Friday, November 14, 2008

Puzzled By Wordzzles

Before this week's installment of Wordzzles, I thought I should remind you that this month's Portrait of Words stories are due to be posted this coming Monday 11/17 through Wednesday 11/19. For some reason the dates I posted on my sidebar say the 18-20. Guess I was just having a brain fart when I did that. Anyhoo, they will be out next week. Hope you can make it by to share a story with us or read the ones that have been written. Eveyone's welcome to join in on the fun. If you would like to see the pictures for this month's challenge you can find them here.


OK. it's now time for one of my favorite bits. Raven of Views from the Ravens Nest has a weekly challenge known as Wordzzle. She gives us a list of ten and five words respectively and we are to come up with a paragraph or short story using them. A couple of months ago Akelamalu came up with a unique twist in which she used the words in a Scrabble like format. It was a brilliant idea and I though this week I would do something along those lines, but different enough that it won't be an outright copy of what was already done.

Generally this is where I'd list out all the words that would be used in the stories for the week. Instead I am going to give you a couple of puzzles and one story in which all the words can be found in each of them. At the end of this post I will give you the words along with the answers to the puzzles. If you are a participant in the weekly challenge these will be obvious, but if not, it will hopefully provide some entertainment.

So, here we go. This first one is a crossword. The letters in the red squares will solve the word scramble at the bottom. One of the letters is filled in as a bonus. Good luck.

(Click on the images if you need to see them in a larger view)

ACROSS
3) King's residence
4) Flaky quick bread
7) False pious
8) River drop off
9) Keyboard cleaner (2 words)
11) Molten rock
12) Damp fungus
13) Wide variety (3 words)
14) Breakfast beverage (2 words)

DOWN
1) Willy-nilly
2) Traditional
4) Purchaser's letdown (2 words)
5) Communication devise
6) Arcade game
10) Oak tree nut



Next up is a word search. Can you find all fifteen words?



Now if you still need help in identifying the words, they can all be found within the following story:

The parking lot at "Soup to Nuts" was already filling up and Buster couldn't wait to get inside. He absolutely loved this place. I mean where else could he find everything under one roof from the biscuit mix and fruit juice his wife needed to one of those canned air horn thingies for his boat?

First things first though, he still needed to find a place to park. After a couple of loops around the rows near the front of the store without any luck, he opted to take his customary spot out in the north forty. Up ahead he could see the familiar oak tree that he generally parked under. In fact, an examination of the bed of his truck would probably reveal an acorn or two from his last trip here.

After what seemed like a mile long hike, he'd made it to the front door. Fumbling through his wallet, he found the membership card that was required to get in. The girl at the door politely nodded at Buster as he strolled in waving his card in the air for her to see. Before he forgot, he quickly grabbed the couple of items his wife had asked him to pick up. Having completed this task, he would be free to walk about seeing what kind of goodies they had to offer that he simply couldn't live without.

His progress through the cavernous store was haphazard at best. There were just so many things vying for his attention that it made it hard for him to stay an any type of predetermined course. First he decided to meander around the electronics section. He couldn't help but wonder at all the amazing new devices there were displayed. There was even a cordless telephone that had a range of a quarter mile. He marveled at far they'd come since the old rotary dial types he remembered from his youth.

In another isle, he found a waterfall like outdoor fountain that they claimed would be soothing to a tired soul. "Soothing my foot," he thought, "all it makes me want to do is pee!"

Then he remembered they used to carry a lava soap he liked to use. It seemed to be the only thing that would cut through the mildew that would form on the sidewalks around the house during the rainy season. Guess nobody told him that bleach does the trick every time. Well, before he could find his beloved soap, something else caught his eye.

There at the end of the isle was a pinball machine called the "Sultans Palace". He'd been wanting a game like this for as long as he could remember, and he even figured he had a spot where it would fit perfectly. They even had it plugged in so he could give it a thorough test drive. Ah, it was perfect!

Just as he was preparing to launch his third ball into play, a young sales associate came up to him and said, "Hey mister, if you're interested, they just told me to put this on a markdown. Ya, apparently the last one of these in a box just got sold so they're taking off $300 'cause it's a display model."

Buster looked up at the original price and did the quick math. The discount would make the new price $1,950. When the shopper behind him started to show some interest, Buster quickly told the kid, "I'll take it!"

About twenty minutes later, Buster's shinny new pinball machine was being loaded into the back of his pick-up truck. About ten minutes after that, it hit him. Not more than two days earlier, he and his wife had had a discussion about cutting back and putting some money aside in a rainy day fund. Now he'd gone and blown just short of two grand on a toy he really didn't need.

"What a hypocrite!" he thought. Then another wave hit him, "Now I know what buyers remorse feels like too!"

~~~



So, how did you do? Do you know what the mystery words are? If you're still stumped, scroll down and you'll find the answers.




Sure you want to see them yet?



Don't peek too early.



Alright, here you go.



The words for the week are: palace, hypocrite, canned air, telephone, biscuit, pinball, acorn, customary, fruit juice, waterfall, buyers remorse, lava, haphazard, mildew, soup to nuts







22 comments:

Anonymous said...

A great story and some fun, too! I'm obviously a slacker!

Akelamalu said...

You really worked on it this week didn't you Jeff? Not satisfied with creating a crossword and a wordsearch you did a story as well!

Fabulous!

Dr.John said...

You never fail to amaze me.
A fun crossword, a word search , and a story.
Your creativity knows no bounds. And I loved the story.

bettygram said...

I enjoyed the puzzles and the story. Sometimes we just buy and our thoughts of saving go out the window.

Melli said...

Wow Jeff! You put a LOT of time into this weeks words! The story was GREAT - I could sO relate to that incident! LOL! I'm SUCH an impulse buyer!

Finding Pam said...

Dare I give you a compliment? Jeff the Great! LAMO!! After reading about you and your brother, what can I say...What a RIOT!

Your worddzzle crossword and word find were brillant. The movie review was awesome.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving words of encouragement. After reading some of these great stories, I really need it.

Your bro's poem was ridiculously funny. Very interesting and entertaining writing from two talented brothers.

Jeff B said...

Quilly- Not at all. There have been some weeks where I could barely eek out one little paragraph.

Akelamalu- It was your Scrabble one that gave me the inspiration for these.

Dr John- I could easily say the same about you, up to and including your entries this week. Thanks

Bettygram- Been there...done that!

Melli- The idea was the easy part. Getting it from concept to finished product was a fun challenge.

Finding Pam- This fun group of Wordzzlers is a great source of encouragement. Glad you took the time to read through a bit and get to meet Gene and I. I'm sure we haven't heard the last on the story from him yet either.

Raven said...

Pure genius! Crossword puzzle AND a whachamacallit (find the words) AND a story. Awesome. I bow to your creativity, your hard work and your genius. Bravo! Akelmalu got the word I was looking for... FABULOUS! (Can you tell I was impressed?)

Anndi said...

At first I thought... a man who likes to shop?

I wonder if they sell bananas? Or DVDs, like...


wait for it...


wait...


The Sound Of Music!

And a karaoke machine for singing along!

Well done! You know, you could do a wordzzle about Gene :)

Dianne said...

How did you do that!!!

I can't get titles to center pics to display correctly, wow!!

Really cool stuff Jeff

and the story was great. reminded me of every trip to costco I have ever made.

I punked out this week, work is killing my brain.

Travis Cody said...

You sure put a lot of work into that. Nice job!

Jeff B said...

Raven- I really enjoy finding new ways to use the words. Thanks again for hosting Wordzzle.

Anndi- Note to self...remove Anndi from the Christmas list...

Dianne- It looks more complicated than it really was. I created it in MS Excel, then copy and pasted it into Corel Draw. From there I exported it as a jpeg file. And Costco was the store for the inspiration.

Travis- It took a little bit of creativity, but it was fun to do.

Sandi McBride said...

Where do you find the time to do things like this? My brain is spinning from the attempt to SOLVE them, I don't know how you managed to do this, Jeff..you amaze me!
Sandi

Roan said...

Wow. Impressive. I loved the story, but really loved the crossword puzzle. Brilliance at work.

Ron said...

Ok, Mr. BRILLIANT MAN....

You deserve a Pulitzer Prize for this one!!

HOLY CRAP!!!! How the hell did you do all this???? WOW-WEE, this must have taken DAYS!!!!

I especially LOVED the Word Search, because when I was a kid, I use to SO enjoy doing them in those Highlight Magazines! It's such a good test for the eyes!

Jeff, this was OUTSTANDING!

REALLY enjoyed your story too!

Thanks for all the effort put forth to make this a FUN experience for us!

BRAVO, buddy!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Later Gator

P.S. and here's some extra !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

david mcmahon said...

You word genius, you!

Jeff B said...

Sandi- It was a challenge within a challenge this week. Fun though.

B Roan- I don't know about brilliance, just inspired I think. Thank you.

Ron- It really wasn't as hard to do as it may have appeared. I used MS Excel to put them together and then copied and pasted into a graphics program so I could save them as jpeg files. Trust me, if a computer novice like me could do it anyone could.

and thanks for the surplus exclamation points. They'll come in handy!!!

David- just having fun with them.

Anndi said...

*giggle*

Desert Songbird said...

I can't read. My brain is still too fuzzy, but I wanted to say thanks for coming for a visit. I hope you don't get ill, too. Anndi and I figured out this stupid virus doesn't care about international borders, so you're not safe tucked away up there in the PacNW.

maryt/theteach said...

Jeff, how interesting and clever your wordzzles puzzles are! I read your remarks at Dianne's about gay marriage and just wanted to touch base with you and say "Love and hugs to you!" I love your tolerance! :)

Jeff B said...

Songbird- A few people around be have had the ickies, but so far I've been on the winning side of it.

Mary- It's an interesting spot to be in as a Christian. While I still believe God's intent was for a "traditional" marriage, to cast out those who don't follow that view would be a travesty on my part. I believe that the phrase "Love thy neighbor" applies to everyone!

Still, there are those who are within my faith that would disagree with me on this point. Again, that is a sad commentary on what a Christian looks like.

Carletta said...

Totally clever!!!