- - - - "Old-Timey Blurb Action" Last week's puzzle presented readers with several blurbs for very old books and asked them to fill in redacted words by solving a series of five puzzles. Many had trouble with "rita" in number five, although most just chose to forge ahead and misspell "inheritance"), and many who answered number one correctly offered an alternative answer—"combatively." Certainly a "comb" could be a place in a beehive where honey is stored, and the explanations for why "AT" could be the answer to "not long" eventually became so creative that we became persuaded. Although not technically correct (and not particularly sensical in context) we decided to accept "combatively." Chosen at random, this week's winner of a McSweeney's book is Neda Golchin. THE AFFAIR AT THE INN by Kate Douglas Wiggin "As SUPERLATIVELY clever in the writing as it is entertaining in the reading. It is actual comedy of the most artistic sort and it is handled with a freshness and originality that is unquestionably novel." —Boston Transcript. 1. The portion of a hive in which honey is stored. (super)
"A feast of humor and good cheer, yet subtly pervaded by special shades of feeling, fancy, tenderness, or WHIMSICALITY. A merry thing in prose." —St. Louis Democrat. 1. A vertical drum, often horse-operated, for winding in a hoisting rope.
ROSE O' THE RIVER by Kate Douglas Wiggin "A charming bit of SENTIMENT gracefully written and deftly touched with a gentle humor. It is a dainty book." —New York Tribune. 1. An aluminum coin of Indonesia, the hundredth-part of a rupiah. (sen)
"An IDYLLIC story, replete with pathos and inimitable humor. As story-telling it is perfection, and as portrait-painting it is true to the life." —London Mail. 1. Suffix from the Greek meaning "descendant of" used to indicate members of a zoological family. (id)
TILLIE: A MENNONITE MAID by Helen R. Martin "The little Mennonite Maid who wanders through these pages is something quite new in fiction. Tillie is hungry for books and beauty and love; and she comes into her INHERITANCE at the end. Tillie is faulty, sensitive, big-hearted, eminently human, and first, last and always lovable. Her charm glows warmly, the story is well handled, the characters skillfully developed." —The Book Buyer. 1. Holes ten through eighteen. (In—the first nine holes in a golf round are "out" from the clubhouse, while the last nine are "in.")
AMY JO JOHNSON BONUS After reading some of Tillie: A Mennonite Maid, available via the good people at http://www.gutenberg.net/etext03/tilli10.txt, I believe that you have inadvertently (or perhaps not) stumbled upon the perfect star-vehicle to finally showcase all the theatrical gifts of Ms. Amy Jo Johnson! When I think of Tillie's hardscrabble existence toiling in her father's "celery fields," and her stolen joy in the moments she surreptitiously reads her "story-book," and most of all, her blossoming sexual awareness as Miss Margaret caresses her for the first time, well, if that doesn't scream AJJ, then I'm not sure what does. In my cursory search I was unable to determine the status of the rights to this story. (With all the complaints in Hollywood about the lack of quality roles for women, I have to believe that this has to be in the pipeline somewhere.) But, nonetheless, I think you owe it to AJJ—not to mention movie-loving people everywhere—to investigate this possibility further. Regards, Tom West THE ANSWER THAT CONVINCED US ON NUMBER ONE
Thanks,
WE LIKE THIS EVEN BETTER THAN COMBATIVELY, FRANKLY
WISH WE HAD CHECKED THAT
Sincerely,
YOUR MAMA'S A WEISSMULLER GIRL, EH?
Anyway, my answers: 1. combatively (although my mom claims that Ron Ely was in no way "hunky") 2. whimsical 3. sentiment 4. idyllic 5. and, of course: backhestarsanct. I remember the day I got my backhestarsanct. Man, oh man. It was awesome. Sincerely, Brian Graham - - - -
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