The Sphinx's Lair

Deusovi

06:00

Not sure. I think Arqade and PPCG are also pretty lenient.

humn

ok, bye

(just kidding!!!)

So, if so, why not welcome some determined efforts to annoy us? (You know whom I mean, dear you.)

After days like recently, I wouldn't mind being overannoyed by true professionals.

Deusovi

We're lenient, but not so much so that we're willing to have anyone here solely for the purpose of annoying us.

humn

It's a thin line.

(sorry)

Deusovi

We're happy to have anyone here as long as they don't want to be destructive, whether that be to site quality or to fun.

And Voldemort there fits squarely in the latter group.

Rubio

@humn I'm not particularly strong at mathematics, having abandoned formal study after a third semester of Calc.

humn

06:07

Too many to catch up with. One at a time:

The sharpest claws hide the softest pads.

Rubio

Matrices and I didn't particularly see eye to eye - I think the course either got lost in the weeds, or didn't go far enough, for me to ever really understand why I should care

humn

2) Rubio, you've been lectured to by forces that didn't care.

Deusovi

^

humn

Remember the quote? Something like: A lecture is an excercise where the thoughts of the instructor pass to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either.

(phone call.. back in the future)

Deusovi

Ha! That's a nice quote.

Rubio

06:12

Yes, exactly all of that. (And I've heard that quote, or at least one very similar, before - such wisdom therein)

Annnnd my next metapuzzle bit is posted, whee

Sphinx

0

Q: Puzzle to test IQ

I've been figuring for this quite some time. Hope someone can help me out.

0

Q: Easy to type, Harder to say

I have two names I often go by — Name them both to identify Who I am and where to find me (This is not hyperbole). By one name I'm high and mighty, Often stalked by paparazzi; Towns, songs, games, films, a war movie proudly share a name with me. People see me night and day, and That's how I want...

riddle word rhyme

Deusovi

Off to bed soon, but I think the second half might be a FONT.

Or something related to typesetting and design, maybe? I say "font" because "font"-as-fountain is something you'd see in a liturgy.

And "highlighting something special" is what fonts are for. Advertisers use small fonts to distract from, say, side effects of medicine.

("The right place" may be the page source.)

Sp3000

Probs star/asterisk

Deusovi

Ah, yep. That's gotta be it

used for italicizing/bolding

Yeah, that's it. You gonna post it?

Sp3000

Can I say no? :P

Deusovi

06:27

Sure. I can if you're too busy.

Sp3000

Feel free to :) I'm, er, kind of trying to avoid posting answers for riddles

Deusovi

Why?

Sp3000

Just not my cup of tea usually

Deusovi

Not mine either usually. But this one was nice.

Sp3000

(In this case, "Often stalked by paparazzi;" and "Sometimes giving coders pointers," were all I really needed, with "Over 8 times" being the confirmer. Then the thing about posting riddle answers is now you have to backsolve the rest of the lines)

(Having said that, yeah it's nice when a riddle is good)

Deusovi

06:31

Ah, too much effort? I understand that. :P

Sp3000

:P

(also trying to work on mine, slowly)

Rubio

Quick work as expected - nice job. A couple of the clue explanations aren't quite right but pretty close.

In C you literally use a * to get a pointer, for example :)

Sp3000

Yeah that was a real giveaway :P

(also the other one I noted was Shift+8)

Rubio

In the source it shows up as "*over 8* *times*"

Because shift-8, and multiplication.

Deusovi

@Rubio Ah, I'm not familiar with C.

And I'm aware that some of my explanations were flawed. Feel free to edit in the ones I missed.

(Actually, I CWed it. I don't think I deserve credit for that one.)

Rubio

06:47

The comment comment was good. I was referencing things being masked out by asterisks (like inputting credit card or password) but your explanation is actually pretty nice with how it ties into the coder bit

Deusovi

Yeah, your explanations are probably better. (For one, you wrote the thing. For another, it's nearly 2am here.)

Rubio

I'm going to bed, I may add to the CW tomorrow

Deusovi

I should probably go to bed too.

Rubio

Gamen all.

humn

07:43

(I just completed a phone call from my music teacher... the only person who has outlived me, so far, ah life!)

Yes - The Preacher, The Teacher

►

signed -- music lover

humn

08:04

(it gets old when you outlive yer guiding lights, may you be so lucky)

YES - Survival

►

(better studio versions to b found)

Uh, what wz the ques(z)tion?

R, the anzwer?

Yes - Yessongs (Disc 2 - Full // HDCD Remaster)

►

"Seen all good peeple turn their heads each day, so satisfied, I'm on my way. Feel it."

(^ always prurient, not necessarily pertinent)

Sphinx

08:30

0

Q: Who is this wizard?

Long time ago there lived a wise guys, many people used to call him & still call him a wizard, a genius! He had many, in fact countless friends! One day with some of those friends he formed a union. All these people were very famous & important in their community. Over the time the equation chan...

riddle wordplay history

humn

^vote with a note:

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star (Full Album)

►

...always more...

(@Jonathan Allan, your move.)

Speak (or edit), @Mithrandir, and you will be spoken (or edited) with.

Mithrandir

'

humn

.

(I'm satisfied)

Mithrandir

yesterday, by Deusovi

...That's not an answer to the question. It's an apostrophe.

@humn the thing is. I can edit your messages, but you can't edit mine :)

humn

08:45

Sez you and what D'army?

Mithrandir

D'Army Bailey

D'Army Bailey (November 29, 1941 – July 12, 2015) was an African-American lawyer, circuit court judge, civil rights activist, author, and film actor. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, he served as a city councilman in Berkeley, California, from 1971-73. Bailey was the founder of the National Civil Rights Museum which opened in 1991 at Memphis’s Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was slain in 1968. His 1993 book, Mine Eyes Have Seen: Dr. Martin Luther King’s Final Journey, focused on that period. A second book, The Education of a Black Radical, published in October 2009 by LSU...

humn

If yur gonna 1upme so zly u can also work wonders for better or worse.

Care to unfrz a million rmz?

Mithrandir

Wel ef yoo tak leek this I'm a can two.

humn

8t wii got f(n)!

Mithrandir

O_o

humn

08:49

_____

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mithrandir

Perhaps it's time to put your A back in?

Then you can be all human instead of only mostly human, @humn.

humn

My A&s just clenched from confunnnn

(editorii)

Mithrandir

<

humn

*

(unworthy)

Mithrandir

This is one of the strangest conversations I've ever had.

humn

08:54

You've halved? I'm trying to double.

Mithrandir

yesterday, by Rubio

I fear humn may have taken a too-hard one to the head.

humn

It can happen.

Every now and then I go full speed at a precipice.

Very worrysome.

Mithrandir

*surreptitiously slips out*

humn

I envy the literate.

And mock them in articula... ow why bother

Mithrandir

o_o

humn

08:58

(because it's a joy)

Mithrandir

Q.

humn

A?

Mithrandir

No. You don't have an A.

Ankoganit

Something strange is going on here for sure :o

Mithrandir

@Ankoganit yep...

6 mins ago, by Mithrandir

yesterday, by Rubio

I fear humn may have taken a too-hard one to the head.

humn

09:00

Hop aboard (I'm not hoppy but do have a tender bone to pick with one)

Have you met my friend, Pangloss?

Mithrandir

Pangloss

Pangloss (from Greek, meaning all languages) may refer to: Pangloss, a fictional character in the 1759 novel Candide by Voltaire Dr. Peter Pangloss, a fictional character in the 1797 play The Heir at Law by George Colman the Younger the Pangloss Collection, a digital library of audio recordings in endangered languages....

humn

Pleased!

Ankoganit

Pan gloss or pang loss?

humn

To be honest, and dreary, .. earlier today....

But I took care of it.

Ankoganit

do take care @humn

humn

09:04

Thank you.

Ankoganit

you seem somewhat strangely strange today

I mean, you are strange, and pleasingly so

humn

It can happen.

I don't want a welfare check. But I do want to blur some lines.

Mithrandir

Are you slightly inebriated?

humn

In recovery, but I remember the words

In some ways the best of all possible worlds.

You hafta been there to step lightly. And I trod.

Edited.

Mithrandir

I think this conversation has exceeded the weird limit.

humn

09:13

If you weren't one of the usual suspects, you wouldn't be in this line-up.

(Thank you for standing in, no less.)

C'mon puzzlers, pop a youtube. signed -- music lover

unworthy

Seriously, @Mithrandir, your words have intrigued me to the point where I wonder what notes accompany them.

(well enough understood if this isn't the right time)

Mithrandir

D, g, f, g, c.

humn

sweet

(and sincere)

(phoning my music teacher)

Mithrandir

09:32

O_o (that's part of what I wrote. Don't steal it :P)

humn

it finishes on an upnote, who could ask for anything more?

signed -- music lover

(woke her up, pretended it was a wrong number.. ain't i a stinker. (not really, but perhaps))

Nothing to do with puzzling, but always worth mentioning:

One good thing about music:

When it hits you feel no pain.

Bob Marley - Trenchtown Rock

►

again and again and again

(no i'm not spliffing either, but it sure is nice to remember)

Which reminds me, probably true for most of us around here, every experience is just like it happened yesterday.

Mithrandir

@JonathanAllan - @humn has been posting that he misses you. Perhaps you can drop in and say hello?

humn

How else would we catch on?

Mithrandir

(that was a superping)

humn

09:47

Nice!! (factorial!)

Double

I do...

So why doesn't a mortalping work?

Mithrandir

Because he hasn't been in chat for too long.

humn

Very much appreciated(period exclamation)

But back to the challenge at hand, @Mith... , care to spill a tune?

(it will be well received)

(just as nosy as could be)

(signed -- music lover (of all kinds))

Porcupine Tree - The Sound of Muzak (In Absentia)

►

and there's worse unless...

get it? This is the perfect place for enigmatic music

(i don't get it but pretend i do)

Mithrandir

10:03

The Maccabeats - Brave

►

humn

ya!

gnarl!

nd now the neighbors hate you as much as me

Mithrandir

O_o

humn

just happened to have that at all 5 red lights

(relistening)

(love it)

Mithrandir

:D

humn

(play by play, it's a score)

So, next Q: put up a play that might veer off.

To be fair, I'll toss one (soon as I find it)

Supper's Ready Illustrated

►

"Bang bang bang."

'Sheesh, seems like every video I plop is either Yes or Genesis. What a wonderful world.

"Can't you feel our souls ignite?" (just repeating) (and editing)

manshu

10:38

\o

humn

\oi!

manshu

wassup

humn

samold thing. yaknow becaus you maditso.

manshu

A song for you too:

Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven (Official Video)

►

humn

(back in a few after listening)

manshu

10:41

(back in a few hours after studying)

humn

(drive safely)

manshu

you too. :)

humn

(and still listening)

(nice)

Gareth McCaughan

@Deusovi the answer to your CCCC is THICKEST (HICK in TEST) though I have to say I think that hyphen is unfair (would be OK if it were tax in yokel, but not for yokel in tax).

humn

G! While you're losing sleep, why not treat us to a sample of music as well?

Gareth McCaughan

10:48

CCCC: Accept state of letter before posting, perhaps (6)

@humn While I suppose technically I am losing sleep, it's approximately noon local time.

humn

Corrected once again, and loving it.

But still, why not embarrass yourself with a taste of musical honey? (You wouldn't be the first)

Gareth McCaughan

Bach: Easter Oratorio (Sir John Eliot Gardiner , 2013)

►

humn

!

Gareth McCaughan

Seems appropriate given the date.

humn

(I'm stil wading through the preamble but know it'll be worth it)

(And after a few more minutes am beginning to wonder)

Did I ever mention that I had something to say if only there were a way to preface my intentions foretold beforehand wheretofore inasmuch?

Gareth McCaughan

10:56

(it was the music I had in mind rather than the preamble)

Please by all means consider your intentions forewarmed and your listeners four-armed.

humn

Ergo summa cum totale.

(Pig Roman) edite

Gareth McCaughan

Romani eunt domus!

humn

Dear diary,

Sometimes I feel my oats, and other times I wonder if Gareth feels me oats.

I mean, every artifice I plan, is sowed under by McC.

Sooner or later, tho, a P will hatch that willn't be unhatched by yonC.

(sillily(

But seriouCly, mcC, you unhatch every one of my future Pzzles.

So why don't you just pose them for me?!

(semiseriouCly, of course)

Mithrandir

@humn - here's a good song.

Gareth McCaughan

Hello human. Thank you for writing in my diary. My name is Tom. I don't think you need worry about Gareth. Neither he nor anyone else has been able to make any progress on your spring puzzle, for instance.

humn

11:09

@Mithrandir , my favoriiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Dear Gareth, I never know what Pzl works or won't.

Gareth McCaughan

I actually meant that to say humn but I'm on a mobile device and autocorrect did what autocorrect does. Not editing because it's kinda appropriate as it stands.

humn

Oh you can slew the slop as well as it comes at you. Very good morning! (@Gareth McCaughan)

Gareth McCaughan

Not sure exactly what Clop I'm Clewing, but thankC, I guess...

humn

Truly Puzzled, Tom? @Gareth?

Willing to work that out.

I'm not really humn either. More rodnt.

Gareth McCaughan

I'm just slightly worried that something i wrote may have been interpreted as a move in some sort of (I hope friendly) insult-trading game i hadn't noticed i was playing...

humn

11:17

Ah sweet mysteries of life

Gareth McCaughan

(AFK for a few minutes.)

humn

When you come back, Garethom, I have some questions for you. First, am you me? Every move I make you double upon. If so, what should I do next?

Second... What should I advise you as if?

Third, you don't have to take this

(Those moves are puzzles, you've been solving them quicker than they come)

(punctuation optional)

Mithrandir

humn

Thank you, I needed that

Anyone heard? Reality is but imagination on a stick.

(copyright Binar)

(my everlllving god, GMcC's youtube is still playing, and it ain't bad!)

(and it just finished, how... well you know)

humn

11:54

While awaiting @Gareth McCaughan's RTK, let me eulegize the ballad of Binar.

Binar's eyes were long and lean, color of the sun and [expletives deleted] were green.

Gareth McCaughan

@hunn you should consider the possibility that some of my "solving" of your micropuzzles here is like the first joke on this page mmiweb.org.uk/mmisite/humour/judaism.html

humn

(looking up)

Gareth McCaughan

We don't believe you is I, but how would you know if they were?

humn

You are a reformed source of AI, but your cover has been b(if only mathjax worked here)ed.

And I know AI.

(truly, I'm surprised we haven't met in RL)

(but am pleased to have met here!)

(even if you salt my every tail)

By reformed I mean that everyone else I've met in AI rebukes mathematics, and you don't.

(never too late? pings @Gareth McCaughan)

(Ps. AI = artificial intelligence, not insemination, for purposes of this conversation)

...another conversation successfully slithered, unintentionally, another dime, ...

TheGreatEscaper

12:20

Hullo

humn

fello?

Have you had any pixelated ideas lately?

TheGreatEscaper

A few, some of which pop up in a puzzle hunt for PSE sometime soon!

humn

Spare and share

Mithrandir

@TheGreatEscaper '

humn

Oh, unless

TheGreatEscaper

12:23

I'll keep my lips tight till I post!

humn

I'm waiting for next summer, when you might have a chance to reveal the self-conscious self-portrait.

You solved it, @TheGreatEscaper, you created it

TheGreatEscaper

Oh yes, that old dragon... was a solution never posted?

Gareth McCaughan

Sorry @hunn, was having lunch.

TheGreatEscaper

wowee, that needs to be fixed

Im currently on very dodgy hotel wifi, no writeups or proper Puzzling for a while for me, unfortunately.

humn

Too well understood

TheGreatEscaper

12:25

also why I won't be in time for this fortnightly, as I've mentioned a little earlier.

humn

Here we are, a solver with fresh feathers, a solver fully fledged, and a solver tatttered.

Gareth McCaughan

@humn I wouldn't claim to be "in AI", but indeed I don't rebuke mathematics. Not up for insemination, though.

TheGreatEscaper

@humn your prose seems to have blossomed into a strange spiral of petalled language, that, fascinating as it is, seems to me as though it hides a nestled wasp

any significant events on your end of things?

humn

Both, The(you know who) and Gareth(same) I wish I were you but am ok with the meanwhile.

TheGreatEscaper

wish you were I? I wouldn't recommend it. Having been myself for a while now, I can safely say it's not the most pleasant experience :)

humn

12:32

!!!!!!!!!!!! And many returns.

TheGreatEscaper

An exchange of enigmatic life updates, perhaps?

here's one for you, but it's not straight-forward.

Your turn, my friend. :)

humn

May you live so long. Lately, all of a sudden, I've been feeling immortal.

TheGreatEscaper

Interesting, and mine: I've been trapped on the wrong end of a clock.

humn

Every day is a P.SE (trying to be funny)

TheGreatEscaper

I don't mean to ask intrusive questions, but given your clue, how long do you expect to be on PSE?

humn

12:37

I just want to come up with one more good P.SE and keep striking out.

TheGreatEscaper

A suitably elusive answer to a rudely intrusive question, fair play my friend.

humn

Et The

TheGreatEscaper

And to you too.

humn

Dear The,

TheGreatEscaper

But there's no brute among us.

Yes, Humn?

humn

12:39

My bro

TheGreatEscaper

My faceless friend?

humn

My bro saw every step and leapt over them

I was the gutter slut beneath

TheGreatEscaper

You've lost me now, humn, but don't let that stop you: keep this thought going and I'll see if I know where it lands.

Actually, clearer now;

Please do continue.

I have a brother myself;

He's 5 and a half years older than I.

humn

My best friend now came about after feeling like nothing after trying to match the shadow of my bro.

TheGreatEscaper

My brother learnt the piano, and I picked it up too; he learnt the violin, and I followed, as I thought I should; he gave them both up long before me.

humn

12:43

So (t)here we are.

TheGreatEscaper

Here we are.

nothing but slim sheets of glass between us.

humn

in unison.

TheGreatEscaper

we couldn't be closer or further apart.

humn

(stunned silence)

(except for that)

TheGreatEscaper

Full of wit, even now. I suppose I should concede that nothing has changed at all, humn?

humn

12:46

you pick up the pieces, kemo sabe

and if you don't, I'll keep trying

TheGreatEscaper

Hang in there, trusty scout...

humn

ay, I don't want to waste this moment, though, we have a triumvirat of visual pieces in play here.

(c'mon editor)

TheGreatEscaper

The parts we play and the price we pay, there's not much of a difference.

humn

Vie!

So how can we trip @Gareth into playing along?

Ack, it just doesn't work this way does it?

TheGreatEscaper

Gareth's been spirited away. Here in body but we've long lost him in this labyrinth.

In all seriousness, though, if it's possible to be even more. What's with the riddle talk?

humn

12:59

Can you scratch my itch, @The? I've enjoyed your youtubes (thank you!) any more?

TheGreatEscaper

I'm away from my piano, too.

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