He translated one, plus he based his works on Christianity. I don't see why not...


Not that I am a religious person myself, but I can't deny that some of the stories in are quite fun.

I'm familiar with quite a lot of the Bible, but not the book of Kings.

I'd use biblical stuff as parts of clues. Just not as answers.

Seems to have been lost with the last page:

You know what, if you're so against it, then let's shelve this one. Huey got the password anyway, so he can go next

Sure, then.

1. - The numinous root, otherwise known as a gift.
2. - Perfume from one Italian city.
3. - Chronic rails, year by year.
4. - A French one, conceived by the first to rise.
5. - Not grey... not gray, a German guest.
6. - In the round, Hell ends, and I am telepathy.
7. - Let's begin: Oh, snigger backwards, but with me instead of the example.
8. - Spiritually scary.
9. - The queen's scrambled citrus - o! Change it for two others.
10. - Go in, men in the corruption, and enjoy it.

All answers are English words or Tolkienian proper names, though two of them are borderline (one is both an English and Elvish word, and the other is a Tolkien coinage in English).

hS

5. Rad-a-gast?

That's the chappie!

1. - The numinous root, otherwise known as a gift.
2. - Perfume from one Italian city.
3. - Chronic rails, year by year.
4. - A French one, conceived by the first to rise.
RADAGAST - Not grey... not gray, a German guest.
6. - In the round, Hell ends, and I am telepathy.
7. - Let's begin: Oh, snigger backwards, but with me instead of the example.
8. - Spiritually scary.
9. - The queen's scrambled citrus - o! Change it for two others.
10. - Go in, men in the corruption, and enjoy it.

hS

8. Wraiths? Barrow-Wights?

1. Death? Andor?

No and no. 8 has both a straight and a cryptic clue, and 1... well, you're in the right area, just not the right answer.

hS

There's Scary in the Eastfarthing, but I can't find anything spiritual there.

You mean you haven't heard of St. Melian's Without? It's all in the Hostetter book. :D

Nothing to do with Scary, or the Shire.

hS

I wonder if we're looking for some sort of ghost-like creature with a name that means "scary". Anything called The Horror? I suppose BALROG vaguely fits that, I seem to remember the name means something like "powerful demon". Demon, horror....

Technically, technically, this is precisely correct. But not in the way you're thinking, on either part.

hS

Is it just a pun on FEA / FEAR?

Who you callin' a pun? :mad: ;) It's spiritual (being a spirit), and it's scary (because the only thing we have to fear is... you get it.)

1. - The numinous root, otherwise known as a gift.
2. - Perfume from one Italian city.
3. - Chronic rails, year by year.
4. - A French one, conceived by the first to rise.
RADAGAST - Not grey... not gray, a German guest.
6. - In the round, Hell ends, and I am telepathy.
7. - Let's begin: Oh, snigger backwards, but with me instead of the example.
FEAR - Spiritually scary.
9. - The queen's scrambled citrus - o! Change it for two others.
10. - Go in, men in the corruption, and enjoy it.

hS

2. Tempted to say A-ROMA, but no obvious Tolkien connection.

9. MELIAN? It has a scrambled lime. Although I suspect we have to take IT from CITRUS O, add 2 more letters and scramble it.

Unless it's LIME plus A (sort of Elvish for O/Oh), and can become LEMON with a bit of changing.

Trust your instincts. Aroma is correct, and does have a Tolkien connection.

LEMON, scrambled, with O changed for two other vowels (IA).


1. - The numinous root, otherwise known as a gift.
AROMA - Perfume from one Italian city.
3. - Chronic rails, year by year.
4. - A French one, conceived by the first to rise.
RADAGAST - Not grey... not gray, a German guest.
6. - In the round, Hell ends, and I am telepathy.
7. - Let's begin: Oh, snigger backwards, but with me instead of the example.
FEAR - Spiritually scary.
MELIAN - The queen's scrambled citrus - o! Change it for two others.
10. - Go in, men in the corruption, and enjoy it.

hS

Is 10 ENTERTAINMENT?

ENTER + MEN in TAINT.

7. ORIGINS? Oh=O, snigger backwards is REGGINS, with e.g. replaced with I.

Exactly.

And exoctly.


1. - The numinous root, otherwise known as a gift.
AROMA - Perfume from one Italian city.
3. - Chronic rails, year by year.
4. - A French one, conceived by the first to rise.
RADAGAST - Not grey... not gray, a German guest.
6. - In the round, Hell ends, and I am telepathy.
ORIGINS - Let's begin: Oh, snigger backwards, but with me instead of the example.
FEAR - Spiritually scary.
MELIAN - The queen's scrambled citrus - o! Change it for two others.
ENTERTAINMENT - Go in, men in the corruption, and enjoy it.

Only four to go!

hS

1. Is 'numinous' to indicate NUMENOR? Known by other name(s?) as the Land of Gift.

It's SOMETHINGS OF ME (ME as in Middle-earth), I guess. I'd say something like properties or qualities, but what are Melian and Radagast doing there?

NAMERS? NADIRS? (Nadirs doesn't make sense at all).

"Numinous" is derived from the Latin root "numen". "Otherwise" is actually a cryptic clue for "or"! NUMENOR is right. :)

'OF M-E' is correct, but not the rest. Ummm... and I've just noticed I lost a word in #6; added in.

There's a reason I crafted this puzzle now. :)

NUMENOR - The numinous root, otherwise known as a gift.
AROMA - Perfume from one Italian city.
3. - Chronic rails, year by year.
4. - A French one, conceived by the first to rise.
RADAGAST - Not grey... not gray, a German guest.
6. - In the round, Hell ends, and I am retro-telepathy.
ORIGINS - Let's begin: Oh, snigger backwards, but with me instead of the example.
FEAR - Spiritually scary.
MELIAN - The queen's scrambled citrus - o! Change it for two others.
ENTERTAINMENT - Go in, men in the corruption, and enjoy it.

hS

Is telepathy OSANWE, or perhaps EWNASO, if it's retro? I don't see how it fits cryptically but it's worth a shot.

Nature of m-e?

It is not; the telepathy is cryptic and modern.

Bingo! I felt a new book by Tolkien deserved a Password. :D

NUMENOR - The numinous root, otherwise known as a gift.
AROMA - Perfume from one Italian city.
3. T - Chronic rails, year by year.
4. U - A French one, conceived by the first to rise.
RADAGAST - Not grey... not gray, a German guest.
6. E - In the round, Hell ends, and I am retro-telepathy.
ORIGINS - Let's begin: Oh, snigger backwards, but with me instead of the example.
FEAR - Spiritually scary.
MELIAN - The queen's scrambled citrus - o! Change it for two others.
ENTERTAINMENT - Go in, men in the corruption, and enjoy it.

All remaining answers are English words, though one of them is probably a Tolkien-coined compound.

hS

UNBORN for U?

Almost, but 'born' isn't a synonym for 'conceived'.

hS

Unthought? Unplanned?

They didn't have the Hostetter book at Oxonmoot.

ESP can be a synonym for telepathy. Maybe that clue ends PSE.

ECLIPSE? (If so, I wouldn't know why, except that it uses 4 letters of CIRCLE and perhaps there were eclipses due to some early doings of Varda?)

Neither of those; you were closer with 'born'. :)

I swiped the last copy at our bookshop; for some reason I don't think they're stocking vast numbers of "the bottom of Tolkien's scrap pile". :D

It does end PSE, and you're actually only one letter off with your answer. :)

hS

Other than ELAPSE, and Virgil's ECLOGUES, (both more than one letter out), I can't think what other word there is.

Unseeded? Unfertilised? :D

I promise there is one. The one letter is one that needs to be changed in "Eclipse", not added or removed.

I mean, technically the latter is close to being a synonym? Think that and Unborn. The answer is used as a Capitalised Proper Noun.

hS

Undead was the first one I thought of.

Unsung? (By the Ainur).

BTW I knew of Hostetter's book, but not the name of it. It really was just a guess at something to hopefully refer to all the answers.

Uhm, no; apparently this one is a bit tricky... okay, this term refers to the first elves to awaken by Cuivienen. Like Unborn, but a bit more Tolkieny.

We have a thread on it if you're interested. I suggest stopping when WCH and I descend into an argument about whether lembas is cornbread. :D

hS

Ellipse? I supose it makes sense, as (H)ELL + I + ESP. All kudos to Pervinca for getting 99% of the word. I would never have made it past EPS.

You kidding? That's my favourite part! Fine, I skim through most of the argumentation, but the spirit of the debate is priceless. :D Also, I gotta say, the greyed out text makes it so much more intriguing to read, but I think I keep subconsciously expecting some dramatic revelation, because it all seems rather mundane compared to the types of things I imagine as I mentally fill in those blanks. Why am I expecting scandalous gossip in the first place? Dunno, maybe I'm just conditioned to associate "Hostetter" with the HOMEXIII jokes?

I guess ellipses occur in writing, but I've only heard of an ellipsis and its plural, ellipses, so didn't guess it.

Ah, hang on. G55, you mean ELLIPSE = regular oval? Does it refer to the original shape of Arda?

No idea what it refers to, but yeah, I was thinking about the shape. You're totally right, it could be the shape of the world.

Unbegotten?

Oh, there's weird stuff. AROMA is in the password because Tolkien reveals that invisible Maiar can be detected because of their fragrance. If they're evil Maiar, they specifically smell bad. :D This is why Sauron only ever shows up embodied - because he knows his BO would give him away otherwise!

ELLIPSE it is, and, well, Tolkien drew sketches of the world as an ellipse which bulges in the middle. I'm honestly not sure if I imagined the part where he discusses how the Elves believed in a reverse Arda on the underneath, which of course would be uninhabited because the people would fall off.

Is correct!

(Urwen, you'll be pleased to know that Maeglin gave Tolkien endless trouble when he decided that elves don't marry until they're several hundred years old; there's multiple places in NoME where he tries to resolve it.)

NUMENOR - The numinous root, otherwise known as a gift.
AROMA - Perfume from one Italian city.
3. T - Chronic rails, year by year.
UNBEGOTTEN - A French one, conceived by the first to rise.
RADAGAST - Not grey... not gray, a German guest.
ELLIPSE - In the round, Hell ends, and I am retro-telepathy.
ORIGINS - Let's begin: Oh, snigger backwards, but with me instead of the example.
FEAR - Spiritually scary.
MELIAN - The queen's scrambled citrus - o! Change it for two others.
ENTERTAINMENT - Go in, men in the corruption, and enjoy it.

One left, and it's the first one I thought of.

hS

Could it be TALES?