[UPDATE NOTE: I put an enlarged one for “A” in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there it might help. Although enlarging tends to make it even fuzzier. Try to imagine it as just a plain pencil drawing w/ no color. They were tough to figure out, especially back then.
UPDATE #2: I went back and found the original BW one – and it is MUCH CLEARER! Hopefully this helps. And why they colored the middle item in #18 green I’ll never know.]
We can thank JD for inspiring today’s theme. A “REBUS” as defined by Merriam Webster:
: a representation of words or syllables by pictures of objects or by symbols whose names resemble the intended words or syllables in sound
also : a riddle made up of such pictures or symbols
You might have noticed I posted one the other day in a reply to JD. As an example I used the Rebus she had posted in another blog …
Which would be solved as “Straighten Up and Fly Right”
As a nod to the Holiday Season, a couple of decades ago I remember enjoying a Christmas Song themed Rebus game at a party. In fact I found that very same puzzle online – although now it’s in color, but a bit fuzzy. (I suppose time does that to all of us.) And a newer, but briefer version.
So I’m going to post two Christmas Song Rebuses for you to solve. Some of them are a bit of a stretch of your imagination, and there will be overlap – but that’s OK. You can either post your answer in Comments or keep an answer list. But I won’t be posting the Official Answers until Saturday, in order to give everyone time to take a guess. (Sorry – but there are NO prizes.)
[A]
[Original B/W]:
[B]
10 Responses to “Friday Fun: Have Yourself a “Rebus” Little Christmas”
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Nameless, as interesting as they sound, for me to see those well enough to solve them is like a video clip without captions for you! Could the second be Christmas Carols?
Enjoy, everyone!
Cool beans! Will be back with lists, after increasing the size – and with a twofer that you didn’t include (because it doesn’t fit the game.)
In 1977, Playboy started a magazine simply called “Games.” I was a charter subscriber, for a few years. Among other things, they ran sets of rebuses (answers in the back.) In a group designed to represent names of famous people (nothing to do with Christmas except for one) they included one sort of like this:
It actually didn’t look much like that, but it did combine those two elements. They were looking for “Carol(e) King.” But one clever reader came up with an alternate so good they had to publish it. I’ll share that when I publish what I come up with for the “A” list (which will not be complete – too hard to see, even blown up.)
The “B” List:
1 White Christmas
2 (We) Three Kings
3 Santa Baby
4 Away in a Manger
5 No L
6 Silver Bells
7 Little Drummer Boy
8 Twelve Days of Christmas
9 Blue Christmas
10 Night Before Christmas (there are many valid alternates)
11 Jingle Bell Rock
12 All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth
(I’m not 100% positive, but can defend my choices.)
I’m not 100% positivie on these – in fact some I came up empty so I just submit a partial explanation. I can’t exactly defend everyone of these choices, but I can explain them
The “A” List
1 Ring those Christmas Bells
2 (Walking in a) Winter Wonderland
3 Here Comes Santa Claus
4 The Holly and The Ivy
5 (Has to be Rudolph, but I’m not getting it to click – unless it’s “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”)
6 Oh Come All Ye Faithful
7 (I’m Dreaming of a) White Christmas
8 It probably isn’t this, but there IS a carol called “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree” which is pretty popular here in Colorado.
9 What Child is This?
10 We Three Kings
11 Deck the Hall
12 I Saw Three Ships
13 O Holy (K)night
14 No L (one of my favorites)
15 Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris
16 Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
17 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
18 (I see the “All” [awl] and I see the “Saw” but all I can see in between is pliers, and that doesn;t work.)
19 Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire
20 It’s the Most Wonderful Time
21 Let It Snow
22 Silent (K)night
23 (Gotta have something to do with giving, but I can’t place it.)
24 Silver Bells (GROAN!)
The clever Games Magazine reader who blew up their “Carole King” rebus poimted out that Noel Coward pronounced his surname “Card” and therefore could be equally represented by the rebus offered.
Ah – then #23 must be O Little Town of Bethlehem,” though it was the angle more than the color that threw me off. I still can’t do anything with 5, or 8, or 18, though, even with research. Though I’m delighted that the research led me to – among others – Snoopy’s WWI Christmas.
Very impressive! Just a few miscues (some of which I think you could contest.)
#5 – Focus on the Paint Can
#8 – Visualize all those as the cursive letter “O”
#18 – I agree: Truly arcane & obtuse – even in B/W
#5 – That’s a paint can? You could have fooled me! (Actually , it did fool me. I thought it was a package with a bow.) OK, I’ll think some more.
#8 – So, then, “O Christmas Tree.” I still like mine, though. It only got rated at #48 on the top 50 list this year, behind “Ding Dong Merrily on High” but above “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” The announcer says that in England, they sing it, in groups, in apple orchards during the Christmas season. (O Christmas Tree came in enough higher they haven’t gotten to it yet in the countdown. It may have been inflated a place or two on account of the tear-jerking story one of the voters submitted with it. Update – they just got to it – #36.)
#18 I absolutely give up. But I’ll wait until others give up too. Don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun.
(Oh, yeah – and #4 is Joy to the World” – it was illegible in color).
Thanks, Nameless for this.
I’m trying…
Thanks, Nameless, but I’m completely out of my league here. Even the answers/suggestions given by Joanne didn’t ring very many jingle bells.
I’m going to have to be like Pat and keep trying to name these. I know many of the songs, it’s just figuring out if I named it correctly.
Appreciate Joanne’s list. Like her I thought 5 was Rudolph, yet she mentioned it might be Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.
I’m going to keep trying.
Thanks Nameless