The Sphinx's Lair

Beastly Gerbil

5:00 PM

@dcfyj no, this one is hard - it relies on a couple of common sayings

Deusovi

You're missing the enumeration.

Also, are you sure this is a cryptic clue?

Beastly Gerbil

Damn it! Can't edit now, but its (6)

Deusovi

Got it for you.

Beastly Gerbil

Thanks :p

user189275

@Deusovi I asked him if I could mention part of it, and he didn't reply, so I'm not mentioning it all, but part of it reads, " Unfortunately, I don't know the solution for the current riddle but, as I just said, the answer should be very distinct so we will know when the solution has been found and I will then accept it. " and "I'm very sorry I can't be of more help for you."

Beastly Gerbil

5:03 PM

@Deusovi based on the others, yes that is a cryptic clue.

user189275

Carper ?

Beastly Gerbil

No, reasoning?

user189275

Random guess.

Beastly Gerbil

No, I'll give you a clue for the 'faultfinder', its also a proffession

Sconibulus

my immediate thought is 'tester'

Deusovi

5:13 PM

@BeastlyGerbil So it does follow the rules for cryptic clues? (Definition part, wordplay part which don't interact and independently lead to the same answer?)

Sconibulus

but I have no idea how to make the rest of it normalish

Beastly Gerbil

@Deusovi oh I didn't know about that. Actuaaly yes this does but there are two lots of that, so a definition and a wordplay on each side of the comma

user189275

@BeastlyGerbil And are you sure both are standalone ?

Beastly Gerbil

Yes, each side of the comma isn't related. You just join the two parts at the end.

Deusovi

Wait, you join them at the end?

So they aren't standalone?

Beastly Gerbil

5:16 PM

To get the word, for instance you do REM + OTE = REMOTE

Deusovi

Okay, so it's not a cryptic clue.

Rand al'Thor

Someone clicked 'flag' instead of 'reply'?

Deusovi

@Randal'Thor Presumably.

It was AK. :P No need to apologize! It happens!

Rand al'Thor

Meh, doesn't matter really.

Deusovi

I've done it before!

Sconibulus

5:18 PM

the infection... it spreads

Rand al'Thor

Tut tut, @ArtOfCode should know better than that :-P

@Deusovi Not since you became blue, I hope? Otherwise you might have accidentally suspended someone :-o

ArtOfCode

hm?

Beastly Gerbil

@Deusovi I've never actually really understood what the definition of a cryptic clue is, but I thin it is until the and

ArtOfCode

@Randal'Thor what?

Rand al'Thor

@ArtOfCode Posting naughty memes in chat :-P

@ArtOfCode Not you, Deusovi.

Argh, confusing timing of chat messages!

Deusovi

5:20 PM

@Randal'Thor Nah, it was when I was new to SE.

ArtOfCode

@Randal'Thor that's... hardly objectionable

Rand al'Thor

@ArtOfCode I'm just joshing you.

3 mins ago, by Rand al'Thor

Someone clicked 'flag' instead of 'reply'?

ArtOfCode

oh

Beastly Gerbil

@ArtOfCode someone flagged it

I tried to click invalid but it came up with something saying that I can't, any reasons?

Deusovi

@BeastlyGerbil You can divide every cryptic clue into two parts: the definition part and the wordplay part. Sometimes there will be a connector word like "is" or "of". One side will be a definition of the word, acceptable in a regular crossword. The other side will be the wordplay part, where the word is clued differently, usually with anagrams, initials, homophones, or some other form of wordplay.

The wordplay part has "instruction words" in it in most cases - for instance, "broken" clues anagramming, or "at first" clues initial letters. (It could also be an alternate definition - for instance, "Scooter was blue" for "MOPED" would be a valid double-definition clue.)

Beastly Gerbil

5:23 PM

Oh ok, mine is kind of like that.

people should get it anyway.

Rand al'Thor

@BeastlyGerbil Because I was too fast :-)

Beastly Gerbil

Oh :P

Rand al'Thor

You can't invalidate a flag that's already been invalidated.

And a mod invalidating is binding.

Deusovi

Yep, I tried to invalidate it and couldn't. Rand beat me to it. :P

Sid

Does no one watch the chess world championship match going on at USA?

Rubio

5:30 PM

@GarethMcCaughan you're a unix / linux dude?

Sconibulus

@Sid I watched most of yesterday's (at least the board) and played through the prior four games as well, as well as reading 538's articles about it

I'm at work while the games are going on though, so I'm not getting any commentary, so miss most of the intricacies (I was a very good 10-year old, that doesn't mean much in the adult world)

Sid

it's sort of easy looking at the games with our silicon friends but, it's really hard to find the right line without a computer...

Sconibulus

I don't even see move suggestions really, just a little bar saying the computer's estimation of win percentage

there's probably a better place to watch than the main site, but I didn't really look for it

Sid

Which doesn't really matter much unless someone is completely winning(Like a piece or a good pawn up without compensation to the opponent).. Computers can defend just about any position.

Sconibulus

Yeah, I don't think I've seen it swing pass 60/40

Sid

5:36 PM

Well, Carlsen usually requires just a 55-45 to win, but has been uncharacteristically "poor"(Yeah, drawing matches is poor for a world champion) in the last few games.

There are far too many rest-days though...

Beastly Gerbil

I havent watched but what is the longest match in the tournament ever?

Sid

In all of history?

Beastly Gerbil

Yeah

Sid

Karpov vs Korchnoi-1978

124 moves and it ended in a stalemate

Sconibulus

I imagine 13 games...

user189275

5:40 PM

Who is going to post the next C4 ?

Deusovi

We're still trying to solve BG's.

Sid

@BeastlyGerbil Are You asking about a game or about a whole match?

Beastly Gerbil

@Sid a game

@ArbitaryKangaroo chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/33587726#33587726

Rand al'Thor

@ArbitraryKangaroo Whoever solves Beastly's.

user189275

That isn't a C4 exactly, so BG should post a new one.

Sid

5:43 PM

I am pretty sure that record is going to be broken soon, Carlsen vs Anand in 2014 had a game that went around 120 moves and Carlsen vs Karjakin has also gone close to a 100 moves in the 3rd game.

Sconibulus

game 4, 94 moves, ended with 3 pawns each and B vs N

Sid

Theoretical Draw unless someone messes up

Beastly Gerbil

Okay I'll post another one now I know what to do

Sid

@Sconibulus So, you were a prodigy?

Rand al'Thor

@Sid I thought most games at that level ended in draws?

Deusovi

5:47 PM

Just curious, what was the solution to the previous one?

Rand al'Thor

Or maybe I'm getting mixed up with Go, where most world-level games end in someone winning by a mere 0.5 points.

dcfyj

Go is an insanely strategic game

Sconibulus

I wouldn't say prodigy, probably because I knew one who could beat me pretty much every time, I did come in 7th in the state though, and Virginia isn't that small

Sid

@Randal'Thor They usually do... It's the blunders that are the most beautiful... Pretty informative..

Beastly Gerbil

@Deusovi wow I just realised mine was wrong anyway and doesn't work so I need a new one anyway. The letters were actually 7...

Sid

5:48 PM

Go is insane, much harder than chess

Deusovi

Oh. What was the intended solution?

Beastly Gerbil

Cricket

Rand al'Thor

@Sid And a far superior game :-)

Beastly Gerbil

For some reason I thought it was spelt criket

Deusovi

I don't see how you get that from the clue.

Sconibulus

5:49 PM

I stopped playing significantly after about 13 though, because everyone who cared was getting a lot better than me (I didn't like to study, just to play)

Sid

Possibly.. :-)

@BeastlyGerbil So, explanation?

Rand al'Thor

Note to self: Beastly can't spell

:-P

Beastly Gerbil

@Deusovi Critic (faultfinder) - tic (tick tock) + Plane figure = Polygon but here so - gon = poly. Polly put the kettle on, but got stuck halway = ket

Very tenuous now I look at it

Sconibulus

In College I got pretty into Arimaa, which was a ton of fun, but then I ended up getting busy and kinda forgot about it, I should go back

Rand al'Thor

@BeastlyGerbil Wheeeew. That's hard.

Deusovi

5:51 PM

Yeah, that's not a cryptic clue at all. (And there's no definition too!)

Rubio

:) I am not sure any of those are valid cryptic clues

Beastly Gerbil

Yeah I'll make an easier one

Sid

I played state-level chess when I was 9. And I lost almost all games,I think. Then, I just left the game for like half a decade..

Rand al'Thor

And kinda convoluted. I'm not sure how you expected anyone to get "ket" from "Polly forgot their job halfway" :-/

Deusovi

Yeah...

Rubio

5:52 PM

deletions have to be complete (you can't get COT from COTTON - BATON)

Deusovi

Plus, "tick --> tic", "gone --> gon", and "poly --> Polly" were all unclued.

Gareth McCaughan

@Rubio My system of choice at home is actually FreeBSD (Linux is waaay too mainstream for me) and at work I use Windows because everyone there does; but yeah, unixy by preference.

Beastly Gerbil

Okay here we go CCCC: A value of something inside an acidicly made humus (6)

Now that one follows the rules

Deusovi

Enumeration?

Sid

ENumeration?

Rubio

5:54 PM

@GarethMcCaughan FreeBSD works. Also, I think that may be the first time I've heard someone say Linux at home is too mainstream. :)

Gareth McCaughan

of course I only say that to provoke :-).

and yes, FreeBSD works.

Beastly Gerbil

Not Enumeration added (6)

Sid

acidicly? Is that a clue or a typo?

Rubio

is "humus" intentional? as opposed to any of the various other spellings? I think hummus is preferred

Gareth McCaughan

humus is leaf-mould on the ground, hummus/houmous is the stuff made from chickpeas, no?

Beastly Gerbil

5:55 PM

No humus as in the earth

Rubio

that's why I'm asking. ok thanks

Beastly Gerbil

@GarethMcCaughan yes

Gareth McCaughan

(AFK for the next hour or so at least)

Rand al'Thor

Ooh, I've just come up with a nice cryptic clue, but I can't post it as a CCCC unless I solve someone else's.

Rubio

now's your chance. ;)

dcfyj

5:58 PM

Well, solve BG's then :P

Beastly Gerbil

Yes go on :P

user189275

@Randal'Thor Post it as a C3, then.

Rand al'Thor

Alternatively, I hear there's a website somewhere around here where one can post puzzles ...

And even get points for doing so!

user189275

@Randal'Thor Oh yeah, the acronym of the site is ESP or SEP or EPS or something like that, I forgot :P

Rand al'Thor

@ArbitraryKangaroo Esp?

dcfyj

6:01 PM

Not what I think of when I hear/see ESP

Sconibulus

Sepia LAZERS?

Rand al'Thor

@dcfyj Ah, but he said Esp first, before editing it to ESP.

user189275

Ah, Internet points ... reputations ... nonsense.

dcfyj

@Randal'Thor Either way, I think of what I linked first

Rand al'Thor

Anyway:

0

Q: A local puzzler lawyering around with a finish door

Here's a nice cryptic crossword clue for Puzzling SE: A local puzzler lawyering around with a finish door (7).

cryptic-clues

I hope it's not too crappy :-)

Beastly Gerbil

6:05 PM

Finish as in from finland?

Deusovi

That's "Finnish".

And it would be capitalized.

Sid

Finish probably refers to the last letters?

Beastly Gerbil

So finish alike the end then

Sconibulus

perhaps the finish is a Finnish door, for double the wordplay

also cough cough Deusovi

Rand al'Thor

Urgh, that ticker feed is horrible.

Deusovi

6:09 PM

@Sconibulus That wouldn't be valid in a cryptic.

Beastly Gerbil

I think I have it, not sure

Rand al'Thor

I did ping Emrak about changing it back, after feedback from the community on meta and advice from a CM on main meta.

dcfyj

@Randal'Thor The thing that pops up in the corner?

Rand al'Thor

@dcfyj Yeah.

Deusovi

@BeastlyGerbil Go ahead and post then!

dcfyj

6:10 PM

I far prefer the old one, but that's just because I use it to pull up puzzling main

Rand al'Thor

@Deusovi Apparently you're the top answerer in the cryptic-clues tag.

Beastly Gerbil

Posted answer, think I got the first half right, less sure about the second

Sconibulus

Pretty sure that doesn't work, you don't have a definition

Beastly Gerbil

@Randal'Thor so the 'local puzzler' isn't you? Damn! Thought I at least had that bit right?

Rand al'Thor

@BeastlyGerbil There are no words wasted in the clue. You haven't used "lawyering" as far as I can tell.

Beastly Gerbil

6:15 PM

According to autocorrect, its not a word :P

Rand al'Thor

(Unless you think of "branded", as in branded products, being a copyright issue, which would require lawyers to uphold - but that connection is far too tenuous.)

Beastly Gerbil

No didn't even cross my mind

Will try again

Rand al'Thor

And that wasn't my downvote, btw.

Beastly Gerbil

Wouldn't mind anyway :P

@Randal'Thor Lawyering around? :P

Something tells me local puzzler is PSE...

Deusovi

@Randal'Thor And that surprises you? :P

Rand al'Thor

6:26 PM

@Deusovi No, but it means you should be able to solve this :-)

Beastly Gerbil

Hmm, so maybe Deusovi is the local puzzler...

7 letters too

Deusovi

Oh, it's me! I think.

Lawyering around clues SUE/SUED anagrammed. Not sure about the rest.

Beastly Gerbil

Lawyering around - Sued/sue backwards

Deusovi

Not sure about the rest. Anagrammed "VOID" perhaps? Not sure how that relates to "a finish door".

Rubio

3) Am I vain enough to make a puzzle about myself? — of course you are. ;)

3

dcfyj

6:30 PM

I was going to pull up an example, but then I realized that he's posted over a hundred puzzles and I didn't want to go digging

Sconibulus

Finnish door is Ovi

that's what I was pointing at you about earlier

Beastly Gerbil

How?

Deusovi

Oh, "Finnish".

That's not entirely fair, Rand. :P

Rubio

ugh

yeah I just got there too Sconimbulus

You can't do that ;)

Beastly Gerbil

Still don't get it.

Rubio

6:33 PM

lawyered around = SUED -> DEUS

Finnish door is OVI

"with" to connect them

Beastly Gerbil

Oh

Rubio

But that's not a fair hint

Deusovi

Yeah, agreed.

I'd argue that the first part isn't fair either since it's an indirect anagram.

Sconibulus

Lawyered->sued Around->reversed

around = turned around in this case

Deusovi

I don't see how "around" clues reversing.

Ah, I guess that makes sense.

Rand al'Thor

6:34 PM

@Deusovi Why not - because finish =/= Finnish?

Deusovi

Still, "finish --> Finnish" isn't fair.

Yeah.

Sconibulus

if you hadn't been so adamant about finish Finnish I would have had this several minutes ago :)

Rand al'Thor

I did consider putting Finnish instead of finish, but thought that would've made it too easy.

Seems I was right, since it didn't take long anyway!

Beastly Gerbil

I edited my answer bt included that I didn't get the answer

Deusovi

I was adamant because they're different words! Homophones need to be clued.

Rand al'Thor

6:35 PM

@Rubio :-(

Deusovi

(Still, I appreciate it! :D )

Rand al'Thor

@Deusovi I thought "around" was one of the most standard words used to clue anagrams?

Deusovi

Yeah. It is. The issue is that it's an indirect anagram, which are generally disallowed from cryptics.

Anagram fodder has to be verbatim.

2 days ago, by Deusovi

Oh, one thing - indirect anagrams are not allowed in cryptics. By that I mean something like "Unusually tough monster (5)" cluing HYDRA, by anagram of HARDY (tough). Anything to be anagrammed must be verbatim. (Reversal clues or other similar ones are fair game though.)

(Technically SOME publishers allow it. It's nearly always unfair though.)

Rand al'Thor

Oh, I didn't know that.

Deusovi

If you'd clued it as a reversal, then it'd be fine. (Oh, also - tense. "Lawyering" would clue "suing", not "sued".)

Rand al'Thor

6:38 PM

3 hours ago, by Rand al'Thor

Darn, cryptic crosswords have never been my strong point.

What are some good ways of cluing a reversal?

Deusovi

Back, west(ward), from the east, left, flipped, reflecting...

Rand al'Thor

Thanks!

I wouldn't have thought of those west/east clues.

Deusovi

and if you have a down clue in a crossword, "upset", "climbing", "raising"...

"Left" is usually the most versatile since it can also be used in the "left behind" sense.

But of course, anything that suggests a leftward direction would work.

Rand al'Thor

Sinister?

Deusovi

Sure, that would be valid! Pretty sneaky, but that's a good thing c;

Rand al'Thor

6:45 PM

What about abbreviations - are there some standard ways of cluing those too?

Deusovi

Depends on the abbreviation. Single letters typically have a lot of different ways to clue them.

Compass points, variables used in physics, "headline --> L"...

Rand al'Thor

Something like "registration" -> "reg", say.

Deusovi

That's valid by itself, probably.

Not the best, but valid.

Rand al'Thor

You mean just cluing "registration" and letting people work out by themselves that what's really meant is "reg"?

dcfyj

For something like that you could clue the beginning of the word

Deusovi

6:48 PM

Yeah. The more common the abbreviation, the more acceptable the clue.

You could also use "for short" or "at first" (or similar phrases) to indicate abbreviations.

Rand al'Thor

OK, so for example:

> A rodent left a short licence plate with the first bomb in London (6).

Is that finally a proper cryptic clue? :-)

Deusovi

Yep!

Rand al'Thor

@Beastly ^^^

Beastly Gerbil

Mine is too looking at that

Deusovi

Darn harlot f***ed another puzzler! (4 2'4)

3

If you can't get that one by the enumeration itself... :P

dcfyj

6:55 PM

Rand Al'Thor!

Rand al'Thor

Um ... thanks?

dcfyj

I can solve one :P

Darn harlot is an anagram lol

f is, interestingly enough, cluing anagram

Deusovi

The clue was too funny to resist, especially the anagram indicator.

Rand al'Thor

Yay

Deusovi

A slightly less unforunate-implication-y one: Local puzzler rants, "Die, altar horse!" with both feet cut off (4,2'4)

Nice!

Rand al'Thor

7:05 PM

@Deusovi Aha, "both feet" meaning the last two letters in each case? Neat!

GentlePurpleRain

Is anyone still working on the C4 from BeastlyGerbil?

Matt

which C4 is that?

Rand al'Thor

1 hour ago, by Beastly Gerbil

Okay here we go CCCC: A value of something inside an acidicly made humus (6)

GentlePurpleRain

A value of something inside an acidicly made humus (6)

Rubio

(6) is sure this time right? hehe

Beastly Gerbil

7:11 PM

Yep :P

@Rubio you've certainly done well here, 3982 rep in just 50 days

Rubio

I'm fairly certain I know the wrapper but I can't find something that works inside it

@BeastlyGerbil Yeah, I, .. um ... might have a problem.

If you saw my (thus far one and only) riddle you can probably tell I tend to go all-in on things ;)

Beastly Gerbil

Yeah, try other types which are better made lengthy. Like a imgur maze visual or something - my speciality

user189275

dress mosquito rec on cile st andard silence

Rubio

I've thought about trying my hand at one of those longer forms. I'm not particularly creative, and haven't had a good idea I can put together yet.

Beastly Gerbil

I generally get inspired by books I read or films I've seen

Rubio

7:17 PM

yeah AK that's not working

user189275

(A quick rebus; Very easy ;)

Rubio

it seems multiline chat doesn't parse **this stuff**

Deusovi

Hey @JonathanAllan! How are you feeling?

Rubio

@BeastlyGerbil is it PEANUT? if not I won't bother explaining.

user189275

What's the solution to my easy rebus ? Here's another:

user189275

7:22 PM

analycharmsis

user189275

king

Rand al'Thor

King under charm in analysis?

:-P

Rubio

It's clearly "A charmin[g] analysis on a king". The paper I wrote on the ascension of Prince Charming to the monarchy.

I don't know how AK got it, though.

user189275

@Randal'Thor Congrats for finding it out. Just for fun, I went to a random word generator and randomly ordered the words. ;P

user189275

Rand al'Thor

7:25 PM

@ArbitraryKangaroo sigh

Rubio

@Randal'Thor Oh, sure, those he won't delete. ;-)

Sorry; I meant @ADarn'Harlot

Beastly Gerbil

@Rubio not peanut

Rubio

Ok. bummer.

Beastly Gerbil

Find the first bit first

Rubio

> peat (n) a brown, soil-like material characteristic of boggy, acid ground [...]

Presumably that will give someone something helpful to work with

Beastly Gerbil

7:33 PM

No, but close

It is a word which no-one here - unless they are a gardner - has heard

Rand al'Thor

Mulch?

Rubio

huh.

Beastly Gerbil

No, as a clue its 3 letters

AFK for about 2 hours now, see if anyones got it later

Alenanno

7:50 PM

@Rubio lol

Rubio

:)

Gareth McCaughan

8:07 PM

I reckon p ~= 0.8 that Mushroom Bang Boom is Arka Karmarkar / Arbitrary Kangaroo, despite the latter's protestations to the contrary.

GentlePurpleRain

Obscure humus-related words: marl, loess, glebe, kaolin, argil, bole, clunch, wacke

Gareth McCaughan

good words but none of them 3 letters long.

GentlePurpleRain

True. Man, there are a lot of them, though...

user189275

@GarethMcCaughan Why ?

Rubio

I love when questions solved days or more ago suddenly get randomly upvoted. Blast from the past. hehe

Also @GarethMcCaughan I see what you mean. Twice on that post alone.

Sconibulus

8:15 PM

@GarethMcCaughan Huh, my best idea was TheBitByte

or whatever he'd changed his name to

GentlePurpleRain

@GarethMcCaughan: Mor

Can't make it fit with anything else, though...

Rubio

morals are values. ora is an Anglo-Saxon currency. MoraLS. but that's not it.

or, anyway, it better not be :)

GentlePurpleRain

I looked up all words that are MOxxxR or MxxxOR, and got only 13: [moaner, mobber, mocker, mohair, monger, mooter, mopper, mortar, mother, mouser, mentor, meteor, mirror]

Rubio

mor + ain = mainor
mor + arc = marcor
mor + arm = marmor
mor + eli = melior
mor + ess = messor
mor + ane = moaner
mor + ide = moider
mor + ile = moiler
mor + ise = moiser
mor + nie = monier
mor + ode = mooder
mor + one = mooner
mor + pie = mopier
mor + she = mosher
mor + sse = mosser
mor + the = mother
mor + tie = motier
mor + use = mouser
mor + ute = mouter

all those are a "valid" 3 letter word inside M/OR or MO/R

that alas didn't help me any.

GentlePurpleRain

@Rubio I'm pretty sure several of those are not words; either the three-letter or six-letter ones.

Rubio

8:23 PM

well. my word list says they are. I take it with a substantial brick of salt.

GentlePurpleRain

Is it a multilingual word list? :)

Rubio

No. It's explicitly english. Go figure.

When I churn words for some of my What is a ...™ puzzles I have to weed out a lot of dreck

It includes abbreviations, even though in theory it wasn't supposed to, which is half the problem. ("sse" for example)

Mar´cor (n.) 1. A wasting away of flesh; decay.

Yummy.

GentlePurpleRain

@BeastlyGerbil Wild guess (doesn't really seem to fit): R(AN)(S)OM -- "Acidicly" clues anagram/reversal of MOR, the word AN, and S from "inside" "something", and RANSOM means "value", sort of...

Gareth McCaughan

9:12 PM

I think MBB's puzzles are too clever to be from TBB unless TBB was deliberately feigning incompetence.

Rubio

9:25 PM

@GarethMcCaughan Even his now ostensibly trivialized one, I can't make any sense of

of course I'm deliberately being too lazy to start putting things in a grid and trying different x/y reversals

cuz i don't have that kind time right now.

Beastly Gerbil

9:38 PM

@Rubio the word is in that list

Rubio

Really. Cuz none of those words seemed to me to work.

Beastly Gerbil

LOOK AT THE WORDS YOU'VE ADDED

One of them is the right one - and its an actual word on its own

The only bit thats left is 'A value of something'

So which word means a value of something?

Lukas Rotter

I love how you can still see the numbers in the last row here.

Rubio

Well, yeah, almost all the added words are words on their own actually. There's I think two that weren't. The rest are archaic or obscure, but words. hehe

I'll take another pass in a sec

GentlePurpleRain

@BeastlyGerbil Are you saying the answer is MO(USE)R? "A value of something" = USE and "acidicly made humus" = MOR?

But then the clue doesn't contain a definition.

Rubio

9:50 PM

Yeah - that's why I said it doesn't work

If that's your answer then no wonder they don't work :)

Beastly Gerbil

The definition of use is a value of something isn't it?

Rubio

> A value of something inside an acidicly made humus (6)

if (use) = def

actually, meh. I'm not sure which part is (def) for you

Beastly Gerbil

Wait does the definition have to be of the final word

Rubio

Yes

Beastly Gerbil

Oh thats were I have been going wrong

Rubio

9:52 PM

You have to be able to derive the final word from either the definition, or the wordplay, and you can't have a part of the clue that is shared in both.

Beastly Gerbil

I thought you just meant a definition of something

Ooops, my mistake.

Maybe @GentlePurpleRain can think a correct one up while I go and bang my head against a wall...

GentlePurpleRain

This one shouldn't take too long:

CCCC: Resistance disrupted extractions (10)

Gareth McCaughan

ANCESTRIES

GentlePurpleRain

See, I knew it wouldn't take long! :)

Gareth McCaughan

damn, now I have to make a clue

Beastly Gerbil

10:01 PM

No puzzle takes long with Gareth :P

GentlePurpleRain

True enough. :P

Beastly Gerbil

@GarethMcCaughan don't worry, whatever you do, you'll have done a better job than me at it!

Rubio

Sorry, I'm slow. How does that one deconstruct?

Beastly Gerbil

anagram (disrupted) of resistance

Rubio

Ohh.

GentlePurpleRain

10:03 PM

@Rubio "Resistance" is an anagram of ANCESTRIES (clued by "disrupted") and "extractions" is the definition.

Rubio

I thought that was signaling aaaBBBBBaaa

Gareth McCaughan

that would work too

but in this case there isn't enough clue for it to mean that :-)

Beastly Gerbil

I'm tempted to flag this because you can still see the numbers...

GentlePurpleRain

@BeastlyGerbil If you can still see the numbers, just post the answer! :)

Beastly Gerbil

puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/45839/18250 :P

Rubio

10:05 PM

Hehe. I like it. The snark is strong with this one.

The puzzle is called "Find the missing numbers." See, if it was me, I would have answered "I found the missing numbers. They're smudged and kind of hard to read, but they are 0 2 1 1 1 1 1. They're right there, on the bottom of the grid."

Awww. You left out the most important part. Where are they?

Gareth McCaughan

CCCC: A state I've reached: turned on.

Rubio

enumeration?

Gareth McCaughan

@Rubio danny.sadinoff.com/fun/math-humor/tn/find-x.jpg.html

Beastly Gerbil

@Rubio will edit :P

Gareth McCaughan

@Rubio "enumeration?"?

Rubio