Over to Pervinca.

OK. I have one back at the office. (The one I hadn't yet written the clues for early yesterday evening).

Back soon.

Told you! Here it is:

1. Mother returns – back to the Ford, almost – for him.
2. Invert direction of winding suburban French train. Why, we hear? For him!
3. Primate runs back for him, vowel-shifting in the process!
4. See a dwarf caper around for him!
5. He returns, but to no German village.

5. A German village, I think, is a Dorf. Add a 0 ('no') and (re)turn it, you get FRODO.



hS

3. Rumil, from lemur.

I am assuming that a 'dwarf' means 'miner' again.

1. Mother returns – back to the Ford, almost – for him.
2. Invert direction of winding suburban French train. Why, we hear? For him!
RUMIL: Primate runs back for him, vowel-shifting in the process!
4. See a dwarf caper around for him!
FRODO: He returns, but to no German village.

I'm pretty sure this dwarf mines, (given half a chance!), but we're not calling him 'miner' on this occasion.

I think it's Oin or Ori, because only they make sense.


Back to clue 1, is Ford a car or a surname?

French translation of suburban train is 'un train de banlieue'. Is this what we're supposed to use?

If there was a word 'almost' in the clue, I'd say it's OROPHIN (OIN+ROMP) for clue 4.

Or maybe OROPHIN (ORI+HOP)

I know that in German, there are specific names for different styles of train (U-bahn/S-bahn); not sure if the same applies in French.

If Rumil is Rumil of Tirion, we might be looking at scholars.

Or, of course, Lorien if he's the Marchwarden.

hS

1. Mother returns – back to the Ford, almost – for him.
2. Invert direction of winding suburban French train. Why, we hear? For him!
RUMIL: Primate runs back for him, vowel-shifting in the process!
OROPHIN: See a dwarf caper around for him!
FRODO: He returns, but to no German village.

It IS OROPHIN, but it's NORI + HOP, so no need for 'almost.'

And if Frodo is Frodo Gardner, then he has six brothers, one of which has to be one of the remaining clues....

There is a particular service that serves the suburbs of a particular French city. Or at least, there was twenty-seven years ago. I doubt they would have torn it out, though.

Apparently the Paris suburbs have a train system called the RER. 'Why, we hear' must mean add a Y/I... could #2 be MERRY? It has RER + Y, and M is what you get if you invert the initial direction of 'winding' (ie, it's an upside-down W).

hS

And if that's right, then the password is AMROD, and #1 is AMRAS - reversed MA, plus reversed 'SAR' which is nearly reversed 'car'.

hS

Password: Amrod?

Ninjaed. :(

Make it easier than your usual ones, please.

Exactement!

Ou - presque exactement. ;)

'Winding' means twist RER to ERR.

'Invert' is invert the direction letter (W) for the M.

Given that you lot have been scattering anagrams, mid-word password letters, and straight clues which read, in their entirety, 'him', I can't see that you can reasonably call me difficult.

Unless you mean that I have a tendency to use stuff which doesn't come quickly to mind, in which case: guilty as charged.

hS

Well, it's hard to come up with themed passwords while only using first letters (Though I did manage it with my last two passwords. ;))

AMRAS: Mother returns – back to the Ford, almost – for him.
MERRY: Invert direction of winding suburban French train. Why, we hear? For him!
RUMIL: Primate runs back for him, vowel-shifting in the process!
OROPHIN: See a dwarf caper around for him!
FRODO: He returns, but to no German village.

THEME: BROTHERS

Correct, except that it's MA reversed, then most of SARN (Ford) reversed, for Amras.

(Sarn Ford is in the Shire, I believe).

Over to Huey!

I... disagree? All my passwords have been themed, and either used first letters or included specific pointers in the clue to say which letter you need.

It just involves a lot of discarding possible passwords because you can't find the clues that fit. :)

hS

Also, be glad, for if I had my way, most of my passwords would go: Maeglin Turin Lalaith - repeat ad infinituim at your leisure. :p)

All right, here we go:

1. If you want to play, shortly pay in what sounds like a dour, frozen world with a different note.
2. Alternately, it's ok, thank the Sea for the toothed summit.
3. It doesn't matter... or bottom, don't light any fires.
4. If you hear a greeting (or more than one) before the Elvish city, look to the west.
5. It's bad, but you need Marie's bane inside - duh, pretty much. Take a third of what one founded.

hS

3. Weathertop (WHETHER+TOP)

Interesting, for that's my given name, and I have only one bane and he goes by Quenya name of Lomion.

1. If you want to play, shortly pay in what sounds like a dour, frozen world with a different note.
2. Alternately, it's ok, thank the Sea for the toothed summit.
WEATHERTOP - It doesn't matter... or bottom, don't light any fires.
4. If you hear a greeting (or more than one) before the Elvish city, look to the west.
5. It's bad, but you need Marie's bane inside - duh, pretty much. Take a third of what one founded.

Oops! Well, it's not you (so far as I know... :eek:), and this bane was of the more permanent variety.

It's also nothing to do with Maeglin, I promise. :)

hS

I wish it did.....

Greeting is 'Hi'. Elvish city is probably Tirion. West is W.

2. Orthanc, meaning Mount Fang? Alternatively = or, + thank without k (0 k), + sea = c.

Password: Downs
Theme: Places in Eriador.

Let's see if I got the password and the theme based on a single letter. :D

TOWER for password?

5. Barad-dur? Bad + Ra + du(h)

Edit: Crossed with Urwen

No, yes, and no.

Yes, precisely. :)

No, and no.

Yes, and yes. Ra is Radium, which gave Marie Curie cancer. And 'take a third' points to the third letter, so...

T - If you want to play, shortly pay in what sounds like a dour, frozen world with a different note.
ORTHANC - Alternately, it's ok, thank the Sea for the toothed summit.
WEATHERTOP - It doesn't matter... or bottom, don't light any fires.
E - If you hear a greeting (or more than one) before the Elvish city, look to the west.
BARAD-DUR - It's bad, but you need Marie's bane inside - duh, pretty much. Take a third of what one founded.

Two to go!

hS

5. Elostirion? (OLE+S+TIRION)

Wouldn't it be 'ELLOS (Hellos) plus Tirion? (ELOS sounding like it).

Oh! The Spanish greeting.

Was Barad-Dur a third of someone else's building?

Elostirion is correct, and no, 'third' pointed to the letter; straight clue is that the foundations were made with the One Ring.

T - If you want to play, shortly pay in what sounds like a dour, frozen world with a different note.
ORTHANC - Alternately, it's ok, thank the Sea for the toothed summit.
WEATHERTOP - It doesn't matter... or bottom, don't light any fires.
ELOSTIRION - If you hear a greeting (or more than one) before the Elvish city, look to the west.
BARAD-DUR - It's bad, but you need Marie's bane inside - duh, pretty much. Take a third of what one founded.

hS

The first clue just doesn't come together, and judging by the silence not for me alone.

The only lead I have is sound-alikes for dour: taur, and tower itself. Taur isn't really used in the context of towers though, and from all the towers by that name I can't find any that would explain the rest of the clue.

There's Tar-Minastir, but I couldn't find any of the elements in that.

The problem with googling 'Tolkien towers' is ... no, not that you find Torquay hotels claiming Tolkien once stayed there, but that it brings up 'The Two Towers' instead.