google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: A Crossword Poem

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Sep 26, 2008

A Crossword Poem

Clear Ayes posted this poem a few days ago and I liked it a lot. Thought some of you might not have read it.

Enjoy!

C.C.

Author: Xillus Xavier

Crossword Puzzle(d)

Satisfy
Four squares ACROSS:

Simple answer or torturous enigma?
Puzzles can be candy for the brain.
Or a thorn.

This puzzle shall entertain me!
Write black lines on white paper;
black and white answers.

Eraser: ally of guessers everywhere.

Quite Obvious
Five squares DOWN:

Only the mentally strong will
venture their time, their
energy, their intellectual
resources to sate the needs of
these letter-starved squares. Obviously!

With unyielding fortitude,
I shall use a pen - not pencil -
and confidently vanquish my grid-like enemy.
The overt words at first of course!

And when the clue
for an eleven-letter word for freedom arises -
Mr. Thesaurus here at my side
gives me deliverance.

5 comments:

Clear Ayes said...

C.C. I'm really glad you liked this one.

This is a very sly and witty poem. Thanks to Crockett1947, I have learned how to make the font BOLD, ITALIC and even BOLD ITALIC. They were included in the poem and it was important to have them show up.

I know C.C. "got it", but....

For anybody who couldn't make it out onscreen as well as I would have liked, I hope they will have noticed that the answer to Satisfy is the first four letters ACROSS of "Simple". "Answer", "Torturous" and "Enigma".

The answer to Quite Obvious is the first five letters DOWN of "Only", "Venture", "Energy", "Resources" and "These".

These answers, which are common crosswordese, are cleverly included in the bold italic in the body of the poem.

The punch line word is also placed in bold italic font.

Is the subject of the poem aware that he is including all the hints to solve the puzzle he is working on, or is he oblivious? I think the reader is meant to be left in doubt about that.

Thanks to Xillus Xavier for posting this poem for all to enjoy.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Clear Ayes,
I googled Xillus Xavier after you posted his poem on the blog, and I liked his "88 Ways to say Goodbye".

Anonymous said...

I'm really behind--just finished reading all the comments on the 24th. Yes, Cokato, The Cherry Festival is held in Traverse City in July. One of our grandsons worked in a cherry orchard this summer--long hours. Since we are in the Eastern Time Zone, it stays daylight until 9 pm.
One of these days, I'll figure out how to create a Blogger identity. Enjoy everyone's comments.
Golf Gal

Anonymous said...

Hey, this is Xillus Xavier. I'm happy to see my poem posted here and people enjoying it.

I do the USA Today crossword every day and so I decided to write a poem about one of my favorite hobbies.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Hey, Xillus Xavier
Nice to hear from you! Thanks for the great poems.