The Sphinx's Lair

Deusovi

2:00 AM

i guess some of these clues aren't up to par :/ might've been too ambitious with the gimmicks here

i'm trying! just really bad at anagrams

Gareth McCaughan

so anyway, we seem to have filled in the whole fish grid

Deusovi

and the enumeration isn't familiar to me

Gareth McCaughan

though there are a couple of clues we don't wholly understand

Deusovi

oh, you got the whole thing? nice!

Gareth McCaughan

(the phrase in my CCCC is one I expected to be widely enough recognized that at least some of the erudite regulars here would get it, but I am starting to think it must be less so than I thought)

oh wait

I haven't filled in the first letter of 8d yet

or the intersection of 21a and 22d

sorry for the false alarm

Volatility

2:02 AM

what do you have for 35a? MAPS doesn't fit

Gareth McCaughan

8d must be DEN (= home) but haven't thought how it works yet

oh, sorry, yes, I'm missing that too. I cannot brain.

in mitigation I plead that it's 2am local time

Volatility

ah, 35a is probably MAP = "Guide"

Gareth McCaughan

yeah, must be

Volatility

oh wow

Gareth McCaughan

have you spotted something brilliant

or are you just pleased that we're nearly there?

Volatility

2:04 AM

so "pointless" clues remove S

Gareth McCaughan

or N or E or W

Volatility

no, just commenting on your sleep habits ;-)

Gareth McCaughan

is there a particular one you're looking at?

Volatility

for 35a

Gareth McCaughan

ah, yes. 2am isn't particularly late for me, unfortunately

ah, right

Deusovi

2:05 AM

Gareth, get some sleep :P

Gareth McCaughan

disappearing for 2 minutes to get a glass of water; I expect you'll have finished it off by then

@Deusovi I'm not going to drop this when it's so close to being finished

Volatility

Oh, I see, it's P(-R)AM<

Gareth McCaughan

8d is a letterbank from NEEDED

I think NEE is "outside none", though why only the "o" is not-outside I'm not sure, and then DED is "excited Edd"

Volatility

"outside none" is probably just NE

Gareth McCaughan

but then we're missing an E

Volatility

2:10 AM

yeah :-(

Gareth McCaughan

of course I agree that it would be nicer if "outside none" were just NE but I don't see how it can be

Deusovi

(there's no E missing from the clue, by the way. that clue doesn't have any errors)

Volatility

oh, I think it's noNE ExciteD EDd

I suppose that's "outside"

Gareth McCaughan

you mean EdD, right?

I guess so

Volatility

oh, didn't see that

Gareth McCaughan

2:13 AM

so the only remaining space is the intersection of 21a and 22d, and surely at this point it can't be hard

22d must be OUTER = edgy

("edgy" from another clue)

have we used "input" as definition anywhere? it came from 38d

Volatility

TYPED maybe?

Gareth McCaughan

anyway, 21a must then be COSTA. Was it something about half a country? perhaps the country is COSTA RICA and we're counting words not letters

ah yes

so let's see. 21a after excision is "earlier half of country's sacrifice, I"

double wordplay

COSTA (rica)

and COST + A

Volatility

ah, nice

Gareth McCaughan

(I'm not terribly convinced by I => A even though both can be clued by e.g. ONE)

22d is "Auditor moved back of garden to front, leading to pain"

and is going to have to be OUTER with definition "edgy"

I don't know whether it's letterbank or double wordplay because its partner is DAHL which we don't quite understand either

double wordplay seems more likely

Deusovi

(yeah, I'd seen I→A in other cryptics - not sure how I feel about it anyway, but apparently it's acceptable)

Gareth McCaughan

2:19 AM

I'm no longer sure that double wordplay seems more likely

Volatility

"pain" -> TORTURE?

oh, and "garden" -> ORCHARD

Gareth McCaughan

oh, that sounds good

nice

wait, what's the definition of 21a COSTA?

I called it a double wordplay but that would mean its def would have to come from one of the other clues and they all seem to be used

could "earlier half of country" be intended as a straight definition??

or am I just being blind?

Deusovi

it's intended as a straight, yeah

(note the extra words)

Gareth McCaughan

ah, OK

ah yes, extra words always go with straight clues, sorry for forgetting

Volatility

so we just need to explain 2d RIPOSTE and 5d EASE

Gareth McCaughan

2:24 AM

and DAHL

we have at least part of all of those

Volatility

oh yeah, that too

Gareth McCaughan

2d RIPOSTE we have (I think) a slightly unsatisfactory sounds-like for "re-post"; what we're missing is "storefront in repeated task" as the other wordplay

unless it's really a letterbank, of course; but no, its partner is "gone" for MIA which is definitely a letterbank

perhaps POS is storefront (point of sale)

and RITE is repeated task (ritual)

though those both seem slightly iffy to me

Volatility

"re-post" I think is "text again" rather than "displayed text again"

Deusovi

that's the intended answer - what about it is iffy?

Gareth McCaughan

to me the storefront is the bit that faces onto the street, whereas the point of sale is where you actually pay inside the shop

and a rite isn't exactly a task, or at least I don't think most of the people who perform them consider them tasks

Deusovi

2:29 AM

ah, alright - i was thinking online, where they're almost the same thing

Gareth McCaughan

I suppose

Deusovi

and as for "rite", i was thinking of "task" in the sense of "something which must be carried out", which seemed to be okay for me

Gareth McCaughan

I'm actually not sure what "displayed" is doing in the clue, if it's meant to sound like "re-post".

"display" would make sense

Volatility

might just be a connector?

Gareth McCaughan

but I may very well be missing something

it's a rather bulky connector. And "text again" for "repost"? Surely not. "Text", as a verb, refers only to what you do with your mobile phone, and that isn't exactly "posting", is it?

I dunno, maybe it is

@Deusovi are we misunderstanding this bit?

Volatility

2:31 AM

The tenses don't match if "displayed text again" is "re-post"

Deusovi

...no, I don't think so - yeah, that's an accidental tense mismatch. I have brought dishonor upon myself with this heinous crime

Gareth McCaughan

OK, so that's 2d understood. Next up: 5d EASE

where the bit we're not quite clear on is "Satisfy without game"

and it seems like it might be PLEASE minus PL but so far as I know PL isn't the name of any game

Deusovi

nah, not PLEASE

Volatility

oh, it's APPEASE

Gareth McCaughan

ah

game = app. hmmmmmmm.

Deusovi

2:34 AM

yep, and the vast majority of mobile apps are games. not perfect, so feel free to complain

Gareth McCaughan

and finally 16d DAHL or maybe DAFL

which must be a double-wordplay because its partner OUTER is a letterbank

Deusovi

yes, it is a double wordplay

Gareth McCaughan

Boy sent north to get figurehead -- large

Deusovi

this one's probably a bit cruel

think Morse

Gareth McCaughan

so we had, or thought we had, F in (LAD upwards) = DAFL

oh god

that's terrible

Volatility

2:37 AM

yikes

Deusovi

...is it really that bad?

Please, feel free to complain - I want to improve in my cryptic setting

Gareth McCaughan

no, it's not that bad

it's just really cruel

and although I've whinged about some of these I think it's an impressive job

so anyway we've filled the grid now

so we need to (1) put a grid in the answer and (2) fill in the details of which definitions come from which other clues, etc.

(is the CW answer the right place for all that? I guess so)

Deusovi

trust me, your whinging (whingeing?) was deserved

I can give you the filled-out grid if you want

and no need to tell which definitions come from which clues, just explain how they work

Gareth McCaughan

that would certainly make it less effort

I think we should at least classify all the clues, which we haven't done as clearly as one might hope

Deusovi

Sphinx

2:42 AM

0

Q: Optimal running-time tic-tac-toe algorithm

A perfect tic-tac-toe AI/algorithm would ideally never lose, but only win or draw, 100% of the time. Imagine that you play against once such algorithm, and it calculates the next move to make. Is there an optimal algorithm that can calculate this as fast as is theoretically possible, i.e with t...

Deusovi

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/…

here's the sheet with all the clue answers and classifications

(along with various other notes to myself and pieces of drafts of the post)

Gareth McCaughan

thanks

Deusovi

Originally I was going to give you what each clue type was, but then I decided this way would be more fun

Volatility

Definitely!

Deusovi

I loved seeing you all slowly figure out that the shared words were from the other entries' missing definitions

Gareth McCaughan

2:48 AM

sadist

Rubio

nice. I came back just in time to see it solved.

Grats! And @Deusovi if I compliment that as hard as I feel it deserves, your head won't fit in the avatar square anymore.

Deusovi

I'm still a bit disappointed nobody fell for "head of Syria --> S"

Rubio

Off to go see Rogue One. cyas later.

Deusovi

Have fun!

Gareth McCaughan

@Rubio Seeya.

Gareth McCaughan

3:23 AM

OK, answer done. That was a lot of work for nobody to get any rep from :-).

Deusovi

I was going to suggest you post the finished grid on your own so I could at least upvote it and give you some rep :P

Gareth McCaughan

Well, I could still do that. But lots of other people contributed a lot too.

well, maybe not lots

but Dan and Volatility both did

LeppyR64

4:22 AM

Wow: puzzling.stackexchange.com/help/badges/126/enigmatic-puzzle

Dan Russell

4:39 AM

@LeppyR64 chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/30017828#30017828

Don't know why I have neurons devoted to remembering that interaction, but makes sense with your new badge.

LeppyR64

Thanks @DanRussell

Dan Russell

@Deusovi Very cool puzzle. Reminds me a little of this one in the clue crosstalk aspect. puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/15725/…

@GarethMcCaughan @Volatility Well done solving that! Wish I'd had a bit more time to sink some teeth into it.

Rubio

6:29 AM

Well that was a fun-filled romp :)

IAmInPLS

9:17 AM

Hi folks

None got the CCCC yet?

Damn

IAmInPLS

10:16 AM

@Rubio Talking about Rogue One?

Sphinx

10:33 AM

-1

Q: Can you find a word that can be directly associated with each of the following words-

A lighted lamp The one who brings the happiness

word

user61230

Just in case you all want another room owner or two, this would be the place to do it.

5

IAmInPLS

@Emrakul Are we looking particularly for someone in Europe/Asia, (I'm European, but just to know)

Display name

Another one.

DJ Khaled's Motivational Words Of Wisdom #DimplezTV

►

Display name

10:52 AM

I think I would nominate Rubio as another one, with the argument "He's probably an insomniac" :P

Sid

lol...

But seriously, I think the room is running fine now. And I thought, timezone issue was settled with Gareth's inclusion.

Display name

Yeah, I don't think there's much to do here as a room owner... Pin the current C4 and kick-mute kangaroos (which isn't a criteria until Jan 13).

Or can suspended users talk in chat?

Ankoganit

11:08 AM

@Displayname Users suspended in their parent site can't talk.

Sid

No idea... but hey.. let's not be too harsh on the kid. He means to have a bit of fun,(Although, his idea of fun is called annoyance for others)

Display name

He isn't suspended in Physics...

Sid

@Ankoganit Do you mind if I use one of your devices in my new puzzle?

Ankoganit

@Sid Not at all

Go ahead

:)

Sid

11:24 AM

Thanks.. :)

Ankoganit

you're welcome

:)

Gareth McCaughan

11:34 AM

So here's a reminder of what I have told you about the current CCCC. The solution is indeed an anagram of "any that Hermione and Willow". It does not begin DO NO HARM. The text anagrammed is appropriate to the answer. And the answer is a thing I expected to be quite widely recognized, though obviously I'm adjusting my expectations now.

I think Rubio would be an excellent room owner. I have no strong opinions on whether we need another (or indeed on whether we needed me).

Sid

@Ankoganit And you can also thank me if you get extra upvotes in your earlier puzzles in the next couple of days...

Sphinx

11:56 AM

0

Q: KenKen Zen: A journey begins

Let us shy away from the materialistic opulence of 361- cell KenKen layouts (−9 to +9, squared). Let us contemplate a modest KenKen journey, unburdened by gratuitously extravagant cluenography.* SerenSerenity may be reached with just a clue or two on a minor board. Breathe. Imagine an un...

calculation-puzzle no-computers open-ended arithmetic

Display name

12:36 PM

@GarethMcCaughan Re: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's just supposed to make it easier to process the CSV version. (most languages would probably throw an exception if you'd e.g. want to parse the hex string 2aL)

BTW, the CSV version doesn't have an L appended to any of the numbers, so I think you mean the first code block which is a textual representation of the command prompt image. (O> 0x3514 misses one). So you can ignore my previous comment :)

Actually, I'm incredibly confused now. This is pretty embarassing, I read "left" as "left out". I think I shouldn't say anything here for the rest of the day.

TheGreatEscaper

Hulloo!

Seems a bit quiet around :(

Techidiot

12:53 PM

Probably people started working on your new puzzle :)

TheGreatEscaper

Ahaha you're faster than Sphinx :D

Sphinx

0

Q: Mortin Myes' Second Cryptic Gallery

Despite finding Mortin Myes' First Cryptic Gallery fairly simple to decipher, I must confess that his second one had me completely stumped. Once again, there were three paintings, and this cryptic gallery was given the rather enigmatic subtitle 'Evolution of Maze'. Keeping in with the theme of t...

enigmatic-puzzle steganography

Techidiot

Haha..

TheGreatEscaper

On second thought, this puzzle might not be as hard as I thought it was...

Oh well, time will tell

dcfyj

1:23 PM

@TheGreatEscaper can't make up your mind? post, delete, post, delete :P

Techidiot

1:35 PM

@TheGreatEscaper - I have posted an aaaannnnnsweeerrrr :D

TheGreatEscaper

@dcfyj I keep convincing myself the solution is unique, and then convincing myself it isn't :P

Techidiot

@Deusovi - Hiding paths/trees inside a maze is a standard steganography ijera.com/papers/Vol2_issue4/BX24499504.pdf

Saiid

Is anyone else working on this?

Deusovi

That's not steganography. Also, the "tree" part wasn't what I had issue with - it was the arbitrariness of the order and what you counted as part of the tree.

Techidiot

I guess it was mentioned specifically it's unclear how you formed the trees

Also, how isn't it steganography? I am forming the trees in a top-to-bottom manner.

I know its not right answer, but it's one of the method. Only if I had one more path it would have been better fit.

Deusovi

1:47 PM

The article is not about steganography. There are no messages being hidden there.

(Please excuse any curt replies - I'm half-asleep.)

TheGreatEscaper

The answer is very obvious

Techidiot

This is one

TheGreatEscaper

As in, once you have found it, you have no doubts on arbitrariness etc.

If you have to convince yourself that the answer is correct, it's probably not the answer to my puzzle!

Techidiot

@TheGreatEscaper- No it's not correct. It was just a thought. It's definitely not a correct answer.

TheGreatEscaper

Hello @Ankoganit!

Ankoganit

1:50 PM

@TheGreatEscaper Hello!

Your new puzzle looks interesting

incesterror21

Hey all

Sphinx

0

Q: 15 Tiles Sliding Block

Solve the sliding puzzle by moving the tiles to the space available until the right image is revealed. You cannot move them because it is just a picture so just cut each piece and jig-saw solve it with paint. What animal can you think of?

sliding-blocks

IAmInPLS

Hello hello hello

TheGreatEscaper

2:03 PM

Hello IAmInPLS!

IAmInPLS

Not sure about my answer about the sliding puzzle (puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/46801/…) but at least it made me laugh: "You cannot move them because it is just a picture, so just cut each piece and jig-saw solve it with paint"

In short: "deal with it"

TheGreatEscaper

Yup :P

I tried googling 'logo red c' but nothing similar to that came up

IAmInPLS

I thought about either this, or the Chicago Cubs

incesterror21

Don't you think it's a C-bra?

IAmInPLS

but their logo is not just a red C so...

dcfyj

2:09 PM

It could also be the cubs (chicago) and I'm pretty sure the Canucks use a red C

TheGreatEscaper

The C could actually be a horseshoe??

IAmInPLS

@dcfyj It's a blue C

I just googled it :P

dcfyj

I forget these things :P

Sconibulus

Cardinals looks maybe a little more likely?

IAmInPLS

@Sconibulus Saint Louis'?

dcfyj

2:11 PM

I don't know, that question is looking more and more "too broad"

Sconibulus

It's not on fire enough to be Calgary

incesterror21

Google red sea and you'll find a sea horse

IAmInPLS

Tbh, I don't know enough American sport teams

dcfyj

lol

TheGreatEscaper

I don't know any american sport teams...

Land down under here :P

IAmInPLS

2:13 PM

Except from NBA

incesterror21

I don't know any Americans who do sports

Sconibulus

@IAmInPLS not sure, there was just a google image of a cardinal inside a C that didn't look entirely unlike the c in the question, although it didn't have the white highlight on the left

I do sports! I sports on an almost weekly basis!

it's just beer league hockey...

incesterror21

Did you try the Google image search?

IAmInPLS

@incesterror21 Yep!

incesterror21

YMCA?

IAmInPLS

2:15 PM

@Sconibulus For me, it's just beer league: I call some friends, when we see who can drink the most on a weekend

dcfyj

Haha, I put the picture in for a reverse image search and it pulls up YMCA Toronto

TheGreatEscaper

I feel like the red C isn't enough to off with

dcfyj

As I said, it's looking to be too broad.

TheGreatEscaper

The registered trademark definitely means it's a logo

dcfyj

We've come up with a decent amount of perfectly viable answers already.

IAmInPLS

2:18 PM

@TheGreatEscaper Yes, unfortunately, the only tag is sliding-blocks, so I don't see where we could search for more

TheGreatEscaper

Yeah... I always try to make puzzles where when you hit the solution, it's really obvious

Maybe I don't always succeed but it's a good design philosophy to go by

Helps avoid situations like this

dcfyj

yup

IAmInPLS

Anyway, I'll post a riddle before leaving work, in an hour or so

As always, I am struggling on the title

If only my name could be Hugh Meyers...

TheGreatEscaper

Does anyone want a hint for the Mortin Myes' Puzzle?

Ankoganit

@TheGreatEscaper I think it's too early for a hint

TheGreatEscaper

2:23 PM

'A Puzzle With Weird Genii Making Deli Meat' Wow! That's impressive

dcfyj

@TheGreatEscaper has it been up all that long?

TheGreatEscaper

Not especially. But for some reasons I like puzzles to be solved quickly :P

*reason

I suppose I'm just impatient ahah!

Ankoganit

@TheGreatEscaper Have a look at this one then. It's currently the highest voted as the best puzzle of the last quarter on meta.

TheGreatEscaper

Coolio! Not a huge riddle person but this one seems quite accessible, I think I know the answer to the riddle already, but that's not what the question is asking?

IAmInPLS

@Ankoganit Yes, this one was sooo cool. It was so simple, yet so good.

TheGreatEscaper

2:27 PM

I don't know how to explain the last line.

The last line seems somewhat related to the macabre title.

IAmInPLS

It was at this moment I knew I could never hold a candle to him

TheGreatEscaper

Maybe it's a poisonous flower?

Hmm...

Gareth McCaughan

@TheGreatEscaper There is something going on with HM's riddle that you probably have noticed.

have not, I mean

Ankoganit

@TheGreatEscaper Why bring poisons into the scene, flower is good enough

TheGreatEscaper

I see MAY I but then YI is weird if I read down the first letters...

I'm not sure how flower fits the last 1.5 lines @Ankoganit

Ankoganit

2:30 PM

@TheGreatEscaper (think of funerals)

TheGreatEscaper

I got that for your grief I adorn, but 'Slay me' got me a bit confused

Ankoganit

@TheGreatEscaper Uh, when you pluck a flower, you 'slay' it, right?

dcfyj

flower+no root = dead

TheGreatEscaper

Because in riddles like this the poser is usually having the persona of the answer, in which case a flower is saying, 'Slay me, and I will your last amen adorn' which seemed a bit odd to me

Ahh okay.

I just jumped to a causation between Slaying a flower and Ending up dead

Gareth McCaughan

no, "you" here is a mourner, not the corpse, at the funeral

TheGreatEscaper

2:31 PM

Ahhhhhh right.

Makes sense.

Gareth McCaughan

but anyway, solving the riddle is (a prerequisite but) not the point

TheGreatEscaper

So that means whatever I'm missing is somewhat meta.

Hmmm, 'riddled and dismembered'

I assume that 'riddled' refers to the riddle itself.

So maybe 'Flower' has been riddled

And somehower 'Flower' has been dismembered? Maybe the word flower is hidden in the riddle

I see 'petal' in line 2

OHHHHH

Gareth McCaughan

nice, isn't it?

TheGreatEscaper

'Stamen' in line 6

Now I don't know my flower terminology enough to see any others

but I assume similar words are hidden in the other lines?

Gareth McCaughan

yes

TheGreatEscaper

2:35 PM

Okay a quick google search

gives me 'Pistil', 'Filament', 'Anther', and 'Sepal'

That's really nice

I'd noticed filament after seeing petal and stamen but wasn't sure if it was a flower term

Gareth McCaughan

and note also (not that this is required for a solution, it just helps to appreciate how nice it is) that "riddled" means not only "made the subject of a riddle" but also "separated into parts" and "filled with holes", both of which go nicely with "dismembered". (Both meanings are because a riddle is a coarse-meshed sieve.)

Ankoganit

What the heck, I have a downvote here

15

A: Best puzzles of 2016 Q3 (July - September)?

Riddled and Dismembered by Hugh Meyers This one is a perfect example of what a quality riddle looks like. Here are the key reasons for nominating this puzzle: The first reason is, of course, the ingenious twist that lends the riddle a sublime superiority. At first sight, it seems no more than...

Gareth McCaughan

As the ancient wisdom saith, haters gonna hate.

10

IAmInPLS

In comparison, all my titles are like "here's a new riddle what am I"

Ankoganit

@IAmInPLS aww, you must have a clickbaity title to hit the HNQ and get some sweet sweet rep points. Multiple, out-of-context, weird sentences in the title work remarkably well.

TheGreatEscaper

2:41 PM

It's actually quite crazy how he made such a pleasing sounding riddle with those words hidden inside

HNQ?

IAmInPLS

@TheGreatEscaper Hot Network Questions

stackexchange.com/questions?tab=hot

@Ankoganit Funny thing, I hit the HNQ the very same day as you

Ankoganit

The list you see on the right in the homepage

@IAmInPLS which puzzle?

IAmInPLS

The one with matchsticks, counting for the fortnightly challenge

Ankoganit

@IAmInPLS Ah, ZOO

IAmInPLS

Yep!

Ankoganit

2:42 PM

That was a sweet one

IAmInPLS

Thank you. I wanted to post a cool matchstick puzzle, but I failed two times before posting this one. One was closed as too broad, and the other one got deleted (I asked for it) because the solution was not well defined

TheGreatEscaper

ZOO was nice!

Ankoganit

lateral thinking puzzles which don't end up being too broad are hard to come up with

IAmInPLS

@Ankoganit Indeed :-/

TheGreatEscaper

Well-defined-ness is super important

Is anyone else here a fan of puzzle games?

Ankoganit

2:50 PM

@TheGreatEscaper what sort of puzzle games?

I like adventure-type puzzles (preferably playable on mobile)

dcfyj

@TheGreatEscaper You realize this is a chat room for puzzlers, right? :P I'm pretty sure the answer to that is everyone in the room ^^

TheGreatEscaper

Ahahaha

I'm a huge fan a

*Im a huge fan of all types of puzzle games

But my favourites tend to be fairly eclectic

Ankoganit

some games I particularly like: That Level Again (1,2,3); Sometimes You Die; There is no game; Cube Escape Series (especially Seasons, Theatre, Samsara's Room); The Room( haven't played Two and Three yet);

dcfyj

I don't know if I like all of them (not sure if I've tried each type or not) but I like all the ones I've tried.

There is no game was entertaining.

TheGreatEscaper

Cube Escape is really great! The Room is also quite fun, but doesn't hold a pinch to real life mechanical puzzle boxes.

Obviously real life puzzle boxes are not as intricate or expansive as the ones in the room, but they usually require more creative thought and discovery

Transcript for