Cluemeister's Corner
Results for February
For the shortest and dreariest month, the Cluemeister decided to put forth a cryptic riddle. And what was its subject? Why, months themselves!
The riddle, reproduced:
A TALE OF MANY PAGES
There once were three anatine nieces
And one was enamoured with pearls.
Another loved oysters to pieces,
And so these two like-minded girls
Went fishing. The sister remaining
Was, tarry-o day, serenaded!
Yet with laws of Camelot reigning,
Her suitor's domain was invaded.
Some parts of his holdings were tabled;
Just two had survived persecution.
The first of these portions was fabled
For its submarine revolution.
The other was swapped for its namesake,
A time which I'll (try to) remember;
But if you can help, for this game's sake,
This month you will be a contender!
What has the narrator forgotten?
The three anatine nieces are the three nieces of Daisy Duck--April, May, and June. ("Anatine" means "pertaining to ducks and their relatives".) "One was enamored with pearls" refers to the month of June, for which pearls are the traditional birthstone. The next line is referring to the folk rule, often heard in New England, that oysters must not be eaten in months without an 'r'. As April is the only 'sister' whose name has an 'r', she is the one enamored with oysters.
The remaining sister, then, is May. The idea of her being serenaded alludes to the song "Autumn to May" by Peter, Paul & Mary, which contains the lyrics:
"Sing, tarry-o day! Sing Autumn to May!"
Her 'suitor', then, is the season of autumn. "Laws of Camelot" refers to the title song of the musical Camelot, whose lyrics describe legal limits on the weather:
The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot
By order summer lingers through September
In Camelot
Autumn, then, is restricted to the months of October and November wihle laws of Camelot reign--these are the two "parts of his holdings" that escape persecution. The first, October, is known for the October Revolution, as well as for the book and movie The Hunt for Red October, which center around a revolutionary submarine technology.
The remaining month, November, was "swapped for its namesake". The name of the month November comes from the Latin for "nine", essentially meaning "ninth month", as the months were reckoned in the Roman Empire. But the modern ninth month is September. So September is "A time which I'll (try to) remember". This is a simultaneous reference to two more songs--"Try to Remember" by Tom Jones and "April Come She Will" by Simon and Garfunkel. The former repeats the line:
Try to remember the kind of September
while the latter includes the wistful line:
September I'll remember.
So, September is what the narrator has forgotten. The word "month" in the last line serves as a thematic clue, as does the title, which refers to the pages of a calendar.
Only three answers came in for this month's puzzle. Of these, Patricia Z. is the only one to reach the correct answer, though her chain of logic for doing so was slightly different than the one given above. Congratulations, Patricia, for being the first two-time winner!