Correct, GI ants.



THEME: STONE

1. "Choose a fair more!" - you hear from the corners of the world.
2. Pinnacle organ on the far side is a cause for quarrel.
3. BRIDGE OF STONEBOWS: Sits across two drinks, skips two starts, and skipped on the greatest start. (a stone bridge)
4. They party at night, like in most Rolls-Royce incidents.
5. SARN ATHRAD: Ford ran threads, but note difference when they tangled. (stony ford)
6. THREE FARTHING STONE: Measure money or weight, but do so thrice! (well... it's a stone)
7. ORTHANC: Tower alternatively compares to the sea, it seems. (both a stone and a rock!)
8. A king in reverse is an element mixed with itself.
9. ERECH: There you may hear a confused cheer. (Stone of Erech, brought by Isildur)
10. Dying's son, by the sound of it.
11. Not a car sound, nor the music, but the site of a stronghold.
12. GIANTS: Step up! The gutsy insects grew enormous! (Stone giants of the Misty Mountains)
13. PALANTIR: Sphere in the middle of a messed up plan and a broken off tiara. (seeing stone)
14. Note riders exchange directions with reluctant riders.
15. Comes after the initial entrance into the city.

Just stone things?

Best stone things?

Most stone things?

4. TROLLS.

11. HORNBURG.

This is half-right and definitely on the right track.




THEME: STONE

1. J "Choose a fair more!" - you hear from the corners of the world.
2. U Pinnacle organ on the far side is a cause for quarrel.
3. BRIDGE OF STONEBOWS: Sits across two drinks, skips two starts, and skipped on the greatest start. (a stone bridge)
4. TROLLS: They party at night, like in most Rolls-Royce incidents. (frozen in the sunlight)
5. SARN ATHRAD: Ford ran threads, but note difference when they tangled. (stony ford)
6. THREE FARTHING STONE: Measure money or weight, but do so thrice! (well... it's a stone)
7. ORTHANC: Tower alternatively compares to the sea, it seems. (both a stone and a rock!)
8. N A king in reverse is an element mixed with itself.
9. ERECH: There you may hear a confused cheer. (Stone of Erech, brought by Isildur)
10. T Dying's son, by the sound of it.
11. H Not a car sound, nor the music, but the site of a stronghold.
12. GIANTS: Step up! The gutsy insects grew enormous! (Stone giants of the Misty Mountains)
13. PALANTIR: Sphere in the middle of a messed up plan and a broken off tiara. (seeing stone)
14. G Note riders exchange directions with reluctant riders.
15. S Comes after the initial entrance into the city.

Is 15 Stone Gate? The second gate into Gondolin?

Yesss!




THEME: STONE

1. J "Choose a fair more!" - you hear from the corners of the world.
2. U Pinnacle organ on the far side is a cause for quarrel.
3. BRIDGE OF STONEBOWS: Sits across two drinks, skips two starts, and skipped on the greatest start. (a stone bridge)
4. TROLLS: They party at night, like in most Rolls-Royce incidents. (frozen in the sunlight)
5. SARN ATHRAD: Ford ran threads, but note difference when they tangled. (stony ford)
6. THREE FARTHING STONE: Measure money or weight, but do so thrice! (well... it's a stone)
7. ORTHANC: Tower alternatively compares to the sea, it seems. (both a stone and a rock!)
8. N A king in reverse is an element mixed with itself.
9. ERECH: There you may hear a confused cheer. (Stone of Erech, brought by Isildur)
10. T By the sound of it, dying's son.
11. H Not a car sound, nor the music, but the site of a stronghold.
12. GIANTS: Step up! The gutsy insects grew enormous! (Stone giants of the Misty Mountains)
13. PALANTIR: Sphere in the middle of a messed up plan and a broken off tiara. (seeing stone)
14. G Note riders exchange directions with reluctant riders.
15. SECOND GATE OF GONDOLIN: Comes after the initial entrance into the city. (Gate of Stone)

Knew one of Gondolin's gates must be stone, but didn't know which. ;)

Dying's son. Been thinking ELFSTONE.

Sounds like elf's son? Arwen is now dying too?

Ahh, I see where the confusion is coming from for this clue. How about I fix it a little bit:

By the sound of it, dying's son.

G55, if any remaining clues are not initial red letter, do the clues contain indicators of this?

Yes. There are two remaining clues where the password letter is not the first letter of the answer, and both have indicators of that. The rest start with the red letter.


You were almost there with 11, you got half the word correct, and it's a related concept. You're this close to the answer.

And for 10, the answer is something I did not remember but looked up. However, the clue is phrased such that if you figure out what it means, you will be able to find the answer via something that you would know without having to look for it.

Is 11 HARROWDALE? Where the stronghold is, but without saying the car sound or the musical instrument?

After a bit of digging I have found out that the horn burg was built on the horn rock.

Bingo!



THEME: STONE

1. J "Choose a fair more!" - you hear from the corners of the world.
2. U Pinnacle organ on the far side is a cause for quarrel.
3. BRIDGE OF STONEBOWS: Sits across two drinks, skips two starts, and skipped on the greatest start. (a stone bridge)
4. TROLLS: They party at night, like in most Rolls-Royce incidents. (frozen in the sunlight)
5. SARN ATHRAD: Ford ran threads, but note difference when they tangled. (stony ford)
6. THREE FARTHING STONE: Measure money or weight, but do so thrice! (well... it's a stone)
7. ORTHANC: Tower alternatively compares to the sea, it seems. (both a stone and a rock!)
8. N A king in reverse is an element mixed with itself.
9. ERECH: There you may hear a confused cheer. (Stone of Erech, brought by Isildur)
10. T By the sound of it, dying's son.
11. HORNROCK: Not a car sound, nor the music, but the site of a stronghold. (a big outcropping of stone)
12. GIANTS: Step up! The gutsy insects grew enormous! (Stone giants of the Misty Mountains)
13. PALANTIR: Sphere in the middle of a messed up plan and a broken off tiara. (seeing stone)
14. G Note riders exchange directions with reluctant riders.
15. SECOND GATE OF GONDOLIN: Comes after the initial entrance into the city. (Gate of Stone)

Some more hints for y'all:

2. "On the far side" is a letter placement indicator.

10. As I said before, an obscure answer via a well-known description. What does "dying" sound like?

14. Name the top three Tolkien things that come to mind when you hear "riders". And then the top three things when you hear "reluctant riders". I bet five bucks you'll name the concept of the answer.

1 and 8 are very well-known concepts. I recommend working backwards from the theme.

You may picture me staggering in, rubbing my eyes and wondering if this is what 'not work but also not sleep' looks like...

Anyway, #1: if this is a soundalike, it could just be JEWELS OF FEANOR ('jools', rather).

[Stumbles out again for more work]

hS

THEME: STONE

1. JEWELS OF FEANOR "Choose a fair more!" - you hear from the corners of the world. (the Silmaril stones)
2. U Pinnacle organ on the far side is a cause for quarrel.
3. BRIDGE OF STONEBOWS: Sits across two drinks, skips two starts, and skipped on the greatest start. (a stone bridge)
4. TROLLS: They party at night, like in most Rolls-Royce incidents. (frozen in the sunlight)
5. SARN ATHRAD: Ford ran threads, but note difference when they tangled. (stony ford)
6. THREE FARTHING STONE: Measure money or weight, but do so thrice! (well... it's a stone)
7. ORTHANC: Tower alternatively compares to the sea, it seems. (both a stone and a rock!)
8. N A king in reverse is an element mixed with itself.
9. ERECH: There you may hear a confused cheer. (Stone of Erech, brought by Isildur)
10. T By the sound of it, dying's son.
11. HORNROCK: Not a car sound, nor the music, but the site of a stronghold. (a big outcropping of stone)
12. GIANTS: Step up! The gutsy insects grew enormous! (Stone giants of the Misty Mountains)
13. PALANTIR: Sphere in the middle of a messed up plan and a broken off tiara. (seeing stone)
14. G Note riders exchange directions with reluctant riders.
15. SECOND GATE OF GONDOLIN: Comes after the initial entrance into the city. (Gate of Stone)

Alright, a few more hints for the remaining ones?

2. U: Pinnacle organ on the far side is a cause for quarrel.
"On the far side" indicates that the red letter is on the far half of the answer, and the straight clue is at the end. This is a less known name for a very well-known thing.

8. N: A king in reverse is an element mixed with itself.
"king" is the straight clue. What king can you think of that might be related to the stone theme?

10. T: By the sound of it, dying's son.
An augmentation to the clue: By the sound of it, dying's son is a god within.
Again, what sounds like "dying"? Find "dying", and you'll find the son.

14. G: Note riders exchange directions with reluctant riders.
Seriously, post the top three things that come to mind when you think of Tolkien "riders", and examples for reluctant riders. I am sure you'll have the right ones, and I'll tell you if you get them.

DURIN is the king in halls of pillared stone, but where is the element? There's almost IRON, but not quite.

14: Riders suggests Rohan/the Mark, Black Riders, and Warg Riders if they actually exist outside of the Jacksonian fever-dream. Reluctant riders suggests... like... hobbits? Dwarves? I feel like neither of them are fond of riding. Also maybe goblins, if there's something in The Hobbit about them not liking to ride.

It sounds like the clue is [note]+[riders with changed direction letter/s] = [reluctant riders].

#10: Probably "dying" starts with T... trying? Tying/tieing? Tie ink? Try thing? Timing? Tay mink? Tea drink? I mean, the first two are most plausible, but I can't find an answer from them. Thy thing?

#8: I've wanted this one to be FELAGUND the entire time, but it doesn't work with the clue. Isildur and Anarion are kings carved in stone (the Argonath); all the kings of Gondor ("Stone-Land") technically qualify, as more tentatively does Turgon of Gondolin ("Hidden Rock"), and of course any dwarf (but I think Nain is the only N-name, and that's already been a no, right?). (I would love it to be NOM, but I don't think it works.)

#2: I've been thinking 'brain' for 'pinnacle organ', but if 'far side' is a place indicator... that could be MOUNT... something. MOUNT FANG? It at least has a U in it... or AMON UILOS (Taniquetil), which means 'Mount... Everwhite', but maybe Uilos sounds like some organ I can't think of.

hS

Riders of Rohan it is, by another name. And... yes, by another name.

Yes.


No. Starts with D, and you're looking for the father of the person that is the answer to the clue, who does start with T.

EDIT: to clarify, cause in retrospect this might have been ambiguous. "Dying" = the father, starting with D. The answer is the son, starting with T.

Hmm, this might have been less obvious than I thought. None of the above. Keep in mind that the king is reversed, ie his name ends on N. And the stone element comes from this kings alternative name.

You're right about mountains being involved in the answer. But "Mount Fang" puts the U in the first half of the word, and you want it to be on the far half. Also, important as brains are, there is yet a more important organ. ;)

Thorin Stonehelm for 8?

Not sure about the element ... hang on, it has IRON in it.

You have the right answer for the wrong clue. This is indeed one of the answers, but not for #8. Can you figure out which one?

The king in #8 is, hmmm... the king. A very well known one. Who, by a different but also widely known name, is connected to the stone theme. And the element in his name is not iron but something else.


The longer this goes, the more I think some of these clues were too difficult. I'm sorry if that's the case, I really did not expect these ones to be left over. I'm open to rewriting these clues if you think that would help.

Well for my part, I'm still feeling dull and worn, actually not to dissimilar to butter scraped over too much Bilbo. I don't think it's so much difficult clues as difficult time.

So... based purely on the elaborated clue, Thor + In = THORIN for #10. I admit I'd forgotten Stonehelm even existed, but even so I'd rhyme Dain with Pain, so it was a bit far off from dying in my accent. (I see it does have an accent on the A, so you're probably quite right, but I never flagged that.)

It's got to be Elessar the Elfstone, right? As you say, he is the King of the title... he's got a few names ending in N, including the obvious, but none leap out as including "an element mixed with itself". I'll guess DUNADAN, which can be parsed as U[ranium] + AND + AND: 'mixed with itself' could just about mean 'and, with another and'.

Eorlingas/Rohirrim/Eotheod, possibly. The G would be the note, giving Georlingas/Grohirrim/Geotheod, which at least parse as English words (Gnorthmen doesn't). Then change one or more direction letters to reach... either dwarves or hobbits.

I mean, hobbits don't have much of a stone connection, so dwarves? There doesn't seem to be a group name starting with G for dwarves, but either Gundabad or Gabilgathol (Belegost) could work. But I can't get there from the first half, so I remain stumped.

EDIT: #2... HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN? Organ, pinnacle, caused a minor argy-bargy between approximately everyone.

hS

THEME: STONE

1. JEWELS OF FEANOR "Choose a fair more!" - you hear from the corners of the world. (the Silmaril stones)
2. HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN: Pinnacle organ on the far side is a cause for quarrel. (the Arkenstone)
3. BRIDGE OF STONEBOWS: Sits across two drinks, skips two starts, and skipped on the greatest start. (a stone bridge)
4. TROLLS: They party at night, like in most Rolls-Royce incidents. (frozen in the sunlight)
5. SARN ATHRAD: Ford ran threads, but note difference when they tangled. (stony ford)
6. THREE FARTHING STONE: Measure money or weight, but do so thrice! (well... it's a stone)
7. ORTHANC: Tower alternatively compares to the sea, it seems. (both a stone and a rock!)
8. N A king in reverse is an element mixed with itself. (Ellessar, the Elfstone)
9. ERECH: There you may hear a confused cheer. (Stone of Erech, brought by Isildur)
10. THORIN: By the sound of it, dying's son. (also known as Stonehelm)
11. HORNROCK: Not a car sound, nor the music, but the site of a stronghold. (a big outcropping of stone)
12. GIANTS: Step up! The gutsy insects grew enormous! (Stone giants of the Misty Mountains)
13. PALANTIR: Sphere in the middle of a messed up plan and a broken off tiara. (seeing stone)
14. G Note riders exchange directions with reluctant riders.
15. SECOND GATE OF GONDOLIN: Comes after the initial entrance into the city. (Gate of Stone)



I cannot relate more. I've been feeling more and more like Frodo on the final trek to the mountain, or perhaps like too little nutrition scaped over too mucb sleep deprivation. Hence no updates on the Mirth threads from me (but soon... maybe). The 5 minutes of Downs a day has been keeping me sane.

Ah, that explains it. I thought Dying=Dain would be the easiest one to get, and then you just look up who his son is. I pronounce all the -ain Dwarf names that way, Dain, Nain, Thrain... Do you say them all like Pain?

Yes, and no. It is an obvious name, so don't go looking for obscurities. And you want an element moxed with the same element for the cryptic part.

You are right it is Dwarves. And in this name, particularly connected to stone, even more so than in general concept.

Work with Rohirrim. See if there is a very similar-sounding name for Dwarves, starting with G.

I do, and now I need to check if they all have accents. [Checks] They do, and so I have learned something today. :)

I wonder whether I heard an audio Hobbit when I was young - "Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror" is right there in my head. But the only one I remember owning (on cassette tape!) I don't think I ever listened to. (I did have a copy of Tolkien reading the Riddle-Game, but the dwarves amp't in that.)

The only word stuck in my head is Go-Hilleg, which is a Mannish name for the Numenorean invaders, so it's definitely not that. :-/

EDIT: Oh for Aule's sake, who let the Sindar get their grubby little mitts on the language? GONNHIRRIM, not a disease, but a group noun for the dwarves. I should have listened to my mind yelling "Gondobar!" at me sooner, it'd've pointed me in the right direction.

hS

I don't get how Thorin sounds like dying. To me it only sounds like defrosting! (Thawing). ;)

And now I realize that I was misspelling Gonnhirrim, I thought there was only one N. Oops.


THEME: STONE

1. JEWELS OF FEANOR "Choose a fair more!" - you hear from the corners of the world. (the Silmaril stones)
2. HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN: Pinnacle organ on the far side is a cause for quarrel. (the Arkenstone)
3. BRIDGE OF STONEBOWS: Sits across two drinks, skips two starts, and skipped on the greatest start. (a stone bridge)
4. TROLLS: They party at night, like in most Rolls-Royce incidents. (frozen in the sunlight)
5. SARN ATHRAD: Ford ran threads, but note difference when they tangled. (stony ford)
6. THREE FARTHING STONE: Measure money or weight, but do so thrice! (well... it's a stone)
7. ORTHANC: Tower alternatively compares to the sea, it seems. (both a stone and a rock!)
8. N A king in reverse is an element mixed with itself. (Ellessar, the Elfstone)
9. ERECH: There you may hear a confused cheer. (Stone of Erech, brought by Isildur)
10. THORIN: By the sound of it, dying's son. (also known as Stonehelm)
11. HORNROCK: Not a car sound, nor the music, but the site of a stronghold. (a big outcropping of stone)
12. GIANTS: Step up! The gutsy insects grew enormous! (Stone giants of the Misty Mountains)
13. PALANTIR: Sphere in the middle of a messed up plan and a broken off tiara. (seeing stone)
14. GONNHIRRIM: Note riders exchange directions with reluctant riders. (the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone)
15. SECOND GATE OF GONDOLIN: Comes after the initial entrance into the city. (Gate of Stone)


Thorin III Stonehelm's father is Dain. Thorin is "dying's son".


Tbh, my pronounciation of the 'Ains is not so much from the accents as from the Russian translation, where the vowels are more explicit. So it's by coincidence of exposure too I suppose that I pronounce it as "dying".



Last clue to go. And you already know the identity of the subject. :)

Aragorn and Argon mixed with Ar?

That's the one! I feel like the same element mixed with its own symbol in his name should have been exploited by now either here or in the Cryptics thread, but I can't recall such a clue at least in the recent past.



THEME: STONE

1. JEWELS OF FEANOR "Choose a fair more!" - you hear from the corners of the world. (the Silmaril stones)
2. HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN: Pinnacle organ on the far side is a cause for quarrel. (the Arkenstone)
3. BRIDGE OF STONEBOWS: Sits across two drinks, skips two starts, and skipped on the greatest start. (a stone bridge)
4. TROLLS: They party at night, like in most Rolls-Royce incidents. (frozen in the sunlight)
5. SARN ATHRAD: Ford ran threads, but note difference when they tangled. (stony ford)
6. THREE FARTHING STONE: Measure money or weight, but do so thrice! (well... it's a stone)
7. ORTHANC: Tower alternatively compares to the sea, it seems. (both a stone and a rock!)
8. NROGARA: A king in reverse is an element mixed with itself. (Ellessar, the Elfstone)
9. ERECH: There you may hear a confused cheer. (Stone of Erech, brought by Isildur)
10. THORIN: By the sound of it, dying's son. (also known as Stonehelm)
11. HORNROCK: Not a car sound, nor the music, but the site of a stronghold. (a big outcropping of stone)
12. GIANTS: Step up! The gutsy insects grew enormous! (Stone giants of the Misty Mountains)
13. PALANTIR: Sphere in the middle of a messed up plan and a broken off tiara. (seeing stone)
14. GONNHIRRIM: Note riders exchange directions with reluctant riders. (the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone)
15. SECOND GATE OF GONDOLIN: Comes after the initial entrance into the city. (Gate of Stone)



And over to Pervinca!

...

...

Mandos take it, I should have got that! I'm going to have to hand in my Chemist badge... :-/

Nice puzzle, G55, and nice solving, Pervinca! Especially that last one... ai, I'm never going to live that down.

hS

I was thinking 'heart of the mountain' but didn't make the connections. And I didn't do much solving at all! Don't know if it's the news and the lockdown, but my brain doesn't seem to be working very well. It was a great password, though!

I'll try to post one soon.

If it makes you feel any better, I recall kicking myself for not getting a simple anatomy-based clue, something related to the uterus (possibly uterine --> Turin? can't recall). I went up and down the anatomy of the entire female reproductive tract that time and missed the most obvious thing. What can you do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That's the one! I feel like the same element mixed with its own symbol in his name should have been exploited by now either here or in the Cryptics thread, but I can't recall such a clue at least in the recent past.

I thought that was what you meant, and tried that method early on, but couldn't find the right element. So wondered if 'with itself' was the ego or the id or something, or the element was fire or water or something, or the sort you find inside a kettle. :D

Losing it? Moi?

Here we go, then:

1. Food storage source, albeit deep? So long!
2. Palindromic dwarf? Different nasal and a shuffle produces a place of mirth.
3. Wax lyrical, grain! One hopes it’s happening to bread.
4. Glistening part of a leg – wherefore, we hear?
5. Song comes between article and element for him.
6. A well-governed Dashwood is nonetheless in turmoil here.
7. Press this substance.
8. Organ of negative direction.
9. Pluralise a palindrome that sounds like another. They’ll stare you in the face.
10: Oswald Alving craved it. The last thing he ever craved.

4. SHINY: shin + Y?

This already seems like a very interesting password...


ETA: a tentative NOSE for #8 - "no" + South East?

Uncannily accurate!
 

1. Food storage source, albeit deep? So long!
2. Palindromic dwarf? Different nasal and a shuffle produces a place of mirth.
3. Wax lyrical, grain! One hopes it’s happening to bread.
SHINY: Glistening part of a leg – wherefore, we hear?
5. Song comes between article and element for him.
6. A well-governed Dashwood is nonetheless in turmoil here.
7. Press this substance.
NOSE: Organ of negative direction.
9. Pluralise a palindrome that sounds like another. They’ll stare you in the face.
10: Oswald Alving craved it. The last thing he ever craved.

ETA, G55? Estimated time of arrival?

6. I wanna say the Dashwood is Elinor, but the closest place I can think of requires a letter swap too, for LINDOR.

Edit to add. I feel like I picked it up somewhere on the Downs (Werewolf perhaps?), and it's been confusing non-Werewolf people ever since.

Elinor is the right Dashwood. The one who governs her feelings. You are going to kick yourself when you realise where the place (not Lindor) is. ;)

Although I thank you for making me think of chocolate. :D

*facepalm* I was totally thinking of Lindon, but this was a hilarious memory-slip. :D

It's not Lindon. ;)

LORIEN. :rolleyes: