The Sphinx's Lair

Ryan M

00:00

(I'm partly asking as someone trying to learn what's considered fair in my own cluing)

oAlt

I think it's okay (or at least I've seen it before but with "a" instead of "one") but it's certainly less obtainable than just "republic", and it's not common, so I don't use it a lot

I guess here the "one"/"a" is absent in the surface because if it were there then it would ruin the surface, but outside of that I would normally use one/a in the surface

Ryan M

Yeah, you could maybe do something like "Band - one near Georgia, perhaps" although that's less good as a surface

oAlt

Agreed

oAlt

00:24

And yes, I forgot to mention that I also still haven't found what the first hint implies...

Jafe

don't think i'd use "one" in the clue if it's one of the words in the answer

Ryan M

Yeah, it's also a less good clue for that reason. On the other hand, maybe it's reverse psychology and you'd try to find a synonym when you don't need one...

("any from Georgia" could also work, but that's maybe an even worse surface...)

juicifer

01:30

@oAlt yes! nice find, and well done interpreting the hint :)

@RyanM yeah this clue maybe could've used a question mark, but the logic was that georgia is one (example of a) republic

Ryan M

@juicifer any hints about the other hint? :-p

juicifer

and yeah it was definitely a case of making it a better surface

PolygonPotpourri

Nice, @oAlt!

juicifer

@RyanM it's a 3 letter word concatenated to an 8 letter word (I forgot they mashed it together so I almost wrote the enum as (3 8) before I double-checked)

PolygonPotpourri

New clue soon?

juicifer

01:32

whenever oAlt gets around to it, yeah

@juicifer to follow up on this: I was trying to come up with a name of a country that wouldn't make it obvious what was going on, which is why I went with one that's also a US state

I was gonna go with something like "Jordan and a bunch of other players" before I remembered that Jordan is a kingdom lol

Ryan M

There's also this band from Georgia, but unfortunately OneRepublic is not from Georgia, so it's not an &lit! :-p

oAlt

@juicifer oh yeah that's evil lol

CCCC: Visitor made a hunch for the listeners (5)

@PolygonPotpourri thanks

Ryan M

@oAlt Guest? ("guess" hom.)

eerrrr

juicifer

probably "guessed"

Ryan M

"guessed" hom.

you can decide who got that first :-p

oAlt

01:42

@juicifer correct, but I'm not sure who goes next

juicifer

I think ryan deserves it more than I do

he was 80% of the way there lol

Ryan M

I shoulda skipped the "eerrrr", I'd probably have gotten it out first :-p

oAlt

@juicifer Sure thing, @RyanM you next :)

Ryan M

CCCC: Light way to read (6)

oAlt

@juicifer by the way, I think I found it by searching "apologize synonym" but along the way a search suggestion for the song Apologize came up

juicifer

01:50

heh

Prince North Læraðr

02:01

@juicifer so what about the part of speech mismatch?

Ryan M

part of speech mismatch?

Prince North Læraðr

ohhh no no nvm

"georgia, perhaps" was the other

i was confusing myself

PolygonPotpourri

02:39

@RyanM I think this one’s either a ddef. (Light, way to read) or a regular (C+way = read)

Prince North Læraðr

It can also very much be LIGHT + (RD, ST, AVE)= TO READ or LIGHT = (ST, WAY, RD)+READ

I wonder if it's BEACON

CON can mean "to read" (archaic for studying) and BEACON is certainly a light

Trying to see how BEA could be way

Or "light way" is BEACON and to read is "BE (A) CON"?

Prince North Læraðr

03:04

Could “to” be “be a” and then read be “CON”, where the definition is “light way” BEACON?

PolygonPotpourri

@PrinceNorthLæraðr I don’t think so.

Ryan M

@PrinceNorthLæraðr That's not what I was going for, no

PolygonPotpourri

Possibly something like CANDLE? A light, and you can read with it?

oAlt

03:38

@RyanM Is this kindle ddef, light as a verb and Amazon Kindle as a way to read?

Ryan M

@PolygonPotpourri also not it, it should be a more confident answer than that once you get it, IMHO

@oAlt yep!

juicifer

oh nice

oAlt

CCCC: Game's score changing, 100 added (6)

juicifer

@oAlt soc(C)er*

oAlt

@juicifer yep

juicifer

03:43

CCCC: Maybe I promise to get on train (5)

oAlt

@juicifer vow gets on (next to) el (train, elevated railway) = vowel (maybe i)

juicifer

@oAlt precisely

oAlt

CCCC: Explorer da Gama captured by moving into a part of Canada (4 6)

PolygonPotpourri

NOVASCOTIA? VASCO captured by moving(into a) = part of Canada?

oAlt

@PolygonPotpourri Yup!

PolygonPotpourri

04:05

CCCC: Number of capes without hats (1)

Ankoganit

@PolygonPotpourri is this e (number), CAPES without CAPS

oAlt

Ah just got there too

PolygonPotpourri

@Ankoganit Indeed it is!

Ryan M

04:27

@RyanM also, at a stretch, arguably ddef &lit!: I have one that is, in fact, pretty light (as in weight).

Ankoganit

04:39

CCCC: Foresight of obscure band (3,8)

oAlt

Gotta be One Republic again (kidding)

Ryan M

@Ankoganit Foo Fighters = FORESIGHTOF*

Ankoganit

04:55

@RyanM yep!

Ryan M

CCCC: Writing after small dash (6)

PolygonPotpourri

S + PRINT = SPRINT?

Ryan M

yep!

PolygonPotpourri

I hope this one isn’t too strange…

CCCC: Blank things; blank things without enough consonants. For real? Crazy! (5)

Ryan M

based on some of the strange ones in this channel, "I hope this one isn’t too strange…" is a slightly concerning statement ;)

PolygonPotpourri

05:02

Just treat it like normal, though.

Ryan M

05:13

good thing I have absolutely no idea how that could result in a five-letter word, because I have exhausted my supply of prepared clues.

PolygonPotpourri

Hold on, tell me about the weird clues.

Ryan M

really I don't think anything can top this one for sheer weirdness of the surface, at least, but in terms of mechanical weirdness (while still being fair cluing - all parts of the clue are reasonable, but the way it's put together mechanically is in fact very unusual) this one is a great example.

PolygonPotpourri

05:29

I see.

Sphinx

06:08

0

Q: Packing cubes into spheres

Packing problems are well known, often hard and sometimes fun. If we want to pack unit squares into a circle then this beautiful page shows some solutions. One interesting feature is shown first in the 6 square case where the best known solution does not involve all the squares being aligned with...

Jafe

06:42

missing clue added in the enemy puzzle, sorry for all the confusion

Jafe

06:52

re: c4, the consonants in "enough" are NGH so i think we need to take those out of the word "things" and do something with the remainder

Sphinx

0

Q: Perfect squares cross-number

Put a single digit in each cell of the grid below so that every number formed by reading across rows or down columns is a perfect square. Here's the fine print. We do not allow leading 0's. Using a given perfect square more than once is okay. Attribution: Erich Friedman

mathematics no-computers

oAlt

08:48

@Jafe yay

The Empty String Photographer

I searched for all 5 letter words with the letters t,i,s using Qat and found a word that’s very promising: omits

I think the answer is `omits`
“Things without enough consonants” -> things - ngh -> tis (thanks @Jafe)
tis + ? -> omits

? could be “for real?” -> om “(Oh my!)”

and if a person omits something, they blank things.

________________________________________
Now we wait…

Ryan M

09:32

"for real crazy" could be, arguably, an anagram of "for". but ... I don't know what you'd do with that.

PolygonPotpourri

@TheEmptyStringPhotographer No, that's not it. Sorry...

Also, all punctuation can be ignored, and I think you're close-ish.

Ryan M

09:49

@PolygonPotpourri TESP, or the room as a whole?

PolygonPotpourri

@RyanM What's TESP?

Ryan M

The Empty String Photographer

sorry, I was being lazy with my typing

PolygonPotpourri

@RyanM Yeah, I think it's for his solution.

I don't see any others.

Ryan M

Ah I just meant the discussion of parts of it

PolygonPotpourri

Just to be clear, the punctuation is purely for decoration purposes. I apologise if you were misled.

@RyanM Right. I won't reveal anything about it until tomorrow, so you'll have to wait, I'm afraid. ;)

Sphinx

10:59

2

Q: A set of five (one is missing!)

Find which car is missing and then tell me the 6-letter answer that describes this puzzle.

word knowledge enigmatic-puzzle visual

The Empty String Photographer

Using Qat again, I found another promising word: lacks

“Blank things without enough consonants”

We remove the consonants in enough from blank things to get blacktis, and an anagram of that is lacks.

Which could mean blank things

PolygonPotpourri

11:40

@TheEmptyStringPhotographer Hm... no... it's a bit too much of a stretch to work.

Anybody else?

msh210

12:09

@PolygonPotpourri I assume if anyone had, they'd say so, even without the extra prompt.

auburn

12:45

Is it RIFTS? "Things without enough consonants" -> "Things - ngh" -> TIS + FR ("For real" internet slang), "Crazy" means to anagram the result to RIFTS which could mean "Blank things".

another anagram for TISFR is FIRST, so maybe "Blank things; blank" is a definition ("blank" is the first word of "blank things"). I think that's more of a stretch but it does use the second blank in the clue...

TakingNotes

RIFTS definitely seems like the way way better candidate, and i reckon it's probably the right solution - but it does seem to leave a 'blank' in the clue that has no purpose at all

PolygonPotpourri

13:39

@auburn This is the right answer! Yeah, the definition part was a bit scuffed with '____ things ____' being the definition, and spoken blanks and an obstructing semicolon making things unintuitive. I profusely apologise if this made you groan more than it made you laugh.

auburn

I liked the clue! I had a ohh realisation when I realised that "___ things ____" could be a definition

PolygonPotpourri

@auburn You did!? I thought more people would look at me and shame!

auburn

CCCC: Miami actively hated to the end of time? (4,5)

Well, I thought I had it with RIFTS, but I realised that didn't use the second "blank", so I thought about it some more, and then the realisation hit

PolygonPotpourri

@auburn Ready for a new scuffed technique, now in definition form?

auburn

sure, I'm always down for scuffed and somewhat questionable crossword techniques

PolygonPotpourri

13:46

Answer = HEAT DEATH, Miami HEAT + actively(HATED) to [the end of time]

auburn

yep!

I was debating about if "the end of time" as a definition needed a question mark or not. the most reliable source of all time, Quora, says that technically it's not the end of time, it's simply that time has no meaning afterwards

PolygonPotpourri

CCCC: Compounds British cash, attacks tramps (6)

@auburn Would you be okay if I used 'empty', 'nothing', or 'what'?

auburn

Sorry I don't understand the question. In your previous clue?

PolygonPotpourri

@auburn Yeah.

auburn

personally I think it would still be valid, the definition format ___ things ____ is kinda exploitable that way since the actual word used doesn't matter, just its position in relation to the phrase

I've only very recently gotten into cryptics so maybe people who are more experienced will feel differently ;)

PolygonPotpourri

13:53

@auburn You could ask @Jafe about it.

juicifer

@PolygonPotpourri so wait, we were basically just supposed to ignore the two instances of the word "blank" and use "things" as the definition?

or am I not understanding you correctly

PolygonPotpourri

@juicifer No, it's '____ things ____'.

Blank meaning '____'.

juicifer

but what purpose do the _____s serve

PolygonPotpourri

To fill them with FIRST's.

FIRST things FIRST.

auburn

ohh

juicifer

13:58

ohhhhh ok

auburn

I thought the definition was "Blank things; blank", as in, "where is the word 'Blank' in 'Blank things?' it's the first word"

juicifer

I'm not sure that really works as a definition but I really like the creativity!

PolygonPotpourri

Thank you! I was worried I'd get more groans than ahas.

Ankoganit

It's fun, even if unconventional

I think if it was just actual blanks instead of the word "blank" it would be completely legal too

PolygonPotpourri

It wouldn't fit in the sentence, though.

Ankoganit

14:02

The general rule of thumb is if it's legal in a quick crossword, it's okay for a cryptic crossword, and quick crosswords definitely have blanks as a clue certain words

@PolygonPotpourri true, that's probably why these are not used in published puzzles

juicifer

@PolygonPotpourri could this be POUNDS 4def?

PolygonPotpourri

@juicifer Indeed-ly doo!

Ankoganit

Ah, nice

juicifer

yeah well done

PolygonPotpourri

I only just realised I left 'comPOUNDS' in there.

juicifer

14:06

yeah that's what threw me off at first lmao

CCCC: In the end, pays British cash for fried food (5)

PolygonPotpourri

@juicifer _s + QUID = SQUID

juicifer

spot on

oAlt

@juicifer @PolygonPotpourri yeah same, the definition should define "rifts". "Blank things" could maybe define rifts because there's nothing but empty space within a rift, but "Blank things blank" or "___ things ___" doesn't really define rifts.

But the consonants thingy is probably fair game (thought not common), and anagramming but with some of the letters represented by words that mean those letters (provided those letters are also the first letters of the words) (like what was done with for real → FR) is also fair game

juicifer

@oAlt first was the intended answer, not rifts

oAlt

Oh, whoops. I looked back at the message and it turns out I missed it even though it was there all along

Sorry about that

In that case, I still understand what you were going for, but I think "What goes in the blank in blank things blank" would be a better definition although it doesn't make the surface better

Ankoganit

14:17

Ig the actual issue is indirect anagram, not sure if this has been mentioned already

oAlt

@Ankoganit for me it doesn't really feel too indirect (compared to anagramming a synonym) since all the letters are there: TIS in things, and FR are the first letters of for real which can also be abbreviated FR

But agreed that there's certainly much more work to do

And it's also not a common device

Ankoganit

Yeah it's kinda in the grey area

Or seen another way, it's cutting edge

oAlt

yeah

PolygonPotpourri

Yeah, the clue's... strange, to say the least.

That's why I warned you right below the clue.

oAlt

👌

Ankoganit

14:21

yeah dw about it lol, it was a good bit of fun

oAlt

yeah ultimately no worries

Ankoganit

I assure you my first cryptic was more questionable and less creative

PolygonPotpourri

Thank you, guys!

Anyways, clue time!

CCCC: Now trapped by container clue (5)

Ankoganit

Honestly I'm just glad more people are getting into cryptics, when I try to get irl friends to do these they look at me weird

5

juicifer

yeah my first clue also had something pretty unorthodox going on

PolygonPotpourri

14:26

@juicifer Woah. That is innovative, and I think better than mine too!

juicifer

thanks :)

PolygonPotpourri

'Would you be okay if I used 'empty', 'nothing', or 'what'?' (for the blanks)

oAlt

@Ankoganit Speaking of questions, I hope no one looks at my second question on PSE because the clues there are also strange. And I think I've broken a few rules already in my early C4 days

@PolygonPotpourri Now that I think about it I think the word blank itself would have been fine

PolygonPotpourri

@oAlt Huh.

Sphinx

17:20

0

Q: Can you find what these letters might be?

ZXCSDE XCVDFR CVBFGT BNMHJU And if you want to do a similar pattern: QWESDX ERTFGV TYUHJN YUIJKM

pattern lateral-thinking

Sphinx

19:57

2

Q: The answer is not wrong

If the answer is not wrong, then what is the answer? 4th 2nd 3rd 4th 4th

word enigmatic-puzzle visual

juicifer

@oAlt I was inspired by this, so I spent way too much of my time cooking up a spreadsheet containing medal results for every c4 series so far, and compiled the results into the official c4 medal table: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/…

3

huge thanks to everyone who's worked on the main archive, without which this would've been a completely impossible task

clicksaver: @Jafe leads with 15 gold medals, followed by @oAlt with 13 and @msh210 with 9

(oh and if you authored one of these series and you have a better name for it than the one I came up with, lmk and I'll change it)

I could probably bring out an endless amount of fun facts, but easily my favorite so far is as follows: we've had 34 completed series so far, but due to ties, we've actually awarded 47 gold medals. there have been ties for silver and bronze, but the ties have completely canceled each other out, so we've nonetheless awarded exactly 34 silver medals and 34 bronze medals!

msh210

20:21

@juicifer gosh

Sphinx

21:05

1

Q: Fill a grid with numbers so that each row/column calculation yields the same number

Using all the integers 1 through 9, each exactly once, put a number into each square in the grid below so that the result of each row and column calculation is 5. All operations are performed "left to right" or "top down". Oh, wait! You say there is no solution. Okay, you can change some subtrac...

mathematics calculation-puzzle grid-deduction

Sphinx

23:19

0

Q: Groups of three words that appear to be an adjective, its comparative, and its superlative -- but aren't

I apologize in advance if this doesn't belong here. Not sure which SE is the best fit. I've come across three groups of words that are formed like an adjective, its comparative, and its superlative, but aren't-- Temp, temper, tempest Hone, honer, honest Dive, diver, divest --and am wondering if a...

word

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