March 2024 Newsletter

Welcome to March's edition of Philosopher's Tone! I'm your host, Professor Rebus, and I'm delighted to have you aboard the Pitcherwits™ Express. What can you expect? A monthly dose of bonus puzzles, wisdom and snippets about the English language! I hope you enjoy this month's publication.

A quick reminder that the puzzle PDF downloads are now fillable, meaning you can fill them out on your computer instead of having to print them. Before you try to fill them in, save the file to your desktop first instead of opening the file in your internet browser, otherwise they won't work properly.

Onwards!

  • “Don’t be afraid to take big steps. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” David Lloyd George

  • If each day is a present, then untie the ribbons!

  • Living a long life does not have to mean living old.

  • It needs a real friend to tell you when there’s dirt on your face.

  • If you trim yourself just to suit everyone else, you will soon whittle yourself away to nothing.

  1. Inconnu: (a) unknown (b) white fish (c) friendship from the past

  2. Mackinaw (a) short coat (b) exotic bird (c) impossible state

  3. Playa: (a) hemp fibre (b) fish paste (c) dry land

  4. Chorten: (a) comment humorously (b) Buddhist shrine (c) encourage

  5. Trichotomy: (a) hair loss (b) scalp treatment (c) three-way division

From the initials and the clue, what’s the phrase?

  1. C.I.T.A. Impractical dreams

  2. P.A.P. Happy like Judy’s other half

  3. I.A.D.L. Tough being a canine

  4. H.I.W.T.H.I. You live where your passion is

  5. A.L.O.P.  A coat you can brush on

What are the rhyming phrases suggested by these clues?

  1. B.M. Single striker from a whole set

  2. P.C. Papaver lookalike

  3. M.F. Centrally placed violin

  4. G.B. Headed downwards

  5. C.F. Delightful agriculture

Chuckle Lines

  • ‘I can’t see the sense in making me a Commander of the British Empire. They might as well make me a Commander of Milton Keynes – at least that exists.’ Spike Milligan

  • ‘Football is not a matter of life and death. It’s far more serious than that.’ Bill Shankly

  • ‘I never make predictions and I never will.’ Paul Gascoigne

  • ‘Women do not consider the following to be gifts: diet books, cooking utensils, cleaning products, petrol for the car, anything from the Pound Shop.’ Jeff Green

  • ‘One Christmas my grandfather gave me a box of broken glass. He gave my brother a box of Band Aids. Then he said, ‘Now you two share.’

  • A racehorse is the only animal that can take thousands of people for a ride at the same time.’ Herbert Prochnow

 

Signing off until next time...

Professor Rebus

Solve clues with us on Instagram at @pitcherwits

Answers:

What’s the meaning?
1. b
2. a
3. c
4. b
5. c

What’s that phrase?
1.    Castles in the air
2.    Pleased as Punch
3.    It’s a dog’s life
4.    Home is where the heart is
5.    A lick of paint

Rhyme time
1.    Batch Match
2.    Poppy copy
3.    Middle Fiddle
4.    Ground Bound
5.    Charming Farming

Professor Rebus