The Irish tell a story about a notorious drunkard and trickster named Jack. He couldn’t enter heaven because he was a miser, and he was unable to enter hell because he had played practical jokes on the devil. The devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the darkness. Jack placed the hot coal inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer and was left to walk the earth until Judgment Day with his “Jack’s lantern.”
In Ireland grew up the custom of carving out the insides of turnips and filling them with embers to represent the souls of the dead. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America. Here, they replaced turnips with the more abundant pumpkins to create jack-o’-lanterns, and the practice spread.
Oh my gourd! Let’s carve out some humor with a pumpkin patch of riddles for Halloween. Orange you pumped for this?
What vegetable do you get when you drop a pumpkin?
Squash.
Why did Cinderella suck at softball?
Because her coach was a pumpkin.
What’s the favorite food of mathematicians?
Pumpkin pi.
How do jack-o’-lantern stop smoking?
They wear a pumpkin patch.
What do you call a jack-o’-lantern living on a farm?
A country pumpkin.
Who helps the little pumpkins cross the road safely?
The crossing gourd.
What do you call a fat jack-o’-lantern?
A plumpkin.
What did the pumpkin say to the pumpkin carver?
“Cut it out!”
What do you call an athletic pumpkin?
A jock-o’-lantern.
What do hyenas carry to find their way around at night?
Jackal lanterns.
How did Mr. Hyde celebrate Halloween?
With a Jekyll lantern.
In honor of the seasonal pumpkin, let’s celebrate some words that have one thing in common. They all end with the letters k-i-n. Provide the missing letters for each word defined:
1. jack-o’-lantern material: _ _ _ _ kin
2. Oz midget: _ _ _ _ _kin
3. lip wiper: _ _ _kin
4. model of the human body: _ _ _ _kin
5. similar : _kin
6. awkward country fellow: _ _ _ _kin
7. NFL ball: _ _ _ _kin
Using the definitions as clues, identify the following words that begin with the letters k-i-n:
8. considerate: kin_
9. monarch: kin_
10. class for children: kin_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
11. light a fire: kin_ _ _
12. tight curl: kin_
13. far out, eccentric: kin_ _
14. relating to movement: kin_ _ _ _
15. study of movement: kin_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Answers
1. pumpkin; 2. Munchkin; 3. napkin; 4. manikin; 5. akin;
6. bumpkin; 7. pigskin; 8. kind; 9. king; 10. kindergarten;
11. kindle; 12. kink; 13. kinky; 14. kinetic; 15. kinesiology
***
On Saturday, Nov. 13, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., I’ll be manning a book booth at the Rancho Santa Fe Holiday Extravaganza Street Fair, which is sponsored by the Ranch Santa Fe Rotary Club for benefit of homeless children. It’s at the 16000 block of Via de Santa Fe between Paseo Delicias and La Fletcha in Rancho Santa Fe. I’d love to meet you there. ission is free and worth every penny.
For more information email [email protected] or [email protected].
