Post by Peregrine on Dec 30, 2021 23:13:08 GMT -6
A Story by Peregrine.
My father's funeral was nothing special, save the parcel that awaited me when I returned home that day and stowed my umbrella. The note inscribed upon the tag read:
The journal hastily stuffed within the package bade me towards the forest I was warned never to enter as a child.
My father's scrawl was not neat as I had known it to be, though his mark was unmistakable. On the face was plainly written:
The morning was dewy and grey, a late December chill gripping my chest. Devil's darning needles forfeited underfoot while I trudged upon them, unyielding.
As I looked up through the shroud, I recalled a verse from my favourite story my father once read to me:
Without warning or grand design, I stumbled over a stump, round and broad as a drum. A tea candle sat lit upon it, flickering and weak but unassailed by the damp.
At my vision's edge, I spied a stump quite like the one by which I stood, and at closer inspection found it to be similarly decorated. Staring into the dancing flame, I began to compose a poem:
From my place I saw yet another stump in the distance. I travelled far, following the trail they drew. Suddenly, I came upon my own prints—by midday, I had walked a circle of ten stumps. Looking sidelong, I began to walk inward towards the centre of this crown of candles.
Nearing a jagged boulder, I saw a woman strung from a modest limb of birch. As she swayed in the gentle breeze, her last words escaped her lips:
I did not wait to see what waited in her clasped hands—this memory was never mine to relive. I turned and clambered out of the hollow, guided by the swells where a crook once staked the earth there.
I have not returned to that place. On this, the anniversary of my father's death, I recall that day and pen what little is worth committing to the forest of histories. I fear a warning has yet to be fulfilled. I shall part with my last thoughts as I fled the tree and the woman and the eyes removed from her head:
Let lost things stay.
Hello!
I'm honoured to host the last riddle of DDD 2021!
If these clues seem strange, that's because they are—this isn't an ordinary crossword. The "clues" (that is, the bolded text) are puzzles in themselves, where nothing is quite as it seems! Each word in a clue has meaning, whether it's obvious or not. All but one clue include a single word which is a synonym of its answer. Some words may indicate the answer is given in an anagram, hint something is concealed within other words, remove or highlight letters of words, or clue you into synonyms or soundalikes.
DM me as much as you like—I'll gladly confirm whether you're off the mark in interpreting a word in a clue, and if the whole concept of a cryptic crossword (as they're called) is foreign to you, I'll walk you through solving 1 (one) of the words as an example!
Don't be afraid to google stuff, either. Look up examples of cryptic crossword clues and tricks, and definitely consider a thesaurus for quickly finding synonyms where necessary.
(And by the way, the unbolded text is completely unnecessary reading to solve the puzzle. It's just flavour.)
Good luck!
My father's funeral was nothing special, save the parcel that awaited me when I returned home that day and stowed my umbrella. The note inscribed upon the tag read:
4D: "Dreams upset river's ease."
The journal hastily stuffed within the package bade me towards the forest I was warned never to enter as a child.
My father's scrawl was not neat as I had known it to be, though his mark was unmistakable. On the face was plainly written:
6A: "Sound heir consumed by drunk fealty: a fable."
The morning was dewy and grey, a late December chill gripping my chest. Devil's darning needles forfeited underfoot while I trudged upon them, unyielding.
As I looked up through the shroud, I recalled a verse from my favourite story my father once read to me:
5A: "King Edward crossed his twin and cleft a lion headless."
Without warning or grand design, I stumbled over a stump, round and broad as a drum. A tea candle sat lit upon it, flickering and weak but unassailed by the damp.
At my vision's edge, I spied a stump quite like the one by which I stood, and at closer inspection found it to be similarly decorated. Staring into the dancing flame, I began to compose a poem:
1D: "Within, the Dryad rifted till free."
From my place I saw yet another stump in the distance. I travelled far, following the trail they drew. Suddenly, I came upon my own prints—by midday, I had walked a circle of ten stumps. Looking sidelong, I began to walk inward towards the centre of this crown of candles.
Nearing a jagged boulder, I saw a woman strung from a modest limb of birch. As she swayed in the gentle breeze, her last words escaped her lips:
3D: "Wander footless, author devoured."
I did not wait to see what waited in her clasped hands—this memory was never mine to relive. I turned and clambered out of the hollow, guided by the swells where a crook once staked the earth there.
I have not returned to that place. On this, the anniversary of my father's death, I recall that day and pen what little is worth committing to the forest of histories. I fear a warning has yet to be fulfilled. I shall part with my last thoughts as I fled the tree and the woman and the eyes removed from her head:
2A: "Strange; behind all I see the eyeless chasm weep."
Let lost things stay.
Hello!
I'm honoured to host the last riddle of DDD 2021!
If these clues seem strange, that's because they are—this isn't an ordinary crossword. The "clues" (that is, the bolded text) are puzzles in themselves, where nothing is quite as it seems! Each word in a clue has meaning, whether it's obvious or not. All but one clue include a single word which is a synonym of its answer. Some words may indicate the answer is given in an anagram, hint something is concealed within other words, remove or highlight letters of words, or clue you into synonyms or soundalikes.
DM me as much as you like—I'll gladly confirm whether you're off the mark in interpreting a word in a clue, and if the whole concept of a cryptic crossword (as they're called) is foreign to you, I'll walk you through solving 1 (one) of the words as an example!
Don't be afraid to google stuff, either. Look up examples of cryptic crossword clues and tricks, and definitely consider a thesaurus for quickly finding synonyms where necessary.
(And by the way, the unbolded text is completely unnecessary reading to solve the puzzle. It's just flavour.)
Good luck!