💾 Archived View for tilde.cafe › ~spellbinding › gemlog › 2021-12 › 2021-12-13.gmi captured on 2023-01-29 at 04:35:02. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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This is a gemlog for the SpellBinding puzzle, in which you construct words using the specified letters (each word must contain the anchor letter).
ABACK ABASH AWASH BABA BACK BACKWASH BASH BASK BASS CASABA CASBAH CASH CASK CASSABA CHACHKA HACK HACKSAW HASH HAWK HAWKSHAW KWACHA SACK SASH SASS SCAB SCHWA SHACK SHAH SHAW SWAB WASH WHACK
Pangram: BACKWASH.
This puzzle is characterized by the only vowel A, so any consonants are a go. There were a few good words today (in addition to some fill), making it quite enjoyable. Here we go.
CASABA or CASSABA is a winter mellon, not to be confused with cassava, a delicious root. CASBAH is a North Aftican castle or fortress, also 'the native section' of a North African city. Uhuh. While we are in Africa, KWACHA is a monetary unit in Malawi and Zambia. I know, it's a bit obscure, but money names are on the table, as much as I can catch them. Not just dollars or pounds. Besides, think of how impressed your friends will be if you tell them you got no kwacha! Really.
CHACHKA (trinket) is a familiar word to all New Yorkers.
A HAWKSHAW is a private dick, a shamus, a gumshoe.
And we get to my favorite today, SCHWA. That is the sound you make for unstressed vowels, a kind of an uncommitted -eh/uh-. I just love talking about SCHWA at parties.
Missing KASHA (buckweat porridge I like), CACHACA (brazilian sugarcane booze I quite like),
CACK (God, how could I miss that?), CHAW (chew, espec. tobacco, yuch), CABASA (Cuban kind of drum)...
Another fine day.