Questions tagged [discussion]
The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.
951
questions
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1answer
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Meta puzzles that don't state the puzzles they rely on - adding difficulty or just wasting time
I am currently posting some meta puzzles, and originally planned to not mention the previous puzzles. I would then elude to it being related to another puzzle in a clue. Is this just increasing the ...
1
vote
1answer
34 views
Minesweeper problems
It looks like the minesweeper tag has so many non-puzzle questions.
What shall I do with them?
Also, is this question fit for the "puzzling"site?
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0answers
26 views
What happens with the questions with no accepted answer?
There are many questions in PSE with a few answers (or sometimes no answers at all) which do not yet have any accepted answer with tick mark even though many weeks or months have passed. Shouldn't the ...
4
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2answers
139 views
Is my timing of giving hints good?
Starting with this question, I shall give hints on specific timing.
After 24 hours since posting the question, I give a subtle hint.
After other 12 hours, I give a moderate hint.
After other 6 hours, ...
8
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3answers
260 views
Enigmatic Puzzle - Eliminate Wrong Paths
I'm solving an enigmatic-puzzle, in particular, this. If I found routes that ended up in a dead-end, but which I am sure that was deliberately added in by the puzzle creator, should I post them as an ...
12
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2answers
213 views
Rules for Using Puzzles Created Here
So I am new here and haven't heard anything about these puzzles being used anywhere else. There are a lot of nice cryptic crosswords and similar puzzles created by people here that would do very well ...
7
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1answer
213 views
User names with promotion/spam in them
To my knowledge, questions and answers that contain spam and promotional materials, such as to sell something or advertsting, are forbidden.
But what if someone has a username like somecompany.com ?
...
22
votes
2answers
410 views
Puzzles whose creators have asked them not to be shared
It happens quite frequently that someone posts a question that's taken from, say, an online IQ test. (The most recent example I've seen is from this one.)
Sometimes the question is posted without ...
8
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2answers
193 views
What do we do when a question relies on an image that's no longer available?
This question was just bumped to the homepage by a user asking if the image, which was hosted externally and is no longer accessible, could be fixed. This raises an interesting dilemma in that we now ...
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2answers
256 views
Best puzzles of 2019 Q2 (April - June)?
This question is part of the best-puzzle award series.
What are your nominations for the best puzzles, here on Puzzling.SE, of the second quarter ( April / May / June) 2019?
Suggested guidelines ...
2
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0answers
134 views
I can't use Imgur, I have to use Scratch instead
Instead of Imgur mazes, I have to create Scratch mazes because
I can't access Imgur.
However, can I still use imgur-maze in it or may I
suggest another tag?
EDIT: I tried:
5
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2answers
283 views
Unsolvable puzzles
I'm curious about people's thoughts on puzzles that don't have a solution. I've seen a couple of these posted in the last few weeks (since I've been on the forum) and they tend to generate a lot of ...
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4answers
322 views
Google Earth Challenges - Should we keep them?
Background
Welp, @Conifers has come up with a great idea: Google Earth Challenge.
It received pretty good feedback, and therefore the OP went on to post more of them.
@athin went on to post a ...
15
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3answers
427 views
About NON-open-ended puzzles with multiple answers working towards an optimum
A while ago, consensus was reached that open-ended puzzles are no longer welcome on our site. That means, if a question has no absolute "best possible" answer, so that any answer could conceivably be ...
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2answers
141 views
Are puzzles that overthink their answers appropriate?
I wasn't quite sure how to phrase this, but I stumbled on this puzzle and was surprised to see the amount of thought going into it.
The answer - that suspect 3 must have done it because the murder ...
13
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1answer
293 views
Forgot answer…now what?
I have forgotten the answer to one of my puzzles. What do I do?
I find it quite remarkable that a similar post doesn't already exist here.
15
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1answer
287 views
Partial Answers and “List-of-Clues” puzzles
Puzzling is unique across the SE network for allowing "partial answers" -- that is, answers that aren't full answers to the questions, but just make some progress towards answering it. But recently, I'...
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0answers
59 views
Posting a partial answer [duplicate]
I was working on this puzzle which has 10 clues leading to a single final answer:
A puzzle with 10 pieces - 2 days to complete
Over a day had passed with no activity so I posted an "answer" which ...
16
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1answer
359 views
Let's write a proper “Read Me First”
Our site has a lot of rules.
One might even say, an awful lot.
It would be a very good idea to list the most relevant of them in one place somewhere (the tour seems like a decent option) so that we ...
9
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3answers
171 views
Using images from elsewhere on the web
On PSE it is common for users to create puzzles using photographs or pictures taken from elsewhere on the web (e.g. here and here). Now, I like and enjoy this style of puzzle - it challenges your ...
9
votes
1answer
307 views
Why are IQ test questions received so badly on this website?
I have a question about my Puzzling Stack Exchange post: IQ test matrix: Can you solve it and justify your answer?
I have asked a question about a Raven progressive matrix from an online IQ test and ...
1
vote
1answer
44 views
Posting a mini-puzzle for a hint for another puzzle
I created a $Word^{TM}$ kind of puzzle, and while trying to create a hint, I ended up with a mini-puzzle.
Is it ok if I post it as a new question, to make it available not just for the people ...
6
votes
1answer
318 views
Use of profanity
This is a question about the use of profanity on the site.
I am sure this must have been specified somewhere else. Obviously, abuse is not allowed. But profanity/cuss words can be used cleverly. I ...
3
votes
3answers
80 views
Are variations on puzzles with an accepted answer acceptable despite the hints they may give?
Assume a puzzle $A$ has an accepted answer. It gives you an idea for another puzzle $B$, in which you would, in fairness, include a sentence like "this was inspired from puzzle $A$". Then of course ...
7
votes
1answer
215 views
What's the difference between the tags [arithmetic] and [calculation-puzzle]?
I was seeking into tags until I found these tags:
calculation-puzzle which states "A puzzle that involves numerical calculations, such as multiplication and addition."
arithmetic which states: "...
7
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2answers
224 views
Little Lost Robot Discussion
I asked this question recently. There were many answers, and it was accused of being too broad. I've been over the comments and the answers a few times, now. I'm not claiming it is perfect by any ...
2
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1answer
102 views
Why was my answer severely downvoted?
I posted this answer and it did okay at first, but later, it started to get a whole bunch of downvotes! This is now deleted so only certain viewers will be able to see it but what did I do wrong here? ...
4
votes
1answer
76 views
Would it be better to break the Grand Grid puzzles into multiple questions?
The first one was put into a single question because all the component challenges are related and are all required to solve it. But is it better to divide them up? Note that the first one was easier ...
7
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2answers
207 views
Any advice for these downvotes?
I immediately got downvoted twice and am still downvoted 40 minutes later. I'm new so if anyone can let me know what I am doing wrong I would appreciate it.
The Grand Grid I
8
votes
1answer
197 views
When does a (grid) puzzle genre have its own tag?
So I just realized there is a tag for nonogram. More browsing, there are tags minesweeper, mastermind, slitherlink, and other genres of grid puzzles (a.k.a grid-deduction) as well.
Hmm.. There is ...
6
votes
2answers
101 views
Are puzzle suggestions on topic?
I've looked at the Help Center but I am still unsure about this one:
Is a question that asks for suggestions on puzzles of a specific kind
on topic here?
As an example, the question I have in ...
0
votes
1answer
57 views
Change 'graph-theory' tag name
We have a graph-theory tag which covers puzzles involving graphs, for example:
Step into the Octagram
but calling it 'graph-theory' is a bit prententious for a site called 'Puzzling'.
May I ...
18
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2answers
895 views
Generalist Countdown
Since we are a relatively young site in the Stack Exchange network, we haven't been able to enjoy any Generalist badges at all.
It's not that we don't have people that would qualify (we do), but that ...
18
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1answer
263 views
Should we change the [no-computers] tag to [no-brute-force]?
Usually when I see no-computers, it's used to deter people from using brute force. In my time here, I have only seen this tag used to exclude brute-forcing a solution with a computer.
However, the ...
12
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2answers
379 views
Beginner: I'm finding most puzzles very difficult, if not downright obscure
Is this site more for a specific niche of people, or can anyone participate in solving the kinds of puzzles I've come across? Most seem to make very obscure references and wordplay that's inaccessible ...
41
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0answers
506 views
Congratulations Gareth! and the end of an era
Change is afoot! In the list of all users ranked by reputation.
I've been #1 in that list, the highest-reputation user on Puzzling SE, since early 2015. But it seems the time has finally come to give ...
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1answer
48 views
What is the difference between situation tag and lateral-thinking tag?
When looking through the two tags descriptions and related questions, to me they seem to fall under the same category. They both set up a seemingly normal situation with some twist that requires ...
2
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1answer
56 views
Are questions about solution uniqueness or construction on topic?
Most of the questions on the main site are actual puzzles where the answers are guesses to those riddles, puzzles, rebus' etc.
I've become interested in certain puzzles, such as battleships, ...
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2answers
232 views
Is it acceptable to post puzzles from one's own book?
Last year I published a book of puzzles. I co-own the copyright of the book. Many of the puzzles are adapted from other sources (including some chestnuts) and some are original.
I'd enjoy posting ...
1
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1answer
62 views
Should multiple-answer questions be marked as too broad?
This question is in reference to a question by @JohnS (SafeCracker #3 - We've Been Blocked). Honestly, I don't think it should have been marked as too broad just because there are a couple possible ...
15
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4answers
495 views
Best puzzles of 2019 Q1 (January - March)?
This question is part of the best-puzzle award series.
What are your nominations for the best puzzles, here on Puzzling.SE, of the first quarter ( January / February / March ) 2019?
Suggested ...
20
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3answers
1k views
The end of open-ended puzzles
Consensus has been reached.
I say this on Rubio's authority - the contents of this post are considered to be a part of the definition of this site's scope.
So, I posted this open-ended puzzle a ...
8
votes
1answer
205 views
Overuse of poor math questions, what can we do?
So I've been noticing ... lazy math puzzles. I thought it was just a fad, but clearly not .Now, I'm not trying to judge, but a lot of these questions are just in this weird gray zone where they're not ...
3
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1answer
77 views
Is it acceptable for one user to have multiple answers to a questions?
When I answer a puzzle and am told that I've given an incorrect answer, I usually edit my answer if I want to try again.
However, I saw a comment recently (can't remember where) that suggested that ...
1
vote
1answer
63 views
Why doesn't Puzzling have a twitter?
According to employee JNat, Puzzling does not have a Twitter:
unfortunately Puzzling does not have a twitter account
Why not? Many of the other SE sites I'm a part of have Twitter, though ...
5
votes
1answer
269 views
Encoded comments
Is that a new mode to write your comments in some encoding? For example, on this question I noticed that there are encoded comments on both answers, both in Rot13(which the commenters state before the ...
1
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1answer
48 views
Should we have a tag for riddles related to tv or movies?
I have recently noticed that we have a "video-games" tag but no "tv-shows" or "movies" tag. Should we have a tag for tv related questions? (e.g. questions found in tv-shows or riddles where you guess ...
1
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1answer
56 views
Should I use a bounty or wait?
A couple of my questions have a good number of upvotes but still no completed answers. I am not sure if people will still see it after it passes the 10 or so most recent questions.
I wondered if any ...
2
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1answer
119 views
A checkerboard and eight queens
What tag should we use for questions about
A checkerboard and eight queens ?
chess or checkerboard?
EDIT: What does this mean? Should I just use chess?
5
votes
1answer
53 views
What to do with late answers to solved puzzles?
As the title states, I'm looking for some clarity on what to do with answers to puzzles that
have been already answered and
are answered years later.
Specifically this puzzle popped up in my "...
