The Sphinx's Lair

hello!

it is my first time using this chat

what is happening here?

The latest thing was a deleted user trying to re-create their account

oh

exciting

One big thing is the CCCC (Cryptic Clue Chat Chains), which you can see on the starboard

do people chat about puzzles here?

12:53 AM

Basically if you solve the CCCC, then you get to post the next one

I see. Looks too complicated for me.

We chat about lots of stuff. C4 solving, PSE Boss Rush, puzzles on the main site, site policy, math and/or physics tutoring, college, money,...

I am currently solving this puzzle: oeis.org/A337663

I wrote some Monte Carlo code last night, but it couldnt find the best solutions. Going to rewrite it today.

Can't help you there, seeing as I don't understand the problem :(

@DmitryKamenetsky yep, a lot of the time!

12:57 AM

oh I can explain it. Put some 1s then start adding 2, 3, 4 and so on to places where the sum of neighbors equals the added number. Whats the largest number you can add?

also, that's interesting - looks like people on code golf are working on it?

codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/212160/…

Yep. But they are stuck at N=5. I am hoping to get some approximate answers for N>5.

BTW its cool to actually chat with you :)

yep, nice to have you here too!

12:58 AM

congrats on reaching 100K!

oh, thanks!

still can't believe it, honestly

I can - your answers are always fast and top notch

we are lucky to have you on the site

3

wow, thank you! that means a lot to me

Q: Smallest four-digit palindromic numbers

1:35 AM

0

What is the smallest four-digit palindrome that is the sum of two different three-digit palindromic numbers? There are different answers.

mathematics

1:47 AM

@Bubbler Tremble, minions!!!

jk

But the process of writing code can be (and is even frequently) automated, as long as there is a clear sense of what the output code should do, what it should look like, and how it might need to be modified to fit the special constraints of unique scenarios

We generally call that type of code "auto-generated"

But it solves only a very small set of problems that are clearly defined in terms of machine instructions (or higher-level language features).

2:03 AM

Yes, but sometimes that's all you (or anyone else) ever truly needs:

For example, you can automate generation of code that handles database interactivity in C#

Even if your database is complex, there are a finite number of ways in which it can be complex: Therefore, a prime candidate for automation, and it saves uncountable hours of peoples lives:

Sure, it's a good example of code generation, but in the process someone wrote the program that generates code that solves the task.

2:18 AM

Well, yes: You didn't expect the code generator to write itself? At that point it's probably a compiler compiler :O

Voldemort's Wrath

2:34 AM

@Mithical That's a really cool article. But I don't fully agree. I understand that Rowling doesn't portray nearly as much diversity as Riordan does, but that doesn't mean in any way that there's anything wrong with what she wrote. Rowling's books have millions of readers all over the globe and attract people of all ages into the fantastical genre. While I see your point about Rowling's lack of diverse portrayal, I just don't think that detracts from the novels at all.

Instead, it augments Riordan's novels.

</rant>

2:58 AM

@Sciborg, are you making an Around the Bend?

@GarethMcCaughan, friendly nudge in case you haven't seen MRFalcon's response to your meta answer.

3:22 AM

For the record, I think the argument that conventional semantics should be ignored in the attempt to find more solutions to a puzzle is wrong unless the puzzle is tagged lateral-thinking

Me too. And they're trying to argue that all the other answers are invalid (or at least that's what I got out of it) because of a perfectly reasonable assumption

4:47 AM

I keep fiddling with my Statue Park - it has two solutions, then no solutions, then no solutions in a different way... aggh.

5:03 AM

time to go back to the one with 2 and post it like "Two for the price of one! Can you find TWO legal solutions?"

Now that's creative

CCCC hint: punctuation is important

an early hint is a surefire sign of a setter feeling guilty

3

Is it a movie title or something?

8:32 AM

@bobble I've seen it. I'm just not sure it needs responding to...

@jafe I am like 99% sure I know what the intended answer is, but for neither of the two plausible parsings I see can I make either the definition or the wordplay satisfactory...

I think the answer is meant to be my name. The def might be "Regular" (meaning person regularly found in a particular place, such as here) in which case we have GMAN containing HEART* CAUGH(-t) which gives us GARETHMCAUGHAN; if either "put" or "jail" can indicate C then the last three words can make us insert that and be done but I don't see how they do.

(So, actually, for that parsing I think the definition is OK but I can't make the wordplay work.)

dangg

Alternatively, maybe it's some sort of &lit (complaining about my cryptic clues or something), taking G(-m)A(-n), adding HEART* to give GARETHA, putting in CAUGH(-t) to give GARETHCAUGHA, but then somehow "jail" needs to mean "add an MC and an N in two different places" so actually I'm not sure why I even mention this parsing which is clearly worse than the other one on all counts.

If "G-man" yields just G then instead we can get G + HEART* + (CAUGH(-t) in CAN) but then instead we are missing an M.

Oh, duh.

"G-man" yields G (from G) plus M (for man) and then we get the right letters.

But although "G" can indicate G and "man" can indicate M, I am not convinced that "G-man" can indicate GM. I mean clearly it can, because it does, right here, but I'd be a bit surprised to see that construction in a newspaper crossword.

Maybe that use of the dash as a separator was what jafe was feeling guilty for?

Maybe.

It would fit with "Punctuation is important."

yeah you have the correct answer

8:46 AM

the answer has the correct answer

what the hint refer to is that the intended def is "CCCC regular" :)

oh, I see.

(the important punctuation being the colon after "CCCC" that isn't there, I take it)

yeah

The Curious Case of the Colon in the CCCC Clue.

ohboy

8:50 AM

didn't think the GM for g-man would be unorthodox

pretty sure i've used a hyphenated word somewhere where the first part was part of the wordplay and the second part of the definition, which i assume is even worse :P

You should have confused everyone by removing the colon (although ofc that would lead to a faster solve)

He did remove the colon, and it made no difference to the solving time because I didn't notice.

Oh wait he did??? Dang I'm blind ;-;

That was creative...

wordplay enigmatic-puzzle story history

0

Q: The King and the Oracle

There was a king that wanted to go to war. But before that, he decided to go see the Oracle of the nearest temple, in order to estimate his chances and to have a clearer vision of his destiny. However, oracles always seem to speak nonsense (and with poor grammar), and this one was no exception. ...

9:04 AM

Wait, I backread one of the CCCC's and.. how does $50 become a peso??

Are you sure it does? ("$" could become PESO; is it possible you're missing an L somewhere from the "50"?)

OH

I had no idea they do it in latin america like that

Part of my confusion was that-- I guess I'm officially spoiling where I am but-- seeing that we write peso as "₱", I'm more familiar with that :0

And another confusing part was that ~₱50 = $1 (USD), but the C4 seemingly suggested the opposite

9:42 AM

I knew neither that the currency there is called the peso nor that it's notated differently from all other pesos. Today I learned something; thank you.

10:08 AM

that's nice I guess :o

10:31 AM

wasn't your location already known @oAlt? at least i think i've seen it in your profile at some point... or maybe i'm confusing you with someone else

@jafe I don't know who knew but I definitely put it in my profile for a short while heh

Changed my mind after

ok i see

2:52 PM

0

Q: It fits on every person

Clue 1: All starts and all finishes Clue 2: Good or bad Clue 3: Every person is affected by _______s Clue 4: Used as a linking verb, too Clue 5: As many letters as a single rucksack brand Who am I?

riddle word

spongebob voice 4 hours later

hey there matt!

hello (:

TIL google meets has a background blur

3:17 PM

0

Q: Another Jewel Cave

As in a previous puzzle, the goal of this Jewel Cave is to place the given shapes (in this case, the standard pentomino set) into the grid, subject to the following rules: All unshaded squares must form a single orthogonally (on a side) connected region. Two shapes cannot be orthogonally adjacen...

grid-deduction

> how do enzymes speed up chemical reactions? option b. they move very fast

yeah sure

Sid

@matt sounds legit imo

haha

they just lower the activation energy

Sid

@matt that's the boring answer

im surprised I still remember that as well

3:31 PM

@Sid hmm

let's see here ... i ended up getting a solid 85% on that test

Q: Another weird crossword? What is this cat burglar up to?

-1

Remember our favorite cat burglar from last time? Yeah, they’re back. This time, they left this not-so-standard crossword puzzle behind. I found this in the newspaper and wanted to share it with some Puzzlers to see if they would be interested in helping out the police. u v l d t c q 3 b h j f x ...

steganography word-search

4:31 PM

Okay, I'm back to a puzzle that has 2 solutions and some (in my opinion) really fun deductions. Now to figure out how to force one solution without invalidating those deductions...

hm, you can't place a clue that would rule out one of those two solutions?

I can, but I don't want to make the previous deductions unecessay

There are a few places to put a clue, I'm debating between them

0

Q: Pandigital POSTERIAL

Each of the 9 letters of the word POSTERIAL has been assigned a different integer value between 1 and 9. With those same values, the product of the letters in each of the following words is as indicated: P I L O T = 144 S A I L O R = 6,048 A L E R T = 840 S A T I R E = 10,080 A P O S T L E = 5,76...

mathematics

makes sense

@Sphinx also, I'm running into a contradiction here

me too

Q: All numbers from 51 to 5001 are written

5:48 PM

0

All odd numbers from 51 to 5001 are written. What is total number of digits used?

mathematics

ONE TWO THREE = (NET WORTH + OEE)*

Q: What is a Multietude™ word?

6:38 PM

3

This puzzle is in the spirit of the What is a Word/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles. If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a Multietude™ word. Here is a list of Multietude™ and not-Multietude™ words: And CSV version: Multietude;Not-Multi...

pattern word-property

7:11 PM

oops

It sounds a fiddle
Found in the middle
'Tween fingers that twiddle
Hot unlike a griddle
'Tis the answer to this riddle

Answer - rot13(sevpgvba)

7:29 PM

no solutions again... grrrr

@bobble on what?

A Statue Park I'm constructing

that is definitely a grrrr moment

I keep messing around with the clues - trying to force some global logic & local logic interactions. I've got my heart set on one particular deduction.

why that deduction specifically?

7:34 PM

Because it's cool

And I keep almost making it work

uh, here. sympathy grrrr

better? :P

Voldemort's Wrath

@Sphinx yay!

Q: Another weird word search? What is this cat burglar up to?

@Voldemort'sWrath I've blocked the Sphinx so unfortunately I don't know what you are happy about

Voldemort's Wrath

8:08 PM

my newest puzzle :):)

3

Remember our favorite cat burglar from last time? Yeah, they’re back. This time, they left this not-so-standard word search puzzle behind. I found this in the newspaper and wanted to share it with some Puzzlers to see if they would be interested in helping out the police. u v l d t c q 3 b h j f ...

steganography word-search

Q: Given the results from adding, what are the values of a, b, c, d and e?

9:09 PM

0

I have a python code, and here are the very last lines of it: print(e + a) e.append(3) print(c + d) b.append(1) print(b + a) When I run my entire program, the output is: [1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4] [1, 2, 3, 1, 2] [3, 4, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4] Your task is to uncover the other half of the code, namely how eac...

computer-puzzle computer-science

0

Q: What is a North-America™ word?

This puzzle is in the spirit of the What is a Word/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles. If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a North-America™ word. Here is a list of North-America™ and not North-America™ words: And CSV version: North-Ameri...

pattern word-property

Q: Closing an irrational curve

9:59 PM

0

For any rational multiple of 2π radians, a finite number of congruent circular arcs can be assembled into a continuous (possibly self-intersecting) closed curve. There are many other possibilities, but for fractions of the form 1/n, one can simply use n copies to reconstitute a circle. And more...

mathematics geometry

10:16 PM

@Sciborg, random stuff I'm curious about:
1) Any bobblie updates
2) How far you are into "How To Train Your Dragon"
3) If you're making/solving any Around the Bends