| || shirt, graft, update, soften, great strides.
Image from the Internet.
The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
Comments are welcomed!
Do not explicitly reveal any of the actual answer words until after closing time, but embedding them surreptitiously in comment sentences is encouraged.
20 comments:
FLN: Misty's late contribution followed her signature rhyme scheme--tackling the clue words directly. It's a greater challenge than might be supposed. I think we all respect the hardship of building a poem around 4 or 6 random words. But when you commit to rhyming each of those words directly, you double the difficulty. Maybe quadruple it.
Bravo, Misty!
I especially liked your rhyme for EYELID,
and your choice for ACCRUE was, well... Classic.
~ OMK
My goodness, thank you so much for your kind words, Ol'Man Keith.
After your gracious compliment, I thought it might be best to take things down a notch. So here is today's ridiculous effort to rhyme this morning's Jumble words.
"Paul's Fall"
My nephew fell in the dirt
And blackened a brand new SHIRT.
He also needed a GRAFT
So no one who saw him laughed.
Today we received an UPDATE
About his worrisome fate.
He's fine, which helps to SOFTEN
The fears he gives us so often.
Now he's well and no long hides,
And returns to taking GREAT STRIDES.
Poor proof-reading, should be "no longer hides"--not a great rhyme for 'great strides" in any case.
You beat me by a mile, Misty,
and with a thorough catalog of all the clue words.
Well done!
I fell asleep. The pace is exhausting. No wonder Owen needs his time off.
Anyway, I picked it up this morning. With a Spoonerism in the title, it may be worth posting.
"Straight Guides"
The update from L.A.'s City Hall
tells us the Councilman resorted to graft,
both in pay-offs & bribes--and he had the gall
to seek kickbacks too--while trying to shaft
his aides, sticking them with the blame.
His motive was plain. He needed to pay for
his casino losses. Roulette was his game,
and he'd lost his proverbial shirt before
resorting to crime,
hoping with time
to maybe soften the blow & save his "good name."
But his aides turned him in, showing their pride
in the service of truth, the straightest of guides.
~ OMK
I accidentally posted a comment for today on August 14. It may well not be worth reading, but it's there if you're interested.
I read your note, Sandy, and would be very sorry to lose you on the site. I know we all consider you one of the core cadre. Your early arrival on the site and regular comments are much appreciated & respected.
We need your cool voice and rationality.
That said, I wonder if your concern for the rules isn't an important factor in keeping folk honest. I know that we often print clue words, or variations thereof, in both our poetic and prosaic "hints." But as Owen has pointed out (and has himself--our "rule maker"--done), "embedding" the words in comment sentences is considered kosher.
Still, we may go a bit far in drawing attention to them, so that in your eyes they may not be "surreptitious" enough. Perhaps they seem too blatant to be just "hints." I can see how logical minds can draw different conclusions, and maybe, with your help, we can set clearer lines.
Does that seem fair?
~ OMK
Oh dear, I didn't realize that my putting Jumble clues in capital letters in my poems might be a huge violation of our blog's rules. Is putting Jumble clues in poems allowed at all? I would really appreciate a clear explanation of the rules so that I can be careful not to violate them. My sincere apologies, Sandy.
Owen's rule, as stated above, says we are not to "explicitly reveal any of the actual words until after closing time" but (and here is the loophole, as stated in the very body of the rule)... "but embedding them surreptitiously in comment sentences is encouraged."
Notice that such inclusion of the words is not merely tolerated, but is "encouraged."
This came up before, and Owen weighed in.
He okayed my use of italics for my solution hints, even though they may have drawn focus because they were then not so "surreptitious."
On the other hand, I never print the solution words explicitly--ever.
I only post rhymes, sometimes Spoonerisms, never the actual words.
Perhaps this is why italics are OK.
When it comes to the clue words (4 or 6) I do not italicize them or capitalize them, but I do exactly as Owen does; I "embed" them--always.
There. I have stated my understanding of the rules. If I should accidentally break with these, I need to have it pointed out!
Hinting is a strange art in itself.
I believe it is most fun to come as close to the line as possible, without stepping over.
So, Sandy's concern is important for all of us to hear.
~ OMK
Misty, OMK I read Sandy's post just now. I've been running around all day and had already composed a CC post since I solve everything days early*.
Personally, I suspect it's our universal political stance and it's free expression that may bother her. How about if we stay off the politics unless you want to chime in with the political brouhaha between Saxons and Normans and Prince John vs Richard.
I need Sandy's encouragement added to Misty and OMK to dig into Ivanhoe.
I got the 4 J's and riddle-solution quickly. The first word gave me the second.
Misty, you've become adept at the usage of J-words. Keep up the rhyming. OMK is getting close to Owen-esque. Although just today I described the J-blog as "A true poet and three rhymers".
Speaking of CC, did anyone else solve today? From comments it seems to be considered a difficult Saturday xword.
WC
* And completely forget. I meant to toss a warning in here about the Sat xword. I even, nope I just remembered, I solved Thurs after a mtg sitting in the car. Then with a bunch of empty boxes I drove around and later finally FIR'ed
So ok, here are my thoughts. I understand Owen's guidelines to say essentially, "Don't be conspicuous; be subtle.". To me, any use of, as he said, italics, bold, or all caps, is conspicuous. It's kind of like pointing and saying, "Look! Here's a clue!". Direct or indirect, it's still conspicuous. Just my take.
BTW, I don't think political views are too strongly expressed on this blog at all. On the Corner, people sometimes seem to express their opinions as though they were facts, but I don't remember that ever happening here.
I understand, Sandy, and I agree insofar as not drawing undue attention to the "actual words"--Owen's phrase--such as caps, bold, or itals.
I disagree only when it comes to my hints in rhyme, as they are never the "actual words," and because of this would IMO be extremely difficult to find--as sometimes they are deeply embedded in a lot of verbiage.
Indeed, they might be nearly impossible to find (and therefore unable to serve as "hints") without some kind of marker.
Italics seem to me to be the least conspicuous of the three options.
Now, that's just my take. But I sincerely hope you see some sense in it.
~ OMK
I'm sure you understand all this, but it doesn't hurt to spell it out.
BTW, even when one has found the rhymes, they don't help in solving for the clue words.
And figuring out the solution still requires another step--or two or three, depending on how complicated the answer is.
~ OMK
Wilbur ~ You can see in my CC comment, I had no patience for today's Xwd.
Some tough ones are fun, and some, like this one, I find just grueling. With little reward.
As for my growing "Owen-esque," it is not worth a bet.
Don't throw your vote away.
I gave up working on deadline when I retired from the University. I am happy to post a poem when the spirit moves me, but I am far from matching Owen's standard or output.
But thank you for the vote anyway.
~ OMK
OMK, I believe I do understand your viewpoint, and you seem to understand mine. We will just have to --politely and with good will -- agree to disagree.
Well, no, I don't "agree to disagree"--if that means you are leaving the site.
To be absolutely clear, are you troubled by my italics?
How about a compromise? Isn't that what we the people need to do, to set an example for our politicians?
How about if I make a judgment call about the use of italics--reserving them for whenever I think my rhyme is too deeply embedded for an intelligent reader to find? There are times when the hint word(s) in my posts are easier to spot, and I would not bother to italicize those.
How about it? Does that seem a reasonable balance? We probably won't agree in all cases, but this might help to close the gap.
~ OMK
Yes I have been troubled by that. Listen, I don't want to be hard-nosed, so, ok.
And I definitely don't want to stop posting altogether, anyway.
But I have a feeling that no good examples will change today's politics.
Thank you, Sandy.
I will aim to be judicious in my italics.
And, sadly, I agree EMPHATICALLY with your last posting.
~ OMK
Sandy, I too will do my best to no longer use caps, italics, or bold in any poems or comments. Hope that will help.
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