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05:59
@LeppyR64 Another processed image for you! (minor spoilers but I think you've already thought of this already, so I've done some work) imgur.com/W5KS4rv I have an idea for the next step for these but I haven't been able to find the right fittings.
 
3 hours later…
08:54
Uryyb chmmyref
What
Oh hello @Lordofdark
Did you figure out what to do with the 18 letters ?
Nope, still thinking about what could be AAAAEEFFILNNNNRUUV
well, you did something interesting while greeting us ;)
I wonder if you tried to do that on those letters in the first place.
09:21
I can't find anything a the moment, I will have a look at it later
09:52
@WesleySitu YEAH! No spoiler here. I'll have compare my chicken scratch notes.
L
10:22
@WesleySitu Can you do a similar layout for the tombstones too? Put the one from the cat (the little one) off to the side preferably.
10:49
I've been thinking about the generalization of "make x distinct lines of y points with only z points" puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/1867/…
It's quite more like a math/geometry problem than a "lateral thinking" one, but whatever.
KoA
KoA
heyo
Hi @KoA
KoA
KoA
What's up
I finished Rudra no Hihou. the last boss was clutch.
Now back on track with some puzzle solving.
KoA
KoA
I've been heaps busy and still a bit sick
it's one hell of a virus that's been going around here
11:15
where ?
KoA
KoA
Where I'm at in [REDACTED], Australia :p
someone should update the fortnightly topic to Science since it's leading now
I would but I'm tired already haha
if no one's done it by tomorrow, I'll do it then
How many days should it last ?
KoA
KoA
a fortnight
lol oh god. isn't that basically already the topic, all the time here?
KoA
KoA
11:31
maybe we'll get some actual good ones now
I'd like to see the history challenge
I edit the challenge post
11:47
0
Q: Fortnightly Topic Challenge #10: Science

Lord of darkLink to other Fortnightly Topics. This is the tenth installment of the Fortnightly Topic Challenge described here, with topics suggested and voted for here. This fortnight's topic is science (suggested by NeedAName), and will span from June 1st – June 14th. During this period, we will compile ...

12:08
serious question: how in god's name was the un-checkmarked answer here ever even considered as an accepted answer?
you're talking about Joe's answer ?
He would have found the right answer if it was based on the right word so I guess the OP felt guilty for his unclear question
(word in the puzzle has changed from LOVE to LUST)
I mean, I guess I could see that if Joe's answer was the only one after the question had been up for a long time
but somebody arrived at the correct answer less than 24 hours after the question was posted, which isn't even a long time by our standards
lol here he is again, doing almost the exact same thing: puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/33469/an-addition-problem
I think the OP did not know what to do with his mistake, Joe found every hint and had the right reasonning, just not the correct initial word. The accepted answer is like "reuse Joe's logic from the correct initial word"
12:24
why would he think he deserves the checkmark there? he's literally just piggybacking off the correct answer to add a completely unnecessary bit of information.
@Lordofdark Maybe, but that actually gets the right answer.
Yes but it's like somebody did 80% of the job, and another one just did the remaining 20% and found the solution. I don't say I agree with that, but I understand he can hesitate (still talking about the first puzzle)
I mean, I get what you're saying, and I know that new people here sometimes get impatient about their questions not being answered (though certainly not all new people), but accepting an answer that's basically like "well, there's a 7, and something that looks like a 3, and two lines that if they went the other way would be a B" because your puzzle hasn't been answered in 20 hours is pretty goofy.
that second one is way more heinous, tbh
I don't like the second one, it's has an easy obvious answer and then the OP was like "Hey, guess what was in my mind when I wrote "addition" !!"
right
(I wouldn't call that answer 'obvious' but I agree)
it was solved in 7 minutes :p
12:31
yes and?
that means it is, in a way, easy
I mean, "obvious" is subjective to begin with, but one person figuring something out quickly does not mean it's easy
it was easy for that person, for whatever reason (inductive reasoning, luck, etc.)
yes you're right
in any case, one person did the work (however trivial you may consider it) and the second person, later, came along and correctly guessed the meaning intended by the OP
and that is literally just luck
11
Q: A pirate's treasure-hunt

BmyGuestMy dear puzzle friends, I need your help! An old acquaintance of mine has recently passed away and mentioned me in his will. I was quite thrilled, as the man was rather rich due to some clever investments during his lifetime. Unfortunately, he was as, hmm, unconventional as he was rich. He alway...

Question: This puzzle is huge. Is it wrong to create separate answers for the separate sections of the problem? I want to do it simply to make it easier for keeping track of everything, and don't care about the Rep. I don't want to set a precedent.
I suspect I have answered my question./
12:38
some people don't like riddles, some people don't like math puzzles, and I'm sympathetic to both of those. but one type of puzzle that it seems like almost everybody hates, with good reason, is "next-image-in-the-pattern puzzles copied from an 'IQ test'"
3
@LeppyR64 I have a feeling that would be poorly received.
I don't personally care but I imagine people would not like that
Yeah, tbh, I wouldn't like it either.
lol Yet Another puzzle where the trick is to use atomic numbers/symbols for no reason
jesus christ.
maybe I should make a meta post proposing to change the name of the site to "puzzles that involve the periodic table"
@WesleySitu What are the red shapes on circles of the merged map that you gave me?
If the periodic table is used, there should be some story/context where chemistry is heavily hinted, imo.
yes. but also, and this is crucial: stop doing that. the periodic table isn't clever or novel anymore as an encryption device
This one is bothering me and I'm probably going to groan with exasperation when it gets solved (if it's even solvable, which it doesn't seem like it is)
12:48
Ahah I look at this puzzle on a daily basis but nothing changes, and hints are helpless
the one I linked?
Yes
Should we consider greek letters as latin letters ? δεκαδικός = dekadikoc
Phew looks like I got in before the periodic table hate
also Jose Lopez is being a bit too antsy on this puzzle puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/33558/…
dekadikos is just "decimal" which... wow. base 10 eh.
would it be better to say "base ten" ?
or "base A(16)" ?
12:51
ah yeah, ok, "base ten"
but point being
so I tested out my new concept for a puzzle last night and it didn't work out so well :/
I don't think anybody was assuming the numbers in that were any other base (though, in OP's defense, that might not be what he's clarifying there, who knows)
@GordonAllocman I'm guessing he's the one who downvoted it too
lol yeah that guy needs to acquire some chill
few hours after posting "hey man, I can't solve this, are you sure it is actually solvable at all???"
12:55
And the same again an hour later
unfortunately I think I am going to have to defer to someone else to get that one unless a hint is added (not saying it needs a hint). I'm pretty stuck atm
yeah this is what is absolutely stunning to me
both question-askers and question-answer-attempters are guilty of this
posts question ... 25 hours pass ... posts meta topic 'Is It OK to answer my own question if no one can solve it?'
His first comment on your answer was, however, useful.
Scoranio also pointed out something important.
sees question ... 5 minutes pass ... posts comment 'yeah this is a bad puzzle. it's unsolvable with the information given. you should probably resign from posting puzzles'
Can we cool it down?
Make everything else hotter!
21 mins ago, by question_asker
some people don't like riddles, some people don't like math puzzles, and I'm sympathetic to both of those. but one type of puzzle that it seems like almost everybody hates, with good reason, is "next-image-in-the-pattern puzzles copied from an 'IQ test'"
I added the bear hug piece, not sure how to look at the peter/dumbo piece. I tried reverse image searching that zebra image but no luck, seems you may have made it youself. Not a place I immediately recognize
1
Q: Recursion - keep going

DeveloperInDevelopmentMore than one basin submerges - vassals take wrong end of ash for ships. Wit and aspiration, alongside, hold up to take supper at harbour - pint (swallowed whole?) gives purpose. Foremost three first (or four, we hear) recorded observations a tad misplaced. A success without us backing adm...

quick someone get this before Deusovi
hahaha
that poster came on strong with those cryptic clue puzzles
I need to learn how to solve cryptic clue puzzle one day
13:04
me too
I mean. I "understand" but I can't do it.
ahah I don't even understand how it works at the moment
And the tag does not explain, there is only a link to extern page
13:20
Peter the elephant was the one that played the piano. Right?
By the way, the title "Two IQ Test puzzles nobody knows an answer to" looks reaaaally like clickbait.
"99% of puzzlers were wrong on this one !"
"Solve this puzzle and you will be rich in 30 days"
one weird tri ck to solve IQ test discovered by a mom ! melt away pounds in h 0 urs
"The Puzzle that broke the internet, (now with naked pictures of <insert name of trending celebrity>)"
"Top 10 IQ puzzles that humanity has yet to discover !!!11!"
13:35
6 Puzzles Whose Solutions Are The Exact Opposite of What Everyone Thinks - cracked . com
Jon Stewart EVISCERATES this poster's poor puzzle design - WATCH!
@LeppyR64 nice catch, added to my answer
Yass Queen Slay - What Beyonce Says In Response To This Cryptogram Is The Most Important Thing You'll Read All Day
Buzzfeed's 12 Most Feminist Rebuses
so that cryptic clue one clearly becomes another cryptic clue after solving all of the given ones
that's the impression I got, yeah
god now all I want to do is come up with gawker/buzzfeed-style clickbait headlines for puzzles
sorry :I
13:42
it couldn't have been more obvious, which in this case is fine since there is no other indication of what to do
ok there are two things i strongly dislike on this site: placeholder hints, and hints that just tell you something you already know
haha yes!!!!
(dunno what a placeholder hint is though)
Do not tell me there will be a hint in a few days
do not tell me to look at the tags
oh, yeah
just give me an actual hint if you have a hints section
13:45
the only time hints telling me something you already know is ok is if it says like "the title is important" because that can be a big hint sometimes
I'm all for people holding off on hints (see also: the rant from earlier about people being impatient about puzzles not being solved) but there's no need to say you're going to give hints unless you're ready to give them
ooh I just realized I may be able to merge my two failing ideas into a working puzzle idea
but I will probably have to think of a third bad idea to merge with it as well
@GordonAllocman That's what recursion is.
haha I know
ahah a few days ago i woke up in the middle of the night with an awesome puzzle idea but i couldn't make it work
13:53
@Lordofdark just come up with a bunch of other not so great ideas and make them all small pieces of a bigger whole. Guaranteed success your experience may vary
I wasn't sure anyone was going to solve my cricket puzzle, but I just left it and then DanRussell and LeppyR64 cracked it over a month after it was posted.
No extra hints needed
Ahah it's not a just bad puzzle, but a puzzle that does not work at the moment. I need to work on it a loooot to make it work and I'm not even sure it will work in the end
@GordonK this map piece is killing me >.>
maybe I am making too big of an assumption that it is in africa though
It's not
that explains why I couldn't find it :P
14:02
Larger population than the UK
oh phew, I was really hoping it wasn't some Island I had to zoom in on in maps
Kinda looks a bit like Turkey
It does, doesn't it!
which might make it a Zebra turkeyfish
It might indeed!
Now what do you know about #7?
It is an internet provider in Oregon and the logo is a dog
14:07
Sorry, I meant #10
the one about Maurice? he was known for his bear hug apparently
More obvious than that
he is a human
Ok, a little more specific
and from france
he is known as the french angel and the middle east kinda looks like an angel tin foil hat intensifies
14:11
@GordonAllocman First half of that line is useful, considering what you worked out about the map
How about a french angelfish
god damn it
Bingo
2 seconds before me
im sensing a pattern
crocodile icefish for 11
14:19
feel like im getting somewhere maybe
1 is maybe a pearlfish if the theme is fish
fun (and gross) fact about pearlfish, they can live in the anus of Sea Cucumbers
Well, and then you have the human anatomy, peter...
Tilapia is St. Peter's Fish
#8 could be a goatfish but the W&B confuses me
Goatfish can change color
yeah same here
as in W&B confuses me, not that I can change color
Don't want to walk around purple
says they can become pale to blend with sand and blue striped to mimic the blue striped snapper so maybe that is it
14:32
The W&B was intended to make the image more specific but, as it happens, the answer is the same if you ignore it.
so Mullidae?
I added it as a possibility
still not seeing the big picture though, and have a few left to get
So does that mean #3 is a catfish
One that doesn't live in asia?
specifically the Pimelodidae I think
Does the upside-down cat mean anything?
There is an upside-down catfish
14:37
probably just a typical picture of a cat
@Neon612 There is
There are a few, in fact
definitely not the asian upside down catfish :P
the Botched UD Catfish is the most common for aquariums
Family Mochokidae
all of the non-asian ones are same family
that makes it easy then
14:43
Could 9 actually be a Flabby whalefish?
That was the intention
I think the parrot could be a Blood parrot cichlid with a variation being the King Kong parrot fish, but that might be a strech
so cichlidae if that is the case
A king kong parrotfish would have looke more monkey-like
good point
alright im stuck again :/ still need the bird,dog, and kangaroo. The peter one might be tilapia as lepy pointed out or something else entirely
I'd go with the "something else entirely" theory!
14:54
How about a dogfish shark?
I saw that, not sure how it fit the rest of the clue though
Could the kangaroo not be important?
The arrow points to the sand
It might just be there for context
kangaroo one could be southern sand fish, which lives near australia/new zealand coast
So some sort of flat fish
Flounder?
14:59
@GordonAllocman Well spotted
nice, making some progress
Queen parrot fish, Scaridae
Maybe?
damn hadn't thought about queen >.>
Ok so if I understand cryptic clue correctly it is several hints to find a word (merged together in a line) and there can be a phonetic hint, a meaning hint...
15:03
Is the broadband company location important, with the dog?
it is from oregon, but can't connect that
Nope - just say what you see!
It could be Chum Salmon, aka Dog salmon, family Salmonidae
could be a prickly dogfish, as the slogan is being rude
Or a bowfin, aka Dogfish, family Amiidae
15:06
The slogan is not significant
darn, I thought that would be pretty funny
Houndfish?
thats a possibility
once we get all the fish, the tricky part is figuring out how that becomes the password too
Peters' elephantnose fish, for #2, family Mormyridae
nice find
brb, ping me if you get something
15:34
back
heh, looks like deusovi got to the cryptic clue puzzle afterall :P
oohhh I just saw the answer to the flags question, which makes @question_asker 's comment about periodic table encryption make a lot more sense
15:52
test
hmm
ok
now
that's the one
exploring the image size and detail in the name bar on the left
16:04
ok im pretty sure goatfish is right, since there exists a white mullet and a black mullet (two types of goatfish)
still stuck on the dog part though
how about a black dogfish (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dogfish)
16:19
@GordonAllocman haha, yeah, I wasn't just coming totally out of nowhere with that
@LeppyR64 The polygons on the map were already present on the map pieces. I made them red in case people missed that slightly off black color.
16:40
@Neon612 that might just be it
@WesleySitu and I did :)
also, what did you want with the other tombstones?
Okay, assuming we have all of the pictures figured out, the families in order spell out cmmsslemcpc, which is not 20 chars not something searchable so not sure how to form the password from the clues
The pictures aren't in numerical order, but that still doesn't help with the 20 char length
chance this puzzle ever gets solved? I'm thinking somewhere between 0 and 0.001% puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/31146/sculptures-in-a-park
16:46
The place is Sculpture Park, the park famous for its weird sculptures
cmsccsmmpel
that doesn't help much
maybe the numbers and order are both important
0
Q: On the fringe between two countries: what am I?

ErikEI seem physical... On the fringe between two countries, I have no proper home, but make one for others. Standing proudly for all to see, my purpose is often to conceal. Heterogeneous, I am part smooth and part knobby. Exactly where I am at any moment depends on my frame of reference. Or do I ...

all I can think of is ocean/water
can't fit all the clues though
@WesleySitu a merge of all of the tombstones and their locations in one picture. I don't know that it's necessary though.
@LeppyR64 I don't think it's necessary since they aren't too directly related. I think you should mark their locations down on the ring though :P
something else to note is that there are 5 crosses with a hexagram, and there are 5 hexagrams along the bottom of the ring... if that means anything
17:02
in order if you take letters at their numbered positions you get dory c pecies. Not sure if that is getting anywhere
Definitely about the ring.
I think I dated a Dory C. Pecies
Anything to do with Dory from the finding Nemo movies?
yup I got the answer, still missing a clue
the ball clue is wrong, it needs to start with an s
17:12
@question_asker Thanks for the help.
@manshu I could still be wrong, but it's worth a try
I think your explanation to that sentence was better.
17:14
I really hope it is correct
I should reorganize it since the order shown is what is important not the numbers
That title reminds me of the song "My heart will go on" by KennyG
good work on that one gordon
I keep forgetting that I can't tab-complete unless I've used an @ first
alright, I think it is formatting a bit better now, I may still clean it up if it needs it. Do you guys think it is pretty clear now?
I like it
Looks good to me
17:26
also, I'd say that's a pretty solid puzzle all over
Yeah I thoroughly enjoyed it
all the steps are consistent - you don't have to do a different thing to get answer #5 than what you did for answer #4, etc.
pretty sure that is the most complex puzzle I will ever solve on this site :P
@Neon612 I put a footnote giving you credit for helping find some clues
Thanks, it was fun all around
I'm really glad I stuck with that, I was pretty ready to give up. I think the map piece was the biggest leap for me
and now I have nothing to do haha
17:46
holy crap, that rube wordberg puzzle was solved. Never would have gotten that in a million years
@question_asker for a second I thought this was your puzzle puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/33694/…
"oh man, q_a's asking math questions now. what happened??"
I think strategy questions are just as bad as math questions. Also some guy asked if he could post the equivalent of math "puzzles" about chemistry and physics and was basically told "yeah sure"
lol yeah I just saw that today
man. those bore me, and all, but I wouldn't care as much if we just let anybody post them
we could just ignore the tags and be done with it
@LeppyR64 There are some more things I found on the map if these'll help you out with whatever part you're working on. If you take a look at the compass, the dots around the edge aren't symmetrical. If you take an even closer look at it. You'll find a 9x9 grid in the center with some squares lighter than the others. The graveyard also has a 9x9 size.
17:52
I mean I will dv pretty many any I see, but thats ok
I've updated the criptic tag co people like me can understand how it works : puzzling.stackexchange.com/tags/cryptic-clues/info
@GordonAllocman same here
@Lordofdark awesome wiki update man
@LeppyR64 Upon closer inspection, those whiter dots just seem to mark the location of the crosses and tombstones, so I guess those don't help too much...
I have way too many favorites that probably will never be solved :/
17:56
oh?
at least 4, which I guess isn't that many
that's a lot as far as I'm concerned
heh my summer exam puzzle took only 18 revisions
*answer
I feel like Fortnightly Topic Challenges aren't special anymore to puzzlers here.
the purpose is simply to get puzzles of a certain tag posted right? there is no winner or anything?
18:06
@WesleySitu This guy's level of detail, wow. But at least we know that the door to the graveyard is in the South. the dots on the outside are certainly something
@WesleySitu I was thinking the line and squiggly on the crosses looked like hands on a clock.
@GordonAllocman Yes. But the purpose in not being fulfilled.
@LeppyR64 I thought so at first, but I think they're the path to where we'll need to do some graverobbing
@LeppyR64 I believe we'll have to unfold the 'dice' somehow onto the graveyard
well there is no real incentive to post a question for the fortnightly. AFAIK it doesn't garner you anymore upvotes/views as opposed to just a regular old puzzle
What's this about fortnightly?
2
Q: Fortnightly Topic Challenge #10: Science

Lord of darkLink to other Fortnightly Topics. This is the tenth installment of the Fortnightly Topic Challenge described here, with topics suggested and voted for here. This fortnight's topic is science (suggested by NeedAName), and will span from June 1st – June 14th. During this period, we will compile ...

18:09
@WesleySitu I agree about the unfolding. the patterns are listed on page 5 of the notebook.
If anything posting for the fortnightly topic challenge is just fun for the poster to try to come up with a puzzle for that topic, I personally come up with puzzles on a whim so I can't really do much for the challenge
@LeppyR64 some faces on the dice have a hexagram with a line going out of it so I think the path that connects two of those is what we're looking for
Exactly.
I don't know how I come up with puzzles.
also some people just like certain topics so the fortnightly topic isn't really for them either
It seems like that's what we have to do at least... according to the navigator i.sstatic.net/SZG8b.png
18:13
Yes.
18:30
yeah I mean, yeah. the "purpose" of the fortnightly topic challenges is pretty much just to get puzzles of [topic] posted
it seems like an idea somebody had and abandoned
like it was originally meant to be something with a "winner" or something but it never went beyond the "idea" stage
We can very easily change it to make a competition on the topic
One answer per on question on topic and then we vote
I like the idea but I totally foresee a question having more votes on the meta than the question itself :P
all this fortnightly topic talk reminds me that we never solved @Deusovi 's chess fortnightly meta puzzle....
I don't understand what you mean by "one answer per [on](?) question on topic and then we vote"
woh it was unclear :
I mean we can had an answer to the "fortnight topic challenge" post for every question on topic., so we can vote for these question on the meta and see which one win the challenge
18:40
@WesleySitu Link please.
17
Q: Chess Fortnight is finally over!

Deusovi(Note: the backstory here may or may not be entirely fictitious.) The fortnightly chess theme is finally over! I couldn't stand it. It was chaos! Pieces moving around in all the wrong ways... I was so angry that I made metapuzzles purely to tell everyone how much I hated it. Unfortunately, the...

@WesleySitu So you made the picture with all the dice on them above their crosses. What happens if you orient them so that the little c shape mark is on the ground like on the ring, what's on the top?
Or alternatively so that they're all facing up.
@LeppyR64 I oriented them like the silver dice. so it's 1/6/5, 1/3/2, and 4/5/6 (top/left/right)
so if you'd like to see whats on the top, it would be face 4
I think the c shape mark is there to denote that face 1 will be on that square when we do the unfolding
@LeppyR64 I'll go ahead and try out your idea. The crosses do form a 4x4, where the clues from page 1 could be relevant
@question_asker something like this ^
a bit biased for the votes, dont you think? ;)
some balancing issues could come up since people can also downvote
18:51
what kind of balancing ?
suppose a band of close friends are on here. they can all +1 a specific one and -1 the rest
and then theres the people who just like everything and +1 everything
That applies to any voting though, and voter fraud is a mod issue
theres also the situation where someone appreciates one puzzle enough that they'd also -1 the rest to make sure that one puzzle wins, which i wouldn't consider fraud
so what are you actually suggesting then?
@Lordofdark aha! Yeah, sorry, the way I originally read it felt like you meant "only one puzzle per challenge" which... surely that wasn't what you meant
yeah I see where wesley is coming from
18:57
We can also take the upvote into account and not the downvotes
I feel like this would only really work if you only got 1 vote, and could only vote in one direction
i was thinking that a voting system would be best off if theres only upvotes
so you can only upvote for what you like but downvotes won't matter
I like that idea
that is, overall, I think that "voting" isn't really the best framework for this, at least not the way SE votes work
18:58
do mods have the ability to view the upvote/downvote count for all answers?
@WesleySitu Ring: So "Quo Vadis" means "Where are you going" in Latin (odd since I was expecting French somewhere) we figured it was a map so no surprise there. The C shapes match the mark on the cross. When we unroll them there's going to be overlap because 16*6 = 96 and 9*9 = 81 so pigeonhole principle puts us on overlap. The markings on the bottom row seem to highlight a face.
we all have
click on the vote count
yeah, I think the 'not counting downvotes' option is a decent kludge
@Lordofdark You have to have a certain amount of rep for that
Yes you need 1000 rep
05:00 - 19:0019:00 - 00:00

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