The Sphinx's Lair

12:16 AM

@AncientSwordRage no but you can get it from LES RAISINS

@msh210 🤦🏻‍♂️

12:32 AM

lol

2 hours later…

2:58 AM

@oAlt Monte Carlo (a ward) = ETC* in ROMAN* + O by _L

wow cipher as 0 never crossed my mind

3:18 AM

@juicifer That was a possibility for me from early on, but I kept looking for …OL words.

@msh210 correct!

CCCC: Spoken like a bartendress for a section of London (5,4)

4:09 AM

Ha! I had the same idea as msh210 (and considered 0 and 1 as ciphers) but didn't associate Monte Carlo as "ward". Well done.

@msh210 as you dance, charon stands perfectly still without breaking eye contact and is like "Mm hmm. Keep going... Keep. Going."

4:35 AM

why does there have to be so many parts of london...

Maida Vale sounds promising, but even if it has a (bar) maid in it, I can't see how the clue works. (My working hypothesis is: homophone of bartendress, def. is section of London.)

^ same

4:58 AM

Could be Abbey Road. Abby Rhodes is the name of many fictional and real people. Lawyers, soccer players, wrestlers, but no barmaids, unfortunately. (Not on the first page of search results, anyway.)

5:28 AM

could be "like a bartendress" as well... like if -avail was a suffix that meant -like then it could be maida vale for "maid-avail"

5:43 AM

Why bartendress, not, say, charwoman?

aha, is it "maid of ale"?!

@Jafe there you go!

hah that's clever... m oehm was right there too

ugh, only one clue left in my backlog and it's... well, this

thanks; and yes he was

CCCC: Oxford university city (5)

5:51 AM

clearly it's SHOE + U = Shoeu, a city in the great nation of Footwearo

heheh

6:26 AM

OX-for-D?

@Jafe ahh, clever @msh210

6:44 AM

@oAlt thanks

7:09 AM

Lots of Oxfords around the world. Some of them probably even have universities. (The one in Mississippi is called Ole Miss, which is too long and not a city.)

Ah, wait!

@MOehm oh thank you! It's Miami

@MOehm oh did you just find that, too?

Grr. yes, you're welcome. :)

Take it. It's yours by right.

Thanks, I'll gladly accept that. (I have one ready that probably won't take long.)

CCCC: Portugal! Double of seafood portion, get in touch with my belly! (11)

@MOehm nice

7:13 AM

I found out about the universities in Oxford when looking up airport codes. (And I should really wait for Jafe's confirmation. Sorry, got a bit carried away there.)

@Jafe: It's a dd: MIAMI

yup

Bit of a penny-drop moment, shared between msh210 and me, independently.

@MOehm not independently! Your comment about Oxfords with universities gave it to me. That's why I said it's yours by right

@MOehm great surface hehe

Yeah, but I wouldn't have posted that if I had thought the line more promising and the number of Oxfords less overwhelming. Then I looked back at my IATA results and regretted sharing my secrets. So thanks for letting me post the C4 (Chris Cudmore's Culinary Clue).

@Jafe Thanks. Too bad I couldn't use the original "in my belly".

2 hours later…

9:24 AM

@MOehm I much prefer this to my attempt

Thanks, but you get the prize for quick response.

10:05 AM

@MOehm speed isn't everything, and also it's unsolved 🤷‍♂️

1 hour later…

11:25 AM

"Portugal double" could be a Portuguese word for two/pair/twice, or "double of seafood" could be "oo". The only synonym for "belly" I've seen that's 11 letters long is "breadbasket" which doesn't seem to match the clue.

Apparently MW says "corporation" is another synonym of "belly", and I can see "portion" = "ration"... I'm not seeing anything with "corpo" yet

And how "get in touch with" works remains a mystery to me

11:48 AM

"i'm the owner of a large corporation"

11:58 AM

I've had some similar thoughts. Possibly also an answer might end with CALL+_Y if 'belly' is interpreted as 'underside' (though how anything else could mean 'Portugal!' I'm not sure). One other thing I wondered is if the answer might be EXCLAMATION, where we have our CLAM seafood in the middle. Still, no dice yet.

I definitely like 'oo' as 'double of seafood'

12:12 PM

and with portugal = p, we get poo

@MOehm @oAlt I think CORPORATION (belly) works: COR (my!) + P (Portugal) + O (seafood's 'double') + RATION (portion)

Oh right!! I forgot "cor" existed as an interjection...

@Stiv Correct!

Took me a while to realise the word didn't have to begin with P...!

Nice spot

12:21 PM

A definite assist from you there

Yes, that was the purpose of the awkward "get in touch" bit.

12:43 PM

CCCC: Dunce gathering a little nugget of importance (6)

1:02 PM

@Stiv DONKEY (dunce) = DO (gathering; party) + N (a little "nugget") + KEY (of importance)

@oAlt Spot on :)

CCCC: T. (6)

@oAlt Ha! PERIOD - ddef

@Stiv hehe yup

Sneaky

1:08 PM

haha nice

that's gotta be one of the shortest c4s

Hehe yeah I was trying to beat "UK? (4)" hahah

nice!

I honestly don't know if it can get shorter than that but by all means let's surpass each other's expectations lol

CCCC: Spanish kingdom almost lost after lava engulfs monarch (6)

1:25 PM

@Stiv ARAGON = GON (Almost lost (gone)) after AA (type of lava) engulfs R (king/rex)

@oAlt Again, yes :) Now hit us with your one-character CCCC!

Ahahahah

CCCC: Composer of Ring, with a hopeless one, hides nothing (6)

Sphinx

1:48 PM

Q: An abandoned Connect Wall

The 16 prompts below may be separated into 4 groups. Additionally, there is a word absent from the wall which may be placed in all four of those groups. Beaver Cheat Cod Direction Elf Fuzzy Wuzzy Jackson Krill Mountain Meadow Negate Outer Space Sternal Strait Sum U Waxer Can...

@oAlt W A G(-o)NER

@juicifer Correct!

My life would have been easier if "wagoner" were an actual word lol

2:19 PM

CCCC: Without leading experts, study likely shortened (4)

2:47 PM

@juicifer prob(e_). Cute.

3:03 PM

@msh210 yes indeed

3:14 PM

CCCC: Hermione's potion is near-yellow. (7)

3:26 PM

@msh210 Hermione GINGOLD (English actress) = GIN (a potion, specifically liquor) is near GOLD (a shade of yellow)

(Interestingly, she was born in the answer of your previous C4. :0)

@msh210 cadmium en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmus_et_Hermione ?

As usual, someone swoops in with a much better answer 😅