L16

Question 1

弋

Answer 1

ARROW // at the top, imagine those three points to be a spike, the hook at the bottom its feathers, and the dot is the wind rushing past. this isn’t just any arrow, though, it’s been custom curved to trick opponents and uppercut, the robin hood equivalent of a homing missile.

Question 2

式

Answer 2

CRAFT // for some, style in the workplace is of little importance. But for the red arrows, their work is all about the style; style is why kids shout for them in the fields. See the arrows mid loop - their work wouldn’t be much without style.

Question 3

试

Answer 3

TEST // NEXT have just put out a new line of clothes. the designer thinks they’re stylish, but the bosses want it put to the test. so an army of NEXT staff take to the streets with tests on clipboards. what will customers say about the styles?

Question 4

戈

Answer 4

HALBERD // these aren’t arrows, they’re too heavy for firing, what with their extra lower blade, in fact, combined, they create a long-handled axe, the kind that sentries prop up at doors and cross in a swift gesture accross the door for some unwanted miscreant.

fiesta // we’re softening this weapon into a symbol of festivity. rather than a second blade, a tassle has been hung to turn the arrow into a sign of Paaartteay

Question 5

战

Answer 5

WAR // war should never be entered blindly, but one ruler was wiser than most… he consulted the oracle, who divined a future of death and horrific desctruction. “damned if my men are doing that, he said, so let’s have a fiesta instead. crack out the paella!”

Question 6

划

Answer 6

SCRATCH // at the fiesta high in the hills, fierce rivalries come out every year. to release this aggresive tension, town elders devised an annual fencing match. real sabres, but even the slightest scratch counts as a win.

Question 7

或

Answer 7

OR // It was fiesta time, and the guests were taking a tour. “tidy your room right now, or else” said the rich spanish mum to her spoilt brat. “or else wot?” said the brat. and that, as they say, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. the mum flipped, grabbed the back of his head, and shoved his mouth onto the floor. “or THAT!!”

Question 8

贼

Answer 8

BURGLAR // Most of us see a fiesta as a party. Burglars see it as an opportunity. All they need is a needle, and they’ll be on their way to picking the lock and robbing the family shells. (Quite rare shells, so it’s worth it)

Question 9

载

Answer 9

LADEN // the top bits (soil + fiesta) are the primitive “thanksgiving”, a fiesta for the soil, a harvest festival where everyone has root veg. mmm… not so great.
Anyway, this particular cottage couple have filled a wheelbarrow (vehicle) stuffed to overflowing with turnips, completely laden with the earth’s bounty.

Question 10

戈

enclosed with a downward stroke on the left

Answer 10

PARADE // we write this with ‘cliff’/’factory’ style bit first, then the rest of fiesta.
unlike the wild, all-encompassing fiestas, this is a more restrained, orderly version, with a parade through a german town. everything inside this ‘enclosure’ we’ve made with the extra stroke is involved in the parade… but nothing else!

Question 11

茂

Answer 11

LUSH // a new flower shop has opened in town. “LUSH” it’s called. but so busy is the owner caring for her beautiful flowers that she doesn’t enter them into the annual parade. thus, when the day comes, the parade trundles past, barren of flowers, while hers, lush and fresh, are tucked up in the shop.

Question 12

成

Answer 12

TURN INTO // today’s parade features circus performers. one of whom, “the amazing mr swish” is performing a daring knife throw. yet at the crucial second he slips, and hurls the knife at the crowd. in a flash, the family parade turns into an epic battle royale with knives being thrown left right and centre.

Question 13

城

Answer 13

CITY // when he was 6, Timmy used to take mounds of earth and turn them into a city, with walls, parks and offices. now, aged 46, he is stationed in china, staring at a pile of earth and wondering how on earth they are going to have a city up and running within just 2 years.

Question 14

诚

Answer 14

SINCERE // sincerity is tested on one thing and one thing alone; whether you can turn words into deeds. imagine that every time you make a promise, the words hang like a cloud in front of you, only to dissipate if you sincerely complete the task.

Question 15

威

Answer 15

MIGHT // the primitive here is a ‘march’ - like a parade, but with an extra ‘one’, the single-mindedness of its participants.
here, women are marching. for all the men who dismissed them, this march of 10,000 women is a display of might that cannot be left undeeded.

Question 16

咸

Answer 16

SALTY // it never made it to shops, the debut and final album of a forgotten rock band “Salty Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”… the studio manager, a loud-mouth grump, marched them out of the building to make way for another (somewhat more successful) Liverpudlean band.

Question 17

钱

[only right half]

Answer 17

FLOAT // such an important part of a fiesta - how else would everyone get involved. This year, in fact, they’ve added an extra floor to the main float, now there are three.

Question 18

钱

Answer 18

COIN // gold. float. obviously we’re talking about one of the most famous occasions in the world involving floats; the mardi gras! This year, instead of beads, the bikini-clad hunnies are chucking out 32crt gold coins. Coins!

Question 19

浅

Answer 19

SHALLOW // the band at the front of the parade hadn’t quite read the map properly, and thus led all the floats to a local river. “never fear”, said the elf driving the float behind them, “we’ll just find somewhere shallow and cross there. and they did! lapping only the bottom sides.

Question 20

贱

Answer 20

CHEAP // floats, by their nature, are not at all cheap. Everyone else goes for broke, but the town accountant has better ideas, spending his clams carefully, cutting back on all the parts and labour. When the day comes, it’s very obvious whose was made on the cheap; his never even leaves the garage!

Question 21

尧

Answer 21

YAO // King Yao, 2300BCE invented the olympic javelin. No really (supposedly) he did. Wanting his son to improve his upper body strength, he slightly modified a halberd (see the dash taken off) so it could be thrown far. After many years it found its way to the greeks, who made a javelin. And it’s all down to King Yao.

javelin thrower //

Question 22

烧

Answer 22

FEVER // sometimes, when you least expect it, a fever hits you. it’s almost as if a javelin-throwing fire god has struck you from above. guess what?? That’s exactly what happens! No kidding. You just have to hope the fire javelin of fever only hits your forehead and misses your heart.

Question 23

晓

Answer 23

DAWN // it’s a calm word, dawn, with connotations of birdsong and a soft increase in temperature. WRONG - this is Dawn of evil, with rays of sun hitting you like a brutal javelin. The dawn of a summer hangover, sun bursting through the window.