Smile: Travel

It’s a new week already … and a day or so away from December!

My theme this week is travel. I’ve had this smile, found in a second-hand furniture store, for over a year. It’s one of my favorites.

My alphabet of birds list is below the photo. 

Two birds for almost every letter of the alphabet, sans X (your list may vary): Albatross, auk, bobwhite, bunting, canary, cardinal, duck, dodo, eagle, egret, falcon, flamingo, goose, grouse, heron, hummingbird, ibis (no second), jay, jackdaw, kestrel, kiwi, loon, lark, macaw, mockingbird, nightingale, nuthatch, owl, ostrich, pelican, penguin, quetzal, quail, robin, rooster, swan, seagull, toucan, thrush, umbrellabird (no second), vulture, vireo, woodpecker, wren, yellowthroat (no second), zebra finch (no second).

Friday Miscellany: Birds

Today’s puzzle is a challenge. Can you think of a list of birds such that each bird begins with a different letter of the alphabet?

This exercise was easier than I thought, and I quickly came up with a bird for every letter except X. So here’s the second challenge: Can you think of two birds that begin with each letter of the alphabet (except X)? I’ll post my list over the weekend. Try to not consult a bird book or Google!

Cartoon: Birds

Happy Thanksgiving!

Under the bird-themed cartoon, you’ll find answers to Monday’s BRD consonants puzzle.

Here is my list of 25 words that use the consonants BRD in that order, and no others: Abrade, abroad, bard, bared, barred, beard, berried, bird, birdie, board, bored, boride, brad, braid, brayed, bread, bred, breed, bride, broad, brood, buried, burred, and byroad. I thought “bready” should be a word, but it’s not. A couple of obscure answers include beared, birred, and brodie.

Constant Consonants: BRD

It’s bird week here, as we give thanks for turkeys this week, among other things. My letters for the consonants puzzle are BRD, and BIRD is one valid answer.

How many words can you think of that contain only the consonants B, R, and D, in that order, and no others? (full rules are beyond the link at the upper right). I will post my list on Wednesday. I have 22 words now and I expect I’ll find a few more by then. 

Have a great, short week!

Smile: Bird

It’s Thanksgiving week already! And so, I am declaring it “bird” week. 

Today’s birdhouse smile is one I’ve had since before I had a digital camera, so it is a physical photo that I scanned, and only have a black and white image of right now. 

Answers to yesterday’s jumbled cats puzzle are below.

Cats Incredible Answers

1. Snow leopard (S); 2. Mountain lion (I); 3. Lynx (N); 4. Jaguar (G); 5. Bobcat (A); 6. Panther (P); 7. Ocelot (O); 8. Tiger (R); 9. Cheetah (E). Singapore means “city of lions.”

Friday Miscellany: Cats Incredible

Here’s a quick word jumble puzzle to round out “cats” week. I’ll post answers over the weekend. 

Cartoon: Cat

For some reason, I’ve written a lot of cartoons that have to do with cats. We do have a cat, but I don’t consider myself a cat person (and certainly not a “cat lady”). Here’s one of my favorites:

Here are my answers to Monday’s PR Constant Consonants puzzle (I found 25 words): aper (one who apes), appear, opera, pair, par, pare, parry, payer, pear, peer, per, peri (a Persian fairy), pier, pore, poor, pour, pray, pro, pry, pure, puree, purr, pyre, pyro, and upper.

Note: Even though the “h” is silent, I don’t count pariah, because of the h.

Constant Consonants: PR

It’s “Cats” week, and because the consonants CT don’t make very many words for a consonants puzzle, I’ve chosen PR. How many words can you find that use the consonants PR in that order, and no others? One valid answer is PURR.

To read the full rules to the puzzle, see the link at the upper right. I will post my words on Wednesday; there will be about 25.

Smile: Cats

I’m psyched! I mapped out the next two weeks worth of posts, and I had everything ready except for today’s photo. My theme this week was going to be “cats,” but I didn’t have a smile that fit. So, we went down to the last outdoor farmers’ market this morning and hit the crafts area. Sure enough, there were some finger puppet cats that, when viewed upside down, reveal a nice smile. 

Have a great weekend!

Friday Miscellany: Cartoon Puzzle

I have a bunch of these cartoon puzzles written up, but this is the first one I’m posting. The idea is to fill in the missing parts of the caption, represented by empty boxes. Letters in boxes that are joined to boxes below them are the same letter. Any letter in its own box is different from the one below or above it. So, can you figure out the two blank words in the caption below?

As background, this is a true story from the Rendezvous ski area near West Yellowstone, MT. Last year, the ski season was looking grim, so the (female) owners of a local ski / wheel shop decided to appeal to the gods and attempt this stunt.

By the way, it worked. They had wonderful snow for the holidays (I skied on some of it myself).