tBiaN Poetry Prompt | Word Games | Brain Gym

Who Can Work Out The Mystery Word In This Hidden Acrostic?

Without cheating!

Lucy at the Brain is a Noodle recently tagged me into one of her ever-clever poetry prompts. Essentially it was an invitation to play a brain game. Specifically, a puzzle with words. Me, being a speech pathologist, took the bait! Words are a bit of a thing for me, and so too are word games. That’s because I’ve had to devise all sorts of weird and wonderful ways to engage children for whom words are more foe than friend.

So here is one of the word games I’ve used in therapy sessions over the years. We call it ‘Mystery Word’ in therapy but in adult-speak, it’s a hidden acrostic. There’s a word embedded in these lines and Lucy told me not to tell you what it is. See if you can work it out for yourself. 😉

You find it in laugh but not unappealing It’s there in pleased but not deplores There’s quite a lot in playful but not disgracefully You can hear it in applause but not insufferable There’s plenty in bliss but not abysmal It’s present in content but not corrupted You see it in love but not violation You seek it in trust but not torture It’s found in smile but not maleficence

© Carolyn Hastings 2021

Did you work it out? If you did, that’s brilliant. ✨ 🏆 😀 But please, resist the temptation to write the answer in the comments and spoil the fun for others. 🙏

If you’re still scratching your head and desperate for a way into the puzzle, here’s a hint: think of each line as being a clue to revealing a letter in the ‘mystery word’. The clues are in the order that spells out the letters to the word. This ‘mystery word’ has nine letters.

If you really can’t figure it out, and you’re busting to know the answer, you’ll find it here.

Why the bathing boxes?

I took the photo of the three bathing boxes (boat sheds) on the weekend when I was walking along the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne. Ever since I was a child, I’ve been curious about what’s behind the closed doors of these historic timber sheds dotted along the beach front. Mystery boxes full of surprises. A bit like a hidden acrostic! 😉

The bathing box with the painted sun on its doors was the closest we came to seeing the sun that day. The wind was blowing (again), making it difficult to have a pleasant conversation with walk-along-hubby so what better to do with my brain than to put together a word puzzle?! And that’s exactly what I did! I worked out this hidden acrostic in my head while I was out walking! My next challenge was to keep it there until I had a chance to write it down! 😅

Thank you, Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) for tagging me into your fun game. Nothing quite like a workout for the ol’ noodle, eh?! 😆

Who else is up for some brain gym? Susannah MacKinnie ? Amy Marley ? Kiera McCoard ? James G Brennan ? Dennett ? You’ll find all you need to know here. 😉