To MarkER the Occasion
5 June, 2012
Diamond jubilees deserve the fanfare. (Should I ever reach 60 years of crossword making, a barge up the harbour is the least I’m owed.) That’s why the Oxford Dictionary is offering to enshrine ER (the eternal queen of clue-speak) into a word, phrase, name and title.
To make the most of Commonwealth expertise, the OED seeks your ER advice. Pick a word, add ER to coin a comic novelty, and provide a definition. Or pick a phrase, and pull the same stunt. And with a name, insert ER and tell us about this person. Ditto with a title (book, movie, song), give us a brief synopsis of the ER-creation. In order, five of mine:
TOERUPEE – pedestrian income in Mumbai
MINIBARER – apprentice flasher
MORE BANGER FOR YOUR BUCK – extra-long Kransky
BONER SCOTT – Glaswegian butcher
21 JUMPER STREET – crafty soapie set in a needle exchange
STARER TREK – A bird-watching safari
Note: adding just an R (like turning RANGE into RANGER) is not regal enough. And should another player snag your first impulse, like BRIGHTON ROCKER say, then fret not. Often the gag lies in the accompanying remark.
To keep our pageant above board, pick a queen-related pseudonym, and let’s toast Her Madge with styleer (piggish ogle). Free-wheel your ideas for a few days, then submit your four-pack (word, phrase, name, title) by Thursday 9pm for the sole adjudication by mere. Shoulder be fun.
(PS – I will play under a royal alias in Phase 1, but then play judge & executioner by the weekenerd.)
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