The Sphinx's Lair

ffao

12:09 AM

there was an "other than that" implicit

Sp3000

1:08 AM

@stacksfiller If we're okay with this, then...

CCCC: Investigator's flawed, having true instead of false (9)

ffao

DE{F->T}ECTIVE

boboquack

1:37 AM

@ffao is it an &lit; too?

Mike Q

Doesn't look like it. Def is "Investigator", right?

boboquack

Investigator = DETECTIVE

oh

ffao

Investigator is not doing double duty, so not an &lit

boboquack

Sorry, thought the final answer was DEFECTIVE for whatever reason

Sp3000

2:33 AM

@ffao Needless to say, yup

ffao

4:07 AM

So this is the time chat has to bear my clue?

CCCC: Allied one moves forward, free from restraint (6)

I like how my keyboard already autocompletes a star to CCCC

boboquack

4:49 AM

Is there a word for 2.5x?

Alconja

@boboquack Doublanalfle?

Sid

6:08 AM

@ffao this seems wrong but, is it UNITED? :UNTIED with I in front of T?

Rubio

hah.

that seems exactly right.

"one" (I) moves forward

M Oehm

@Sid I'm sure that's it, but I think it's the other way round: UNTIED is the def, with the I in UNITED moved forward, i.e. in reading direction.

Rubio

I think the clue is backwards somehow.

"free from restraint" should be the def, but the wordplay moves the I the wrong way

@MOehm hm. yeah that might be it, at that

Sid

Oh, moved forward left to right

M Oehm

Otherwise there should have been an indicator, e.g. "I moved forward in ...", no?

Sid

6:13 AM

Maybe.

M Oehm

Yes, it's somewhat inconsistent that forward and backward refer to the reading direction, but the heads and tails of words are defined the other way round, so that "moved forwards" usually isn't the same as "moved to the front".

Sid

So, who is up next?

This is obviously correct. ffao is asleep, perhaps?

M Oehm

You're next, of course.

Sid

Bah..

If anyone has a clue ready, go for it. I might be a bit busy for a couple of hours

Rubio

"Drinks, eats starter with vacant seat pushed back and stick-like arms (13)" uses "back" to indicate movement --> that way :)

that's the way that makes more intuitive sense to me, but I can definitely see that there are word usages that have ambiguity that can be fun to play with

Sphinx

6:24 AM

0

Q: Cryptic Riddle!

I am a 6 letter word. I am a part of your daily life. Remove the third letter from me and if you leave enough space, i am available. Remove the last letter from me and read me backwards,avid readers will easily identify me. Shuffle me, even if it feels good, I would just say not bad. Who am...

M Oehm

@Rubio Touché! :)

So what I wanted to say is that there is absolutely some leeway in how to interpret the direction of movement. (Note the careful use of "usually" in my statement above.) Ahem.

Alconja

@Rubio On what level is --> == back intuitive (and that's genuine curiosity, not an attack)? It's further towards the end of the word, it's the standard forward direction for most UI navigation (eg browser)

Rubio

It's moving toward the rear of the word. In the same sense that a word's "leader" is its first letter and (commonly) its "end" is its last.

Alconja

Ok, so back as in towards the rear, not towards the place you came from... gotcha

Rubio

English reads left to right, so while reading a word, temporally, moving ---this---> way moves backward in time

Alconja

6:31 AM

...no it doesn't

Rubio

er. later in time. sorry

so you encounter it last.

Alconja

...right, so if you move it "back", you'd have to return it to the past (<---) :P

M Oehm

I think it works both ways. Backwards --> to the back of the word and <-- backwards in terms of reading direction or, as Rubio noted, of time.

Alconja

It's just the ambiguity created between "moving towards the back" and "moving back towards the front". Like if you get on the bus, you can "Move back!" to get further down the bus, or "Go back!" to the front where you entered. Gotta love English.

M Oehm

(Although I find backwards meaning opposite to the reading direction more intuitive. And in my seat-pushing clue, I used back, not backwards.)

Sid

7:16 AM

I have a dumb one ready..

CCCC: Manages travels and costs (4)

Rubio

7:32 AM

I hope that's not supposed to be VISA :)

Sp3000

8:01 AM

Seems like RUNS triple def, with the "costs" part apparently North American

nice!

I'mu up for a game

o/

8:23 AM

o/

(exams are finished, yayyy)

Wen1now

lucky :)

Do we ping sid?

as4s4hetic

why sid?

Wen1now

For the 4c

Sphinx

8:45 AM

0

Q: Ropes & Clothes

It's a sunny afternoon, and you want to hang your recently washed clothes(shirts, trousers, shorts etc). There are 2 identical trees in your yard,both having 10 cm diameters of bodies and they are 4 meters apart from each other, and you want to hang your clothes between them. You have infinite am...