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Sunday, December 30, 2018

Dec. 30, 2018

|| chant, plush, rector, prefix, step on it. || fourth, expand, encore, aurora, writer, volume, turned over (a) new leaf.


The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
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8 comments:

OwenKL said...

The rectory was being refurbished,
A new minister was soon to arrive.
Handrails of brass were being burnished,
Bushes were trimmed along the drive.

New carpet unrolled in the entrance-way,
So plush it invited one to step on its nap.
A design to enchant, draw attention away
From the failure to pre-fix the toilet tap.

Alas, the new priest was a dour old man
Who felt his quarters should be spartan.
Away with the rug, the cushions and sham,
But a leaky faucet was fine in the can!

OwenKL said...

What does a writer do for an encore, when his ideas are done?
Something anew can be so hard to do, to find an idea, just one!
Turn over each stone, leaf thru each tome, visit an open agora?
Expand on a thread, look under the bed, search in the sky's aurora?
New volumes are needed, royalties are exceeded, bills are coming due.
Books one, two, and three made a trilogy, can a fourth come into view?

OwenKL said...

Sorry I never showed up yesterday. Feeling depressed, so slept for something like 15 hours straight. Did get a start on a short story I planned on many years ago, but for a very narrow audience (Masonic history). The research I did way back then is probably so dissipated in my mind I'll never be able to finish it, but sometimes the effort is its own reward. I've been sending my poems off to publishers, but no one has even responded. Who publishes poetry, anyway? No readers would ever buy it. At least I'm lucky enough to have my own tiny fan club right here. Don't know what I'd ever do without you folks bolstering my ego! Thank you so much for that!

Ol' Man Keith said...

Good to read your voice, Owen--and to know all's well, despite a bout of the "black dog." (Is that what Churchill called his depressions?)
I'm unipolar myself, so quite understand the occasional need for a serious "time out." But I'm sure you know by now we all wish you well & want you to sit out whenever the need arises.
And maybe more often than that.
~ OMK

Ol' Man Keith said...

Of all your talents, I am perhaps most admiring of your steady stream of ideas. The range of topics and detailed treatments seem boundless. What a blessing this must feel--given the deadlines you willingly impose on yourself.
~ OMK

Sandyanon said...

So glad you're ok, Owen. I saw that you posted the answers last night, but there was no message, so I still worried. Yes, you have very appreciative fans both here and on the Corner. I hope that writing your poems does bring you great satisfaction and reward for its own sake, but you add much to our lives as well.

Today I especially love the first poem, which so cleverly "re-fixes" that difficult word! The second one, I suspect, springs from your own feelings at least in part. But you never do seem to run out of creative ideas.

Jumbles:

Yes, on J4, the fourth clue gave me a bit of a problem, but after mulling it over, I saw it, and then, with all the letters, the solution came easily.

J6 was another story. The fourth clue there gave me a problem as well, a big one. And even without those letters there were so many relevant words I could make for the solution that I felt stumped. But perseverance got me there in the end. The first word came, and then the rest were obvious, and with the three letters of that obdurate fourth clue in hand, it too became clear. Solving the difficult ones does bring a lot of satisfaction.

Thank you again, Owen; your poems add value to my daily life.

Wilbur Charles said...

The 6*6 is on the same page as the TBtimes xword . I got the riddle at a glance and one or two J's . Then I was off to CC land.

Using the vowel/Consonant trick (thx OMK) I was gradually able to glean the rest .

Every time I got a word I'd fill out the letters so I finally had 3 letters left on #3 . Bingo .

Like OMK I find your creativity remarkable, Owen. #2 on the CC was indeed an A . The market for poets? Musical lyrics . If I ever get my revised Ivanhoe off the ground I'll look you up .

WC

Lin Manuel Miranda said...

Ivanhoe, The Musical.........interesting.........