Puns, Anagrams and Limericks

     I enjoy hearing puns and creating my own puns.   Sometimes puns are groaners but often they are subtle twists on meaning that can be both amusing and thought provoking.  However, puns can be overdone.   Nancy and I encounter a particular individual on a regular basis who carries punning to an extreme.   Garrison Keillor points out that good comedy has to have the right timing.  Likewise with puns.   They can be amusing with the right timing, but without finesse they become groaners.   Fortunately I have Nancy to keep me in line.

   Recently my daughter gifted me with numerous reprint pages of the New York Times from the beginning of crossword puzzle pages in the 1940's until near present time.  I have enjoyed working these puzzles until I encountered one themed as Puns, and Anagrams.   The clues are mysteriously obscure and I am having a real struggle solving it.   I'll keep at it  but it is truly annoying not being able to figure it out.  Perhaps because it was created in 1943, I am out of tune with the thinking of that era.

   I discover that people who like puns also have a love for limericks.   I belong to that crowd.  Creating limerick poems can be a lot of fun.   Limericks have a reputation for being both risque and ribald  but there are many that are amusing without being either.  Here is one from Wikipedia.

"The limerick packs laughs anatomical

In space that is quite economical,

    But the good ones I've seen

    So seldom are clean,

And the clean ones so seldom are comical."

   I was working on an original one for a geezer skier but the creative juices don't seem to be working today so maybe another time.   Stay tuned.