All hints are in the comments!

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

21 Dec. 2021

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|Smiley face| _latch, whose, sludge, dragon, world-class.
Image(s) from the Internet.

The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
Comments are welcomed! And couching them in Poetry is definitely NOT required.
Do not explicitly reveal any of the actual answer words until after closing time, but embedding them surreptitiously in comment sentences is encouraged.

12 comments:

Sandyanon said...

Kind of a double mixed metaphor -- kind of a pun.
But clever to incorporate both aspects in the one phrase. Sometimes those guys really do deliver.
So I enjoyed it, but am now wondering how those four words -especially the third one - can go together.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Happy Winter, Everyone!
A Serene Solstice is my Wish Today.
We pass into Winter 2021/22 at 7:59 a.m. PST.

Sandy ~ I believe you’re right about a double metaphor, but I’m not sold on it’s being “mixed.” At least not in the usual sense of screwing up the consistency between two or more parts of a comparative metaphor (like “Don’t put all your eggs or two in a bush!”).
But clever enough—as you say!

Today’s response (including a rhyming title for the solution):

If it’s a female page who wins the position (in the verse below),
she’ll deserve a day at the spa
(& with the hairdresser)
to be turned out as a…

“(Well) Curled Lass
Latch onto that squire whose charge it is
to clear the sludge from the dragon’s den!
He can make his fortune; it’ll surely be his
if he’ll rent out his tolerance as a pupil of zen.

For it takes forbearance and control of one’s senses
to block the odores and sonitus immensus!
~ OMK

Misty said...

"Dragon Tag-on"

Whose views would the network choose
to present on the evening news?
Their choices included a batch
of topics to latch and match.

There were many options to drudge
through, and sludge, and judge.
But before all choices were gone
they picked a story about a dragon at dawn.

It was funky and bold, full of jazz,
and the editors found it world-class.
The news item became a big hit
and was later sold as children's-lit.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Very interesting, Misty ~ A story about a network newsroom’s editorial choice!
Your editors seemed bent on avoiding the usual dictum of “If it bleeds, it leads.” They’re going instead for human interest value.
Bravo! We’re certainly tired of the violence and political chicanery that commonly dominate the airwaves.
(And meanwhile you boldly re-define “sludge”!
I’m with you & Humpty Dumpty! Words should mean what we tell ‘em to mean.
“When I make a word do a lot of work like that, I always pay it extra.”)
~ OMK

Misty said...

Oh dear, it was actually the word "latch" I was worried about, but I just looked up "sludge" and it turns out to be listed only as a noun, not as a verb.

Is it my age, or my Austrian-German-speaking upbringing, that make words sometimes tough for me to sort out and manage these days? How did I get to be a Chancellor's Professor of English for heaven's sake.

Wilbur Charles said...

Here's a dragon tale from a year or two ago.

Bilbo's ride on the barrel raft was pleasant though cold
He remembered back in Elronds house
that Gandalf had told
Of the days when Smaug the dragon was aroused with fury
And paid a visit to the countryside intent to bury
Towns and farms, walls and castles, proud and strong.
As the raft swiveled it's way south he saw along
The banks signs of the new inhabitants of the town on the lake.
For the rushing water had now become tepid and he could make
Out where the exodus from Dale had led to a new start
Unhindered by fear of dragons. They would begin anew apart
From the jumble and carnage of that terrible time
As evinced by gardens of parsley, sage rosemary and thyme.
Stylish houses brimming with life gave proof of security
And hope for the future lived with new hope and purity .
Bilbo could only admire the resilience of these men
Coming back from the outage and building again.

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Keith I imagine your dragon with his sludge was a komodo dragon whereas Misty's dragons at dawn were perhaps dragon flies or snap dragons.

Hopefully Snaug has not returned to pillage California towns

WC

Sandyanon said...

Wilbur, I really like your upbeat story, apt for a happy season.
And the parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme gave me an earworm I had to satisfy.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ccgk8PXz64

Misty said...

Wilbur, my reaction to your delightful Bilbo verse was exactly like Sandy's.
Your parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme was also my favorite part of your rhyme.

Wilbur Charles said...

Yes, I couldn't help myself. That was on a Sunday with 6+4+2 riddle-solutions. Here they are

Tepid,Thyme,Jumble,Arouse;Brimmed with style; Hinder,Swivel,Admire,Purity,Exodus
Outage,Paid them a visit

I can always enjoy a little Simon&Garfunkel

Wilbur Charles said...

BTW, that bucolic scene was the lull before he storm. Bilbo had aided the 13 dwarves to escape from the elven king by floating them down in barrels with Bilbo perched on one.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Thanks for the reprise, Wilbur ~ Your tale offers a forward looking vision, appropriate for ringing in the Solstice!
I have to confess, though, that I can’t see the name “Elrond” without mentally adding “Hubbard.”

As to whether my piece is about a Komodo, I wouldn’t say No—though I did have something a little larger in mind.

Misty ~ I really don’t mind your making your own definitions; I think it is a poet’s prerogative to some extent, as long as the sense is clear through the context.
I just think you probably appreciate having your intent acknowledged.
We poets need our efforts recognized, don’t we?
In my own piece, I was concerned that “sludge” not be limited to just muck & mud, as I wanted it to include more of the dragon’s personal, er… waste, or its essence.
But I was more concerned to see some response to my incorporating Latin in my finale.
For me, it followed on from the medieval tone of “squire” and “dragon.”
Or maybe not? What did you think?
~ OMK