THE PUZZLE CORNER: JULY 11, 2020

😎FUN FACT
With a full orchestral accompaniment, none of The Beatles actually played an instrument on ♫Eleanor Rigby♫!

TRIVIA TIME⌚
In what sport is a Jack the ball?

REBUS
Something familiar is represented in the image below. Do you know what it is?
R|E|A|D|I|N|G

We’ll reveal all next weekend but for now, let’s open up THE ANSWERS BOX📦 and discover the results from the July 4, 2020 Puzzle Corner.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Been quite a while since we’ve played this last, but something famous is described below using alternate words. Do you know what it is?
“Story of Dual Municipalities”.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES (by Charles Dickens)

THE LETTER SHUFFLE
How many new words can you form out of the letters in INDEPENDENCE?
Cede
Deed, deep, deepen, deepened, den, dice, diced, die, died, din, dine, dip
End
I, ice, ID (part of the psyche), in, inn
Nee, need, needed, nice, nine, nip
Peen (part of a hammer), pen, pend, pin, pine
More than the 30 words listed above might be possible.

BOOK REVIEW: A CHRISTMAS CAROL By Charles Dickens

Cloth cover of very first edition!

There is a lot to be said for the final holidays of December. They are a time to bring family and friends together, celebrating life and goodwill while looking forward to the days to come, despite the commercialism that has developed over the years.

Out of all the tales told at this time, one of the best known is the story of a miserable old man who finally remembers what the holiday season and life itself is all about. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was first published in 1843. It has often been adapted, homaged, and outright parodied over the decades since, but its story is as timeless as it is timely.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a well known but miserly business man in Victorian London. Upon the seventh anniversary of his death, which just also happens to be Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of former business partner Jacob Marley. The ghost brings dire warning for Scrooge to change his ways while he still can or wind up with a worse fate than what Marley suffers when Scrooge passes away.

Over the course of the next three chapters (called Staves, in keeping with the title theme) Scrooge is visited by three additional spirits. The Ghost of Christmas Past, who shows Ebenezer how his life was and could have been if he had listened to people back then. The Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows Scrooge how others celebrate the holiday despite their wealth or lack thereof; with the worst of all being the Ghost of Christmas Future, who shows Scrooge what awaits him if he doesn’t heed the warnings.

Those who have either already read the book or seen any of the adaptations know the outcome in the final Stave, but Dickens prose still holds up to this day and is well worth rereading again.

SUNDAY FUNNIES: CELEBRITY CHRISTMAS CITINGS (Christmas themed celebrity quotes)

Hello Everybody! Autumn the Puppy here.
Yes, that's an old, but appropriate picture of me, because thankfully we've yet to receive any snow in my neck of the woods, despite it being that time of year.
I've yet to do any celebrity quotes  of late, so let's see what they think of the holidays...

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."—Author Norman Vincent Peale.
Considering some of the headlines of late, that's a very nice thought sir.

"Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values."—Thomas S. Monson.
A beautiful thought, but most retailers have other ideas, I'm afraid.

"I love the excitement, the childlike spirit of innocence and just about everything that goes along with Christmas."—Singer Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum.
"It's the most wonderful time of the year!"—Singer Andy Williams.
That it is, no matter how much they try to commercialize it!

"He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree."—Roy L. Smith.
"When there's that forgiveness present and compassion, it just helps you give so much easier."—Actor Craig T. Nelson.
True. I even bought a present this year for my rotten brother, who always digs up my bones whenever he visits, no matter how well I bury them!

"Before we took down the tree each year, Dad would always say a prayer that we would be together the next Christmas. I cling to that prayer, which serves as a reminder that it's important to be grateful in the present for the people you love because, well, you never know."—Actress Catherine Hicks.

Well... he is family.

"Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone else."—Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz.
"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."—Famous author Charles Dickens, from A Christmas Carol.
Despite how much he ruffles my fur, I do love my brother. After all, we have the same parents.

"Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great, if it is given with affection."—Pindar, lyric poet of ancient Greece.
Good! So he won't object to the new flea collar I got him.


Folks, no matter how many jokes we tell in the course of this column or whatever happens this holiday season, please remember to be kind and love one another. After all... regardless of your personal beliefs, we are ALL members of the family of mankind!—AtP.

The Sunday Funnies will return next weekend. Take care everyone!