Posted on by Terry Deague

My Book as a Puzzle

I believe Where Pademelons Play is a challenging but rewarding read for those who stay with it.  When writing it, my intention always was that I and my diligent readers would be partners in the enterprise.  WPP poses puzzles, inviting the reader to solve them and thereby enjoy the degree of participation that completing a crossword or wrestling a Rubic’s cube to the mat might bring.

Do you find this concept daunting?  Then I propose the following list of questions for your consideration.  As you read WPP, tick off these questions as you think you’ve uncovered the answers to them.  I hope, as a result, your motivation, comprehension, and level of satisfaction shall have been enhanced.

The questions vary in difficulty.  For example, question 1 should be easy, but question 9 may prove problematic.  Good hunting!

  1. What is a pademelon?
  2. Where do pademelons play?
  3. What do pademelons play at?
  4. Why does the novel have the sub-title ‘A Presentation’?
  5. Why is Harry McMinn a person of interest to the narrator?
  6. Who is Mulki Larka?
  7. What handedness does Harry McMinn have?
  8. What handedness does Fyodor Ogorodnikov have?
  9. What might be the clinical description of Harry’s frequent bouts of sensual confusion?
  10. What is Matt’s ‘mission statement in pictorial form’?
  11. How did Sticks get her nickname?
  12. How did Snow get his nickname?
  13. Who did Sal, the hands-free criminal supremo, choose to lay hands on?
  14. What, in Izzie’s lexicon, is a ‘yodeller’?
  15. What, in Harry’s lexicon, is a ‘winkipop’?  Family-friendly language please!
  16. What, in Ronnie’s lexicon, is an ‘anisotropane’?
  17. What, in Sonia’s lexicon, is ‘the drill’?
  18. Where did Baharudin get his education?
  19. Where did Elena get her education?
  20. What alcoholic drink does Matt spruik?
  21. What alcoholic drink does Ramon spruik?
  22. How did Harry acquire street cred?
  23. What should one do when one visits Petrozavodsk?
  24. With what (mythical) sea creature may Elena be compared?
  25. Why is Elena so spooked by Michelangelo?
  26. What are the (unlikely) identities of R and G?
  27. Whose prayers are always answered?