The Sphinx's Lair

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oAlt

00:52

@MOehm @Stiv almost as I intended, which was BOOT (Kick) + T ("out" outsider) outside (-n)YC. :00

But yeah, you basically got it.

A small challenge: what theme have I been hiding in the answers to my CCCC's? I don't want to make it too hard, so I'll say that 1) the list of themed answers is not long at all, 2) there are no non-themed clues between the themed ones, and 3) the last clue answer is of course part of the theme.

juicifer

01:06

wait you're not stiv :P

oAlt

Lol :P

juicifer

ahh ok I see what it is

the last six have all contained trigonometric functions: bajo de casinloc, glucose, debutant, chromatic scale, quadrisected, boycott

very nice

oAlt

01:24

@juicifer yup, you got it :DD (it's "masinloc" but it's not a big deal at this point lol.) I was worried it was gonna take longer since I didn't specify an upper bound for the number of themed answers, but now that worry is gone haha

juicifer

ah so it is oops

looked it up to make sure and still got it wrong lol

but yeah it took me a bit of staring at the list before it clicked, but not too too long

oAlt

01:42

:00

Sphinx

02:26

Q: WJDIRKGPZOG ZNFFLQHLXQNIWYINQQFIV

TJPGRROLZZNFSXMGLGDVMR MPNDUZXEHPGJIRXOSLVCHSCEGSCQDQMAZJSIDAVUOAKGNLVNGKKRNDVMUQ UAPRZGSIJGAZALKZX HRLPVDUQ FAYHTFSIALGEDGCLWV WLCCIWJ AAGOTSHGDPCPNHKZJMJZMAMBPPMRWNDKO There's a space between each segment.

4 hours later…

M Oehm

06:49

@oAlt Aha. I (or Stiv, rather) made this more complicated than necessary.

1 hour later…

M Oehm

07:50

CCCC: Composed, calm and outwardly remote press department kick out novelist (6, 6)

Jafe

anagram of CALM+R_E = MARCEL plus PR plus OUST

M Oehm

Yep.

Jafe

nice use of kick out as a non-indicator, unfortunately i remembered it from a similar clue (for just PROUST, i think)

CCCC: Is it true that one of the Spice Girls did nothing to be a maker of music? (10)

M Oehm

Bummer. Should have picked "jousting". :)

Sphinx

08:41

Q: Help! Help! My IQ!

This puzzle is part of the Monthly Topic Challenge #2: IQ Puzzle Parody Help! I'm trying to score a 100 from this online IQ test but can't figure out some of the questions. Below is an example, with the three answer options at the bottom. What kind of help do you think I should be enlisting here...

grid-deduction

Sid

@Sphinx Red dot in what looks like a Sudoku grid hmmmm. That's not the usual...

Sphinx

09:06

Q: Terminal 00 sacred words / witch id riddle,

found this website angusnicneven.com dug through it and found a page witch requires a witch id and sacred words the page i found this text on is https://angusnicneven.com/quolle_cencuun_pellsen_en_somet_nac the text i have found is Essac teiyosess, ent ollrah oyen esseteiya. Somet nac, somet nac....

riddle language

oAlt

10:00

@Jafe the DIDGERIDOO is a maker of music (specifically, a wind instrument). For the wordplay, "Is it true that one of the Spice Girls did nothing" = "Is it true that Geri did O" = DID GERI DO O, where Geri = one of the Spice Girls

Jafe

that's it

Jafe

10:11

looks like the mtc bot is back in action

oAlt

10:44

@Jafe epic

I'm not satisfied with this clue but I don't have time to make a higher-quality one

CCCC: One not welcome in free-flowing prose competition happening at the end: blatantly, thoughtlessly, plagiarizing Hearts Returning and Soon Embraced (7, 3, 5)

Jafe

11:14

pretty sure i know the answer to this one but can't make the middle part work... ugh

2 hours later…

AncientSwordRage

13:32

@Jafe I've got no idea where to start, so you have one up on me 😅

Jafe

hehehe

a PERSONA NON GRATA is "one not welcome", and it contains PERSO* (free-flowing prose), NG (comptetition happening, at the end) and ATA (blatantly, thoughtlessly, plagiarizing hearts)

but no idea how to get the missing NANO and R from the remaining bits

oAlt

@Jafe really close! For now I'll nudge you a bit by saying that you might want to recheck the hearts.

Jafe

a-ha, plagiarizing heart is actually AR... so it's actually blatantly, thoughtlessly plagiarizing hearts backwards for RATA<

the NANO for "and soon embraced" remains a mystery... but i assume not for long

1 hour later…

M Oehm

14:49

ANON means soon.

Jafe

aha!

so it's ATAR+ANON all backwards?

M Oehm

PROSE* + ANON in (...N ...G + (...RA... + ...T... + ...A...)<), I'd say

Jafe

nice

M Oehm

Well, you solved it. I'm not going to claim this one just because I foud the last missing bit.

oAlt

15:09

@MOehm yup! And I also think @Jafe should set the next one.

Jafe

mmkay

CCCC: Sort of inner fire (7)

oAlt

INFERNO* :D

Jafe

thaaaat is correct!

oAlt

15:38

CCCC: Greek character and [Sort of inner fire] originally nicked to make acid (7)

Sphinx

Q: Help me with this triangles-and-points iq puzzle, please!

This puzzle is part of the Monthly Topic Challenge #2: IQ Puzzle Parody Fill in one of the answer choices 'C' and 'D' for A, and fill in an answer for B.

enigmatic-puzzle visual progressive-matrix

4 hours later…

Sphinx

19:31

Q: Find the formula that maximizes profit of 2 compounding accounts

(Migrated from Money Stack Exchange) I have two compound interest accounts, Account A, which has 0.5% yearly interest, but I have to keep \$30,000 there to unlock some bonus; and Account B, which has 2% yearly interest. Transferring between the two accounts costs \$0.5. I only want to keep \$30,0...