The Sphinx's Lair

Avi

12:00 AM

4,4,5,3,6,4,8 sad

bobble

@Jafe do numerals count as letters

Jafe

yes

ocean's 11 would be (6,2) or (5'1,2)

i didn't say characters because spaces, commas etc are characters

Avi

@Jafe :( my anagrammmmms

Jafe

fun fact: male anagrams are called managrams

waiting for someone to ask what the femle ones are called so i can be like "they are called anagrams, you sexist"

bobble

12:23 AM

what are the female ones called

Jafe

they are called anagrams, you sexist

nailed it

2

bobble

@Jafe Scream of distress XXX x a, h (31) i give you boring one

Jafe

heheh nice

bobble

enumeration eh. fixed it

Jafe

the answer is my reaction when i saw "night of the living dead" for the first and only time

Anonymus 25

12:39 AM

The answer of the C4 could be from Wandavision if Jafe's seen it already

Avi

12:55 AM

@Jafe I don't understand this

probably a good thing?

@Jafe didn't succeed

but it lead me to this

Unfortunately, some memes will have you fleeing naked on charges - make the most of it! (4,4,5,3,6,4,8)

not &lit (! is for surface)

(SOME MEMES WILL HAVE YOU FLEEING NAKED)* around ON

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, MAKE LEM(ON)ADE

correctness is kinda ??? with the "charges" but it's funny at least

Jafe

1:52 AM

@Avi not sure how much point there is trying to explain a joke but... one might object to someone using gender-specific term instead of a neutral one, like policewoman vs police officer

obviously absurd here since what's being referred to is words and not actual people

but in any case the joke is that i'm objecting to someone doing it despite just having done the exact same thing myself

@Anonymus25 no comment!

Avi

2:09 AM

@Jafe 😅

Taco タコス

2:30 AM

I go over to SO and miss my inline tag edit button lol

Such a nifty little feature

Though I understand why it's restricted

Prevents people from abusing it

bobble

Hi @Slate! Any interesting thoughts to share?

Slate

Hi @bobble! The tea I'm drinking is as delicious as the book I'm reading. It's raining here, which is always a treat. A pretty nice evening.

How are you? How are y'all?

bobble

I think I failed my interview today :(

Slate

Oh nooo. Do you know why?

bobble

They wanted someone more into the biology lab-science side, I think. Seems like they only gave me an interview because my high school GPA is high, but I am bioinformatics and more interested in the computer side of things

Also I misidentified the lab PI on the first try

also I don't cook much and they were really interested in that for some reason???

Taco タコス

2:40 AM

@bobble that happens from time to time; I remember an interview where I overthought a problem that was easily solved with modulus operations.

Any other prospects on your agenda?

bobble

There's another lab I will interview for on Thu. which is more relevant to my field of study, but that's an unpaid position

Taco タコス

@Slate tired and still running through debugging on a large scale production issue :'( ready for bed lol

bobble

I could also apply to grade ochem exams, but that won't get me any nearer to research

Slate

@bobble Ah that makes sense, yeah. I mean, misIDs happen, but the mismatch in goals is real. Sucks a bunch, though. No idea why they'd be interested in cooking.

Taco タコス

@bobble are you considered new to your field by chance? If so it could be good for the experience aspect of things. Apologies if that's a bit forward.

bobble

2:42 AM

And dining services is always hiring (because people keep quitting due to terrible conditions)

@Tacoタコス I am a first year student, so yes

Slate

@Tacoタコス Ooof, that's not good, sounds thorny. Hope it stops being quite as rough :(

bobble

One of my roomies is excited for his new job so I am happy for him (he will drive disabled students around campus)

Slate

Oh that's lovely. Important stuff

Taco タコス

@bobble depending on your expectations (along with your personal situations) for the position, it might be worth considering lower pay for the trade-off of gaining field experience. My first position had me technically underpaid by 30k based on my experience at the time, but it was a 9-month contract for me to prove myself with, so I took it. Not saying your situation is the same, but maybe worth considering?

@Slate appreciate it lol it's been give and take for about 13 hours straight now

Slate

Oh yeesh that's a long-burning fire

Taco タコス

2:50 AM

Annoyingly so 😭 but I'm finally getting the answers to the questions I've been asking for weeks, so I'm happy to put the time in so I can close this system out and move back to framework development lol

Slate

Oh god, weeks?? Yeah I've been there, that's not fun. But hey, if it's got a satisfying answer (and lets you go back to something you're enjoying), ya know...

bobble

They also quizzed me on the ochem chapter I read two days ago - I hadn't done the homework yet so I didn't retain the information well :(

Taco タコス

Yeah, it's not fun, but someone has to do it :) good news is that it's almost over.

Anyways, gonna commit these changes for them to pick up in the morning and get some rest, Reese's Pieces everyone!

bobble

@Slate would you feel comfortable giving thoughts on a topicality meta discussion? (specifically, this one)

Anonymus 25

3:10 AM

Does someone know that feeling when you know the answer to a puzzle, but have no time to write up an answer? It sucks :(

Slate

@bobble My honest opinion, not really a CM-informed opinion but more as an ex-mod/long-time user of the site, is that I'd be a bit sad if a question like this were to become off-topic. Based on my domain knowledge, this question seems to have several clear answers, including some mathematical ones, but most of which can be 'well-informed opinion.' It's a common question, too.

My main critique of the question is that it's likely to be understood in several distinct ways, and it might be beneficial to clarify which way that question is intended to be interpreted. For that reason it's almost too broad, but that's a matter of opinion, imo.

Sites have different tolerances for the degree to which opinion is acceptable in answers, and the level of substantiation that's required, though. Puzzling's has certainly changed in seven years and I'm not the most up to date on what the standard is nowadays.

bobble

The reason I side-eyed it in the first place was the number of upvotes that the product-rec answer got

msh210

@Avi thanks

Slate

Yeah, the product rec answer is really "Puzzling from 7 years ago." Can't tell y'all what to do with it now, but the site was pretty nascent at the time and didn't have clear standards yet.

Like, it's post #323. I think we'd just barely left private beta. It might even have been a private beta question.

msh210

@bobble ouch, I'm sorry

@bobble or sanity

I mean, um, would tend to remove you from sanity.

Avi

5:14 AM

@Slate Maybe they're just impressed? (speaking as a person who can't cook more than an egg sandwich)

bobble

@Tacoタコス official stance: meta.stackexchange.com/a/126774/1017231

Avi

is that a 10k privilege?

ooh

hey hi welcome

I'll be uh

off struggling with .gz files claiming they're not gzip files

Jafe

show them who's boss

Stevo

why is school so difficult.

Sciborg

5:34 AM

@bobble The crown is up late tonight :p

College sleep schedule kicking in slowly but surely

msh210

7:13 AM

@Jafe Daenerys Stormborn of house Targaryen*

Sphinx

0

Q: My favorite holiday destination

My favorite holiday destination is hidden in this secret message. Can you find what it is?

Stevo

7:35 AM

@Sphinx ooh, a puzzle...

Jafe

8:19 AM

@msh210 that's right!

i originally wanted to make a long anagram of her full title but thought that would maybe be overkill

full title being "daenerys stormborn of house targaryen, the first of her name, queen of the andals and the first men, protector of the seven kingdoms, the mother of dragons, the khaleesi of the great grass sea, the unburnt, the breaker of chains"

all those letters would allow for a preeetty descriptive definition

M Oehm

For this grumpy old solver, the 30-odd anagram was already overkill.

msh210

@Jafe maybe a little :-)

M Oehm

(But I guess to GoT aficionados, "overkill" is high praise.)

Jafe

hehe

msh210

@MOehm I'm not one. The Web helped me with this one.

CCCC: Union activist imprisoned confused wanderers (3,6)

M Oehm

8:31 AM

@msh210 Oh, I don't mind if people enjoy the series, but I don't know much about it. But well done on solving this one.

msh210

Thanks.

Stevo

@msh210 Des Warren?

Jafe

kudos for getting that without knowing about the show, i thought for sure the definition plus enumeration would be the way to get it

@Stevo i think you're right

Stevo

@Jafe i just used anagrammer wanderers got des warren checked if he was union activist and here we go!

*though how imprisoned comes here idk

Jafe

"union activist [who was] imprisoned"

Stevo

8:36 AM

oh

Jafe

it's part of the definition

Stevo

if i do write a c4 its probably going to be in 20 hours

Jafe

that's fine

msh210 needs to confirm first though

Stevo

its because of school ending at my 3pm, and i get back at like 4pm

msh210

@Stevo yes indeed

Stevo

8:39 AM

@msh210 well, u guys can wait for the c4 in about 21 hours (sorry for 21, its school)

as im closing my pc now... time for dinner

goodbye!

msh210

@Jafe thanks. I actually Googled combinations like ⟨fiction queen burn traitors⟩ and found her; then I had to check two different pages about her to confirm which 9-letter word went where.

@Stevo no worries

@Stevo bon appetit

Stevo

9:12 AM

Hey, I’m popping in briefly

CCCC: US special force’s helpers… a book? (6’1,10)

The question mark is not needed.

Sphinx

0

Q: A new charity hit single

There's a new charity hit single coming soon! 59 musical artists from the worlds of rap, hip-hop, pop, rock, musical theatre and country music have been working on a unique collaboration, performing a cover of a song made famous by one of them. If the diagram below shows how the singers stood in ...

knowledge word-property sequence music word-sequence

Jafe

@Stevo ranger's + apprentice?

= a book

Stevo

9:58 AM

@Jafe yes.

Jafe

CCCC: Hit song from a Canadian questioning host's career choice on the air? (4, abbr.)

AncientSwordRage

@bobble That sounds rough, interviews are as much science as art which makes it almost unknowable ahead of time, no fault of yours. I hope you get something enjoyable and paid.

Jafe

sleepy brain skipping lines when reading HNQ titles produces some funny results

"Why shouldn't we use Bernoulli beam theory [...] in order to allow a saving throw to end the charm?"

i was like "that sounds interesting... um, wait what?"

M Oehm

10:33 AM

@Jafe That's YMCA, sounds like "Why emcee, eh?"

Jafe

yep!

M Oehm

Varying between the long and the short, I see ...

msh210

@Jafe groan

Jafe

tee hee

Lead Developer

10:59 AM

2,4,1=4
3,1,6=8
7,2,4=7
1,0,8=?

Can any give me an answer for this puzzle ?

M Oehm

CCCC: Normalcy returned occasionally with tooth for eating meat (9)

msh210

@MOehm _c_a_r_n< ivory

M Oehm

@msh210 Yep.

msh210

CCCC: Overthrow and decapitate princes, first the French (6)

It's clearly™ the digit sum of {the sum of the outer numbers minus the square of the middle number}. Thus:
2−4²+1=−13, digit sum 4
3−1²+6=8, digit sum 8
7−2²+4=7, digit sum 7
1−0²+8=9, digit sum 9, which is your answer

(I bet there's as good an argument to be made for lots of other answers, though.)

AncientSwordRage

11:39 AM

@MOehm .... teeth aren't made of ivory

elephant tusks are... and they're teeth? :S

@msh210 TOPPLE: TOP + P(rinces) + LE.

Is that much overlap allowed and if so, what is it called? Semi-&lit. rings a bell but I don't think it's that?

M Oehm

Yes, tooth = ivory is tenuous, but not a major sin in my eyes. I wanted to use "having a tooth for something" in the overall reading.

AncientSwordRage

@MOehm no it's not major, you're right

M Oehm

Phew!

AncientSwordRage

Purely out of interest would "Normalcy returned occasionally, key for eating meat" (major piano key) or "Normalcy returned occasionally with pearly whites for eating meat" work? pearly whites mean teeth, but it's also that ivory is a white colour?

@MOehm It was more a point of confusion on my part

msh210

12:25 PM

@AncientSwordRage yep

Jafe

isn't it top=decapitate there? not top=overthrow

overthrow is the def

top as a verb can mean "remove the top part of"

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe I thought it was wordplay for 'only keep the head'/'discard the body'

Jafe

i suspect that's clued by "princes, first" = p

so it'd be TOPPLE (overthrow) = TOP (decapitate) + P (princes, first) + LE (the, french)

msh210

@Jafe yes exactly

@Jafe yes, this was the intention.

Sorry, I didn't click through on the "TOP" link or notice the question immediately after about overlap.

Jafe

12:41 PM

i assume @AncientSwordRage still goes next since i only helped explain his solution

msh210

shrugs

AncientSwordRage

@Jafe I have one almost ready, and it's just a fun easy solve not a beast like I have set in the past, but it will definitely 'keep' for next time?

@Jafe that's much better

Jafe

sure go ahead, my backlog's empty and i'm still trying to finish friday's crossword in time

which technically means i have minus 13 clues prepared currently

AncientSwordRage

sure thing, I'll polish and post soon(ish)

msh210

we've done indonesian, but polish will be new

Sphinx

1:05 PM

1

Q: Fractions and Fractional Numbers

Using fractions and fractional numbers of the digits 1 to 10 and only the math operations + - x / and paranthesis can you write equations to get numbers 0 to 10? Rules The equation must use ALL the digits from 1 to 10 but ONLY ONCE. Fractions and fractional numbers cannot be integers. 3/9 is a fr...

mathematics no-computers number-property

bobble

1:37 PM

@Sciborg I go to sleep ~10:30 every night, so that wasn't out of the ordinary for me

Taco タコス

@msh210 did you trademark "clearly"? lol

That's awesome, sorry lol

msh210

@Tacoタコス I stole that from others.

Taco タコス

It still made my morning lol

AncientSwordRage

2:05 PM

CCCC: Narrow fragment (perhaps of Scottish origin) covering numberless PSE User's awe, carved in bone (11)

Lead Developer

@msh210 wow, you're genius.. thanks a lot.

msh210

@LeadDeveloper sorry?

oh the number puzzle

no problem

Lead Developer

@msh210 yes, how did you find that formula ?

msh210

just played with the numbers a little

3 hours ago, by msh210

(I bet there's as good an argument to be made for lots of other answers, though.)

AncientSwordRage

@bobble now's your chance to swoop the the CCCC before anybody else notices I've posted it

msh210

2:11 PM

mwahahahaha I just pinned it

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 oh no

I'm sure they'll see it

Lead Developer

@msh210 yeah, maybe.. but I didn't get an idea myself even though I tried to think it for a while. thanks again.

msh210

my pleasure

scrimshawed ("carved in bone") = scrid ("narrow fragment") covering msh ("numberless PSE User") awe. I'm guessing scrid is "perhaps of Scottish origin", hence the parenthetical remark.

AncientSwordRage

screed

Noun: screed (plural screeds)

(chiefly Ireland, Newfoundland, Scotland, dated) A piece or narrow strip cut or torn off from a larger whole; a shred. [from mid 14th c.]
Synonym: scrid
(chiefly regional Britain, Scotland, dated) A piece of land, especially one that is narrow.
(chiefly Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, dated) A rent, a tear.
Synonyms: cut, rip

(2 more not shown…)

> (chiefly Ireland, Newfoundland, Scotland, dated) A piece or narrow strip cut or torn off from a larger whole; a shred. [from mid 14th c.] Synonym: scrid

msh210

ah

AncientSwordRage

2:15 PM

but yes, correct

msh210

mwahahahaha @bobble

AncientSwordRage

I wasn't sure how best to say 'Take msh210's username, and file of the serial numbers'

@msh210 nobody likes a gloater :p

msh210

@AncientSwordRage MWAHAHAHAHA

@AncientSwordRage I think that way worked, but it was kinda obvious (to me anyway)

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 stern look

2 hours ago, by AncientSwordRage

@Jafe I have one almost ready, and it's just a fun easy solve not a beast like I have set in the past, but it will definitely 'keep' for next time?

msh210

CCCC: Comedian Willard has routine: "You're Broke" (9)

Stiv

2:23 PM

@msh210 FRACTURED (Broke) = FR(ACT+UR)ED

msh210

@Stiv yes indeed

Stiv

Wasn't sure if it was also &lit as I didn't know his material (I knew him more as an actor), but wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be so!

msh210

no idea

Stiv

3:28 PM

CCCC: Secret agents in possession of Russian weaponry are on Hawaii, providing weapons to the Japanese (9)

Stiv

3:41 PM

^ Gah, just spotted that a last-minute synonym change has produce two instances of 'weapon' in this clue - not ideal from an aesthetics point of view, but it'll still get the job done... Sigh.

AncientSwordRage

5:43 PM

@Stiv the surface is really teasing me me with potential shorthands for Agent, Russian, Hawaii and Japanese... As well as indicators like in, on, providing, possession.. 😵

msh210

6:48 PM

If WIZAS meant "secret agents", I'd be a very happy camper. But afaict it does not.

Taco タコス

7:03 PM

Oh I think I'm going totally 80s for this Halloween lol

amazon.com/Costume-Accessories-T-Shirt-Headband-Necklace/dp/…

🤣

AncientSwordRage

7:21 PM

@msh210 I want NIPPONESE to be the answer but I have no idea how to make it work

M Oehm

Hm, msh210's proposed construction works quite well. I've been thinking along similar lines. (And I have visited some very obscure wiki pages in the process.)

AncientSwordRage

7:40 PM

@msh210 are wizards secret agents?

M Oehm

I thought about that, but you'd still have to get rid of the RD.

AncientSwordRage

8:13 PM

@MOehm the Dominican Republic Peso wasn't mentioned, so it should also be absent from WIZARDS, and as the abbreviation for that is RD, everything else falls into place. #GreatC4Answers

AncientSwordRage

8:26 PM

USDA Rural Development

USDA Rural Development (RD) is a mission area within the United States Department of Agriculture which runs programs intended to improve the economy and quality of life in rural America. Rural Development has a loan portfolio over $224.5 billion, and administers nearly $16 billion in program loans, loan guarantees, and grants through their programs. Rural Development promotes economic development by supporting loans to businesses through banks, credit unions and community-managed lending pools. It offers technical assistance and information to help agricultural producers and cooperatives get started...

👀

Sphinx

0

Q: What sequence of letters am I thinking of? (Or: Introducing "Bulls")

1. Warmup "I'm thinking of three letters," I grinned, "in a particular order, and with no repeats." "Are they DRL?" "Well, you guessed one correctly." "Are they QYL?" "You guessed one correctly." "QBN?" "One." "PFE?" "One." "QSH?" "One. That's enough guessing; you can figure it out now." This is...

logical-deduction mastermind

Avi

10:12 PM

My three favorite things are eating my family and not using commas.

source: play.typeracer.com/?universe=jokes

Sphinx

11:53 PM

0

Q: Can you check the results of this chess match?

As the sun broke the horizon I could feel the cold breeze on my face mixing with the warming city air. Like most mornings, I could hear Mr. and Mrs. Shamming discussing their afternoon plans during their daily jog. All the while, Mr. Punch (he got the nickname from fighting over card games) and M...

logical-deduction word story grid-deduction chess

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