The devil and rhyming words

Ramblings by Roy Mitchell

Teachers are generally discouraged from having friends in low places. I have one who works just down the hall. He teaches history, and the only soul this friendly fiend tortures is mine.

The sadist's name is Bob Harris, and he used to be the Chess Club sponsor for a nearby school. Since I used to sponsor our school's Chess Club, our paths inevitably crossed. Both of us have a fascination with games of logic. My skill at spatial logic emerges not only during games such as chess, but in the pursuit of other hobbies such as diagramming basketball plays and envisioning underwater fishing structure. Bob's spatial logic emerges in endeavors such as woodworking and making puzzles.

Knowing of my competitiveness, Mr. Harris recently let me borrow a puzzle he had bought and couldn't solve. It was a hand-held globe. The hemispheres of this globe have four quadrants. The quadrants rotate together horizontally and vertically, like a Rubik's Cube. To solve this sphere, you have to twist and rotate the hemispheres to create an accurate map of the earth.

Maybe it was my competitive nature, or a desire to escape my tedious teaching tasks. Maybe I put too much pepper on my eggs that morning. For whatever reason, I became positively obsessed with completing that little globe puzzle. After a few days I solved it. Bob, though, had perceived my level of obsession. Ever since, he has yearned to torture me with puzzles, trying to find one I can't solve.
The next day, he brought me an unsolved Rubik's cube. Bob smiled devilishly as I informed him that I hadn't tried solving one of those in about 15 years. I first spun and rotated the cube during my morning planning period. By the time students arrived at my classroom door, I had not yet conquered the cube. But after completing the instruction for my classes, I assigned their seatwork and intently clasped the cube again. The cube was complete before lunch.

Next, Bob brought another unsolved Rubik's cube. This one houses 16 squares to a side instead of the typical nine. It took me almost all Christmas Break to solve it.
I am currently three Bob Harris puzzles past the big Rubik's cube. Since Christmas it took me all day to conquer a cube that broke apart into a chain and begged to be back in cube form; the puzzle in the form of a coke can only took me 15 minutes. Bob currently has me working on a Rubik's-type puzzle that looks like a space ship.

While I try to master this next puzzle, let me puzzle you, Post readers. The following are rhyming words. Below are clues. Two rhyming words correctly answered the clue. For example, the answer to the clue “an overweight feline” is a “fat cat.” With the last group of rhyming words, Lynne Kimmerling, Linda Neighbors, and Kathy Walker mastered all 12 rhymes. Will they hold onto their posts as poetic divas? E-mail answers to rmitchell@horizonwisp.net.

1. A rose-colored basin

2. What you're doing when you're moving your pork product rapidly

3. A distant auto

4. Imitation small curved pasta

5. An oversized cargo ship

6. A translucent ball

7. A precious looking Montana town

8. Strange facial hair

9. A biscuit topping in squiggly lines

10. An undersized rear

Roy Mitchell, a teacher, basketball coach, and local fisherman, lives in Cherokee County with his wife, Suzette, and two sons, Alex and Zac. Though nearly 40 years old, Roy is kind of like a puppy dog who wants a pat on the head. You can e-mail any pats on the head or "bad dog" comments to rmitchell@horizonwisp.net.