[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Pervinca Took

5. IMPETUOUSNESS?

NESS gives us the loch, (I hope - there are an awful lot of Scottish lochs!)

Ah, cat is PET, perhaps?

U You
O Owe
US Yourself - maybe literally, in text language, or You plus N for a consonant?

Correct! It was U-O-U + S for the consonant, because... apparently I didn't think of 'us'. -_-

GROND - Not a ewe's namesake, the ground is missing you.
ABDICATION - A short Swedish band's slightly mixed diction, like Duke Edward.
MORGOTH - The darkest is mixed up - are Batman's city misspelled slightly?
BALROG - Forward the sphere, backward the VP, chop out the heart and find the angel.
5. I - I am briefly a cat, you owe yourself a consonant, in the loch, quick!
TOWER - Second confused digit is confusing up here.
SAURON - A pair of vowels runs in confusion, comes second.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Non-sceptre abdications include Finrod's renunciation of Nargothrond and Maedhros passing on the title of High King to Fingolfin. Doesn't help me figure out what this closed set is though.

Oh. Wait. Is it the demises/ends/events causing the passing of the title of the High Kings of the Noldor?

GROND - Fingolfin
ABDICATION - Maedhros
MORGOTH - Finwe
BALROG - Feanor
IMPETUOUSNESS - Fingon presumably, whose people rushed too soon onto Anfauglith
TOWER - Turgon
SAURON - Gil-galad

What is the debatable item? And I still don't see how Gambit applies to some of them...

That's right! Though the impetuous one was Feanor; apparently Gothmog killed both him and Fingon, so I was able to swap back and forth.

"Gambit" is very much a "what word fits these answers" password - my second option was MAGGOTS. But taking the sense of 'risky strategy', most of them died in battle against superior foes, Maedhros resigned to try and heal the rift in the Noldor, and Finwe was only at Formenos to try and generate sympathy for Feanor. So it kiiind of fits.

The debatable one is Maglor, who was presumably at least Acting High King while Maedhros was hanging around Thangorodrim. But Maglor's a bit wet, and is never actually accorded the title in the books anyway. (Also, Finarfin - but his reign is ongoing!)

And over to Pervinca!

hS