The Sphinx's Lair

Okay after much big braining we have our clue

how big were the brains?

Heckin big

CCCC: “Fertilizer loses a bit of moistness after September,” said resigning leader, gravely. (10)

@Sciborg one last note in doc

Gotta say I'm very proud of the work we did on this one

7:10 PM

let’s make a new tradition: every time someone solves a c4 they have to say “HOLY SHIT I SOLVED IT”

Lol I hope that doesn't become a meme here

What have I done

a lot of things have become memes here

such as pickles

@matt I mean, we all do that internally

lol

I was just genuinely gobsmacked that I had it

7:12 PM

It even reads a bit like a Tom Swiftie :o

If you turn me into a chat meme I swear to God

at which point you will say “HOLY SHIT I’M A MEME”

don't test me matt

what you gonna do? fight?

HOLY SHIT I'M GONNA FIGHT

7:16 PM

it is too late @sciborg

what have i become

looks up down left right

shifty-eyed CCCC

runs

Y'all are sending me

mixed messages

little bobblecrowns!

7:19 PM

@Sciborg being a chat meme is overrated

(a bobblecrown is just bobble’s crown)

(and my crown)

Low key Bobble you should start selling lil bobblecrown plushies, I'd buy twelve

YESS

@matt correction:

Oct 9 at 4:06, by bobble

You can't steal my bobblecrown. I am my bobblecrown. My bobblecrown is me.

The bobblecrown bobbles only for Bobble

7:22 PM

yep

well, and me

@Sciborg def: sepulchral: sep + (-m)ulch + (-gene)ral

So you have chosen death

GOD DAMN IT LUKAS

what... what?!

That's not necessarily the correct wordplay but yes that is the word

HOW

ok wait

hmmm

7:23 PM

i'm AMAZED

i was unsure about the general part

thats probably wrong

yeah it's not general

But like you are SUPER close

Jesus Christ

@Sciborg bobblecrown also works for Mith

Oct 8 at 20:55, by Mithical

Valid

msh210

@Sciborg I'd think it's SEPULCHRAL (Sep before (m)ulch) except that I can't see where the RAL would come from and, more importantly, the definition would be an adverb for an adjective solution, so I don't think that can be it.

7:25 PM

I mean I can probably just tell you since you basically got it

msh210

Oh dang, I was typing that while more chat was going on and I got sniped

And Avi

lets just give it to the person who gets the last part correct :)

2 days ago, by Avi

Then whoever gets the last part wins :p

@Avi They got it

7:26 PM

not yet

they have to get the whole WP

True

I'm still shook though

@msh210 The first hint would be: The final . can be ?, and that's why

@Sciborg very fast indeed.

I mean I absolutely love that we've had two completely out of the blue CCCC solves/near-solves in one day in this chat

I was so sure that would take a couple days at least

HOLY SH— ok I’ll shut up

HOLY SHIT THEY SOLVED IT

7:30 PM

or I won’t shut up

not yetttt

how many "t"s are required?

tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

maybe we'll sit 5 days on the last part? :)

Nah you can do the rest of it, you guys are too smart for me :p

Genuinely hella impressed, well done

7:34 PM

Ok I have a possible explanation which is probably not it, but: Relinquish -> leader (start of) -> rel -> said (homophone) -> ral

I'm just taking shots now lol

Not quite

Don't overthink it, it's not super obscure

I mean, we do have re(signing) + l(eader) + homophone said. I think I should just shut up until I undoubtebly have it :)

I guess we may have been a bit confusing on it so I will make that the second hint: "said" wasn't intended to be a homophone clue

Probably bad wording on my part so I apologize

probably too early for a second hint lol

Said doesn't have to be a homophone clue as far as I know, so no worries, but that was just the best guess I had in my hurry

7:42 PM

lol I mean they basically have it, I just wanted to clear that up in case it was a muddle down point

No more hints :p

also, I doubt rel -> ral would be even legal as a homophone, since both are not real words as far as I know :P

Yeah :p that was not the intended path

I keep re-reading Deus's explanation of his solve path. He makes my puzzle seem much smarter than I thought it was.

"Yeah, that was totally intended"

"I definitely meant to do that"

7:45 PM

@bobble deusovi has proven that you are very smart :)

I mean, I meant all of the deductions that he found. He just made them seem really cool.

Because they are cool

is that not a subset of your smartness?

@Sciborg "HOLY SHIT THIS IS A COOL PUZZLE"

@matt HOLY SHIT IF YOU DO THIS ONE MORE TIME

what will happen to me

7:47 PM

I'll make you solve the "Ascent to new alcohol" CCCC

the punishment should fit the crime

too extreme?

?

that CCCC has broken lesser men

what does solving CCCCs have to do with SWEARING LOUDLY?

7:50 PM

Solving CCCCs and swearing loudly are basically the same thing

How else are you meant to solve them tbh

calmly

you are incorrect sir or gentleperson

the loudest answer is always right

gentlesir

@matt HARRY

7:52 PM

also the starred messages are not showing for me

DIDJA PUTYA NAME IN DA GOBLET OF FIYAAAAAAA

4

"Dumbledore said calmly"

5th year emo harry

@Sciborg your original "holy shit" has 5 stars now

Thank you for this curse

7:54 PM

you're the one who cursed lol

AVADA KEDAVRA

@bobble HOLY SHIT she tried to kill me

ATTEMPTED MURDER

BOBBLECROWN ATTACKS INNOCENT GENTLESIR

NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU *****

@bobble that's new! bobble swearing

7:57 PM

One of the exceptions to my no-swearing rule is quotes

(the other is curse words I made up myself)

and then there's me who yelled "SHIT" in the chat a couple hours ago

@bobble and this answer

@Sciborg I really like your sense of humor

well, that was unavoidable to answer the question

oh my god, "students should not f*ck" absolutely sends me

@Sciborg why tf is this so funny

7:59 PM

The OP's current rep is exactly 1337, just wanted to point that out

@matt you're a gem also kind gentlesir <3

@LukasRotter who

scratch cat from the Q that you posted

Scratch--Cat

Scratch---Cat

1.3k 1 15

leet

rhymes with yeet

8:01 PM

I'm resisting the urge to upvote their question and ruin it

good idea :p

NOOOO

We must not break the spell

Sid

I see the C4 has already been solved

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

@Sid Yes, I solved @LukasRotter's C4 and they are 90% of the way through mine :)

SHOLY HIT IT'S A SPOONERISM

8:05 PM

DOD GAMN

BI SCORG

COBBLE BROWN

SENTLEGIR

Why is everything in all caps

.

since we're not bleeping in here

/me facepalms

8:07 PM

oh my god

leave this chat, you've blursed all of us

deletes how bout dat

Q: Integers whose arithmetic mean equals their geometric mean

you can't delete what my eyes have seen matt

Sphinx

0

For which positive integers n is it possible to find n integers whose arithmetic mean equals their geometric mean?

mathematics number-theory

then hit the reload button in your eyes

Is that in the frontal lobe or the amygdala I can't remember

Documentation for the brain is terrible

8:09 PM

I want there to be a bad puzzle now so I can close-vote it

Did you get close vote privileges?

Yeah, remember me celebrating when I got 3k rep earlier today? That's the threshold

Wait no sorry I thought you were Matt

Ahh okay

Nice!

Matt is the tilty crown and the green triangles

he he tilty crown

8:11 PM

You'll have to forgive me, I'm a little bit visually impaired and these avatars are tiny as hell

Sid

@bobble 10k is the real deal. You get to see invisible things.

the eyes are in the CISUAL VORTEX

*the optic nerve

The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell

It's taken me 4 months to get 3k, and a good portion of that are the two maze answers which got HNQed

it’s taken me 8 months to get to ~470 (on merrybot)

THE LYNX’S SPHERE

I am officially calling myself a gentlesir every time I come into this chat

8:16 PM

I'm calling you that from now on so

apparently gentlesirs are the people on r/justneckbeardthings

which I am not

but I am still a gentlesir

oh. i was not aware. never mind

you are a DIFFERENT gentlesir

indeed

or we can be gentlepersons together

either one

no i like gentlesir

8:19 PM

then that you shall be

@Sciborg, you should edit your chat profile's "about"! Make it funny for us :)

besides i hate neck beard things

@bobble with a HOLY SHIT and everything

@bobble Ooh I forgot to do that :D

I am 100% including that

Also remind me that if I have time and can find my sewing machine, I'm going to make a bobble plushie and nobody can stop me

@Sciborg YESSSSS

Do it! I'd love some pictures.

8:25 PM

I'll have to find some yellow fabric since the closest I have is orange, but I'm 100% committing to introducing the first-ever line of Bobblecrown Babies

@Sciborg maybe just call them bobblecrowns

great chat profile!

Bobble what should the name of your soon-to-be hit plushie line be

bobblecrowns or bobblettes?

bobblies?

Bobblies is ADORABLE

8:27 PM

that chat profile is ... what did you say ... "sending me"

I'm hip with the kids, I know

My bobblecrown is female. The bobblecrown minions are a mix of genders. In case that matters.

@bobble Will do :D

what do the different gender bobblecrowns look like?

exactly the same

8:28 PM

oh uh ok

the older they are, the more little points they get

so the babies are just pincushions

Pincushions?? That's adorable

and the old old ones have pointies all over

is there a formula for converting age --> # of points?

I love how we're establishing the deep bobblecrown lore

8:30 PM

No - points just pop up over time. Why and when seems random

serious scientists in lab coats are currently studying this

we should really make a conworld. main population: bobblecrowns and sciborgs that like saying "holy shit".

Please no

ok then

I wouldn't be able to handle the cuteness of 100 bobblecrowns

It would kill me

they'll all try to jump on you!

the little babies aren't great at jumping, they mostly bobble in place

8:32 PM

Do they make a lil "bobble-bobble" noise

i doubt that

of course

obviously

they say "baa-boow, baa-boow"

bobblecrown conlang?

8:33 PM

baa-boow baa-boow i'm coming for youuu

headcanon: baa-boow baa-boow secretly means "i will feast on your blood"

@Sciborg no they are benevolent lil things

Wait @Sciborg, did you confirm that sepulchral is the exact correct solution?

i have a feeling they're interested in genetics

but what if bobble is secretly planning to take over the world, and the bobbles are just a cute facade

@LukasRotter Yes that is the solution

@Sciborg no, of course not!

8:35 PM

dang it

they do suck out puzzling ability, so...

@bobble that is not blood though

also can they ever transfer puzzling ability back?

they can transfer it to me. never tried for anyone else

I love the bobblecrowns... but in my heart I fear them

what is their planet's name?

@Sciborg they cannot hurt you

8:36 PM

that's just what you want me to think

i'm on to you bobble

@Sciborg i am an innocent gentlesir, you said so yourself

sus

firm voice i am an innocent gentlesir

@Sciborg baa-boow, baa-boow

OH GOD THE BAA-BOOWING IS GETTING CLOSER

THEY'RE COMING

8:39 PM

@Sciborg i will protect you

injects hypospray

this will make your brain inaccessible to the bobblecrowns

My brain is already inaccessible to myself

@Sciborg well then, good

the bobblecrown's worst fear is someone yelling "HOLY SHIT"

do it now

not "booblecrown" :(

how dare you

sorry, typo

8:41 PM

This sin can never be forgiven

holy shit i am unwanted here

sadness

matt hears the "baa-boow, baa-boow" getting closer... closer... closer...

they're coming for you

i warned you

Q teleports the bobblecrowns into a nearby volcano

yep I'm a trekkie

How did we get on Star Trek Bobblecrown RP again

8:43 PM

i dont know

What did we do to this innocent chatroom

okay someone just serial-upvoted me

well, 30 minutes ago

hm

but I just noticed

twas'nt me

8:45 PM

looks like ~18 upvotes in ~2 minutes

or perhaps, more correctly, 'twas'nt me

oh yeah something like that will probably be reversed

enjoy it while it lasts I guess

unless one of your answers/questions got HNQ'd

hmm, overcounted. only 12 upvotes

¯_(⊙_ʖ⊙)_/¯

anyways. DON'T SERIAL UPVOTE

you have to double the \

\\_ --> \_

8:47 PM

oh, my bad. Forgot formatting

I wasn't the upvoter, I only upvoted your puzzle from today

Gareth McCaughan

I think we're still waiting for someone to finish off the solution to Sciborg's clue. I suggest that they consider what other role "said" could play in the clue, if it isn't a homophone indicator.

@bobble HOLY SHIT SOMEONE SERIAL UPVOTED YOU

bye for now

uhhhh

@Avi what

8:52 PM

so what's the deal about the Fortnightly Topic Challenges

I'm not sure

Is upvoting like that a bad thing? I wasn't aware it was frowned upon tbh.

Stiv suggested to wait until the Q is not featured anymore, then post another Q for discussing the details so we can start on Nov 1st (Sunday). I think that's a good way to go.

yes

oh. Is it like a fraudulent vote thing?

it’s just when people upvote EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE

8:57 PM

um... to be honest I didn't know it was bad. that may have been partly me upvoting some of her posts because i hadn't noticed them before. i hope she's not mad, i didn't know it was bad

Is it against SE rules to upvote a person too many times?

Mithical

basically

it's against the rules to vote for a person

legitimately did not know that, i'm sorry. i hope i didn't get her in trouble or anything

Mithical

and there's an auto-detecting script that reverts votes cast on a specific user in a short timeframe

@Sciborg nah

most cases are accidental