King salmon vanishing in Alaska, smokehouses empty = Many kinsmen have shooting skills, make soups again.
(by Dharam)
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
King salmon vanishing in Alaska, smokehouses empty
(Yahoo! News)
King salmon vanishing in Alaska, smokehouses empty = Many kinsmen have shooting skills, make soups again.
King salmon vanishing in Alaska, smokehouses empty = Many kinsmen have shooting skills, make soups again.
Doctors baffled by Indian village of over 200 sets of twins
(Yahoo! News)
Doctors baffled by Indian village of over two hundred sets of twins = Bold Cross-eyed boffo newswriter: "Nth dual native!" Vigilant: "Odds off".
Doctors baffled by Indian village of over two hundred sets of twins = Bold Cross-eyed boffo newswriter: "Nth dual native!" Vigilant: "Odds off".
(by Squidrock.com)
Katherine Jackson Made Permanent Guardian of Michael's Kids
(ABC News)
Katherine Jackson is made the permanent guardian = Hand MJ kids to a genuine caretaker: his parent. Amen.
Katherine Jackson is made the permanent guardian = Hand MJ kids to a genuine caretaker: his parent. Amen.
(by Adie Pena)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Roger Daltrey plots rare North American solo tour
(Yahoo! News)
Roger Daltrey plots rare North American solo tour = Strong repertoire or a strut really can hold a room!
Roger Daltrey plots rare North American solo tour = Strong repertoire or a strut really can hold a room!
(by Dharam)
Manager denies Russell Crowe British pub ban
(Yahoo! News)
Banned from The Brickmakers in Windlesham, Surrey = Bare minimum, the brash Crowe frankly needs drinks.
Banned from The Brickmakers in Windlesham, Surrey = Bare minimum, the brash Crowe frankly needs drinks.
(by Adie Pena)
First Swine Flu Death in India
(The Wall Street Journal)
First Swine Flu Death in India = I first infant. (New Delhi: Aid us!)
First Swine Flu Death in India = I first infant. (New Delhi: Aid us!)
(by Aronas Pinchas)
Monday, August 3, 2009
Michael Jackson's dermatologist makes last-ditch objection to custody award
(The Times)
Dermatologist makes objection to custody award = No, beauty doctor was related to MJ's magic kids, too!
Dermatologist makes objection to custody award = No, beauty doctor was related to MJ's magic kids, too!
(by Adie Pena)
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Clashes at Iran memorial services
(BBC News)
Clashes at Iran memorial services = Re: Violence: alarm, this is massacre!
Clashes at Iran memorial services = Re: Violence: alarm, this is massacre!
(by Aronas Pinchas)
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The Anagram Times Q&A: Tony Crafter
Tony Crafter is an alchemist of songs. He transmutes songs from Beatles, from Abba, folk songs, and more ... into songagrams that often offer a commentary on present times. His creations are works of art, they are songs that you can sing to the original tune. We sat down for a virtual chat with Crafter to talk about his craft:Q How did you get into anagrams?
A I've always been a lover of words and, when I was 30-ish, I read a newspaper article about people who regularly won prizes of exotic holidays, cash, goods etc by writing snappy slogans for consumer competitions. Being married with 2 young daughters, and a not terribly well paid job, this seemed the only way of possibly getting a decent holiday. It took two years and scores of entries, but finally I won a family holiday in Florida, and others followed. Then, one day, I entered a competition that required you to write an anagram (rather than a slogan) about holidays. After that, I was hooked on anagrams.
Q Do you remember the first anagram you made?
A The first anagram I made was the one that won the aforementioned competition. It was:
Two-piece bathing costumes = We spot cute mini beach togs!
Q Do you have a favorite anagram?
A My favourite has to be the anagrammed poem of Kipling's Mandalay. I've always loved 'Mandalay' and I'd had ambitions to anagram it for some time but, with 1931 letters to contend with, it seemed far too daunting! When I eventually started, I didn't even know where I intended to go with it but, as frequently happens with creative writing, it just seemed to write itself and I'm quite proud of the outcome.
Q Describe the moment when you are working on anagramming a phrase and the last few letters just fall into place and you realize that you have an outstanding anagram on your hands.
A I think I'm still waiting for my first outstanding anagram! Some of the shorter anagrams, like: 'The beaches of Normandy = Death on some French bay' come fairly quickly and seem as though they were just waiting to be discovered.
When I'm working with something like 'Mandalay' (or any long anagram) I start by creating my own alternative piece without even considering the anagram aspect. With poems and songs, I try to keep the same structure, meter and rhyming pattern as the original. Afterwards, I run it through an anagram checker to see how the letters match up. Then comes the really meaty and time-consuming bit, of tweaking, twisting, juggling and rewriting until you finally get that longed-for exact letter match. When this happens, I tend to shout 'Hooray!', punch the air, then have a stiff drink.
Q Your specialty is songagrams. What turned you into turning whole songs into anagrams?
A When I was introduced to the anagrammy.com website five years ago, it was like taking a quantum leap in anagramming. I'd only ever done short 'grams, but people on this site were anagramming Shakespeare's sonnets and some were 'gramming the odd song as well. Being a lover of music, I thought I'd have a crack at a songagram. My first effort was an appallingly disjointed version of Elton John's 'Nikita'. But the more I did, the easier they got and the better I became and now I love doing them. The only problem when working with a songagram is that the song gets into my head and I find myself humming it continuously. For this reason, my wife dreads me doing them!
Q Some people use anagrams for divination. Do you think there's a mystical angle to anagrams?
A No, I don't think there's anything mystical or prophetic about anagrams, although it may seem so at times.
Q What do you do in your non-anagram life?
A I live in Sevenoaks, Kent in England. I'm a retired banker, with a wife and two grown-up daughters. I also love short-story and poetry writing as well as anagrams, and I swim several times a week too keep the body active as well as the mind!
Q Approximately how long do you spend on an anagram?
A The shorter anagrams take a few minutes. An average songagram probably takes about 6-8 hours, depending on its length.
Q Anything else you'd like to add?
A Never mind the Sudoku and the crosswords, there's no finer way of keeping the brain active than anagramming. One warning though -- it's addictive!
Some of Tony Crafter's recent anagrams for The Anagram Times:
Diversity Beat Boyle To Win Britain's Got Talent
Jacqui Smith resigns as home secretary
Have questions, comments, or suggestions? Post them below. Also see Q&A with more anagrammers: Jeffrey Barnes, Dharam Khalsa, Adie Pena, Mark Spurlock
... Read more
Voters turn against war in Afghanistan
The Independent)
The enduring battles in Afghanistan = Hard test, fighting an unseen Taliban.
The enduring battles in Afghanistan = Hard test, fighting an unseen Taliban.
(by Tony Crafter)
Afghanistan is not our Vietnam, says Defence Secretary
(Evening Standard)
The Helmand Province in Afghanistan = Path of hindrance, an English Vietnam?
The Helmand Province in Afghanistan = Path of hindrance, an English Vietnam?
(by Tony Crafter)
Man claims he found a rodent inside Diet Pepsi can
(Yahoo! News)
Man claims he found a rodent inside Diet Pepsi can = Sip and another sip identified calm canned mouse
Man claims he found a rodent inside Diet Pepsi can = Sip and another sip identified calm canned mouse
(by Aronas Pinchas)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Study: Tanning beds definitely cause cancer
(Yahoo! News)
Study: Tanning beds definitely cause cancer = Gist: Cased, incandescent beauty unfriendly
Study: Tanning beds definitely cause cancer = Gist: Cased, incandescent beauty unfriendly
(by Squidrock.com)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Obama's Middle East policy protested in Israel
(Xinhua)
Obama's Middle East policy protested in Israel = Settler - 'America's option bad, spoiled my ideals'
Obama's Middle East policy protested in Israel = Settler - 'America's option bad, spoiled my ideals'
(by Aronas Pinchas)
Merce Cunningham, Dance Visionary, Dies
(The New York Times)
Modern choreographer Cunningham is dead = A dancer Merce had end; groups honoring him.
Modern choreographer Cunningham is dead = A dancer Merce had end; groups honoring him.
(by Adie Pena)
Monday, July 27, 2009
The Anagram Times Q&A with Adie Pena
He looks like the Dalai Lama, he makes ads for a living, and his passion is anagrams. Meet Adie Pena, a master anagrammmer from Manila, Philippines, and a reporter for The Anagram Times.Q How did you get into anagrams?
A In the mid-70s, Howard G. Bergerson's book Palindromes and Anagrams inspired me to create some palindromes (my attempts at the genre were so terrible, I don't even remember a single one!) and NOT anagrams (which I thought were inferior cousins of the former). After a short affair with palindromes (it lasted approximately half a year), I completely forgot about them and Bergerson's book was relegated to the upper shelves of my massive library.
Then something happened to me about two decades later. In 1996, on a lark, I joined 'Scrambled Signals,' an anagram contest in the U.S.-based magazine GAMES. I never expected that I would win a grand prize of $1000 with my entry:
Fresh Prince of Bel Air = Fine rap bro feels rich
Of course, that victory encouraged me to create more anagrams. So I kept a little notebook wherein I would scribble some ideas from time to time. But that project of mine soon faded away. After all, how many anagram contests offering tempting prizes are out there? So I took a ten-year break from this wordplay.
My interest in anagrams was revived when I discovered anagrammy.com in early 2007 while surfing the web for word games. I've been consistently at it for the past two years and a half but I honestly don't know how long this second wind will last.
Q Do you have a favorite anagram?
A I have three favorites. The first is obviously the GAMES winner:
The second is the very first one I submitted to anagrammy.com:
And the third is an anagram that was totally ignored by everyone at anagrammy.com:
The Lennon song 'Imagine' = One man so enlightening
It is no coincidence that my three choices are all musically themed. Music is one of my passions.
Q Describe the moment when you are working on anagramming a phrase and the last few letters just fall into place and you realize that you have an outstanding anagram on your hands.
A It's like biting into the last piece of chocolate in a box and discovering that in the center of this unknown bonbon is a macadamia nut. It's simultaneously delicious, wonderful and exciting.
Q Some people use anagrams for divination. Do you think there's a mystical angle to anagrams?
A No, I don't.
Q What do you do in your non-anagram life?
A I own and run an advertising agency to help pay the bills so I can anagram anytime I want. ;-)
Q Approximately how long do you spend on an anagram?
A 15 to 30 minutes max for the medium-length ones. Anything beyond that strains my patience.
Q Anything else you'd like to add?
A Given that I'm a person who gets bored easily, I hope this anagrammatic addiction I currently have will last forever.
Some of Adie Pena's anagrams for The Anagram Times:
Goodbye, D.C.! Hello, Austin! = Cold, hostile Dubya? GONE! (MSNBC)
Global swine flu pandemic feared = "Feel awful, pal?" (Nods.) "Grab medicine!" (Inquirer)
Have questions, comments, or suggestions? Post them below. Also enjoy Q&A with these master anagrammers:
... Read more
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