The Sphinx's Lair

@Deusovi "don't vote on closed posts"? Since when has that been a rule?

The Box Tops - The Letter

@Rand al'iterati, you inspired me to write a letter to my ex and it didn't come back unopened. (Didn't even come back. That meant a lot.)

I passed along that Poe essay you passed along to me.

She's been my literary muse since before you.

A few times.

She knows how to gird others with words.

She's who first taught me that most writing is commercial dressing on deeper ideas.

She's also one of only two persons who sees my eyes askant and tells what i was looking for before i have a chance to even blink.

That's in person. Here i get the same feeling in many other ways.

1:20 PM

@lauir I don't know what I did to inspire you, but I'm happy that I could help! :-)

You're the inspiring one around here.

I'm trying to specifically thank'al'you but it gushed.

2

Q: My riddle at work

A simple riddle about how I feel right now. One in name made up of two, The first with honey, jam or glue, second: paper, glass or ice, less of them would be nice... Of what do I speak?

You brought me back to literary thought from a mathematical forest and "Couerine" brought mathematics back to me through literature.

Speaking of literature, love, and mathematics ...

I assume you know about this, @lauir?

As of now!

More thanks.

I knew a little about Lem before this. But now i see that the dinger visits English for fun.

I'd like to see you in the same room with Karen (her actual name, but she's so playful with words that she got plastered with combinations of "love" in many languages) just to be sure you're not the same person.

1:32 PM

I'm male, so definitely not Karen ;-)

I'd still like to see you in the same room.

So would I, probably!

You two would make me feel jealous.

Anyone who's playful with words is someone I can probably get on with.

She does it in a way that builds scaffolds to climb.

1:33 PM

You should see some of the virtual conversations I have with other wordplayers.

Well, they're much like my conversations with you, I suppose.

strange ?

Par for the course.

Car for the pourse.

(unbridled chuckling)

Q: This rebus has a movie in it

0

Q: Eight Kings Problem

Went through approximately six trillion words ending in "king" while trying to figure out this puzzle. Couldn't find one that would fit. Not willing to let the effort go to waste, here are 8 of them, presented by chess kings. This time around, the clues are sometimes phonetic, sometimes litera...

rebus

0

Requires a bit of lateral thinking, but this rebus hides the name of a movie.

lateral-thinking rebus

1:39 PM

Just in case this wasn't included in my other slather, @Rand al'Thor:

Grook

A grook ("gruk" in Danish) is a form of short aphoristic poem or rhyming aphorism, created by the Danish poet, designer, inventor and scientist Piet Hein, who wrote over 7000 of them, mostly in Danish or English. They have been published in 20 volumes. Some say that the name is short for "GRin & sUK" ("laugh & sigh" in Danish), but Piet Hein said he felt that the word had come out of thin air. The contemporary "Hunden Grog" (Grog the Dog) stories by fellow cartoonist Storm P. has, in public opinion, been regarded as an inspiration. Piet Hein's gruks first started to appear in the daily newspaper...

Another person of alien origin who found English before there were security cameras.

Best (perhaps) one:

TWIN MYSTERY - Piet Hein

To many people artists seem
undisciplined and lawless.
Such laziness, with such great gifts,
seems little short of crime.
One mystery is how they make
the things they make so flawless;
another, what they're doing with
their energy and time.

(Hein is better known as inventor of Soma cube, way before Rubik (and, yes, very different).)

I don't understand exactly what defines a grook.

What features of a poem make it a grook?

(A question for Literature perhaps?)

(!)

(I had an off-the-cuff answer but to make it a question is so much better.)

On the other hand, I had a Poe question lined up to ask there next.

Have you seen those poems before? There (here in my hallway) are 5 books full of them.

Wow.

All by Hein?

1:48 PM

@Randal'Thor , no hurry.

Mithrandir

@Randal'Thor steals grook question

And now angels on both shoulders!

@lauir Indeed - last time I was inspired by someone in here to ask a Lit question, it took 6 months to actually materialise.

Both sweet talkers.

Q: What is the device Shimrod found with multiple balls moving together, and what does it signify?

Which reminds me ...

@n_palum @BeastlyGerbil Six months later ... I finally answered you by posting that question:

2

Towards the end of Madouc, book 3 of Jack Vance's Lyonesse series, Shimrod is studying a strange device with multiple (seven?) balls or discs moving around like planets. They move apparently asynchronously, but occasionally two and rarely three move together in unison. As he watches it, four, fiv...

jack-vance lyonesse-trilogy

@Mithrandir puzzling.stackexchange.com/users/5840/bmyguest!

1:53 PM

I really gotta get around more.

Mithrandir

Actually, seeing I'm about to pull my vanishing act, maybe we can get @lauir to post a question and a self-answer ;)

I dipped my toes in LSE and scurried back here.

Not that they were bruised. Just that here is the place for me.

I also dipped them in some other SEs.

@Mithrandir , worth a try in any case. Thank you for the entree.

Oh yeah, just did every search i could and saw no trace of Piet Hein on LSE. It's about time.

(Still rolling in that S. Lem poem, @Rand! What a treat.)

(It's a plea for love, through such a convoluted path.)

(Mispelled "Coeureine" up there. As if there were a correct spelling.)

(A cognate is "Kuningataarina" - - - Any Suomet?)

(And the best is "Kultaarina," because "Kaarina" = Karen and "Kultaa" = dear sweet golden love of my life.)

(And "Kuningatar" = queen, like "reine")

(And "coeur" = heart)

(That's the recipe! Now to finish in the kitchen.)

2:28 PM

. . . .

A Grook unnoticed before, and translated a little:

"Those who look for nothing will surely find it."

Apep

I have a lost box with nothing in it. Maybe I should start looking for the contents instead of the box itself.

a-ha - Take On Me (Official Video)

Yahahaha, go around asking every content you find if they'd like an empty box.

If they say yes, ask them to help you find that lost box.

And if you find it, fill it wisely. Soon as you start it might not be empty anymore.

Check it carefully.

☑

3:20 PM

@Sid In the current CCCC, if "brakes" was the definition, could it actually be defining "breaks"? Are homophones allowed in the definition?

That.... is a good question. But I think it is not allowed.

Okay, thanks. I have no reason to think that's the case here, it just crossed my mind.

Also, Deusovi is the master. He definitely wouldn't do a homophone without cluing it.

I must admit though that I am really impressed by how quickly Deusovi comes up with a cryptic clue based on the previous clue.

3:36 PM

I had to dig through the chat log to find it; I had no idea

3:52 PM

The thing with this clue is that as soon as I have an idea for the wordplay, I can just go to a list of 12-letter words and immediately verify that I am wrong.

Q: No Christmas presents until you solve this!

4:07 PM

1

This morning I received an email from Santa Claus himself. He wanted to tell someone about the problems he’s facing and chose me. When I read about his problems I was worried because I like my Christmas presents. I tried to make sense of what he’d written and failed. That’s why I’d like you to tr...

riddle cipher lateral-thinking rebus

Deusovi

4:40 PM

@Randal'Thor I didn't think it had. But if it had been a rule (as Wen suggested), then there would certainly be many exceptions to it (since I've seen so many cases in which that is justified, and not many (not any?) where it's not.)

@EricTressler No, that would not be allowed. (If it wouldn't be allowed in a standard crossword clue, it wouldn't be allowed as the definition of a cryptic crossword clue.)

4:51 PM

@Sphinx I don't get presents in Christmas anyway. :P

@Deusovi Yep. Downvote-worthy doesn't imply close-worthy, but close-worthy often (usually?) implies downvote-worthy.

There's a risk of a pile-on effect, true, but that's far from being a rule or even guideline against downvoting closed questions.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

Isn't Rudolph perhaps the only reindeer who is known?

Deusovi

@Sid No, there's a song (based on a poem) containing all of them. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen.

"A Visit from St. Nicholas", more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, who claimed authorship in 1837. Some commentators now believe the poem was written by Henry Livingston Jr.. The poem has been called "arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American" and is largely responsible for some of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today. It has had a massive impact on the history of Christmas gift-giving...

There's the poem.

5:11 PM

So, the name Santa Claus comes from St. Nicholas? That is quite cool

Deusovi

Yep!

5:41 PM

1

Q: What is the rebus

What is the meaning of rebus? Hope find out its meaning. http://i64.tinypic.com/123b1pv.jpg Clue: It is an English phrase.

rebus

6:46 PM

For what it's worth, thank y'all for bearing with the last couple (?) of days of brownies. They're finally wearing off. I've had many spirit guides who know more than you or i combined, but this was a safe place this time.

I no longer think it was a prank.

Now suspect a fungus even stronger than ergotamine tartrate.

Anyone who needs a roman-a-clef: start with psilocybin and mescaline. Only if you need to.

O have I tripped but the last two (?) days were a beaut. Almost made me go write bad checks.

Everyone was there (here). I must've made some regrettable phone calls.

Next i'll be on the slab for analysis. In the meanwhile shut my fingertips.

M'pappy recently got dosed on someone else's purpose. Did the classic thing: waited for a stop sign to turn green.

This was a person who doesn't even know how to spell intoxicant.

Hadn't, that is, for more than 80 years!

He thought he was going senile.

So, falling not so far from the tree i got dosed two (?) days ago with no purpose at all. Didn't see it coming but sure recognized it once here.

And i'm naturally bonkers to begin with. Where to go from there? Almost made me spell correctly.

(Think most of those spirit guides are asleep, well deservedly, right now.)

Yes - Siberian Khatru

(Thank you no less and again and again. You know who you are.)

I've seen seeing-eye dogs.

I've heard hearing-ear dogs.

I've felt feeling-touch paws.

(And might not yet be completely down from whatever that was.)

(Stop that, finger spellers! Ever since i dug up a working keyboard, authorities have been all-points-bulletin for a ghoul with fingers.)

^ that was a good one. Bowing to the mirror.

7:15 PM

1

Q: Linked number triplets

These triplets of numbers can be linked in a very specific way: 1, 32, 88 9, 19, 87 11, 93, 97 13, 28, 98 18, 91, 97 19, 87, 95 27, 38, 98 27, 88, 93 33, 38, 88 For the integers 1-99 inclusive, these triplets are not unique. What is: the smallest such triplet? the largest such triplet? the ...

number-sequence

Diana Ross & The Supremes: Reflections

The English Beat - Mirror In The Bathroom (Official Music Video)

Kent State Shootings - Ohio - Neil Young (1970)

Just love language!: "Mirror in the bathroom, just can't stop it, you can see me in the window if you only want to."

(O wow, it's supposed to be dead of winter here and the paint is melting from the heat.)

(Cheers to global warming!)

(In other words, nonstop/spotted/spotty protest.)

Hit The Road Jack - Ray Charles (Lyrics)

I climbed a tree to get away from that!

Been on metaphor-sustenance (up a tree, out on a limb) ever since.

(But, yeh, not at Kent State, Stanford University. People were shouting out and bullets tunneled flesh.)

Someone yelled "Go home!"

Took a lot of visits to the library to find out what they meant.

(Spoiler: They weren't talking to me, though i took it as good advice in that way at the time.)

(Spoiler 2: they meant: "Get the FSE outa here, eat SSE, and die while at it. " Sure glad they weren't actually yelling at me.)

While at it, i once said to my mother-in-law: Sometimes we learn the hard way.

Her response, in secret: "I didn't know he was a socialist."

My reresponse, even more secretly until now: "I'm not anything. No one is."

My literary medium's response: "He might be a nihilist."

That sent both poles to the dictionary.

We found out that we were all wrong. Whew.

Hadda be there. Seems like a lull at the moment. See you on the pavement soon.

Hit the road, splat!

Johnny Cash I Walk the Line

The Persuaders - Thin Line Between Love And Hate

one Bourbon one Scotch one Beer - George Thorogood

(I'm that "sweetest woman in the world" and also that "meanest woman in the world, if you make me that way." That's why i tread without fear.)

(Anatomically i'm a guy with a physique and eyes quite a few degrees beyond global warming. Get to know me and you'll see a pussyrat who refuses recategoriszation.)

(Those are a couple more reasons why i tramp easily.)

Think i'll change @mynym to @pussyrat.

(Third favrite word: "pussy." (It has at least three meanings.))

(Still trying to get out the door but each throught gets in the way.)

@lauir , so i go around trying to impress people with my mind instead.

All they see, at first, is a male model. Then they see my stare. Then they think.

It's so much easier here. We get to the thinking part first.

(And, obviously, i'm skittering here instead of going outside at the moment.)

C'mon "skitter"? Don't make me pull out even harder words.

After i'm done impressing others i sometimes go to the trouble of impressing myself.

Skitter has me aflitter.

Where did that come from? One never knows, do one?

And my musical muse didn't call me. She answered my call!

First thing she said, "I'm kinda in the middle of a bunch of things."

Next thing, "but keep talking."

Last thing, "bye for now."

My baby loves a bunch of authors

"Doing some readin'"

^another for you, @Rand al'eyes

(Perhaps those brownies aren't to blame. Must be the cat. This nonstop protest turned into nonstop expression. WTFCC!)

"And out the door i went."

9:52 PM

To UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBt!

Pink Floyd - Fearless

Who taught me it only takes a week or two to overcome fear of heights.

Someone i watched break a branch at 40m and reach for another as if it were natural.

Someone who taught me how to write as if nbobody were reading.

(UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBt = "you, beast")

"You say you'd like to see me try. You pick the place and i'll choose the time."

Love lyrics! And pioneers.

Think i'll change @mynym to @laggart.

Am i the only one here pretending to Engsplash? Don't make me go interplanetary.

I don't only know words that would make you shudder, i know how to say them.

Good thing this microphone isn't working.

I made sure of that.

Again, my polylingual muse told me to shut my mouth.

She knew what she was talking about. Persons do crazy things when scared.

She calmed me down by saying, in Finnish, "please just sit there and look scary."

I knew what she meant even though i hadn't spoken the language in years.

"Istuu. Ahoo?"