The Sphinx's Lair

Q: Two integer sided equilateral triangles with integer distances

1:14 AM

0

In this figure with two non-congruent equilateral triangles and three-fold rotational symmetry the distance between any two of the 6 edges is an integer. Can you give a solution? I know only one solution. If the two triangles are congruent the problem is much easier and there are many solutions.

mathematics geometry computer-puzzle

1:43 AM

@Bubbler I should have waited for that to resolve before making the pictures...

4:31 AM

CCCC: Draw Spooner's macho shape (9)

... shacho mape ... o.o

Ah, of course

More like "shaycho maap" if you respect the sounds

I apologise for disrespecting the sounds >.>;

It's actually pronounced sha-pé

2

4:37 AM

On reflection, I don't think I have never really used Spoonerisms where the vowel tags along.

yeah, spoonerisms are generally just the initial consonant sounds

Bold of you to assume it's a spoonerism

Then it's indeed shacho mape :P

@PrinceNorthLæraðr Totally unintended I am sure. ;p

Yeah. Just a distraction, mhm

4:43 AM

There used to be a Ye Olde Worlde crockery and tableware store near my house called the Duck 'n' Fish Shoppe which my parents found amusing, to my confusion.

@PrinceNorthLæraðr MALE + STATE then Spooner to STALE + MATE = STALEMATE = draw, in chess. Blame me recently doing lotsa chess.

Yup!

5:14 AM

CCCC: Held up document securing deposit (7)

(note: I will probably only come back in here to respond to guesses or drop hints. I will be watching chat from the transcript, though)

5:47 AM

@bobble de(lay)ed (deposit=lay, as an egg)

Correct, of course

Anonymus 25- Reinstate Monica

CCCC: Art wanting wood and stone (6)

6:02 AM

I'm not seeing any synonym of Art that works, so the def is probably stone

6:12 AM

i wouldn't write it off that quickly, but it seems plausible that you're right

Q: Which diagram would follow in this pattern sequence of eight pointed star with outside circles?

6:24 AM

0

This one is tricky since I am unable work out the reasoning behind the progression of each diagram in this pattern. What would be the reason for each progression ?

pattern

6:51 AM

@Graylocke that's great

@msh210 It even had pictures of the two animals on the window in Beatrix Potter style.

matt

@Graylocke I mean ..... they're technically correct if they hate dishes

It would be an incredibly Ocker (Aussie) name for a store... but it was a tiny little store that looked like someone's grandmother's house inside.

@Graylocke antmcphee.customer.netspace.net.au/vmaywald/BDFC.html ?

Oh! Looks like I am entirely misremembering where it was! lol But yes that was probably it... or it was a store that sold from their warehouse or something.

7:02 AM

Or maybe it was another store with the same name.

Possibly! That isn't the store front I remember! (Google Maps) ^^:

Also it's waaay on the other side of town.

7:19 AM

Hmmm... Is wanting allowed as a deletion marker?

yeah

definitely

So it could be the reverse of a clue like "art is wood in stone" (not that that makes sense, but yanno)

assuming any of those three words existed -.-;

hah, actually the answer is PINE+ST., the def being "art wanting"!

@msh210

ooooh

art as in thou art

7:30 AM

Is this a valid way to write down the source?

that is way too clever ;p

@Bubbler interesting... I wonder if it is a practice test question.

Q: Proposal: define "pattern-spotting questions from other sources" as off-topic

Also a reminder that we still haven't decided on this:

11

Recently we've been getting multiple questions asking for answers to pattern-spotting questions from external sources. Many of them are in the form of a simple number-sequence (e.g. given some numbers, predict the next number) or progressive-matrix (e.g. given a matrix of pictures with one pictur...

discussion close-reasons

(By which I mean assessment to determine your level of education - are they normally allowed?)

(and tbh - I didn't know these kinds of questions were in ACER tests...)

Anonymus 25- Reinstate Monica

It has been OK to post them if a proper attribution is done, it isn't an on-going competition, and the original creator doesn't explicitly ban posting on other sites

7:50 AM

@Jafe Oi, nice! So, a def can be more than one word. Huh, TIL

8:21 AM

@Jafe yes indeed!

@Graylocke not my idea -- someone (I think Gareth) used it for a C4 a little while ago

Oct 12 '20 at 21:58, by Deusovi

CCCC: Flag art at a later time (4)

Aug 31 '20 at 21:44, by Gareth McCaughan

CCCC: Most beautiful art arriving; rest is to be collected (9)

9:00 AM

CCCC: Clark County (4)

Gareth McCaughan

ho ho

9:46 AM

@Jafe KENT? ddef - Clark Kent (Superman) and Kent in SE England

yup!

@Bubbler okay :)

@msh210 okay so 3 clever people ;p

10:20 AM

@Graylocke or at least one clever person and possibly two copycats :-)

Q: 3 queens and 2 rooks covering a 8x8 chess board

10:41 AM

1

Can you place 3 queens and 2 rooks on a 8x8 chess board, such that every empty cell is under attack? Good luck!

combinatorics chess

0

Q: 21 knights covering a 11x11 chess board

Can you place 21 knights on a 11x11 chess board, such that every empty cell is under attack? Good luck! Here is a similar question for 10x10: Knights covering a 10x10 chess board

combinatorics chess

@msh210 Well I am sure it is a number between your lower bound and my upper one ;p

11:30 AM

CCCC: Throws up terribly (rotten starters), eating English shellfish (7)

12:10 PM

@Stiv LOBS + T(E)R

@Jafe Indeed :) Yours again...!

1:13 PM

CCCC: Tango and Cash in Tehran court case (5)

1:51 PM

@Jafe t rial

@msh210 that's right

2:16 PM

CCCC: Happy follower to cross a stream, flip (4,5)

Anonymous

2:32 PM

puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/106292/… Ok so regarding this puzzle, I had given two bounties (50 and 100) and they both got wasted, and it did not even get answered.

Can anyone give me a suggestion on what to do with it? If I answer this myself the fun answering will be wasted.

I can place another bounty, but I am a lot sure it will get wasted as well.

Ankoganit

2:47 PM

@Anonymous I'd suggest posting a more revealing/straightforward hint than the previous ones.

Anonymous

3:06 PM

@Ankoganit the hints are, actually, pretty straight-forward. The Big Hints are revealing and especially can give a breakthrough to the solution. I have given a lot of hints so I don't think this puzzle needs more.

Ankoganit

Huh, I'm out of ideas then

Anonymous

@Ankoganit did you try this puzzle though? =)

3:42 PM

@Stiv, is the table-ish thing here a candidate for Markdown-ifying?

3:55 PM

@bobble Technically, I guess it could be. Although if it's currently accessible to screen readers as it stands I probably wouldn't, as the 'table with an empty header row' look isn't one I like all that much... I think if I was told it needed to change I would probably opt for a text-based list instead rather than a table, to be honest.

As far as I know, code tables would be read as code - that is, spelled out character-by-character.

And I agree, it would be nice to have an option to remove the header row if the table in question doesn't need one...

from here

> In practice, we have three options to produce a table: a codebox, MathJax, or the new Markdown table syntax.

The codebox is clearly bad. Semantically, that will be understood as code, and screenreaders will attempt to make it intelligible as such. It can be nearly unusable, depending on the user’s settings.

@Stiv group 4 wouldn't happen to be related to monopoly perhaps?

@BeastlyGerbil ...Mebbe...

Okay, thanks @bobble - leave that one with me and I'll give it some thought. Thanks for checking in :)

@Stiv in that case, hopefully solved :) Very nice puzzle!!

4:10 PM

@BeastlyGerbil Thanks :) I would say there's one tiny thing missing from your explanation at the moment - which is any kind of reference to the sergeant's name to explain what these 5 groups are! (You've said it in comments about previous attempts but not in the post itself!) Pop in a reference to that and the checkmark is yours :)

@bobble PS You may see that for once I rejected one of your tag wiki excerpt edits in the queue - the 'smoke signal' one on no-computers. Personally, I find it's little Easter Eggs like that dash of humour that make PSE a lovely little treasure trove, and I didn't think it was doing any harm. I'm sure it will still get approved by others, but just thought it worth saying that not all humour is 'fluff'! Some of it is site character :)

It's still in the wiki.

4:24 PM

@Stiv replaced the connect wall bit with it, it's not really a connect wall at all and more as the sergeant's name suggests

@bobble True, and I appreciate that :)

@BeastlyGerbil Brill, I'll take a look - thanks for seeing it through to the end! Looking forward to seeing others' attempts in this FTC...

Well, you've set the bar quite high already :P

Ankoganit

4:44 PM

@Anonymous I've looked at it, no idea so far

@bobble thanks for the edit on the connect wall!

Almost forgot that existed

Q: Three queens and two rooks covering the chess borad... again!

6:23 PM

0

Three queens and two rooks can be placed on a chess board so that all empty squares are under attack, as has been shown here: 3 queens and 2 rooks covering a 8x8 chess board. What if we require that all squares are under attack, even those occupied by any of the five pieces? Source: https://www.a...

chess optimization

(I don't want to rant but has anyone ever experienced jubilation and dejection within one day?)

All the time, mon ami

7:01 PM

I got a job offer yesterday.

Today, I suffered a personal tragedy

What happened?

Sorry if that question was too personal -_-;

My school friend committed suicide this morning.

His funeral a few hours ago was one of the most helpless moments that I have felt in my life until now.

Wow. I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'm sorry, I literally don't know what to say right now. I'm kind of at a loss for words.

It's okay. There's not much anyone of us could have done.

I hope things would have been different but they are not. Life goes on, I guess.

That's very sad, regardless

7:16 PM

(If anyone here has suffered a similar loss(and I hope none of you have to), please do give suggestions on how to cope with it)

7:28 PM

@Sid I'm so sorry to hear that :(

I've never experienced it, but the one thing I do know is that please try and not put any blame on yourself, because its the worst thing you can do. That can be hard but in the end its noones fault, and the worst thing someone can do is to think it was theirs

Sciborg

7:39 PM

I agree with Gerbil's advice. Our family lost a cousin to suicide a few years ago, and the way we coped with it was just always reminding ourselves that it wasn't our fault. It was his battle with his own demons, and unfortunately he lost the battle in the end, and there was nothing much we could have done. There is only so much you can try to do with someone else's demons, but in the end you feel helpless.

I hope you find peace, Sid. I'm sorry for your loss.

Q: How many queens are needed to attack all white squares?

0

This question: How can 3 queens control the white squares? got me thinking... What is the fewest number of queens needed to attack every white square? Rules: Only queens allowed Every white square is attacked — not just occupied No queen attacks another queen

chess optimization checkerboard

Dmihawk

7:57 PM

@Sid sorry for you loss, I am sadly all-too-familiar with the situation you are in and know how you're hurting. At its purest form, grief is an expression of love for someone who we now miss. That feeling of hopelessness is driven by a desire to be able to keep loving that person against the sadness of their passing

Suicide in particular is a sensitive subject, because it is usually considered "preventable" and those who remain are left with questions of whether they could have done, or said, something to change the outcome

As Sciborg touched on, suicide is a battle with one's own demons and often fought silently. Depression is not an easy thing to understand - nor is it something easily "cured"

I have battled with my own demons throughout my life and lost people close to me to their own demons and while I have never found an ultimate solution to coping with it, I try to break each occasion down into three parts:

(1) Past - remember the person as they were. Hold dear the memories which you cherish and celebrate the life you had with them. Acts of remembrance are different for everyone, so honour the person in whatever way you feel best - plant a tree, light a candle, dedicate a piece of work etc.

(2) Present - acknowledge how you feel now and in the moment. Grief is normal, and healthy. Crying unexpectedly at the smallest of triggers is human and the feeling of hopelessness is a sign of love. While we generally try to grieve privately - talk to people around you. Externalise how you feel and let your grief be processed. If you don't get support from those around you, keep talking to people until you found someone who will empathise with you

0

Q: My prefix is a clue

An Affix Riddle: My prefix is a clue My infix is a stutter My suffix combines What am I?

affix-riddle

Dmihawk

(3) Future - make plans to act on what your grief brings to the surface. People often find that estranged relationships can be rebuilt, abandoned dreams can be rekindled, and "impossible" plans can be achieved. Encourage those you care about (especially males) to be open about their feelings and make yourself a safe place for others to confide in you

I am by no means a therapist or medical professional - this is just what has worked for me, so long as the path your grief takes you is not self-destructive, however you choose to process your feelings will always be the right way, and let noone tell you otherwise

8:25 PM

Thanks for the advice. @Dmihawk I will see what I can do to survive this.

Gareth McCaughan

10:34 PM

On a more cheerful note, what's the job? (As always, feel free not to answer.)

0

Q: To equip hand sanitizers

There was an event held by a group. In this COVID19 era, there were many hardships in equipping quarantine supplies, in addition to carrying out the event. Several bottles of the same hand sanitizer were purchased for those attending the event. One bottle of the sanitizer for every ten people was...

mathematics arithmetic

11:03 PM

Quick public service announcement for the Low Quality Posts Queue:

> Edit if the post is good quality, but you can improve the post to make it better. Avoid editing posts that should be closed or deleted, as it will remove the post from review.

If a post is low-quality and should be deleted (e.g. breaks rules or is a blatantly worse duplicate answer), please don't just edit in LQP to add spoilers. It doesn't fix the fundamental issues.

Ah, yes. I remember Rubio making that PSA a while back

Ive reflagged it so it should reappear soon

(not naming any names, but I've noticed this is the reason some of my flags were disputed)

(which LQ Post?)

Here

Has 2 delete votes already, so it'll be gone soon

11:08 PM

Flagged as well

I wish the mod queue for delete votes could extend longer than 30 days, as I feel a lot of posts which should be deleted end up with 1 or 2 votes and then leave the queue

But I'm assuming its capped at 30 days as larger sites would have a very long list otherwise

Yeah

You know what would be a really funny C4 joke?

Putting a reversal indicator in a palindrome

Like CIVIC< :P

"Local car in reverse" (5) :P

Though "in reverse" is a bit questionable as a reverse indicator

11:30 PM

I'm tempted to introduce a "palindromize" indicator, so I can use VIC on it to get CIVIC

@PrinceNorthLæraðr Is it?

it seems like the exact opposite of questionable

@Deusovi the reverse, if you will

@Deusovi Hm, idk my grammar with prepositions in the English language is not great

@Bubbler (not the CCCC) Solo?? Paired with his backup, a prophet's mother (6)

(slightly arcane knowledge perhaps, it's meant to be rot13(UNAANU))

11:44 PM

Would a palindrome indicator be fair? :P

@msh210 I don't believe I can actually work that one out.

i think "paired with [its] backup" is a perfectly fine way to indicate "palindromize", at least for even-length palindromes. maybe "merged with its backup" for odd-length ones

Ah, that's kind of cool

i'd quibble with the pronoun msh used, but it's a direct description of what you're doing with the word, so it's perfectly fine

(you could drop the "his"...?)

11:46 PM

I would like to see a palindromizer in a c4 now :D

what about "with a mirror" ?

not all cryptic wordplay has to be one of the common types! as long as you're fairly indicating what to do with the words, it's perfectly fine

@Graylocke Ooh, that's cool too

ooh, i actually like "with a mirror" - "mirror" as a noun can mean "mirror image", so that definitely works

@Deusovi I wouldn't exactly call a spoonerism common :P

@Deusovi What's that word that means like lefty-righty orientation

11:48 PM

spoonerisms aren't super common but they're standard enough to be listed on most cryptic guides

chirality?

Ah, yup

Though bit of a weird word to use for "mirror-image"

yeah, i don't think there's a nice way to use that - you could maybe do "chiral opposite"

but it feels difficult to work into a clue

I would also quibble it's not 100% accurate, since chirality is a type of asymmetry

...huh?

I'd always wondered what this list of palindrome indicators was about

11:51 PM

i mean, it is, but i don't see how that's relevant

Nevermind. I was thinking of something else

@bobble some setters will allow a "palindrome clue" that works kinda like an &lit - a single definition that defines the same word both forwards and backwards. "speedy vehicle seen from either side (7)" → RACECAR, for instance

Well perhaps um...

I was thinking for a moment that a chiral form of words wouldn't be able to like idk flip over and make the same word but I'm just being weird. Disregard

@PrinceNorthLæraðr i was thinking of the same string but in reverse

(go on?)

11:53 PM

@Deusovi (yeah. I see that now)

This is terrible because it has no surface, but... A seed, with reflection, means 'Cheerio!' (3-3)

I guess.

I can't spell. I was just trying to work out "with reflection" as an indicator. :P

I mean, if it could be made to sound like "on thinking about it"