November Contest

[hpsmarty]

Hi everyone.  I just remembered that I never posted the November 
contest here.  Sorry.  I'll try to remember to post it here every 
month as well as on the main list.  Anyway, the November contest is 
still running. In fact, it's likely to be running until December 8 or 
so, since I'll be away.

The rules are:

1. All responses, as well as questions or comments about the contest 
should be emailed to me at hpsmarty at a... (that's hpsmarty AT aol 
DOT com). Don't post anything contest-related to the main list!

2. There are two contests -- a puzzle and a creative contest. In an 
effort to increase the level of creativity in the world, everyone who 
enters the puzzle contest MUST enter the creative contest as well. 
(You can enter ONLY the creative contest if you want.)

And here's the current contest:

CREATIVE CONTEST (you can respond to EITHER question):

1. You are on the Board of Governors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft 
and Wizardry. The Governors have decided that Hogwarts need a fifth 
house. What do you think the fifth house should be? Who should it be 
named after? What characteristics should its students have? How would 
the Sorting Hat describe it?

-- OR --

2. The Board of Governors has also decided to add some new classes at 
Hogwarts. Can you name and/or describe a new class that you think 
should be taught at Hogwarts?

PUZZLE CONTEST

This month's puzzle is called ADD LETTERS.  You have to come up with 
nine groups of three words each.  For each set, three clue are 
given.  The first clue is for the shortest word, which will be 2, 3, 
or 4 letters long.  The new letter can be placed anywhere in the 
word, 
as long as you keep the letters in the same order.)  If you add a 
letter to that word, you will get the next word.  Then, you add an 
additional letter to the new word to get the third one.  At least one 
word in each set will have something to do with Harry Potter (more or 
less).  Here's an example:

gorilla; back of the neck; potions master

Answers: APE; NAPE; SNAPE

Got it?  The first clue, gorilla, gives you APE.  Add an N to get 
NAPE (back of the neck), then add an S to get SNAPE (potions master).

When you're done with all nine sets, take the 18 letters that you've 
added to get the second and third words in each set, and rearrange 
them to fill in the blanks in this sentence:

George and  _______________  are  _________.

1. one that is or does (suffix); flower; busy holiday at Hogwarts
2. one when it starts with a vowel; pale; Harry doesn't always need 
this
3. loud noise; vehicle; New York or Western Australia county
4. bell noise; highly regarded item; as white as Lockhart's teeth
5. risk; top; Firenze, by choice
6. weak; type of war; He's long-lived
7. censor; enigmatic forest denizen; actor Orson
8. What Nearly-Headless Nick never does say; One of the Ravenclaws; 
footwear
9. very useful critter; very useful utensil; innard

As always, DON'T post your answers to the list.  Email them to me at 
hpsmarty at aol.com (That's hpsmarty AT aol DOT com.)  And remember the 
new requirement – submit an entry to the creative contest along with 
your puzzle entry.

–Joywitch M. Curmudgeon