Beauchamp Challenge: Letters from Home

Haroo Sisters! 

A man in a black suit just made a special delivery of two very dusty letters.  He said they have been sitting in his firm’s vault for more than 200 years.  Of course, like our namesake, Claire, we Beauchamps were quite intrigued by the cryptic messages contained in the letters.  Although the Beauchamps are quite adept at solving puzzles, it looks like we won’t have time to solve these.  So, we call out to our Mackenzie, Murray, and Frazer sisters for a wee bit of help in deciphering these ancient letters. 

This challenge focuses on Parts 5 and 6 of Drums of Autumn.  As with all Highland Games challenges, the maximum possible points one can earn is 10.  But, ye can earn them by completing a combination of the following puzzles.

Letter One:  Word Search Forever
You get 1 point for every three words found, for a maximum of 7 points for this game.

August 1767

Dearest Bree-

You’ll love to know that I am doing fine.  Jamie and I have started to get settled.  We're in America now.  It is beautiful!  I wish you could see it.  Coming from the 20th century, we forget that there so many folks have tread the same soil before us.  Sorry dear, this is probably beginning to sound like a history lesson.  In the short weeks since our arrival, we have met many people, some of whom remind me so much of the lovely folks back in our your time.  I would love to list them by name here, but you remember your American history -– with my British accent, they likely think I am compiling a hit list of sorts.  So I will just list them with a few identifying letters and ask that you find them in the grid.

All my love, Momma.


People we have met:
1. A __ __ M
2. B __ __ __ N __ __
3. C __ __ __ R __
4. D __ R __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (2 words)
5. __ __ N C __ __
6. __ __ __ Q U __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (2 words)
7. __ I __ N __
8. __ R __ __ K __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (2 words)
9. __ A __
10. __ A __ __ __
11. J __ __ __ S __ __
12. __ __ __ G W __ __ __ __ __ __ (2 words)
13. __ __ __ G F __ __ __ __ __ (2 words)
14. M A __ __ __ __ __ [Corrected - Should be 7 letters]
15. __ __ __ S __ __ __ __ __ __E __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (2 words)
16. __ __ __ __ R A __ __ __ (2 words)
17. M R __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (2 words)
18. __ Y __ __ __
19. __ __ L L __ __ __ __ __
20. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ C H
21. S __ __ __ E __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (2 words) [Corrected - Should be 17 letters]

Click on the image to see the full Word Search for printing

Letter Two:  Crosswords,  Je T’aime

You get 1 point for every two words found, for a maximum of 6 points for this game. 

August 1767

Dearest Daughter-

Bree, darling (oh, how I miss saying that to you).  I hope you are doing fine and that you have continued to work hard at your studies.  I thought to tell you a bit about our travels, about the people we've met and the things we've seen.  You should see your Great Aunt Jocasta's place.  It is a wonder to behold.  I can only hope that it has been restored just like Mount Vernon, yet to be built, will be, so that you can see it.  Time is short and once again, I think it prudent to exercise some caution.  I do draw attention to myself just being me.  I do not need my words to add fuel to the fire.  With your methodical mind (so much like your father) I thought you would enjoy a bit of a crossword.  I've offered a few clues to the people and things we have seen and ask that you find them in the crossword grid.  Until I can write again.

Je t'aime, Momma 

ACROSS
5. This first law says nothing is lost only changed
7. A gentle giant
9. Claire's primitive "colleague"
10. What is the prayer Jamie said?
11. Freedom
12. A relative of the Planet of the Apes actor, perhaps? [2 words]
DOWN
1. This aged "Scottie" was given a renewed life [2 words]
2. No such thing as rape among them
3. Saint Paul's solution to unseemly lust
4. Nothing is lost, only changed
6. What is the postman's name?
8. Its green stage can "cramp" anyone's style

Click on the image to see the full crossword for printing

As with all the other challenges:

• 1 bonus point goes to each of the first 10 perfect (i.e.m 10 points) submissions
• 1 point each goes for the first submission (early bird) and the last before the deadline (sneaker)
• 5 points to the winner 

We hope you enjoy the challenges.  Happy Independence Day! Remember, as Claire does with these letters to Bree, home is where the heart lies.

MacKenzie Challenge - The Outcome!

Lasses! I am SO proud that so many of you participated in the MacKenzie challenge - WOW!! There were 45 lasses eligible to play (Clan MacKenzie issued the challenge, so we couldna play) and out of that group, 31 rose up to the challenge we issued. 18 of those 31 earned a perfect score. BRAW JOB, LASSES!!

The answers:

1. Jocasta Cameron

2. Governor Tryon

3. Edwin Murray

4. Phillip Wylie

5. Pollyanne

6. Ulysses

7. Lieutenant Wolff

8. Andrew MacNeill

9. Billy Murchison

BONUS: TULACH ARD!! (What else could it be?!)

Beauchamp: 6 perfect scores were received from Bree, Ealasaid, Eilis, Imogene, Muirne, and Sineag. Additional responses were received from Caroline, Elspeth, Isobel, Lady North Facing, Morven, Nemetona, and Siusan.

Fraser: 7 perfect scores were received from Fiona, Isla, Jeannette, Jocasta Walkley, Nannag, Phaedra, and Vika. Additional responses were received from Airlie and Julienne.

Murray: 5 perfect scores were received from Bea, Caireann, Mordag, Tammy, and Zella. Additional responses were received from Caena, Eileen, Marsali, and Toireassa.

If you sent in your challenge and dinna see your name above, please let us know so we can adjust your clan's scores.

Our earlybird award goes to Vika of Clan Fraser. Her response was received at 3:11am on Friday, June 25th. That was quickly done, lass! And our sneaker award goes to Elspeth of Clan Beauchamp. Her response was received at 11:58pm on Wednesday, June 30.

There are two special awards going to Nemetona Beauchamp and Jeannette Fraser for noting that TULACH ARD is the battle cry of Clan MacKenzie - LOL! You have both earned an extra point for your clan!

A bonus point also goes to Mordag Murray for lighting a fire under her clan and increasing clan participation by 50% in the last hour!!!

All sisters with a perfect score



went into the hat,


and the name that was pulled by DD was...

BREE BEAUCHAMP!!!

Congratulations, Bree! You have earned an additional 5 points for your clan!

The Score:

Beauchamp: 93 + 4 bonus + 1 sneaker + individual winner = 103
Fraser: 76 + 5 bonus + 1 earlybird = 82
Murray: 61 + 4 bonus = 65

Congrats to all of our participants - on to the next!

Respectfully submitted,

Seonag MacKenzie

ETA: changed scoring to reflect bonus points for first perfect 10 scores. Beauchamp received an additional 3 bonus points; Fraser received an additional 4 bonus points; and Murray received an additional 3 bonus points. The overall scores have been adjusted accordingly.

Apologies!!

~Seonag

And the Winner is...

Our Lady of the Blog is off, so I'm left to draw the lucky winner of the Murray challenge! Well, my sweet boy, actually... ;)

Lots of names this week:
All in the hat knit for him by his midwives 3 years ago:


Choosing carefully:


And here you go!


For those who canna read upside down, or turn their monitors on end easily, that is Caroline of Clan Beauchamp! Congrats, lassie!!

-Fiona Fraser

MacKenzie Challenge - Sections 4 & 5

Dear clan sisters, the MacKenzie clan brings you a list of characters that we first meet in sections four and five. Your duty is to use the Ottendorf Cipher to tell us who we meet.

An Ottendorf Cipher gives you the location of the letter in a particular document. For this game, we will give you the chapter number, paragraph number, word number, and letter number. For example, Stacey Hood would be:

10-4-7-1
10-8-5-3
10-20-24-3
10-47-31-4
10-74-3-4
10-106-34-10

10-136-8-2
10-155-35-2
10-200-7-3
10-227-23-4

You get 1 point for each correct character answer and a bonus point for the final phrase, which will pull the clues from each character.

Please email your answers to highlandergames at ymail dot com by MIDNIGHT EST on WEDNESDAY, June 30. Good luck and have fun!

eta: 2 numbers below are bolded to show that they were mistakes that have been corrected. thanks for catchin' it, lassies!

1.
10-2-1-1
10-4-20-2
10-6-3-1
10-9-12-4
10-11-25-2
10-14-7-7
10-15-38-7

10-17-32-4
10-19-10-8
10-21-10-5
10-22-16-7
10-26-18-8
10-28-32-10
10-30-16-3

2.
10-32-40-3
10-33-2-2
10-35-24-3
10-38-26-5
10-41-1-3
10-44-36-6
10-46-29-2
10-50-2-2

10-54-23-4
10-56-28-3
10-60-5-9
10-61-21-3
10-63-36-7

3.
10-65-31-2
10-67-6-1
10-69-65-2
10-72-1-4
10-74-15-5

10-80-1-5
10-83-36-7
10-88-17-6
10-91-11-6
10-99-9-4
10-103-1-2

4.
11-3-26-2
11-5-58-1
11-23-19-4
11-29-3-2
11-29-3-3
11-36-28-6
11-43-6-4

11-55-21-2
11-75-2-5
11-79-24-6
11-85-11-1
11-92-5-2

5.
14-5-17-4
14-27-4-2
14-34-7-3
14-46-22-4
14-68-16-7
14-106-17-2
14-113-12-6
14-123-38-2
14-133-20-4

6.
12-64-47-5
12-66-23-7
12-70-9-6
12-85-9-3
12-87-13-4
12-94-5-2
12-99-18-6

7.
13-1-14-2
13-17-14-5
13-34-35-3
13-72-10-4
13-91-6-5
13-122-18-6
13-131-15-6
13-147-18-2
13-162-10-3
13-182-32-4

13-200-2-1
13-213-17-2
13-225-8-4
13-245-4-3
13-245-4-4

8.
14-2-8-4
14-6-23-9
14-9-17-4
14-22-6-4
14-28-25-4
14-34-20-3

14-38-18-1
14-45-2-6
14-48-22-6
14-51-5-4
14-66-29-6
14-72-30-3
14-90-26-4
14-137-16-5

9.
15-1-31-1
15-14-41-2
15-27-3-3
15-36-16-4
15-54-34-7

15-65-8-5
15-80-5-12
15-94-25-5
15-102-2-3
15-114-23-2
15-119-2-5
15-153-36-4
15-174-24-2
15-198-19-5

BONUS
13-91-6-5
15-80-5-12
12-66-23-7
10-19-10-8
14-48-22-6
11-5-58-1

14-106-17-2
10-50-2-2
10-67-6-1

Lasses ~ I was so happy to see how much everyone enjoyed the challenges this week! I fear the sweet wee Fraser laddies will have a tough time picking from so many names.

There were 45 lasses eligible to play, (Clan Murray issued the challenge so we couldna play) and out of that group, 25 of you rose up to the challenge we issued. 21 of those 25 earned enough points for a perfect score. Braw job, lasses!

The answers:

CRYPTOGRAMS
Most of you did not try the cryptograms, so I will give you those first.
1) You’ll have a turn at the pole yourself before long ~ and I expect ye’ll have us in Cross Creek before nightfall, aye? This was Jamie speaking to Ian.

2) God kens best what will happen to the lad; if he's not shot or knocked on the head in some tavern, he'll likely come home wi' an ostrich he's won at faro next. Jamie to Claire pondering what they will do with wee Ian.

3) After what we've done for ye, ye'll rob and spoil us, lay violent hands upon my aunt and my dog, and then ye'll ha' the gall to speak of repayment? Ian to Bonnet after they were robbed. (I wonder how Claire likes being lumped in with Rollo. At least she was mentioned first.)

BALDERDASH
This is one of my favorite party games! We are given a word(phrase) and we write down the word(phrase) that is the closest to it.
Alagruous ~ woebegone
Basia Mille ~ 1000 Kisses
Caisteal Dhuni ~ A Mhor-fhaiche (both battle cries of Clan Fraser. Most of you picked Clan Motto and told me it wasn't a motto, but a battle cry.
Duine Uasal ~ gentleman (a man of worth)
Munro bagging ~ mountain climbing (climbing specific mountians ~ over 3,000 feet)
Sedulous ~ Diligent

And finally, MARSALI or Bust
FOOD/BEVERAGES
M~ Mulberry Leaves, Milk, Moist crumbs, mushrooms, Mashed tobacco residue, Mutton, Meat
A~ Apples, Aspic, Amber nectar
R~ Rings, Ragout, roots, roasted peanuts, Roe
S~ Salt, Scotch, Shortbread, Salt beef, Soda, Sardines, Soused hog's face, Spiced crabs
L~ Lard, Lobster, lagavulin, Lemon
I~ Insects, Ian (threatened to be turned into fishbait), Italian, Invertebrate (octopus on a stick), Ichthys, (Greek for fish - Jamie loved his Greek) In aspic, Ices
OBSTACLES
M~ Memories, misgivings, Mud, Money, water Moccasins, Seatbelt (when you want to kiss your lass), Mad March to glory, Mosquitoes, Miles of wilderness, Midges
A~ Alligator, Joe Abernathy (tried to keep Roger from hurting Bree),Alarm clock, Appearance, Atlantic, Aloysius (as an obstacle to the name Germaine, if Marsali had her way!), awkwardness, broken Axles,
R~ Revolver, rumpled bedclothes (in Bree's way as she is talking to Roger on the phone), Roads (washed away by storms), Rings, Rascals, Rising, River, Rubies, RCA (as in the tv that almost didn't work), Rope, Regulators, Religion, Rollo, Roberts the robber
S~ Sturgeon, Stephen Bonnet (enough said), Saplings, Sapphire, beard Stubble, Swamp, Secrets, Sailors, stray children and luggage carts, Sale of stones, surgery w/o anesthesia, Stuart Rising
L~ Latin conjunction, Laoghaire (keeping Jamie out of Scotland), Loss, Love, Line of Cars, Loyalty oath, Lawlessness, living as a farmer with a hook arm -Fergus, Lack of Laborers, Lake
I~ Ian (his presence is an obstacle to privacy), Inuinal hernia, Interruptions, Ian's thick head (an obstacle for Jamie - or thick heid), Indians
PEOPLE
M~ John Quincy Myers, Marsali, Mary,Mackay, Mama (Claire), Mary Oliphant,
A~ Ambrose MacKenzie, Auntie (Claire or Jocasta), Abernathy, Neil Armstrong,
R~ Roger Mac, Reverend Wakefield, Dr. Daniel Rawlings, Red Jacob,
S~ Charles Stuart, Sister Marie Romaine, Sassenach, Sonnini Stanhope,
L~ John Lennon, Lenny Abernathy, Lindsay, Laoghaire, Bill Livingston
I~ Ian, Duncan Innes,
PLACES
M~ Moon, Munro, mountains, Massachusetts, Montrose, Mission Control
A~ Airport, Apartment, Atlantic, America, Aberfeldy, Apothecary, Amherst
R~ River Run, River,
S~ Scotland, Sailors Rest, Sherrifmuir, South Carolina, shipping dock
L~ Lillington's stables, Lallybroch, Loche Linnhe, Loch Lomond, London, Lunar surface, Leoch
I~ Inverness, Indies
TRANSPORTATION
M~ Morbid sore throat (transpoted Old Hector to his rest), Mustang, Mule
A~ Automobiles, Apollo 11, Airport (transportaion hub), Ambulance, Airplane, airline seat
R~ Rocket Ships, River boat, roads, Raft, Running
S~ Ships, Sally Ann, Sea, Scull, Stone Circle, Spaceship, Skin
L~ Ladder, Light (calling of clans), Learning (and influence - my mother would love this one!), Legs, Lunar Lander, Leapt
I~ Inhuman embrace of reptile transporting one to position of rank and riches, In Claire's pocket (acupuncture needles), Illness, Inutero (Germaine), Incoming tide, Ingenuity


There were 10 of you that submitted perfect responses early enough to get that extra point: Eilis (also our Early Bird getting her answer in first at 10:14 am on 6/18) and Muirne of clan Beauchamp, Nannag and Bourgogne of Clan Fraser, Seonag, Eadgyth, Ceanna, Ide, Catrionia Duncan and Catriona all of Clan MacKenzie (Yes, 6 bonnie lasses from Clan MacKenzie!)

The other names in the 'hat' for perfect scores are: Caroline, Elspeth, Isobel, Morven and Ealasaid of Clan Beauchamp, Fiona, Jocasta Walkley, Vika and Jeannette of Clan Fraser and Mrs Fitz and Kinley of Clan MacKenzie.

Our Sneaker award goes to Kinley of Clan MacKenzie, who submitted her answers 8 minutes before the bell of midnight.

There is a special award going to Catriona Duncan, and it is a dubious honor to be sure. She gets the Balderdash Award, which might be the equivalent Most likely to become next Games Chieftess; She is the only one who answered all of the Balderdash questions correctly, or more importantly, the only one who knew that A Mhor-fhaiche is also the Fraser clan battle cry. Mayhap she's heard it a time or two. You have earned an extra point for your slyness!

The Score:
Beauchamp:103 + 2 bonus + 1 Earlybird = 106
Fraser: 75 + 2 bonus = 77
MacKenzie: 88 + 7 bonus + 1 sneaker = 96

Respectfully submitted,

Mordag Murray