The Sphinx's Lair

« first day (3679 days earlier) ← previous day next day → last day (260 days later) »

msh210

01:32

@Jafe @DannyuNDos that actually works better than my intended solution does, so go ahead. I intended NICE as a ddef (very small, and commune in mainland Europe).

Dannyu NDos

01:49

CCCC: Yellow conjunction (2)

oAlt

02:46

@DannyuNDos or ddef

Dannyu NDos

@oAlt Yup!

oAlt

03:33

CCCC: Company in currency (4)

May 29, 2021 at 9:10, by oAlt

yall get an easy one, i have no time to think further

juicifer

03:46

@oAlt co in

oAlt

@juicifer yep

juicifer

CCCC: .01 in China's currency (4)

Jafe

04:20

.O I in CN = coin again

juicifer

@Jafe yep

Jafe

05:14

CCCC: 0.01 in Hong Kong's currency shipped over the air (4)

M Oehm

@Jafe CENT, sounds like sent

(I half-expected "French corner currency (4)")

Jafe

correct

hehe, apparently it's also what french ducks say

"coin coin"

M Oehm

Ha! That's probably a canard.

CCCC: How's things in Guatemala City? It's about the last letter in currency (7)

Jafe

05:42

¿qué t(Z)al?

M Oehm

¡Por supuesto!

M Oehm

06:13

(Just to be sure: Yeah, that's it.)

But I guess you were just busy concocting a nifty clue for "Stotinka".

Jafe

06:26

devouring a red snapper, actually

i liked your clue btw

CCCC: Fictional Philadelphian currency that's unstable (5,6)

msh210

07:10

@Jafe rocky balboa ddef

oAlt

@MOehm Oh nice, I don't think I would have found a good way to clue that

Jafe

@msh210 aye

msh210

CCCC: Currency of Central America (5)

oAlt

07:25

Gotta be meric then /j

@msh210 I wonder if this is actually a ddef for colon/colón with ":" being part of the actual clue...

Jafe

ahahah that's pretty sneaky if that is it

msh210

@oAlt yes indeed

oAlt

Oh wow

@Jafe (2)

Sphinx

07:48

Q: What am I doing?

Recently I was doing something: At the start of it I was in Japan. Then, I decided to go to Uruguay. After leaving there, I found myself in Slovenia. Later, I went to Turkey and found some large space. The next day, I appeared in Wales. Before I knew it, I reappeared in Armenia. A while later, I...

acrostic

oAlt

08:00

CCCC: Central American department mistakenly equates a PC with easy shortcut (12)

Jafe

sacatepéqu* + ez

= a department of guatemala

went through the entire list like "damn, no name contains Q with no Z" until it was like "hey wait a minute"

oAlt

@Jafe yep

thanks juicifer

M Oehm

Guatemala, the Scrabbler's paradise ...

msh210

nothin', guatemala with you?

(take-off on an old joke: "What's the difference between a gnat and a gnatterbaby?" ―"What's a gnatterbaby?" ―"Nothing, what's a gnatter with you?")

Jafe

08:27

hehe

oAlt

Lol

I've heard the more direct version where it just uses "matter baby"

Jafe

09:01

CCCC: Originally, señor Alvarado's order: Getting new city built on Cuzcatlán territory (3,8)

msh210

09:28

@Jafe s_ a(N)salvador*

Sphinx

Q: King and Pawn Endgame

Here comes another retrograde chess puzzle, this time focussing on just the history behind the pawn structure. Constructing this was a fun challenge and I think the result is pretty cute. :) Can you tell the order in which the pawns arrived at their final squares? Can you determine the paths they...

chess retrograde-analysis

Jafe

@msh210 yessir

which was actually founded by an alvarado but could't quite make the &lit work

msh210

if only señor were abbreviated sn

(I'm not saying I have an &lit in that case… just that I imagine one would be easier to construct)

Jafe

probably yeah

msh210

CCCC: It features large, slow movements: it isn't inclined to fart explosively (11,5)

Jafe

09:35

i can think of a few people who are immediately ruled out

Stiv

09:52

@msh210 CONTINENTAL DRIFT = NTINCLINEDTOFART*

or 'NT + INCLINEDTOFART* more likely

msh210

10:31

@Stiv yep

msh210

10:51

nice find

Stiv

I had an idea from the first part seeming like a definition and the long first word in the enumeration, and realised I almost had the right letters for anagram fodder. Just had to spot where the last two came from!

Stiv

11:07

CCCC: Oil thief freely manipulated to get a comfortable existence (3,4,2,5)

msh210

the life of Riley *

Stiv

@msh210 Yep

Nov 29, 2023 at 19:31, by Stiv

@MrClarinico Is this maybe LIFE OF RILEY by the Lightning Seeds? Clued by 'Music' and using R(I)(L)EY (although I'm not sure 'LIFE OF' is explicitly clued anyhow...?)

Been waiting a while to actually do one using this :)

(after my false accusation a while back)

msh210

CCCC: Spencer see-saw, maybe (6)

1 hour later…

PDT

12:17

So annoyed I worked out that flag puzzle out almost immediately after the hint was posted but wasted all that time looking for a country flag which didn’t exist!

*the logic behind it

juicifer

12:47

@oAlt glad I could help lol

oAlt

13:12

5 hours later…

Sphinx

17:54

Q: Looking for some words or phrases

I'm not sure if this is the right Community to ask this. If not, please advise which one is. Thanx I would like to find some words or short phrases that have the letter sequence E-I-E-I-O. For example: _ E _ I E ... I _ ... _ ... _ O _ _ _ _ Ans: GENIE IN A BOTTLE (ignore the ... dots) I have tri...