Image Credits: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
I love word games of all sorts, my favourite being a version of Scrabble I play on my phone. I’m also fond of the Radio Four comedy, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. It has been on air since 1972. Its original chair was Humphrey Lyttelton and its current chair is Jack Dee. Amongst the many silly games they play on here are rounds involving books, which I adore. No surprises there!
Clue even has its own website – see link. The show goes on tour around the country too. I went to see it when it was last at The Mayflower. It was a fabulous night out so if you get the chance to go and you love a good laugh, get tickets!
The players, who are usually all comedians – the original team was Tim Brooke Taylor, Graeme Garden, William Rushton, and Barry Cryer – have to add a word to an existing book title or take a word away or just change a letter to come up with something so different to the original the story mood would have to change. The results are often hilarious.
The joy of games like this is the same joy you find with word play in general. There is pleasure in being able to come up with something amusing here to fit the criteria. It is also a great challenge.
Here are my efforts then! I hope you find this fun. Suggestions are welcome in the comments box but please keep them clean given Chandler’s Ford Today is family friendly. Thanks!
Adding a Word to a Book Title
The Lord of the Onion Rings (where Frodo has to eat a bagful of the things at the top of Mount Doom, you’d want the nice view for a picnic, before Gollum can, perhaps?)
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Strap (Not so appealing as the actual instrument or music from said mandolin, is it?)
Watership Down Under (given the Australians loathe rabbits, because said creatures have been a pest there, I couldn’t see this one going down well with them).
James and the Giant Peach Frappe (the latter sounds lovely and just right for the hot weather we’ve been having).
Heidi Seek (Obvious pun. Couldn’t resist it. Puns are welcome on I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue).
Last Bus to Woodstock Cancelled (Would’ve changed Colin Dexter’s plot somewhat).
Catch 22 Colds (Not so funny as Joseph Heller’s original. During a bad winter, this one could be factual for many or would seem like it).
4.50 From Paddington Delayed (Would’ve changed Agatha Christie’s plot somewhat).
At Bertram’s Hotel Basement (A case of lowering the tone perhaps?).
Peter Pan Pipes (one for the musicians).
Taking a Word From a Book Title
James and the Giant (think Roald Dahl would have done something wonderful with this but would it have been such a peach of a book? Sorry couldn’t resist that one).
The ABC (that makes quite a difference to Agatha Christie’s original The ABC Murders in terms of mood and age of readership, does it not?!).
On the Orient Express (again it makes a difference. Sounds more like a travel guide than a murder mystery now. Oh the difference a word makes!).
Removing a Letter From a Book Title
The Lion, the Itch, and the Wardrobe (anyone care to pass the Savlon?).
The Now Queen (not sure Hans Christen Anderson would appreciate the change. The snow is an integral part of his plot here).
Leak House
Liver Twist (sounds more like a recipe than a work by Dickens).
The Boy in the Library (definitely changes Agatha Christie’s plot given her original body here was that of a girl. Great story if you haven’t read the original).
The Blue Rain (as opposed to Train which was Christie’s original. Could be a climate change fictional work instead).
The Cod of the Woosters (which no doubt Jeeves would eat given Bertie Wooster often refers to fish having a wonderful impact on his gentleman’s personal gentleman’s brain).
Adding a Letter to a Book Title
The Lion, The Switch, and the Wardrobe (one for fans of B&Q and DIY in general I suspect though the lion wouldn’t be that welcome).
Just Sob stories. (Definitely not one Kipling would invent).
Changing a Letter in a Book Title
The Wand in the Willows (one for fans of Harry Potter maybe?).
A Bar called Paddington (situated at the station perhaps? Nowhere near as cute as Michael Bond’s wonderful creation and it gives me the perfect excuse to share this wonderful video from YouTube. Always good to see this one again).
Now if you’re thinking silly season has come early, well you may be right! But I do think the purposes of games like this are (a) to have fun and (b) to remind you of the wonderful books on which they’re based. (Same goes for a good spoof as I alluded to in my review of Bleak Expectations last week). Now that definitely isn’t silly. Time to revise your reading list and dig out some of these classics, maybe?
Of course one of the earliest word games is the good old crossword. My late father loved them. Other members of my family still do. I’ve been known to have a crack at some (though for me it is always the quick version as opposed to the cryptic. This is a time thing and because I find the cryptics too hard for my old brain. I consider it a good day if I get three or four clues right on those).
I also like the wordsearch. I used to write some for my childhood church’s magazine, back in the days when such things were produced on stencils and with a Gestetner machine. Boy, did the smell of the ink for that linger! We did welcome the development of the photocopier. Some things do get better.
Conclusion
Word games are great ways to unwind. I often wind down after a big writing session with a game or two. I suppose it is appropriate word games mean so much to me. I work with words. Why shouldn’t I play with them sometimes too?
As for I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, I hope it goes from strength to strength. The world could do with some more silliness in it, could it not?
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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