THF Haiku Crypto-Quiz

At Haiku North America 2009, in Ottawa, Anita Krumins, then Assistant Editor of Frogpond, offered a challenge to participants in the form of a series of cryptic puzzles. Each of 62 clues led to the surname of a poet or editor involved with English-language or contemporary world haiku. A number in parenthesis following the clue told how many letters were to be found in this surname, and the clues followed the usual standards of cryptic puzzles — they were anagrams, synonyms, anagrams of synonyms, puns, embedded words, and so on.

Here’s an example:

The clue is: “We hear he is able with a spy agency at his center. (6)” In cryptics, the phrases “we hear” or “on the radio” signify a word that does not necessarily correspond to the spelling (therefore, a homophone). The spy agency “at his center” is the CIA (but of course could be FBI, or MI6, or some other as well). And the (6) tells us there are 6 letters in the solution. So we “hear” he is able — in this case, “can”; which surrounds a spy agency — in this case, the CIA. So the pieces are “can” surrounding “CIA” totaling 6 letters. The solution is none other than THF president Jim Kacian: [Ka – (CIA) – n].

We have resurrected a version of this puzzle — which includes haiku terms and Japanese poets along with those categories listed above — for your pleasure during The Haiku Foundation 2015 fundraiser. Please fill in the answers on the interactive form and submit them when done (your responses are private and will not appear on the site). The first person to return a complete and correct set of answers wins a copy of the Foundation’s new publication Raymond Roseliep: Man of Art who Loves the Rose, Donna Bauerly’s masterful biography of this seminal haiku poet. Good luck!

In addition, Anita will host a weekly cryptic haiku puzzler every Tuesday beginning next week. Look for it on Troutswirl, The Haiku Foundation blog.

Please consider making a donation to The Haiku Foundation during our Fundraising Drive, November 26 – December 6, and help the Foundation continue its important work. And visit our Gift Shop to get cool haiku gifts in return for making your donation. Thank you.

2015 Fundraiser Schedule

• November 26: In Memoriam, a tribute to haiku poets who have left the community in the past 2 years; the release of Raymond Roseliep: Man of Art who Loved the Rose, a biography of the pioneering haiku poet by Donna Bauerly.

 

• November 27: The Haiku Foundation’s Black Friday Gift Shop promo; re:Virals 11.

 

• November 28: Linda Papanicolaou gives a final accounting of Renku Sessions 3: “A Bowl of Cherries”; a new Old Pond Comics cartoon “Goose Neck”.

 

• November 29: THF Reports: “Our Frogpond Journey,” Francine Banwarth and Michele Root-Bernstein’s discussion of their editorship of Frogpond; THF Social Media Day highlights of our social outreach from the Foundation’s social media director Stella Pierides.

 

• November 30: THF Interviews: Gayle Bull; a new Book of the Week: small town by vincent tripi.

 

• December 1: THF Galleries: “Haiga of Stephen Addiss”; the new World of Haiku country for December: Australia.

 

• December 2: “Librarian’s Cache”, selections from the Foundation’s holdings by Digital Librarian Garry Eaton; results from the annual THF assessment survey.

 

• December 3: THF Readings: Tom Clausen; a challenging haiku crypto-quiz from Anita Krumins.

 

• December 4: THF Lectures: Zinovy Vayman on “Humor in Haiku”; re:Virals 12.

 

• December 5: “Touchstone Gardens” around the world, where winners of the Foundation’s prestigious Touchstone Awards have displayed their award stones; a new Old Pond Comics cartoon “Jamming Crabs”.

 

• December 6: THF Lectures: Ruth Yarrow entertains and instructs us in “Haiku with Feathers,” from Haiku North America 2015; a report on the Foundation’s Grant Proposal to the National Endowment for the Arts in 2015.

 

• December 7: The summary report from our THF Fundraiser 2015; a new Book of the Week: jazztronaut by Geert Verbecke.