too slow for the cruel, competitive domain that is PSE. (I kid, I kid. It took me too long to see that if the card game was Uno, that would open up a lot of un- words. I still wasted some time on "unanchored", because I wanted to get an H in after a C.)

Stevo

5:03 AM

I really wanna do codenames again...

(especially because i never did it)

M Oehm

Interesting use of "again", then.

Stevo

@MOehm totally not weird

well, there is a website called codename.

Stevo

5:25 AM

well... maybe... if we use the online website... we could... but we need 4 people...

AncientSwordRage

7:34 AM

@MOehm I was trying to both explain the wordplay of UNOBJECTED (BJ... blackjack? But that's a second game...) and justify the very loose match to free...

At least unanchored would fit with on meaning of free

Stiv

8:37 AM

CCCC: Awkward hug during musical leads to half of row three having a sudden urge to evacuate! (6,5)

msh210

9:00 AM

@Stiv Ca(ugh*)ts h_ o_ r_ t_

@Stevo one can be a noncompeting cluer for two guessers

AncientSwordRage

9:13 AM

@Stiv thought I had that as well :/

I started planning my cryptic :'(

@msh210 Arghh. msh210'ed again ;)

msh210

ha

Sphinx

9:35 AM

1

Q: The Facebook (a double connect wall)

This is a double connect wall puzzle. The objective is to rearrange the sixteen people below in the 4x4 grid such that each row of 4 will be related by a common theme and each column of 4 will also be related a common theme. In total, there will be 8 different themes/categories. After discoveri...

Stiv

@msh210 Yup :)

msh210

CCCC: An expensive trip by truck? You're not in Helsinki (6)

msh210

11:49 AM

That might be a little unfair, so my first hint, if needed, will probably be a rewording. Sorry.

AncientSwordRage

11:59 AM

@msh210 I had two ideas on how to do this, and this has helped me pick one

so thanks

msh210

my pleasure

Jafe

12:23 PM

i don't expect it to be relevant, but just in case anyone's wondering: "not" in finnish is "ei", and "you're not" is "et ole"

(helsinki is a bilingual city but it would be pretty weird to use it to clue a translation into swedish)

AncientSwordRage

FLASHY: def expensive, wordplay: FL (Finland (not in (but outside of) helsinki) two letter code) + trip(shay or shay)*

msh210

12:39 PM

@AncientSwordRage not my intention, I'm afraid. I also don't see how "by truck" can by used to indicate "anagrammed and preceded by".

@Jafe grimaces

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 trip is the anagram indicator, truck is the fodder

msh210

oh got it

and the "preceded by"?

Jafe

indirect though

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe oh true

I was assuming things might be slightly loose based on it being 'unfair'? Not sure where I was going with that

msh210

@AncientSwordRage maybe so but I doubt I'd ever use an indirect anagram. (But I've surprised myself before.)

Okay... after Jafe's helpful but (for me) unfortunate translations, I'm going to reword the CCCC immediately: An expensive trip by truck (and in Paris!) (6)

AncientSwordRage

12:49 PM

@msh210 I need to get out into the habit of stopping myself when I 'see' one:p

Jafe

a junket is an expensive trip, "truck" can be a synonym of "junk"* and "et" is "and in french

*e.g. "truck n. 14. dirt or other messiness

or "heterogenous small articles often of little value"

msh210

1:04 PM

@Jafe yep!

And I thought et could be clued by "you're not in Helsinki", but... maybe not.

I mean, it's the second-person "not", right?

AncientSwordRage

Ah I was thinking it might have been Triple def of expensive trip (i.e. expensive -> smart->metro? This one is very loose) by truck (literally) In Paris

also 'm ET ro' took up all of my brain space 😅

Jafe

yeah it depends... like if the next word is "[you're not] writing" it translates to just "et"

AncientSwordRage

Not getting one of these right really ~Jafes :p

Jafe

but if it's like "[you're not] white" then it's "et ole" because you need a verb there

i'd probably translate just "et" alone as "you don't" in english

CCCC: Hip hop song about Arizonan cheese (8)

long story short, one-word translations are tricky

msh210

@Jafe ah thanks

Taco タコス

2:02 PM

Made major changes to twisty-puzzles, but I'm left with a final quesiton.

msh210

CMC: write a hip-hop song about Arizonan cheese

2

Taco タコス

In the usage guidance; I believe it might be worth mentioning that puzzles which are custom made using this tag, should also include logical-deduction.

For example this puzzle should probably include the logical-deduction tag since solvers needed to deduce the required path to solving (e.g. there isn't a well known and defined algorithm available so it must be determined along the way).

However, I'm unsure on how to phrase that.

In the usage guidance anyways.

msh210

KATIKI is a cheese and "about Arizonan, cheese" is thus KAZATIKI, which is almost KAZATSKI, a hip hop song (or at least a dance, to music, in which you hop your hips. I'm not sure whether it also means a song used for the dance, but it may). But it doesn't quite work, alas.

bobble

@Tacoタコス please don't copy significant amounts of wording directly from Wikipedia, and especially don't do it without citation. See meta.stackexchange.com/q/79000/1017231

Taco タコス

@bobble I'm working on the citation currently, sorry for the delay. Multiple things at once.

Didn't think about it until after I submitted it.

bobble

2:17 PM

Anyways, the purpose of Wikipedia is different than the purpose of a tag wiki. Wikipedia is for a general description of a topic, tag wikis are for a specific description of a topic as it applies to a community.

Taco タコス

I think it still fits and does the tag justice however.

bobble

So it would be more useful to e.g. present common examples of ways that twisty-puzzles could be incorporated into puzzles, or add warnings about common problems, etc.

Taco タコス

I'm also creating a meta post to make rubiks-cube a synonym of twisty-puzzles or the other way around, not sure how that works entirely yet.

@bobble I don't have enough experience with them to elaborate on that, I wanted to present more information about what twisty puzzles are and give common examples to make the tag more useful

I'll leave the rest for more experienced solvers

msh210

"twisty-puzzles" reminds me of "you are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike"

bobble

2

A: Admin Trogdor Needed to Burninate Many Tags

The normal way to remove a tag is to edit it out of every question that has it. The tag will disappear from the list after a little while (there's an automatic cleanup job that runs daily). If a tag is present on a lot of questions, then Stack Exchange staff can burninate it, i.e. make it so tha...

> I don't think twisty-puzzles is a duplicate of rubiks-cube, it's a generalization.

1

Q: Should [mechanical-puzzles] and [twisty-puzzles] be synonymised?

mechanical-puzzles has 7 questions. Its wiki says: Puzzles that are physically made and have some sort of mechanism for turning or moving them, such as Rubik's Cubes or trick boxes. twisty-puzzles has 4 questions. Its wiki says: The twisty-puzzles tag is for all questions related to so...

discussion tag-synonyms

Some previous discussions

Taco タコス

2:23 PM

@msh210 The existing usage guidance is focused on "puzzles similar to Rubik's cube"

Though I get your point

@bobble that's a fair point, but I don't think it's a dupe; I think it's not needed since we have twisty puzzles

@bobble thank you for the reading :)

msh210

@Tacoタコス I know. I wasn't criticizing the tag name, just commenting.

Taco タコス

I thought about requesting that we change it to combination puzzles, but even that seems a bit misleading

I think twisty puzzles is more useful in that respect

msh210

rubiks-like-puzzles

rubikesque-puzzles

Amoz

@Tacoタコス, toilet paper math? has nothing to do with math or formation of numbers, and I'm not sure if the few intro sentences (hints) count as a story or not. Do I just remove those tags or are they supposed to be there?

Stiv

2:51 PM

@Amoz If you disagree with a tag edit because it clashes with your intended puzzle mechanism you are at perfect liberty to roll back to the past version

Amoz

I'm not great with tags so I am not 100% sure, I'd feel bad rolling back a change that should be there

I usually only put a tag if I am confident it is relevant

Stiv

@Amoz But at this point, with the puzzle unsolved, only you actually know if it should belong there :)

Amoz

K I'll go for it.

Stiv

If it clashes, I'd remove it. I would especially remove it if the new tags will mislead potential solvers as to how they should be thinking to solve your puzzle. It can always be re-added later if necessary.

Amoz

Should 2 lines of intro text have a story tag?

or 3 I guess

Stiv

3:00 PM

I reckon that's an individual taste thing. I probably wouldn't bother unless it was a much longer piece of prose, but others might for anything that involves some form of creative writing. Gow ith your gut :)

msh210

@Stiv i.stack.imgur.com/nAmhB.png (from Couplehood, by Paul Reiser)

Amoz

funny

Stiv

On second thoughts, go with your head :p

Sphinx

3:21 PM

0

Q: how many "mathletic" couples were having dinner at the table

onceA number of couples, each one of them happening to be composed of a mathematician and an athlete (hence 'mathletic'), wanted, in order to diversify communication, to sit down at opposite sides of a (rectangular) dinner table randomly, in such a way that mathematicians face athletes. A certain...

mathematics combinatorics

Taco タコス

3:57 PM

@Amoz the secondary question appeared to have formation of numbers involved and based on categorizing (not solving per se), I put it on there. Feel free to remove it; I was just trying to help :)

Gareth McCaughan

4:08 PM

I think the numbers are probably arbitrary identifying codes rather than numbers, though so far I haven't been successful in finding exactly what identifying codes. There doesn't appear to be a standard one for what I think the puzzle is about. But I may be wrong in many different ways.

Taco タコス

@Sphinx for this one, @GarethMcCaughan?

Stiv

4:27 PM

@Tacoタコス I think Gareth's talking about Amoz's non-mathematics toilet paper puzzle... I've been thinking along similar lines and am equally having no luck reaching a solution.

Taco タコス

Ah, yeah I gave up on trying to solve that one lol

Stiv

(Perhaps 'luck' is the wrong word here - 'success' might be more appropriate...!)

Taco タコス

It was taking too much time :(

Stiv

@Tacoタコス Can I suggest doing the retags in smaller batches? The front page is now pretty much entirely rubiks-cube/twisty-puzzles from many months/years ago. Anything active and interesting is buried!

Taco タコス

I'm actually stopping here for the day; probably going to just do three or four a day from here out.

Just trying to put a dent in the gap

Stiv

4:32 PM

Big dent! :)

Taco タコス

4 out of 15 pages

Almost 30% lol

Sorry about that; didn't starting thinking about the active tab until a few questions ago

AncientSwordRage

5:03 PM

@Jafe I just about give up with your C4 :D at least for today

closes about 40 tabs about cheese, hip hop, and arizona

Taco タコス

opens 60 more

:)

AncientSwordRage

fill your boots

just preferably not with cheese

the frustrating thing is I feel like I got close to one

bobble

NAA?

AncientSwordRage

PARMESAN: (RAP<hip hop song, reversed by about) MESAN someone from Mesa, Arizona, but I would expect a perhaps in there?

Taco タコス

@bobble I agree

AncientSwordRage

5:14 PM

@bobble agree

mesan from arizonan feels like I'm stretching

M Oehm

No, that sounds good. And a Mesan is an Arizonan, but an Arizonan is a "Mesan, perhaps".

(And Wikipedia tells me that people from Phoenix, Arizona, are called Phoenicians.)

AncientSwordRage

5:36 PM

@MOehm I always, always get that mixed up

M Oehm

It's called "definition by example", so if you use an example (subset) to define a category, you need "perhaps" or something similar. The other way round, if you use a category to define an example, is fine.

You should ping Jafe about your answer. He's a geography buff, so using Mesan would be right up his alley.

AncientSwordRage

5:55 PM

@AncientSwordRage @jafe mesan you need to talk

bobble

Also, @Tacoタコス if you want to do a major necro-tagging campaign, maybe don't do it all on one day? I usually aim for 3 a day at most. Less if there isn't much activity.

Taco タコス

@bobble I concur in hindsight; @Stiv already pointed it out too :)

bobble

ah, didn't catch that on a quick scan

Taco タコス

Yeah, I don't usually utilize the active tab, so I didn't think about it until several pages of necro-tagging was completed

My apologies

bobble

Which homepage do you use, then?

Taco タコス

6:03 PM

Newest

Oh, home is home which is active, but I never use it

I use the newest tab under questions

That's why I didn't think about it until it was too late is all I'm trying to say :)

bobble

To what extent is this open-ended?

I kicked three old open-ended puzzles to the frontpage because why not

Avi

7:24 PM

@Deusovi it was actually abomination but I didn't feel like being over specific - bombination captures the general idea well enough although abomination was the original intent

honestly both would work, though abomination fits with the title much better

not to say that excessive humming isn't annoying

but I didn't think of the word "bombination" when setting, so it became ambiguous :<

Taco タコス

@Avi cries in the corner... I'm not annoying. :'( mutters... take it back

lol

Amoz

how do you get the bomb anyway

I paste it into photoshop... no see

Taco タコス

@Amoz I feel like there's a pun coming

Amoz

I would expect some white vs transparent pixels, but don't see them. Where else to look?

Taco タコス

8:02 PM

Is anyone else experiencing issues with navigation or things like spoilers and comments not working? I think it might be me, but I dunno yet

I've disabled all extensions and closed and reopened my browser and I'm still having issues.

bobble

8:14 PM

16

Q: Review queues not working because of JavaScript error

For some users, reviewing is not possible at the moment; the queues show up blank. Both active queues and completed review items are not visible, probably because of a JavaScript error: I'm using the latest macOS and can reproduce it in Firefox, Safari and Chrome. For me it seems to work fine in...

bug status-review review javascript

There seem to be widespread Javascript errors for a significant number of users. (See comments and duplicate)

@Tacoタコス ^

Jafe

@AncientSwordRage that's right

AncientSwordRage

8:41 PM

@Jafe that's a pleasant surprise

Will set when home insha'Allah

Jafe

8:59 PM

no rush

Stiv

9:23 PM

@MOehm Okay, given recent discussions I think you'll enjoy this... (sigh)

Jafe

9:46 PM

hehe

Sphinx

10:21 PM

0

Q: What are you? Your fifth is in cookies but never in cream. -- a riddle

Your fifth is in cookies but never in cream. Your fourth is in stormclouds and also in steam. Your last's in your meaning but not in your word. Your second's in fourth, first, three-hundredth, and third. Your first's in a puddle but not in a pail. Your third and your sixth, when abroad, are in j...

riddle word

athin

10:45 PM

Hi everyone, Ill just be in the chatroom for a bit because I dont know how else should I contact.. ><

@Tacoタコス while I appreciate your enthusiasm, I'm sorry I'm actually feeling annoyed lately especially today as my front page is now full of old rubik cube's questions.

I scrolled up a bit of the chat, Stiv and bobble also pointed out about limiting the number of edits (and yes, 3 a day is fine at most for me).

Sphinx

0

Q: What is happening tomorrow?

I posted this question on the Cross Validated stack exchange just now, but wanted to cross-post to here as well, because it is somewhat open-ended. A solution may be provided by myself or another person, perhaps tomorrow or the next day.

mathematics real unsolved-mysteries

Stevo

what

another puzzle

Taco タコス

@athin yes, my apologies; as I stated earlier, I don't typically use the active tab so I didn't even think about it until it was too late.

athin

Some questions (and answers) are more worth it to be edited, by checking ones in review queues. Micro-tagging "twisty-puzzle" for "rubik-cube" isn't one imho. Tags are used to filter some focuses and I think "rubik-cube" tag is helpful enough for the puzzlers, and it's also applicable for other tags as well.

Remember that tags aren't used for the puzzle to be appear/advertised anywhere in many places. They are used to filter people's interests (while also avoiding which ones that are not their cup of tea).

I said much about tags, but the idea should also be generalized to other things like spoilering things (iirc note that old answers dont utilize spoilers yet, so if we do want to apply it, there will be also so many edits to be done).

That's my two cents >< thanks so much for your understanding and cheers! ^^

Stevo

wait, puzzles need to be self contained... right?

Taco タコス

10:53 PM

@athin no problem; and again apologies for the disruption.

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe that's a relief

scurries away to try and make this one work

bobble

11:04 PM

5

Q: Comment, flag, and delete are not workingI

I need to delete my answer on Mathoverflow, but the system does not let me. I also cannot add a comment, delete or flag an answer on any other SE forum. What is happening?

support bug

Avi

11:21 PM

@Tacoタコス ... you're not annoying, I'm not annoying ;(

0

Q: IQ test question - squares, triangles, dots

I have this question from a friend. We have no idea where to start. What is the correct answer and reasoning? Source: "Ghid de pregătire pentru concursul de directori/ directori adjuncți din învățământul preuniversitar", Gabriel Vrânceanu, Gabriela Bărbulescu,... Editura Scrib, București, 2016

pattern visual progressive-matrix

^ with respect to this question I'm not sure that the book they list has anything to do with IQ questions

they may just be relying on the fact that nobody wants to double check to pass some IQ question into the mix

at least, it appears like a book containing bibliographies of management/managers?

or a guide to pass a certain exam

Then again, the picture they gave does look like it came from a physical book (you can faintly see the lettering behind the page), so it may be real or from a different book than the one they mentioned

Stevo

hmmm

@Avi the pdf online is not about iq questions.

Avi

ya

Stevo

if thats the case, then it needs to be closed...

as its still not attribution