tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post4822768954017602435..comments2024-03-28T18:08:45.225-07:00Comments on Blaine's Puzzle Blog: NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 14, 2016): The Cat's Away...Blainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06379274325110866036noreply@blogger.comBlogger232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-21101552121617058182016-08-22T14:52:25.994-07:002016-08-22T14:52:25.994-07:00Probably posting this too late for anyone to notic...Probably posting this too late for anyone to notice, but to clarify... What I entered in to google was "siam". I know you attempted to hide it, but it jumps right out at you when you pronounce your clue. I had no idea what the answer was. Then a read your clue and immediately recognized the hidden "Siam". That led to Thailand, which was obviously the answer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-41206865637350704632016-08-21T06:43:12.284-07:002016-08-21T06:43:12.284-07:00Mirror mirror on the wall who is the dumbest puzzl...Mirror mirror on the wall who is the dumbest puzzler of all. Make no bones about it that would be me.zeke creekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12559686966843380823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-46913856138201584582016-08-21T06:31:59.664-07:002016-08-21T06:31:59.664-07:00As with many things, it helps to be in the right f...As with many things, it helps to be in the right frame of mind. SuperZeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08024610786525654860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-82751862207170542952016-08-21T06:29:41.896-07:002016-08-21T06:29:41.896-07:00Ever clear.Ever clear.Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-62488428286098279752016-08-21T06:28:41.078-07:002016-08-21T06:28:41.078-07:00Got this answer fairly early in the a.m.Got this answer fairly early in the a.m.Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-48466982792195409602016-08-21T06:28:23.568-07:002016-08-21T06:28:23.568-07:00I found a pair of names using that assumption. I ...I found a pair of names using that assumption. I think we've got it made.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11114786604125384958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-51546846734551717832016-08-21T06:21:25.476-07:002016-08-21T06:21:25.476-07:00As I was boarding the train the answer came to me,...As I was boarding the train the answer came to me, no joke.zeke creekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12559686966843380823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-46181182479569578762016-08-21T06:16:11.558-07:002016-08-21T06:16:11.558-07:00Comments are now not notifying me for this blog. A...Comments are now not notifying me for this blog. Anyone else have them suddenly stop notifications? Ha! But, how would you be notified of my question?!Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-50862731592024850322016-08-21T05:56:56.863-07:002016-08-21T05:56:56.863-07:00The B rhymes with the G and the S with the M--is t...The B rhymes with the G and the S with the M--is that how you read the puzzle?Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-9811468234388612362016-08-21T05:51:54.138-07:002016-08-21T05:51:54.138-07:00(The new WESUN and puzzle pages still aren't u...(The new WESUN and puzzle pages still aren't up yet.)janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-48456877847469977122016-08-21T05:50:06.940-07:002016-08-21T05:50:06.940-07:00Name two famous persons whose initials are B.S. an...Name two famous persons whose initials are B.S. and G.M. Their 1st and last names rhyme with each other. I think I heard there are 1 and 2 syllables in the names as well.Berfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01569731248228555267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-55303473085528348122016-08-21T05:50:00.239-07:002016-08-21T05:50:00.239-07:00There were over 1100 correct answers last week.
N...There were over 1100 correct answers last week.<br /><br />Next week's challenge (as I recall it): Name a famous person whose initials are B.S., and another whose initials are G.M., whose first and last names, respectively, rhyme with each other. One name is 1 syllable, and the other is 2 syllables.janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-26615428151150618322016-08-20T18:06:34.620-07:002016-08-20T18:06:34.620-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.skydiveboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17174073226290431753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-31798035654605210262016-08-20T15:20:07.468-07:002016-08-20T15:20:07.468-07:00"PlannedChaos": An unfortunately accurat..."PlannedChaos": An unfortunately accurate moniker.<br />Hijacked this blog twice in a week.<br />Do you perhaps have an adult you can talk this over with?Mendo Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06481821676197739907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-31827248203422156372016-08-20T15:15:44.165-07:002016-08-20T15:15:44.165-07:00Side-by-side comparison. The first line is from yo...Side-by-side comparison. The first line is from your post, the second line repairs the HTML syntax (adds 2 characters after the web address), and the third line also repairs the web address. The final line then adds text between the opening and closing 'a' tags so that the HTML has something to turn into a link. Study the characters carefully to note the differences.<br /><br /><a href="www.theverge.com/.../nude-donald-trump-statues-union-square-los-angeles</a><br /><a href="www.theverge.com/.../nude-donald-trump-statues-union-square-los-angeles"></a><br /><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/18/12538672/nude-donald-trump-statues-union-square-los-angeles-indecline"></a><br /><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/18/12538672/nude-donald-trump-statues-union-square-los-angeles-indecline">11 photos of NYC's naked Trump statue</a><br /><br />Can you identify the different elements that make up the HTML in the last line?Mathew Huffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08045233338219736972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-40127985251789075512016-08-20T14:52:28.333-07:002016-08-20T14:52:28.333-07:00Additional note: this page (http://smallbusiness....Additional note: <a href="http://smallbusiness.chron.com/leave-blogger-comment-26481.html" rel="nofollow">this page</a> (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/leave-blogger-comment-26481.html) had the clearest explanation, magic code is Step 3.<br /><br />Even as I typed this I omitted a >, and got the red curse from Hell. But it's less intimidating than it used to be. ecoarchitecthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02824602705492756728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-17983467496514144812016-08-20T14:44:09.025-07:002016-08-20T14:44:09.025-07:00SDB, et al: I had the same trouble with loading, ...SDB, et al: I had the same trouble with loading, probably blogger is having a bad day. It happens.<br /><br />SDB: to the posting of links, like you, I am not a programmer. Unlike you, I don't have the capacity to get through PC's long and very thorough explanation. <br /><br />Long ago I found the correct verbiage, and I used to simply cut and paste that in to my comment, and then amend with the "correct" pieces. After a little while I got the thing more or less memorized, but I still get the red incorrect code notice once in a while, usually because I left out a " or a > somewhere.<br /><br />The magic code is:<br />< a href="website page URL goes here - e.g. http://puzzles.blainesville.com">what you want the text to read goes here - i.e. any text you want< /a>. I can't stress too much that those " marks must be included, otherwise it won't work. Same with the <> marks.<br /><br />Note that I have a space after each <. Delete those in your actual posting, I included them only to avoid the dreaded red menace and so the actual text would show up. I hope that helps.ecoarchitecthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02824602705492756728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-28826559910615501132016-08-20T09:41:39.940-07:002016-08-20T09:41:39.940-07:00PC:
Thanks, I just finished reading the entire tom...PC:<br />Thanks, I just finished reading the entire tome. I am very secure in my awareness as to my level of intelligence. I just am not interested in programming. Computers should be to make my life easier, not a pain in the ass to figure some simple thing out. I kept getting the red messages one after another until I didn't, but it posted without working. I may try a bit more, but really don't care that much. This is a problem I am sure some programmer who is making zillions of money could fix and allow me to continue in peace.<br /><br />Thanks for the explanation.skydiveboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17174073226290431753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-27317736457040229332016-08-20T04:10:50.856-07:002016-08-20T04:10:50.856-07:00Also I have no doubt you are far from stupid. In f...Also I have no doubt you are far from stupid. In fact I would venture to guess that you're very intelligent, I just wish you were more secure in that awareness. As you say, you have a lot of domain-specific knowledge in your areas of interest, so I have no doubt you can learn to make links on Blogger if you're interested in learning how.Mathew Huffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08045233338219736972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-38714160106292554122016-08-20T03:58:17.399-07:002016-08-20T03:58:17.399-07:00I also agree that those red messages Blogger gives...I also agree that those red messages Blogger gives you can be intimidating, like it's getting mad at you for trying, which of course seems like the opposite of what it should be doing. But when the parser can't figure out what to do, its only recourse is to tell you where it got stuck. Of course a lot of those messages can be fairly cryptic to those not familiar with the terminology. But hopefully some of that terminology has been explained now.Mathew Huffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08045233338219736972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-37705350017935417552016-08-20T03:42:04.240-07:002016-08-20T03:42:04.240-07:00Now let's look at your effort from left to rig...Now let's look at your effort from left to right, as would be done by an HTML parser attempting to transform what you wrote into a clickable link. You typed: opening angle bracket, the character 'a', a space, the characters 'href', an equals sign, and an opening quote. All is good so far. The parser understands that you are opening an 'a' tag with the 'href' attribute. Then you included characters that the parser will interpret as the web address, and the parser doesn't stop assuming the characters it reads are part of this web address until it encounters a close quote, telling it that the characters to turn into a web address have ended. Here we come to the first HTML error: for if you look closely, you will see that you did not close your quotes! The next error follows immediately: you did not close the first pair of angle brackets for the 'a' tag! The next error is not one that the HTML parser would consider an error but it will defeat the purpose of your intention: you have not included plain text between the opening and closing of the 'a' tag, and thus the 'a' tag will have no text that it can modify into a clickable link.<br /><br />Continuing from left to right, we have an opening angle bracket, a forward slash, the character 'a', and a closing bracket. Well done, the second half of the tag is flawless.<br /><br />There are also two additional reasons that the web address you included wouldn't have worked, even if everything else could be parsed correctly: An address intending to go to the open web must include the 'http://' (or 'https://') at the beginning, and the address you included contained an ellipsis ('…'), truncating the address. Presumably this last error is a result of where the web address was copied from.<br /><br />I hope you find this helpful. Please ask questions and experiment, and there's no need to be afraid of making mistakes because making mistakes is a crucial part of the learning process.Mathew Huffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08045233338219736972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-46448500671898453132016-08-20T03:40:12.811-07:002016-08-20T03:40:12.811-07:00So based on your response I suspect you're not...So based on your response I suspect you're not going to appreciate this, nor perhaps be motivated to read through it, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Most of what follows can be gleaned from <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_a.asp" rel="nofollow">this page on w3schools.com</a>, but I've expanded on it to explain terms for someone that has not encountered such things before.<br /><br />Like anything, learning the basics of HTML does not have to be hard, it just requires some due diligence when typing the syntax and having some patience with yourself. Syntax errors happen to everyone.<br /><br />Let's learn the elements that go into making a link by learning the terminology for those elements, so that it will no longer seem like typing a bunch of random characters. There are two elements here, <b>tags</b> and <b>attributes</b>. And there is one important principle: <b>proper syntax</b>. The syntax error that occurs most often is <b>failing to close every tag that is opened</b>. The program that translates your written text into HTML is called the <b>parser</b>, and it reads your text from left to right, searching for specific characters that indicate the author's intent and are specially reserved for such purposes. These special reserved characters include angled brackets, spaces, equals signs, and quotation marks.<br /><br />The '<a>' part is known as the <b>tag</b>, in this case the 'a' tag. In general, a tag consists of an <b>opening tag</b> and a <b>closing tag</b>. In order for a tag to work, they almost always come in opening and closing pairs. (There are some exceptions in HTML, but are not relevant in this specific case.) As you have seen, the opening tag is written with an <b>opening angle bracket</b>, the <b>specific type of tag being opened</b> (in this case, the 'a'), and a <b>closing angle bracket</b>. The closing tag is written with an <b>opening angle bracket</b>, a <b>forward slash</b>, the <b>specific type of tag being closed</b>, and a <b>closing angle bracket</b>. You'll notice that practically the only difference between an opening and closing tag is the presence of the forward slash in the closing tag (aside from the attribute list in the opening tag—read on).<br /><br />The 'href' part is known as an <b>attribute</b> of the 'a' tag. Attributes belong to tags. Different tags have different attributes. Some attributes are global attributes that work with any tag, such as the 'title' attribute, but the 'href' attribute is specific to the 'a' tag and specifies the address of the page that the link will go to. We type the attribute immediately after the tag identifier (but contained inside the first pair of the tag's angle brackets), separated by a space. The opening of a tag can contain more than one attribute, one after the other, separated by spaces. The syntax for attributes is: <b>attribute name</b> (in this case, 'href'), followed by <b>equals sign</b>, followed by an <b>opening quote</b> (double or single), followed by <b>the value</b> (in this case, the web address), followed by a <b>closing quote</b> (double or single, so long as it matches what was used for the opening quote).<br /><br />As you can see, when writing HTML, <b>closing every element that is opened is very important</b>.<br /><br />This concludes the HTML part of the lesson. However, there must also be some plain text located between the 'a' tag in order for this tag to have something to transform into a link. If you like, you can simply use another copy of the web address itself, though stylistically this usually doesn't read as nicely.Mathew Huffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08045233338219736972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-19327272742414895362016-08-20T02:09:55.011-07:002016-08-20T02:09:55.011-07:00sdb,
I also had a problem, earlier, getting the ov...sdb,<br />I also had a problem, earlier, getting the overflow comments to load.<br />I don't know what got it to work, but it apparently does now.<br /><br />Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11114786604125384958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-3916773512145714532016-08-19T23:04:41.059-07:002016-08-19T23:04:41.059-07:00Well, that got it to work.Well, that got it to work.skydiveboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17174073226290431753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730391.post-30288274852775791372016-08-19T23:03:51.525-07:002016-08-19T23:03:51.525-07:00Now this god damned thing won't load more or s...Now this god damned thing won't load more or show the postings beyond the limit.skydiveboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17174073226290431753noreply@blogger.com