Crossword Puzzle - May 2014

'Allo, 'Allo!

It's time for another crossword puzzle. Let's see who can solve this one:

Across
1 Stardust (5)
4 We call it a "Serviette" (6)
7 Suffix of feminine name (3)
8 Bacon (5)
9 He has pointy ears (6)
10 A smear of something (7)
12 Turn around (6)
15 A humorous imitation (6)
18 It sucks blood (7)
21 The Fuzz (6)
22 A loose Roman garment (5)
23 Off (Golf) (3)
24 Quiet and rather dull (6)
25 A sad song (5)
Down
1 Scrapes a lemon (5)
2 Interrogate (5)
3 Gave forth (7)
4 Showing even less wisdom (6)
5 Straw mattress (6)
6 Annie's pet name (6)
11 In a pod (3)
13 Architect's County in Minnesota (7)
14 Publishing company (3)
15 Songbirds with brown streaky plumage (6)
16 Newton-John (6)
17 'Allo 'Allo! waitress (6)
19 Situated inside (5)
20 Master of Ceremonies (5)

How do you solve it?

Well, you could print it out, and solve it with a good old fashioned pencil and eraser. Or you could try and recreate it in Excel. Or how about taking a screenshot and drawing the answers on the screen using your favourite image editing or note taking program?

However you choose to do it, be sure to let me know when you have all the answers! Head on over to the Contact page on this site, and pick your favourite way to contact me (Facebook, Google+, Twitter, or e-mail). Send me a screenshot or scan of your answers, or just copy them all into a text message. However you do it, if you've solved it, I want to know about it!

What's in it for you?

If you're the first to correctly solve this puzzle, getting all the answers right, and yours are the first correct answers I receive before Tuesday, 17 June 2014, I'm going to respond to you. In that response, I will ask you were you would like me to link your name. It could be your Twitter account, or your private or company Facebook or Google+ pages, or your website, or anywhere else you like.

When I publish the answers on 17 June, and you are the first person to have answered this puzzle correctly, I will mention your name on this blog, and link it to your preferred location.

Free advertising on the blog, and perhaps your 15 minutes of fame! Sound good? Then get solving.

Good luck!

Crossword Puzzle - April 2014 Answers

It's time to put everyone out of their misery, methinks.

Thanks once again to my glorious wife, Elmari, for helping to put last month's crossword puzzle together. Sorry that nobody got it right (although I'm sure many of you gave it a bash), but here are the answers:

Across
1 A drink that is very popular amongst computer guys (6) coffee
3 This popular U.S. Reality Game show has been around for 28 Seasons (8) Survivor
5 The two Popes who were declared Saints on 27 April 2014 have this name in common (4) John
6 In oil (5) fried
9 Steak Ranch (4) spur
11 A long time (3) eon
12 How were 16 Nepalese Guides recently killed on Mount Everest? RIP (9) avalanche
14 Nocturnal, catches mice (3) owl
15 Eastern Province (2) EP
16 This play was written by a well known female author and made #1 on the New York Times best seller list in April (5) power
18 Manganese (2) Mn
21 Egyptian symbol of eternal life (4) ankh
23 Greek Goddess of Beauty (9) Aphrodite
24 Gloomy appearance (4) dour
25 Unisex name (3) Pat
26 He's in charge (4) boss
28 Another name for The Devil's Triangle (7) Bermuda
29 Babies need more of this than older people (5) sleep
Down
2 In South Africa it's called Soccer (8) football
3 Which popular cellphone company produces the Galaxy range? (7) Samsung
4 Love, a song (5) radar
6 Name of the last South African Public Holiday in April (10) Freedom Day
7 Old hotel (3) inn
8 Austin powers lost it (4) mojo
10 This animal has excellent vision (4) hawk
13 A well known luxury car, or part of a book title by Stephen King (8) Mercedes
17 He was released from prison in 1990 (7) Mandela
18 End Of The Middle Ages Day gets celebrated on the 29th of .......? (3) May
19 Political party ruling South Africa before 1994 (2) NP
20 Flower, or a name for a National Cricket team (7) Proteas
22 2014 in the Chinese Zodiac (5) horse
25 Take a selfie (4) pout
26 It buzzes (3) bee
27 The colour of this star is actually white (3) sun

In case you don't know how this works, let me enlighten you: on the last Tuesday of every month, I release a new crossword puzzle. You have three weeks to solve it, and send me the answers, and on the second-last Tuesday of the following month, I announce the answers and the winner.

I also post the month's crossword puzzle as part of my monthly newsletter. The next one goes out on Tuesday, 26 May 2014, and if you don't want to miss it, you can visit my Contact page, and sign up for free.

See you next week.

On My Radio

This month's prompt is not so much writing practice (although all writing counts as writing practice) as memory practice. It comes from Creative Writing Prompts.com, and goes like this:

Close your eyes briefly. Think of one object that's in the room and focus on it. Without opening your eyes, recall as much detail as you can about it. After three minutes or so, open your eyes and write about that object without looking at it.

I chose the radio on my desk:

I have a TEAC portable radio on my desk, which I like to listen to while I work. It's quite small, perhaps a ruler's length across, about half as high, and less than ten centimetres thick. On the left hand side of the front is a large circle containing the speaker, which takes up about half of the face. Slightly smaller than the speaker, on the right, is the tuning dial (it's analogue). Near the bottom of the radio, between the speaker and the tuning dial is the combination volume control/power knob. A long metal antenna sticks out of the top, on the right hand side, but it's currently held in place by cello-tape.

On the right hand side, along the width, are two jacks, one for my headphones (which I keep permanently plugged in, as I'm in an open-plan office), and an auxiliary out.

At the back, on the right hand side, is the figure of eight power jack and the battery casing (although there isn't a battery in it, as I keep it plugged in).

And now, let me turn to look at my radio, and see if I described it accurately. What do you think?

Well, I did pretty well, I think. I forgot about the power LED, and I could have described the labels on the volume/power knob. Other than that, I think I got everything!

You should really try this prompt sometime. How about doing it now, in the comments below? Tell me about an object that's in the room with you, right now!

Spread the Word, Win Three Books

Last month, I told you that, if you pre-order Stingers, you would get Heritage of Deceit free.

Well, that offer is still valid, and will continue to be until 16 June, when Stingers officially releases. However, here's another deal for you, in an effort to try and get as much exposure as possible for Stingers before the official release date.

How would you like to win all three books published by Graham Downs to date (including Stingers, when it releases)? That's right, you can not only win Stingers, but also Heritage of Deceit and A Petition to Magic!

Interested? Here's how it's going to work:

1. Post a link to this page (copy the URL from your address bar) onto social media. You can use Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, your blog, or whatever other network you like.
2. Paste the link to your post into the comments at the bottom of this page.
   1. Remember that your post must be publicly visible.
   2. You can post links to this page from multiple networks. If you do, paste all the links into the comments. You'll get one extra entry per valid link that you post.
3. So that I have your e-mail address, e-mail me at preorders@grahamdowns.co.za, telling me the name that you used when you posted your comment, and the date and time of your comment.

On or after 16 June 2014, I will select one qualifying entry at random. If you are the winner, you will receive three seperate gift e-mails from Smashwords, one each for A Petition to Magic, Heritage of Deceit, and Stingers.

Sound fair? Well, go on then: get marketing!

Crossword Puzzle - April 2014 (Collaboration With Elmari Downs)

This month's puzzle is a special one. My wife, Elmari, offered to do a guest puzzle for me, to which I eagerly agreed.

The puzzle she came up with, though, was sadly too wide for this blog. So we sat together to come up with a smaller one (by dimensions, not by clues). The result was that 95% of the words in this puzzle are still her original words. Although we had to leave two of her words out because of the space constraints, we added a few extra.

Because the majority of this puzzle consists of Elmari's original words (and her original clues!), I still wanted to call this puzzle a guest puzzle from Elmari. But she refused, and instead insisted that I call it a collaboration instead.

So here it is, the April 2014 Crossword Puzzle, which is a collaboration with Elmari Downs. If you like it, why not head on over to her Twitter account, and tell her so?

And by the way, if you don't want to miss another one, then please consider visiting my Contact page, and entering your e-mail address into the box provided.

Here are your clues:

Across
1 A drink that is very popular amongst computer guys (6)
3 This popular U.S. Reality Game show has been around for 28 Seasons (8)
5 The two Popes who were declared Saints on 27 April 2014 have this name in common (4)
6 In oil (5)
9 Steak Ranch (4)
11 A long time (3)
12 How were 16 Nepalese Guides recently killed on Mount Everest? RIP (9)
14 Nocturnal, catches mice (3)
15 Eastern Province (2)
16 This play was written by a well known female author and made #1 on the New York Times best seller list in April (5)
18 Manganese (2)
21 Egyptian symbol of eternal life (4)
23 Greek Goddess of Beauty (9)
24 Gloomy appearance (4)
25 Unisex same (3)
26 He's in charge (4)
28 Another name for The Devil's Triangle (7)
29 Babies need more of this than older people (5)
Down
2 In South Africa it's called Soccer (8)
3 Which popular cellphone company produces the Galaxy range? (7)
4 Love, a song (5)
6 Name of the last South African Public Holiday in April (10)
7 Old hotel (3)
8 Austin powers lost it (4)
10 This animal has excellent vision (4)
13 A well known luxury car, or part of a book title by Stephen King (8)
17 He was released from prison in 1990 (7)
18 End Of The Middle Ages Day gets celebrated on the 29th of .......? (3)
19 Political party ruling South Africa before 1994 (2)
20 Flower, or a name for a National Cricket team (7)
22 2014 in the Chinese Zodiac (5)
25 Take a selfie (4)
26 It buzzes (3)
27 The colour of this star is actually white (3)

As always the answers will be published on 19 May 2014. Whomever is the first to supply the correct answers before then, via either Facebook, Google+, or e-mail, will receive a mention from me on this blog.

Good luck!

Crossword Puzzle - March 2014 Answers (Congratulations Denise Smith!)

Hi, there!

When I posted the March Crossword Puzzle on the 25th, I said that I would be giving you all an entire month to solve it, since it occurred to me that maybe a week (which you'd been accustomed to up until now) was a bit short.

As it turned out, the winner didn't need a month, because I received the answers from her the very next day! And the winner is... Denise Smith!

Denise won my January 2014 puzzle, if you'll recall, and she explained to me that the only reason she didn't win the February one, is because she missed it. She's since punched her e-mail address into the newsletter sign-up form on this page, so she never misses another issue. You might want to do the same.

Anyway, this woman is on fire. If you'd like to try your hand at beating her, check back next week. Well done, Denise! Here are your answers:

Across
1 A Latin-American (6) Latino
3 Merged with Exxon in 1999 (5) Mobil
5 Counts down to something (5) timer
8 Fencing sword (6) rapier
12 About nothing (3) ado
13 Shows authenticity (8) hallmark
16 American war (3) Nam
17 Female sheep (3) ewe
18 Unit of current (3) amp
19 British exclamation (3) wot
22 Type of poem (3) ode
24 Booyens, South African race walker (3) Ada
25 Someone who can't swim does this (8) flounder
27 Electrically charged atom (3) ion
28 Annoying (6) irking
29 The Blade Runner (5) Oscar
31 Concubine (5) harem
32 Body art (6) tattoo
Down
2 Water you can't drink (3) ice
4 Waters, arsonist (6) Briana
6 One thousandth of an inch (3) mil
7 It wasn't built in a day (4) Rome
9 A question (3) ask
10 Dutch cheese (4) Edam
11 One who frolics (6) romper
13 Island state (6) Hawaii
14 Having run away (4) AWOL
15 Do over (4) redo
20 A smell (4) odor
21 Carries oil (6) tanker
23 Europeans not in the UK use it (4) euro
25 What I hope this puzzle is (3) fun
26 What's up? (Bugs) (3) doc
30 Military rank (3) Sgt

Cartoon Survival Guide

This month's writing prompt comes from Reddit, and it goes like this:

A real human living in a cartoon world creates a How-To guide on staying alive

Seems like an interesting concept, right? I mean, I loved Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the story about Eddie Valiant, the private eye who investigates the murder of Roger Rabbit's wife, and subsequent framing of Roger for the deed. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I strongly recommend that you give it a watch.

Anyway, that's not what this story is about, but I thought it would be fun to imagine what advice someone would give, who's been stuck on an island full of cartoon characters for years. Well, that man has written a book, and here's an excerpt:

DON'T PANIC

So, you've been marooned on Toon Island, have you? Things seem without hope? Well, don't despair, Freddy's here! Oh, make no mistake, son. I've been on this island since before you were born, just look at my beard! Stick with me, and you'll be fine.

But you didn't come here to learn all about me; you came here to learn how to survive in this zany unforgiving place. So let's get to it. Before we begi-WATCH OUT FOR THAT ANVIL!

Phew! That was a close one! Okay, so I guess we should talk about falling objects. Lots of things fall out of the sky in this place, all the time. It could be anything really, but anvils—like that one—and pianos seem to be the most common. Sometimes Toons throw them or drop them off cliffs, but other times they just appear out of thin air. And they're always falling on Toon's heads. Sometimes they knock teeth out, or their eyeballs pop out of their heads, but they just shake themselves off like wet dogs, and everything's right as rain again.

That's another important thing to remember, son: Toons can't die. And they think you can't, either, so they'll drop a great big piano on your head just for kicks or to play some kind of "innocent" practical joke. The idea that someone could actually die and never come back is completely beyond their reckoning.

It's this inability for Toons to die, that's the biggest problem on this whole damn island. You might get shot with a hunting rifle or have one of those ridiculous big black bombs thrown at you. Some particularly violent Toons (mostly cats and mice) will literally hack off each others' limbs with swords and knives. If you're a Toon, you'll end up with a big gaping hole in your chest, or covered in soot, or squirting blood from your shoulder, and one of those quick dog-shakes will put you right back together again. But if that happens to you or I, son, we're deader than a doornail, and we ain't never coming back!

Okay, okay, whoa. Yes, I've made my point. I'll stop scaring you now. Just don't forget, okay? This stuff is important!

So what's next? Oh, right, food. What can you eat? Well, first of all, Toons don't need to eat, near as I can tell. They're immortal, as I say, so that seems to make sense. I know of this rabbit, lives over the rise there, who likes to munch on carrots all day, but it doesn't seem to affect him much if he doesn't eat them. He's always chastising this other Toon, who walks around with a big old fashioned musket gun and claims to eat rabbits, but I've never seem him eat any.

Fruits and vegetables seem to be fine to eat. They look much the same as they do where we're from, just much more brightly coloured, with this same glossy sheen that everything has in this world. Don't eat anything with eyes, mouths, arms, or legs, though. And don't eat any Toon animals. They can't die, remember? They'll burst through your stomach, and you'll be a goner!

Sleep? Hah! What's sleep? Sleeping characters are the most favourite characters for Toons to play their practical jokes on, and don't forget, they don't know that you can die. I haven't slept in years. not properly. Which is one of the reasons I'm so glad you're here, kiddo; one of us can sleep while the other keeps watch.

Well, I can see that I've really got you shaking in your boots, now! He he he. No, really, it's not so bad, once you get used to it. Can be kind of fun, actually. Hey, we're not going anywhere, right? I mean, nobody knows how to get off this blasted island, after all. We may as well make the most of it. Just stick with me, remember everything I've told you, and let me know if you're ever unsure of anything!

Now, let's go find something to eat. I'm starving!

Did you like this little story? If you did, I'd appreciate it if you'd use the social sharing links below to share this post far and wide. You can also tell me your thoughts in the comments below.

Oh, and if you want to read a bit more of my writing, click on the All Books link, to find out where you can buy one of my stories.

Until next month, happy reading!