Three to go!

I’ve been busy.

It’s Advent and it’s December, so that means Advent Calendars.

My tradition is to prepare a custom-made Advent Calendar for my sister.  She and I both like to solve cryptoquips, so for the past few years, I have been sending her a puzzle to solve for each day, from December 1st to December 24.

I email them to her with the hope that she follows the dates, but she already admitted to . . . . um cheating and starting early.  (I wonder if that girl still peeks at her Christmas gifts, too.)

This year, the solutions to her Advent Calendar cryptoquips are a mixture of Christmas quotes and quotes from Christmas plays.

I have three more puzzles to develop and then I will be finished.

For two of the puzzles, however, I took a departure from the traditional cryptoquip format.  For one of her puzzles, she will have to decode the Braille characters and for the other, she will have to decode the American Sign Language alphabet.  I included both keys to assist her.

So, while I’m away completing my cryptoquips, have some tea with the sock money.  We’ve named her Miss Phitt, but we call her ‘Phitty’ for short.  GN figured it out right away.  “Gram, is that short for phitty-something, like your age?”  

Happy December!

Wow!  Where did November go?  Time flies when you’re having fun and I’ve been busy knitting and getting together with family and celebrating events (there is a teenager living with me now), so December snuck up on me.

I had to hustle to get my annual cryptoquip puzzles ready for my sister’s electronic Advent Calendar.  This will be my third year of sending her a puzzle per day in December up to Christmas Eve.

If cryptoquips aren’t your thing, but you still like the notion of an electronic Advent Calendar, I found a link that has 1o free online Advent Calendars to try:  http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-free-online-advent-calendars-with-gifts-surprises-for-you-the-kids/

If you want to take a crack at my sis’s Advent cryptos, click the links for the pdfs.  I am going to add them here after I encrypt them and have sent them to her:  December 1, December 2, December 3, December 4, December 5, December 6, December 7, December 8, December 9, December 10, December 11, December 12, December 13, December 14, December 15, December 16, December 17, December 18, December 19, December 20, December 21, December 22, December 23, December 24

The theme for my sis’s cryptoquip puzzles is “A Charles Dickens Christmas.”  I used brief lines from several of Charles Dickens’ Christmas short stories.

Sister-quip – final solutions

Well, I’ve gotten down to the end of the Sister-quip Advent Calendar puzzles for my sister.  I posted the remaining puzzles yesterday.  My sis still only gets one per day via text message.  But I wanted to catch up online before the holiday.

So here are the solutions to the puzzles that I posted yesterday.

December 21: Name that Tune.

“Oh Sister” by Bob Dylan

“Little Sister” by Elvis Presley

“Sister Christian” by Nightranger

December 22: From the hymn book

“He’s got you and me sister, in His hands.

He’s got the whole world in His hands.”

December 23: Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem Love’s Philosophy

No sister-flower would be forgiven if it disdain’d its brother.

December 24: Quote by Denzel Washington

When I was a child, I thought I saw and angel.

It had wings and kinda looked like my older* sister.

*I added the word ‘older’ for my lil sis’ puzzle ‘cuz I’m the older sister.  Sorry Denzel.

December 25: The sister-quip scarf itself – has a quote from Charlie Brown by Charles Schultz.

Big sisters are the crab grass in the lawn of life!

Sister-quipping – the remaining puzzles

Here are the remaining sister-quips for my lil’ sis’ Advent Calendar of sister-quips, beginning with the final one and working backwards towards today’s puzzle.

Christmas, 2009 – quote from the Charlie Brown, by Charles Schultz.  My lil’ sis and her hubby used to live in the house Charles Schultz lived in when he began his comic strip, so she’ll appreciate that I saved this one for her scarf.

L=S

HAD  LALEBRL  ORB  EXB  FROH  DROLL AK  EXB  COPK  YI  CAIB

And here’s a photo of the sister-quip scarf before I sent it off to my sis.  I had to stand on a chair to get the whole thing in!!!  It’s wool and warm!

Here’s the poem on the gift tag for my little sis’s Hand-knit Sister-quip Scarf:

Whew!  What an Advent!

No time to lose.

Twenty-five puzzles

With twenty-five clues.

 

While you were solving,

When did you guess

That ALL of the clues

Were ‘L=S’?

 

The Sister-quip reason

For ‘L, S’ is this:

‘L’ stands for Little

And ‘S’ stands for Sis!

 

 So . . . under your tree,

One last puzzle for fun.

Solve it, then wear it

‘Cuz Advent is done!

 

Sister-quip for Christmas Eve: quote from Denzel Washington

L=S

JOEI  R  JTL  T  CORKY,

R  DOHXBOD  R  LTJ  TI  TIBEK.

RD  OTY  JRIBL  TIY  PRYIYT.

KHHPEY  KRPE  AD  HKYES  LRLDES.

 

Sister-quip for Wednesday, December 23: from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem, Love’s Philosophy

L=S

UR  LALEYS-CORKYS  KRWON  MY  CRSTAPYU  AC  AE  NALNZAU’N  AEL  MSREDYS.

 

For Tuesday, December 22: From the hymn book

L=S

“OY’L  ERJ  ARF  TIM  BY, LHLJYU,

HI  OHL  OTIML.

OY’L ERJ JOY CORKY CRUM

HI OHL OTIML.”

 

Sister-quip for today: Name that tune!

L=S

“AP LULGDB”  MO  MAM  CORKY

“RUGGRD  LULGDB”   MO  DRIVL  JBDLRDO

“LULGDB  ZPBULGUKY”  MO  YUTPGBKYTDB

 

The solutions to sister-quips for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are as follows:

Friday: from William Wordsworth’s poem To My Sister

Then come my sister, come I pray

With speed put on your woodland dress;

And bring no book: for this one day

We’ll give to idleness.

 

Saturday: from Robert Frost’s poem Out, Out!

His sister stood beside them in her apron to tell them “supper.”

 

Sunday: Bible verse

It was the custom of his sons to hold banquets and to invite their sisters to eat and drink with them.

 

Sister-quipping

It’s Friday!  Since I’m caught up with the encryption of the sister-quips, I’ll give you a few to try over the weekend.  Then early next week, I give you the rest of the sister-quips, show the crypto scarf unrolled, and share the poem on my lil sis’s gift tag . . .

Answer to yesterday’s sister-quip: At the Movies

Sister Act Two: Back in the Habit starring Whoopi Goldberg

Today’s Sisterquip is from a poem titled To My Sister by William Wordsworth

L=S

MASK  PUNS  ND  LRLMSP  PUNS  R  TOED

BRMA  LTSSW  TIM  UK  DUIO  BUUWHEKW  WOSLL;

EKW  CORKY  KU  CUUG:  ZUO  MARL  UKS  WED

BS’LL  YRFS  MU  RWHSKSLL.

Saturday’s Sister-quip: From a poem entitled Out, Out by Robert Frost.

L=S

FBL  LBLMIR  LMKKA  WILBAI  MFIG  BY  FIR  CORKY  MK  MISS MFIG  “LPOOIR”.

Sunday’s Sister-quip: Bible verse

L=S

RM  PIL  MAT  JVLMEH  EW  ARL  LEKL  ME  AENC DIKZVTML  IKC  ME  RKFRMT  MATRO  LRLMTOL  ME  TIM  IKC  CORKY  PRMA  MATH.

 

 

Copper Rose and Sister-quips

Someone at work gave me a copper rose today.  I wanted to post a photo of it here because I appreciate hand-made things – whether knit, quilted, or made from metal, wood, or some other interesting material.

Answers to sister-quips:

Tuesday: Memory Lane

Sisters behind Mother.

Brothers behind Dad.

Children in the back seat

For every trip we had.

 

Wednesday: Memory Lane

Wee sisters shared the bathtub.

Two sisters shared one bed.

The sisters played with dolls

The night before you wed.

 

Today’s sister-quip: At the Movies

L=S

LKLYAH  OIY  YES:  ROID  KF  YCA CORKY

LYOHHKFT  ECSSBK  TSVNRAHT.

 

Sister-quips (weekend catch-up)

The solution to Friday’s sister-quip is:

My little sister moves a lot.

She was in Grafton, now she’s not.

Saturday’ Sister-quip

L=S

I  NEMMNA   LELMAO’L  RY  MGA  KID

MR  CORKY  RHO  BIDDEYALL. 

Sunday: (Bible quote)

L=S

DAICAK  TRC  BCKL  ORK  TEMM  CU 

HI  XDORKY  EA  RKDFKA,  RK  EL

HI  PKCORKY  DAB  LELOKY  DAB  HCORKY.

Today’s sister-quip: (from Shakespeare’s MacBeth)

L=S

STO  CORKY  LRLSOKL,  TDAY  RA  TDAY,

XMLSOKL  ME  STO  LOD  DAY  WDAY,

STBL  YM  HM  DUMBS,  DUMBS.

 

 

 

Sister-quip

Here is my Sister-quip for today.  It’s from Bed Sitter, a poem by Robert Service.

L=S 

I  NEMMNA  LELMAO’L  RY  MGA  KID  MR  CORKY  RHO  BIGGEYALL.

The solution to yesterday’s sister-quip was from the beginning of Alice in Wonderland:

“Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank . . . “

Home is where the heart is.

In February of 2009, an apartment building in my home town burned.  No one died thankfully, but it left many residents with little or nothing in the aftermath.  The town where I grew up is small and people stick together.  My mother still lives there.  One of my high school classmates is the mayor now, so I still have ties and feel a responsibility.

What you see in the photo above is ice and ash a few days after the fire.

There was a collection for cash and household items and I donated to both of those and it seems that people are starting to get there feet planted again.  The burned out shell is still there.  It will be rebuilt, the word goes, but those things take time.

The light teal-colored shawl that I was knitting at the end of October has been finished for several weeks and I sent it home with my mother after Thanksgiving.  Last night there was a church service for blessing prayer shawls and she took mine.  I asked her to see that it was donated to someone in town.  She did.  It’s still home . . . . .

So how did you do on my sister-quip from yesterday?  The solution is:  Why couldn’t I get my sister’s hat out of the puddle.  Because she had it strapped too tightly under her chin. 

  Here’s my Sister-quip for today – December 2

Greek humor?

L=S 

LASTARZYL  LXOB,  “QAAZOLTDYLL  OL  ODBYYBETY  LOLEYP  AQ  CORKYBDYLL.”  CTORT ADY  BAYL  ETXE  WXKY  WY? 

By the Light of the Midnight Oil

 Sister-quip for December 1

Today’s sister-quip is a wee bit of big sister humor.

L=S

ABD  EFCGRO’H   J   IKH   ND   GJHHGK   LJLHKY’L   BMH   FCH   FP   HBK  QCRRGK?   SKEMCLK   LBK  BMR  JH  LHYMQQKR  HFF  HJIBHGD  CORKY  BKY  EBJO!

I forgot to tell you that when I am transcribing my quotes or jokes or rhymes for my sister-quips, I try to use my sis’s nickname in the clues.  Can you guess her nickname by looking at today’s crypto?  Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but most of the time it does.  It’s in there today.    Sis catches those right away, of course.  Sometimes, if the clues work out, I try to add her hubby’s name, or kids or pets . . . etc.  She works her sister-quips on her lunch break.  She’s pretty good at solving them, but I haven’t told her I’m working on a book of cryptoquips and solving them without the clues!

And the answer to yesterday’s sister-quip is:  “Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”  Genesis 12:13

I’m still knitting on my sis’s gift, but I am setting it aside for this week as I prepare for a craft/bake sale for Goodnight’s school fundraiser.  I have some seasonl things I knit that always sell well, so next I have to look for the ‘midnight oil’ that I tend to burn when I do this sort of marathon. 

Knit one, purl two,

Try to knit the whole night through. 

Christmas comes but once a year.

There’s just no time for sleeping here!