Awareness of the outside world. Free fiction 4U. Whatever: End of the Year PR Missives From Scrooge & Marley.
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Crenellated Conundrum
What?
Crenellated Conundrum is a kenning for jigsaw puzzle & honorable mention in a poetry contest.
Poetry?! Moi? Yup, that’s the word they’re using.
Thank you to ambyr for posting about the contest.
Why?
Artifact Puzzles hosted a contest to come up with kennings for jigsaw puzzles.
Winners. Note “Poetry Contest” in title & my name among the honorable mentions.
Back to What?
What is a kenning, you ask.
Allow me to quote from the contest.
A kenning is a micro-poem where you replace a common thing with a short poetic description.
Examples of Kennings:
- “pale orb” = moon
- “winter’s blanket” = snow
Kennings are often just 2 words, but they can be longer.
Contest: propose the best kenning for a jigsaw puzzle.
Source, Micro-poetry Contest: Propose a Kenning for “Jigsaw Puzzle”
Harvard weighs in, The English Language Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow: Kennings. Cited in the contest entry, above.
I found that any investigation of kennings quickly morphs into a discussion of Old Norse.
Two-Word Entry
Crenellated or Crenelated? Double Ls looked better to me but survey said double was UK and single was US. I entered Crenelated. They switched to Crenellated. Glad they adjusted it rather than reject the entry for misspelling.
Four-Word Entry
Cleverly Cut Tactile Logic
According to Internet surfing, a kenning has a specific form. I decided that perhaps each word should have have its own kenning? Therefore, a two-word phrase ought to have a four-word kenning.
Jigsaw -> Cleverly Cut
Puzzle -> Tactile Logic
I like each half. Not sure the four work together as a unit.
Easy To Appreciate, Hard to Do
Once you start looking, kennings are everywhere. Calling a kid a rug rat is a kenning. (I think?)
As I understand it, Bilbo uses kennings in his discussion with Smaug, “I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly … I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider.” Goodreads > J.R.R. Tolkien > Quotes > Quotable Quote. From the chapter “Inside Information.”
They are easy enough to grasp. Pale orb = moon. Okay. It’s word usage. I completed skipped over the poem/poetic descriptors the contest information. I figured I’d be able to come up with handfuls. Not so much. These two were the limit of my inspiration.
Winners page. AP: Poetry Contest Winners: Kennings For Jigsaw Puzzle. Screenshoted & posted here in case they take theirs down. Accessed 22 Dec 2023.
Admin
In other news. The plan was for this to be a cute, Christmas-themed fragment of fiction, perhaps another entry in the Quantum Truck series. [Part 1], [Part 2]
Wasn’t happening. Instead I had posts piling up for Saturdays in January. So, I’m using those now and taking the rest of December as a vacation from fiction writing. I will start afresh in January.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
Poetry? You? Not so Bah! Humbug!
You are a poet and your words show it.
Joan
Congratulations! Such good work.
Fun! Nice to see you in the honorable mentions. AV
I like that crennelated reminds me of castles and good old fashioned fights and matters of honor which is how i like to think of a jigsaw puzzle, but well for the brain :). Of course that’s all a bit romantic, one wouldn’t actually want to be stuck in a castle sieged by Moors.
🙂