The Sphinx's Lair

oAlt

00:44

Ahh

Sphinx

03:20

0

Q: What is the CMLL Algorithm that fits this particular case?

I am writing a Rubik's cube solver using Python and I successfully implemented the CFOP method in my solver. Now, I am trying to add the Roux method algorithms into my code. When I tried to add the CMLL algorithms and run the solver, I came across this interesting case. I couldn't find the right ...

rubiks-cube

PDT

04:37

Damn PSE is dead atm

Ankoganit

04:52

Yeah this place tends to be inactive over the weekends

M Oehm

08:18

It's suddenly getting quite crowded here -- for a Sunday.

So the C4 looks as if it were a homophone of (a certain Mark + D). Comedy or parody kinda fits "seriously funny", but I can't find any Marks with a fitting surname.

Unless the "certain mark" is para, short for paragraph mark? Hm, not super likely.

PDT

It funny the puzzles subreddit is popping harder than here these days maybe we should all hop on there instead

@ M Oehm it was intended to be ‘comma d’ the Mark was just supposed to be a clue for a punctuation mark I apologize if this is yet another rule I have broken I don’t really know the ins and outs of cryptic clues too well.

Jafe

if something is seriously funny it's weird (as in not funny ha ha but the other thing), which is the name of a notable Mark (Weir, a mixed martial artist) plus D... but that leaves the broadcast unused and is the wrong number of letters

PDT

Better clue would have been ‘it’s seriously funny’

Jafe

tl;dr i got nothin'

M Oehm

@PDT Oh, you didn't have to spell out the answer. I just wanted to stir up a bit of discussion about the C4. Otherwise I'd have mde it "official", i.e with a ping to you and in all caps.

I don't see anything wrong with your clue. I was just a bit thick and didn't see that the mark is a comma. (In hindsight, my suggestion "para" looks a bit silly.)

PDT

08:33

I assumed that my clue was flawed judging from your statement so i decided to spill the beans to avoid any frustrations plus you already had the answer more or less

M Oehm

Fo what it's worth, I like the misdirection of "a certain Mark". I looked for surnames.

PDT

I thought that was against the rules

I felt super silly

Also does the clue have to be a direct synonym or could it just be a description of the answer, like ‘blue in color’ = sky

M Oehm

It should be a direct synonym or at least something that can replace the answer. "Blue in colour" is an attribute, "sky" is a noun, so that doesn't work. "Something blue in colour" might work, perhaps even "it's blue in colour".

But the definition doesn't have to of the same word type (or even pronunciation) in the surface reading.

@PDT For the record: homophone of both COMMA + D = COMEDY

(There are also rules about capitalization. I think it's okay to clue mark with Mark, but not the other way round. But perhaps I got that the wrong way round.)

msh210

09:16

@PDT makes it tough to withdraw cash

oAlt

@MOehm I agree with this

I abandoned the idea of Mark being a common noun too quickly

@PDT I also agree that it's a good clue, just that "being seriously funny" should have been "being something seriously funny" or "it's seriously funny" (as you correctly stated). No worries.

M Oehm

09:37

CCCC: Who can say what happens when ATM's down out of office hours? Short engine misfires around Swiss hero (6, 2, 7)

msh210

@MOehm there's no telling = who can say what happens = when ATM's down out of office hours = shortengine* around Tell

M Oehm

@msh210 Who can say whether that's correct or not? :)

(It is, though.)

msh210

heh

CCCC: Saw things that weren't there (maybe things like a mask and gloves) when surrounded by excrement from the backside (7)

Jafe

10:06

tri(PPE)d<

msh210

@Jafe sure did

Stiv

10:27

Have just discovered this awesome sudoku by Prasanna Seshadri on GMP (have been working my way through the site's novel sudokus of late) - thoroughly recommended, really satisfying :)

Jafe

CCCC: Witness to backalley murder to provoke boyfriend verbally (5,5)

sneak-edited because it's better like this

Sphinx

11:13

0

Q: I am international anyway

When I was zero, I was Central African. When I was one, I was Japanese. When I was two, I was Laotian. When I was three, I was Dominican. When I was four, I was Danish. When I was five, I was Barbadian. When I was six, I was Estonian. When I was seven, I was Beninese. When I was eight, I was Geo...

knowledge enigmatic-puzzle

msh210

11:57

witness to backalley murder sounds like James Stewart…

M Oehm

12:08

More like Greta Gar-"beau". (But I have no idea how that could work.)

msh210

to grate a gar means to provoke, doesn't it?

(quickly adds the entry to Wiktionary)

M Oehm

Then edit the Wikipedia page to have her witnessed a backalley murder.

(She might have in one of her films, of course.)

msh210

@MOehm I didn't find any, but I didn't look too hard

M Oehm

There's also this guy called Human Elbow, but frankly, as a witness, he sucks.

msh210

12:27

Maybe Someone Wayne = "something swain", but I can't find any such, either.

M Oehm

As child, Bruce Wayne witnessed his parents' death in a street mugging, so that's a hot lead!

msh210

ah, I didn't know that

to brew means to incite, I guess; I think you've got it

@Jafe

M Oehm

I thought you should take it. I'd never have thought of swain.

msh210

& I'd never have thought of Bruce

so we're even

M Oehm

Scissors!

msh210

12:42

lizard, because I don't remember whether it beats or is beaten by scissors. Now I'll go look it up…

ah, scissors decapitate lizard

M Oehm

This can go on all day. And I was just about to provoke a cup of coffee, so:

@Jafe BRUCE WAYNE, sounds like brew swain.

Jafe

13:05

yup

M Oehm

13:18

CCCC: Seating arrangement material swallowed regularly (7)

oAlt

Mar 12, 2021 at 2:36, by Jafe

this exchange gives me an idea for a social competition: the nice-off

Jafe

hehe

oAlt

@MOehm Anyway, this is ingesta* I think

Jafe

ahh i was just thinking if it was an anagram and was considering "eatings"!

oAlt

Food/nourishment taken through the digestive tract

Yeah I considered that also haha

Jafe

13:28

trying the sudoku stiv posted above...

oAlt

Lol

M Oehm

@oAlt Yes, that's it.

@Jafe Yeah. I wanted to take a cheap shot at the "seating arrangement" puzzles, but in the end it wasn't as biting or funny as I wanted it to be. AEGINST makes for a lot of anagrams, but many of them end in -ings, so I discounted them. (But didn't realize that eatings might fit as well.)

Anyway, over to you, oAlt.

Stiv

13:50

@Jafe I'm no sudoku pro - I think this one took me about 30 mins to solve but it has some really enjoyable deductions along the way.

oAlt

14:14

This next one's dedicated to a field I hate

CCCC: Group theory's gruesome, ultimately... it destroys me (3)

msh210

field of study, or field like the rationals?

oAlt

cries

Jafe

maybe a field like that of the nationals

oAlt

oh that rhymes

Jafe

i'll get muh coat

msh210

14:19

@oAlt maybe _p _s _e = Puzzling Stack Exchange, it destroys you?

oAlt

@msh210 assuming that's a serious answer, no that was not what I intended

msh210

it was indeed

oAlt

I'd like to say PSE challenges rather than destroys me

msh210

fair enough

M Oehm

That's SET = (_t _s _e)*

@oAlt ^

oAlt

14:25

@MOehm That probably has a "theory" unaccounted for

But of course, you're very close

M Oehm

Yeah, I just noticed. Personally, I don't care much about theory ...

oAlt

hah

Jafe

@Stiv 86 min here, heh

Stiv

@Jafe Ah, well maybe that's just my current exposure to doing these semi-regularly winning through :) It's rare I end up beating any of their timing standards at all...

Jafe

really liked the colouring bit there

also i wanna know how they got penpa to highlight errors o_O

aha, there's a "constraints" option, i bet it's that... TIL

Stiv

14:40

Still so much about penpa I need to learn...

oAlt

15:04

The wordplay is wrong, but...

Stiv

I think it might be (-theory)S (-gruesom)E + (-i)T where 'it destroys me' suggests removing 'i' from 'it'

oAlt

@Stiv yep there we go

Stiv

Who knew there were so many ways to try and parse one clue, eh?!

Got to be honest, 'PSE' was my first thought too, and I just thought you had some self-esteem issues going on!

oAlt

Loll

Stiv