The Sphinx's Lair

12:02 AM

well, I've got to say, I have 2 puzzles on queue. One that I have to beat Stiv on (which is very unlikely, but who knows?) and one that Deusovi might solve first...

Stevo

12:22 AM

Lets make that cube

starts drawing net

uhhh Stiv you got everything and you are stuck. Now i'm stuck as well... but at least i have the whole day doing this. racks brain a million times

Taco タコス

@Sphinx Oh wow, I saw El-Guest's screen name on close votes for this! I didn't realize they were still active!

Stevo

?

@Tacoタコス this 4 by 4 magic square is tickling me. I feel like i know it somewhere, but I just can't find it... uhhh... (who knows that feeling when you know that you know it but just can't remember what you know it was?)

Taco タコス

You talking about lethologica?

:D

Keep in mind, the answer is allowed to be that it's not possible; but you have to prove it

Stevo

well, something along those lines

@Tacoタコス oh. well then...

I know feel like the answer's impossible...

Taco タコス

It's hard, but that's why the 3x3 was first :)

Stevo

12:35 AM

@Tacoタコス (and i answered it, so there's more reason for me to answer this...)

Stevo

12:46 AM

time to get cutting (but be careful, because scissors are sharp

Taco タコス

open.spotify.com/track/…

Stevo

(well making the cube didn't help at all)

wait. They said it didn't square up, what if we make it squared up by replacing some faces to make 1 straight line?

ima wait till stiv comes back, so we can lock heads together :)

time for magic square

Taco タコス

open.spotify.com/track/…

Stevo

1:03 AM

@Stiv when you see this, i think for the cube we need some modifications to make it one single line, is it on the 2d net of 3d cube idk, but i think that's our next course of action

@Tacoタコス how are magic square calculated?

Avi

site on readonly ;(

Stevo

(good)

i can now concentrate in peace :)

without fear of deus sniping me

Chris Cudmore

@Avi I've never seen that before. Under maintenance?

SO as well.

18

Q: Planned network maintenance scheduled for Friday, October 1 at 01:00-04:00 UTC (Thursday, September 30 at 9:00 PM-midnight EDT)

Note: 2021-09-29 04:00Z- Upgrade attempt failed. We have reverted to the previous configuration. We will be trying again during the next window. Note: 2021-09-30 0100Z - Beginning second upgrade attempt now. Due to a planned network upgrade, all Stack Exchange sites will be read-only for a maxim...

Taco タコス

1:32 AM

@Stevo wikihow.com/Solve-a-Magic-Square

Stevo

hmm

(stuff is doubling again)

15 can't be on the top row AT ALL

Stevo

1:57 AM

this is so fidgety

Stevo

2:45 AM

uh i cant do it :(

Stevo

3:12 AM

its too hard ... uhh

Stevo

4:27 AM

@Stiv when you see this(if you see this) i drew the cube out on paper. As a reference

And its now NOT read only!

Stevo

4:45 AM

@Tacoタコス uh when you see this i will be snuck up in bed, but i'm stuck.

bobble

5:01 AM

While it's possible to exploit a grace period to answer after a question has been closed, could you please not? The closure is an indicator that the question is off-topic and should not be answered here. — bobble 15 secs ago

sigh

bobble will turn in for the night.

Stevo

ok

goodnight

Stevo

6:48 AM

@Stiv , anything coming to your mind?

(i'm out of ideas apart from changing the cube to form one straight line, but even then i dunno what it will be like)

Stiv

7:56 AM

@Stevo Not yet - I feel clue 6 needs to come into play, but I'm totally unsure how to read it

Stevo

thats what i thought as well. Thought it was a easy cipher at start... though if we somehow use our cube...

20 numbers...

@Stiv another thought: maybe we need to use the numbers in the cube when we first solved it, like how many numbers in this face, sums of numbers, or it could be a clue to the cipher...

Stiv

It's definitely a possibility - there are many numbers that have still served no purpose

Stevo

yeah

@Stiv this morning i have no idea why i drew the cube out and cut it... it probably wouldn't be much use apart from forming it together, which i doubt is the next course of action. Either using the second 'math equation' with the cipher, or the cube with the cipher. Or, all 3 of them.

M Oehm

I still guess that the equation refers to some kind of letter shift. There's also the "different kind of candy from the store on each possible route", which makes me think about plaing the letters of "truffles", "macarons", etc along some path and then maybe shift them somehow. Could what looks like labyrinth walls in the cube net be "paths"?

Stevo

8:12 AM

oh... true... thats what i was talking about the equation+cipher. If it is a letter shift... we need to deduce the formula. Well, it more or less could be paths. We don't know as of now...

Stiv

@MOehm I like that idea - laying out letters along the paths that enter/exit the grid to spell something out, then possibly applying letter shifts to the result

Sphinx

0

Q: Infinity Cylinders Form A Circle

You have fourteen cylinders that stretch out infinitely. You can cut only one cylinder in half, and it must form an egg shaped circle.

three-dimensional

Stiv

The 'substitution cipher' might even hide names of candies, since the ones listed in the flavourtext don't all have the right number of letters

AncientSwordRage

@Sphinx wat

Stiv

My thoughts exactly - not clear what the question is

Stevo

8:18 AM

yeah thats true... (im getting a bit 'useless' aren't I?) That kinda means that C=Candies, N=number, S=sum? and the rest we aren't quite sure yet

Stiv

I'd love to know what the h and r stand for in the equation

M Oehm

Ah, so it's the other way round: The numbers encode names of candy, which is then strewn along some path.

Stevo

Thats what im guessing

Stiv

The inconsistent commas in the cipher bugs me though - do they mean anything?

Stevo

@Stiv Or alternatively, c and h and r are subtle hints to the names

M Oehm

8:19 AM

I guess it's just a representation of chr (= character code) that is supposed to look "mathematical". As in chr(65) == 'A'.

Stevo

@MOehm OH

Stiv

WAIT. ASCII capital letters begin at 65

It's surely a letter code

AncientSwordRage

@bobble I sent a follow-up comment

Stevo

OMG OF COURSE

A LETTER CODE (we hadn' t thought of that

@Stiv only small problem. They end at around 240, so why on earth are there 4 digit numbers?

Stiv

Surely not just using the Slitherlink base numbers though, otherwise all of them will be in a very small range. Something else needs to happen first

The substitution cipher isn't a direct conversion to ASCII. There's a couple of steps we're missing.

Stevo

8:23 AM

@Stiv that must be the next course of action

and the first step lies in our slitherlink, or our cube (depends on what exactly)

casually drops potato on keyboard

3

AncientSwordRage

@Stiv something tells me they don't full get how the site works

That was correct! @WELZ, I wish I could give you an award. — Ethan Smurf Apr 5 at 2:22

Like an upvote and a green tick?

Stevo

(should be closed as either math problem or off topic)

gonna flag as i can't close as of right now

AncientSwordRage

@Stevo there's an "unclear" close reason, not sure if there's similar flag?

Stevo

yes there is

more focus, more details, low quality

AncientSwordRage

Any/all

Stevo

8:29 AM

well its all

but u can't choose all

AncientSwordRage

Lol

Stevo

so im writing in 'in need of mod intervention'

Stiv

Just improved the diagram at the end of my answer, so it's actually overlaid over the numbers rather than a blank grid

Highlighting the different strings within the grid yields sums of 4, 13, 5, 5 and 13

M Oehm

Five "paths", five lines of numbers. (I don't think the fact that there are commas in the last two lines is important.)

Stiv

Indeed, but the number of digits on each path and in the cipher don't match up 1-1

M Oehm

8:35 AM

No. And the numbers are strange. What's with the many 1996s?

Stiv

Great year for the Euros! :)

M Oehm

It's funny that you should say that. :)

Stiv

Well, I know it didn't end well for us, but it was a major formative moment in my life :)

Stevo

having no idea what you mean

Stiv

#englishfootballreference

I feel that Avi's saying 'some sort of weird substitution cipher' means it is definitely not a substitution cipher...

Stevo

8:38 AM

cough cough I suppose we were supposed to be puzzling not going over a 1996 football cup that is 100% not my favourite sport (take my word for it its not)

AncientSwordRage

@Stiv #IGotThatReference

Stevo

@Stiv #100%notbeingsarcasticaboutfootball

waiting for 30days for my next puzzle totally not a special day

AncientSwordRage

@Stiv maybe football is part of the non-substitution-cipher cipher?

Stevo

@AncientSwordRage im not sure about that

Stevo

9:02 AM

@Stiv anything else?

Stiv

Not yet. I'll think about it on and off, but I have a string of meetings this morning and won't be actively online the whole time. Will post in a break if anything strikes me :)

Stevo

@Stiv for reference, im about to close my laptop (7pm) so... my last thoughts are the slitherlink and cipher are somehow used to create the final wording. Your partial answer i suspect solves 80% of it, now its time to connect the last few clues together to what we find is where they went. If the answer is like 'above you' i am going to laugh.

and like, i wanna seriously contribute to this community... so i wanna help out :)

Stiv

A moment of inspiration will strike at some point (not necessarily me, maybe you, M Oehm or someone else entirely) and then the puzzle will eventually be solved. Fear not!

Stevo

ok! (hopes are high) i just realised someone starred my drops potato thingy, i still feel the mash on the keyboard now.

M Oehm

9:29 AM

Observation for Stevo to chew on: All four-digit numbers have a double digit. These digits are all 0s or 9s and are the middle two digits, except in 2011. (If double digit means "shift", that might be a representation of round brackets and the exclamation mark.)

oAlt

@Stiv that was my first thought as well, but I couldn't proceed from there. MOehm's explanation of chr might be correct, but then it would be disappointing that there was actually no deep explanation at all for putting h and r in subscript with a comma. (But in the end, I shouldn't be so hung up about it :P )

M Oehm

Let's bark up some more wrong trees: If 99 and 00 really are brackets, we get a nearly balanced sequence: 1(6 48 1)5 82 / 1(6 142 1)0 117 / 1(6 286 502 / 1)6, (7, 154, 1)5 / 1(8, 153, 498, 1(6, 20! (The last bracket is mismatched.) Now "look inside" could mean "look inside the parens". (But there isn't anything that hints in that direction, so it's probably just nonsense.)

AncientSwordRage

10:06 AM

Somebody stop be before they reply to my comment 😒

@loopyw my only insistence is that the fact this is off-topic should be plain from the content, the fact you didn't see an update is barely a defense in this case. To reuse your phrasing, that this was off-topic is a matter of basic puzzling.se literacy. Whether that ignorance is willful or otherwise is the only thing in question here. — Pureferret 3 mins ago

@Stevo that was just something that tickled me in the right metaphorical way.

AncientSwordRage

10:24 AM

I have a riddle brewing in my brain

msh210

11:02 AM

@AncientSwordRage Pettigrew had a Riddle brewing in his cauldron.

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 Quirrell had to face a similar problem

@msh210 do you think you could clear up some comments on that answer above ^

oAlt

11:25 AM

@AncientSwordRage too late now, but next time don't forget to double check if you've correctly typed the name of the person you're tagging :P (although I did see in a previous message that you have some sort of dyslexia(?) which is absolutely fine by me. So no pressure)

AncientSwordRage

@oAlt I thought that the @ should still ping them if it's not a complete name?

Like @msh should still ping msh210 both here and in comments?

(apologies for the unnecessary ping)

oAlt

Oh I didn't know that, that's a mistake on my part

AncientSwordRage

I could be wrong too

Sphinx

11:57 AM

1

Q: What are the rules to my Sudoku?

I made a Sudoku variant puzzle pictured here: Your puzzle is to figure out what the rules for the puzzle I created are. The puzzle has a single unique solution so if your rule-set allows more than one solution then it's wrong. The rules I have in mind are not very complex and easy to understand,...

sudoku reverse-puzzling

msh210

12:29 PM

@AncientSwordRage Which?

@AncientSwordRage It did.

AncientSwordRage

@Pureferret Yeah, thanks for proving my point there. "barely a defense" - for what? My perverse obsession with sneaking in illegit answers? "Whether that ignorance is willful or otherwise" Forgive me, but you sound more like a low rent version of the Spanish inquisition than a member of the 21. century. Leaving your unique style to one side, you can keep banging on that the question is OT and calling everyone who disagrees names all you like but that doesn't alter the fact that whether the question is a "maths textbook style problem" is a matter of opinion not an open and shut case. — loopy walt 19 mins ago

I meant to link just the question but that works too

msh210

1:24 PM

@AncientSwordRage How?

Afaik only moderators can unilaterally delete comments.

Taco タコス

I flagged that comment

It was a bit uncalled for

I hope everyone enjoys the word square I'm working on lol

I suck at finding words, so this is hard to make :D

Sphinx

1

Q: I am at an impasse at this Sudoku puzzle. Need help

This was an advanced puzzle, and I managed to take it as far as possible. Now, I am stuck. I have tried many advanced patterns to no avail. I could use some pointers.

logical-deduction sudoku logic-grid

bobble

1:50 PM

@Stevo don't do that; if you think it should be closed cast a closure flag.

8

A: What is the guidance for using "Standard Flags?"

Well, as I see it custom moderator flags shouldn't be used to just close a question, except in extreme cases e.g. bounty preventing standard close votes, user who post tons of crappy questions, etc. Using a custom flag to close a question is bypassing the standard procedure that requires five us...

@Sphinx how I hate these titles

AncientSwordRage

@msh210 ahhh I mistook you for a puzzling mod

Taco タコス

@bobble might I ask why?

Merely curious by the way :)

bobble

@Tacoタコス none of them give any information at all and it's not like I can improve them

Taco タコス

@bobble fair enough :)

bobble

At least for IQ type questions I can convert "Plz help Mensa problem" to "Progressive matrix with circles of different colors and symbols inside them" etc.

Taco タコス

2:03 PM

I think every SE site has that problem, so I get it from an Arqade and SO standpoint

bobble

The whole class of "help me with Sudoku" is an awkward one - technically on-topic but probably helpful to few, if any others

AncientSwordRage

@bobble c.f. "what is the title of this book" on sci-fi ... And probably on lit too

bobble

@AncientSwordRage but those it's possible to improve! I've made many such edits on SciFi and Lit myself

Here there's nothing we can do - we can't put the entire Sudoku in the title, and that tends to be the only distinguishing thing

Sometimes I slide the app/source in as well

There's a strict policy of no difficulties in titles so that's out

AncientSwordRage

@bobble that's true, sorry I didn't mean to dismiss the difficulty or retitling these... It's tricky

@bobble that's saved me an edit then...

oAlt

@msh210 oh darn, so @AncientSwordRage was indeed the correct one

Taco タコス

2:21 PM

@bobble that changes when answers explain how to remove such an impasse. Then the question can likely be edited to focus on that specific type of impasse.

bobble

@Tacoタコス no, not really? That would be changing the question from "what can I do?" to "I've seen a thing (they haven't) so what do I do with it?"

Generally these questions are problems of scanning the grid for possibilities

Taco タコス

@bobble well that's what I'm saying

To a minimal degree of course

bobble

@Tacoタコス I described it that way in an attempt to point out the deal-breaking absurdity of it. You'd be fundamentally changing the Q to put words in the OP's mouth

Taco タコス

@bobble It's not absurd; it's an action performed for terribly written questions that are still worth answering.

I'm not saying change the entire focus, but the OP has a specific cell highlighted there due to the app

From there we can infer that it's that particular area that's causing them problems

bobble

But that's not the question, is it?

I find issue with rewriting a question in such a way. I guess you don't, and I'm at a loss to explain my position any further.

Taco タコス

2:29 PM

The OP is saying "I'm stuck here, please help me"; we can rephrase it to "i'm stuck here in this specific situation but general enough that it could apply to a wider audience, how do I get beyond this point?"

bobble

But we'd be rewriting the Q to focus on something the OP hadn't

Or, another way: I don't see how you could rewrite the Q's title to be more specific without giving the answer away in it

And that seems wrong to me

Taco タコス

2:58 PM

@bobble Well, with that question one could say:

Avi

but generally that kind of question is not very general enough for a wider audience

Taco タコス

> I'm stuck on an advanced sudoku in the middle square. The cell at row x column y contains the numbers 5 and 7 and is highlighted. The cell at row x - 2, column y - 1 contains the numbers 5 and 7 too. I can't figure out which one fits in each square.

@Avi I concur that not all of them are, but some could be rephrased to be more descriptive of the situation in their image, and as a result could apply to someone else later.

For example, OP is trying to solve the middle square which has two squares remaining that are either 5 or 7 each; how do we solve that with logic?

I think that's the general question there

Back shortly

Avi

hmmm

I guess that's better

@Tacoタコス the text could be improved - the title, not much

Taco タコス

@Avi How can I solve the middle sudoku square with only two squares remaining?

Perhaps?

Avi

But two squares aren't remaining

Taco タコス

3:12 PM

@bobble @bobble I guess to better say what I was trying to say, we'd really only try to describe what's happening in the OP's original content, but in a more generalized way.

@Avi cells?

That middle square has two cells remaining?

Didn't it?

Gotta look again lol

Avi

i guess

it sounded like the whole puzzle had 2 squares remaining

and you were confused, therefore making me confused because a sudoku with 2 squares remaining is usually quite trivial to solve

Taco タコス

Yeah, cells not squares lol

My apologies :)

Avi

how to complete the middle cells for this sudoku?

maybe

Taco タコス

Well I think this sudoku makes it where others are less likely to look there, with sudoku being unique and all.

I think focusing the question on the middle square with two cells remaining would be general enough for others to relate and learn how to solve it

Avi

the problem is that it's not very, uh, general

each sudoku at a different stage of solving has different ways to solve it

Taco タコス

3:18 PM

@Avi but the strategy remains the same

Avi

the same sudoku with less completion on the top part would be solved differently even if the middle is the same

bobble

3:30 PM

@Tacoタコス but then we run into "you can't put the sudoku into the title" problem, due to the length requirement

And I still philosophically disagree with the title

Sudoku help can't be generalized unless you skip directly to the logic to use, because the same situation could require different answers depending on all of the surroundings

Taco タコス

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind :) just want to help where I can and was going to try to edit the title and question to be a bit better, but after this conversation I've decided against it :)

Avi

;-;

is mcafee like

straight up malware disguised as non-malware

it has popped up like 2 times and it says it's "expired"

if it's expired then it better shut up and get out >.<

Taco タコス

Lol

I hate mcafee

Avi

it came installed with windows

sad

AncientSwordRage

4:17 PM

@Tacoタコス I've definitely had those moments here and elsewhere. I'm really only confident doing it over on SFF. Elsewhere I've definitely made things worse

Avi

4:39 PM

yoooooo

i just realized

elon musk's son's name would make for great CCCC fodder

M Oehm

Go ahead. (But finish off that pesky female singer / clamouring eightsome first.)

Amoz

I went through the top 400 some female singer list and didn't see any 7,5's. So either I missed something or that is ruled out. Or it is an older (not modern) singer, or a singer in a book vs a pop star, or it is, as I suspect, BARKING OCTET

except J Lo but that had a z so I assumed no

er n/m I ruled that out because it is 8,5, forgot that

Avi

;-;

i feel like the 7 in 7,5 is "district"

M Oehm

4:58 PM

Because the book is a dict?

Avi

ye

but don't really see how singer -> stri...

melo(dist)+r+..

this is turning out disastrous

Fibber McGee and Molly

Fibber McGee and Molly was a 1935–1959 American radio comedy series. The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most popular and enduring radio series of its time, it ran as a stand-alone series from 1935 to 1956, and then continued as a short-form series as part of the weekend Monitor from 1957 to 1959. The title characters were created and portrayed by Jim and Marian Jordan, a husband-and-wife team that had been working in radio since the 1920s. Fibber McGee and Molly, which followed up the Jordans' previous radio sitcom...

sed

welp

back to ai

Amoz

5:14 PM

District is 8 letters

Avi

6:39 PM

@Amoz imagine being able to count

2

mutters angrily

AncientSwordRage