More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)

[Ozzyjack]

H Pen,

Greetings from Canberra

As we were driving down A was in the back seat working on Zoe’s puzzle and he cracked it but unlike Zoë’s hero he didn’t have to go on a sea voyage to escape the King of Antioch because the answer revealed a nasty secret.

This is A’s return challenge 3 7 2 5.  It is the title of a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by a dramatist who just missed out on being a contemporary of Shakespeare.  A bonus if you name the dramatist.

Hint 1:  You don’t have to identify the children just a characteristic they share.
Hint 2:  Not the actor, the character he plays.

The of


Most of us have had a friend who has had a brush with the law on their way home from the odd piss-up over the years.
 
A few years ago, Blue was out for a few drinks with some friends at the
Bowral Hotel on Melbourne Cup day. He had a few too many beers and some
rather good red wine and half a bottle of Port.

Knowing full well he may have been slightly over the limit, He did something
he’d never done before. He took a bus home.
 
The Bus approached a police random breath test unit but as it was a bus, they waved it
through.  Blue arrived home safely without incident, which was a real surprise,
as he had never driven a bus before and he could'nt remember where he got it.


Must hump my Bluey  

[mkenuk]

The title of a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by a dramatist who just missed out on being a contemporary of Shakespeare.  A bonus if you name the dramatist

First performed at roughly the same time that Shakespeare was producing his final works. 'The Tempest' was 1611; this was 1612-13;
They were contemporary-ish.

The first printed version of this almighty bloodbath was 1623 - the year of the Bard's demise.

The author? - 'Boy with Rat' in 'Shakespeare in Love'.

I claim the bonus

[Ozzyjack]

Hi Mike,

Absolutely right in every respect.  Bonus earned.

To reveal that you have the answer in such an eloquent way so as not to spoil the puzzle for others earns you the “hyperbonus”.

Have a great 2020, Mike.

[Hobbit]

Hi Jack

Greetings from Bletchley.

The brains of the operation went home yesterday evening so I'm left to solve A's very tricky puzzle alone

I can use Mr Google to find out who the author is (which I will probably have to do anyway - even if I solve the title!) but I'd rather give it a whirl first & at least get the tragedy.  I have messaged Zoe but awaiting a reply

Loved your Blue joke

I wondered if Bruce was a friend of Blue...
Bruce sat in the lounge watching the footy on TV when Sheila hit him round the head with a frying pan.
 'What the f**k was that for?' he asked.
 Sheila replied 'That was for the piece of paper with the name Jenny on it that I found in your pants pocket'.
 Bruce then said 'When I was at the races last week Jenny was the name of the horse I bet on'
 Sheila apologized and went on with the housework.
Three days later Bruce is watching TV when Sheila bashes him around the head with an even bigger frying pan, knocking him unconscious. Upon re-gaining consciousness he asked why she had hit again.
 Sheila replied: 'Your bloody horse just phoned!!! '

   
A small random selection before I leave you with a puzzle.

the

It's a book 3, 4, 3, 6, 3, 7, 4
It's probably a bit easy peasy!

I'm going walkabout but I'll be back

[Hobbit]

It's Smee 2 again Jack

Zoe & I have came up with 'The Duchess of Amalfi' but that doesn't fit the word count so is it 'The Duchess of Malfi'  She's heard of it but has no idea who the author is.  Perhaps you or Mike could let the cat out of the bag



It's brass monkeys out so I need a restorative cuppa to warm me up

[Ozzyjack]

It's probably a bit easy peasy!

You must stop selling yourself short, Pen.  That was an excellent puzzle and very logical - so long as you have a knowledge of boy bands, English football club nicknames and the names of desserts. My knowledge of these things you could write on the back of a postage stamp and still have room for your grocery list. But my assistant Dr Google does know about these things and I was able to crack it.  It did get me wandering how many novels that are published posthumously are so successful.

Blue has a cousin called Bruce who lives in Bletchley.  It could be him.  I’ll ask him when I get back to the Southern Highlands later today and I will see if he has another story for me.

[Ozzyjack]

Oops! You let the cat out of ths bag on the title, Pen.

Try googling “ the boy with the rat in Shakespeare in love”

[Hobbit]

Oh bugger

So chuffed we had an answer I got carried away.  I think I may have had brain freeze from the cold as well
I've run out of excuses now so I'm going to shut up!
I did look up the author but I'm not saying another word

I look forward to hearing to hearing more from Blue   Have a good trip home.

[Ozzyjack]

Hi Pen,

We got home safely about mid-morning.  It was a good trip except for the smoke which we had for the whole trip.  Mostly visibility was nearly a kilometre but in one spot it was below 500 metres.  We came across one of those programmable electronic signs which warned us of a road hazard because of smoke across the road.  We laughed because for the next 5 kilometre visibility was greater than a kilometre.  These things happen in Australia - the charitable conclusion was that it was set yesterday and not updated. 

This seems a good time for some Australian Humour.

 


      


I caught up with Blue.  He was home having a beer and watching a video about Trevor,  When I told him I wanted a story about him, he said, “Nothing I could tell could match Trevor’s experience, Give them the video and I’ll see if I can think of something tomorrow.”

Trevor’s experience


In the challenge today, I am going to forsake Literature for British History .

The answer is a person – an Anglo-Saxon theologian, historian, and chronologist.  He was known by several variations of name and spellings but the one I have chosen is 5 4 3 9.  The components of the 9 are 3 2 4.

The bonus  answer is name the work he is most known for (or for the purists for which he is most known) 

the

[2dognight]

Hi Jack

Another stinker today 46c
 
The dust storm is a rip snorter  although the weather persons call raised dust

Your challenge stuck out like dogs balls

Thought I would stick with the Aussie Outback theme !!!

Carol

[Hobbit]

Hi Carol

Don't envy you - sounds quite horrendous.  Feel bad for moaning that I've been cold the last few days. At least you've still got your sense of humour  
In my experience weather persons are fairly unreliable
Pen

[Hobbit]

Howdy Jack


I enjoyed your Aussie humour & I will be watching Trevor's video later when I get home

I've solved half the challenge & will return to it later & see if I can suss out the rest.  This time I'll keep it to myself

I'll see your Aussie humour & offer you a little British humour in return!
      

My puzzle is a film 5, 6'1, 4, 2, 5.  You only need the last word of the third picture.
'sof

Back to the grindstone...

[Hobbit]

I'm back...


I've solved the puzzle!  Very tricky & clever  Without resorting to Mr Google I have no idea what the bonus answer is.   Perhaps Mike will come up with the answer...

Found these a bit earlier & they tickled me

One day a Viking named Leif returned after a long sea voyage and found that during his absence his name had been removed from the town register. He sent his wife to the town hall to make a complaint to the mayor.
'I'm sorry,' said the mayor, 'I must have taken Leif off my census.'

The famous Statesman, William Penn, had two old aunts named Natalie and Ellie who were great at baking pies. But, alas, they got greedy and raised the prices up and up till all the people in Quakertown were talking about the pie rates of Penn's aunts.

[mkenuk]

'In the challenge today, I am going to forsake Literature for  British History .'

Not really, Jack, since the person in question is a key figure in both fields of study.

Identifying him was fairly easy for me, since my last teaching job in England was at a school which was named after him.

Et eius magnum opus 'Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum' est. ('The History of the English Church and People')

Of course, in '1066 and All That', Sellars and Yeatman's wonderful spoof history of England, he is immortally known as 'The Venomous (rather than the Venerable) Bede'

[Ozzyjack]

Hi Carol,

I see you are predicted to get a couple of "relief" days under 35^oC before getting back to some hot ones peaking at 45^o on Friday.

I wasn't aware of the dust until you mentioned it but from the following quote it makes our smoke haze seem insignificant,

ABC News reporter Brittany Evins was driving from the Riverland to Adelaide when a dust storm hit.

"The winds got so strong and you could see the red coming towards us, so we decided to pull over, and thank goodness we did because the visibility was basically nothing," she said.

"I couldn't even see the bonnet on my car. This dust storm probably lasted about five minutes and you could just feel the car shaking as this red dust flew straight across the bonnet."

ABC Radio Adelaide listener Karen, who was travelling through Port Wakefield when the skies darkened, said she felt like the was watching a "scene out of The Mummy".

"The dust just arising, it was very reminiscent of that," she said.

"It was just unbelievable, it came over and it was sheer orange. We could not see a thing."

I was aware that most people would recognise The Venerable Bede, also known as Saint Bede (West Saxon Bīeda.Northumbrian Bǣda, Anglian Bēda), Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable, easily from the pictures.  One of the problems with these challenges is that if you make it too hard, by being overly cryptic or not giving enough clues to save  people going in unproductive directions and wasting their time, it defeats the purpose.  Making it too easy also defeats the purpose. Finding the middle ground can be quite difficult but feedback always helps.

I am not crying on your shoulder but I am also finding it difficult to find suitable Aussie humour.  A lot of sources seem to believe if it isn't macho, misogynistic, homophobic, racist, or blasphemous then it isn't true Aussie humour.   I may have been some of those things in my youth but I hope I am not any more.  In any case, I don't believe material with those characteristics are appropriate to this forum.

It is always good to hear from you, Carol.  Have a great 2020.