The brand-new Constitution caused fights
Famous statesmen stayed up many nights
“Hamilton!  Hold the phone!
We got rid of the throne!
We ain’t signing ’til we get some rights!”

Event: James Madison first proposes the Bill of Rights to Congress
Year: 1789
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights

Congratulations to Shirley for taking a risk and sticking her neck out.  “Know Your Picture Characters” is not a game for the faint of heart.  Unfortunately, she would have been better off fishing just a few feet to the left, because the correct answer was not “F” but “A.”  I’m not totally sure how she was counting “elements;” kanji are generally classified by the number of strokes used to write them, which, with the exception of the numbers one, two, and three, typically has nothing to do with their meaning.  In this case, F is a 9-stroke character, and A and B are both 10.  In fact, none of the characters that appeared in this week’s challenge contain 7 strokes.

A consolation prize goes to A Fan, who completely failed to pick the right character but correctly identified that the Japanese love puns.  And special thanks to Dragon, for reminding us that, “there were a lot of wars in ancient times.”

The seven characters mean, in order: week, hour, month, year, day, second, and minute.  Many of these also have other meanings; longtime KYPC participants may recognize a kanji or two from our “Days of the Week” edition.

週　時　月　年　日　秒　分

But enough about time.  Let’s move on to someplace else.  Specifically, “place.”  Having taken care of the “when,” now we’re going to practice a bit with the “where.”  These characters all represent geographical features and should, theoretically, be easier to identify by how they look than things like colors or intervals of time.  So take a crack at picking out the one that represents the thing that there are 10,000 of in the state in which I live (I’ll give you a hint: it’s not mountains).

A. 川　B. 島　C. 原　D. 湖　E. 森　F. 山

“Knew this day would come,” she said
Her voice filled with regret
“My daughter’s been fleeing them
Oh . . . ever since we met”

“Met?” said Tifa, puzzledly
“A funny thing to say”
“Aeris did not meet me ‘til
Long past her first birthday”

“This’ll be long, won’t it?”
Cloud asked, stifling a groan
He was wishing he had brought
A flask to call his own

“This was way back in the war”
The mom said with a sigh
“My husband was at the front
Some place they called Wutai

“One day I got a message
That my man was home on leave
I waited on, for days and days
Ne’er him I did perceive

“There at the train station
Was a woman, destitute
I have to say, my first thought was
She was a prostitute

“With her was a young girl
For her sake she did implore
‘Help my daughter Aeris’
Then the mother was no more”

This week’s puzzle:

Two artists who got in trouble because of where they were travel to a place where they can get in trouble for what they are. When they end up having to flee from a mistimed birthday celebration, they escape with the aid of a man who refuses to let anything get in the way of what he wants.

Last week’s puzzle:

A man returns to a job he doesn’t especially want and pursues an achievement that he would rather no one knew about. A man who lacks control learns how to speak inanely and how not to think.

And the answer is . . . ▼

In the Era of the Warring State
Many daimyo ruled- some small, some great
He who conquered Japan
Was no hasty young man
He knew sometimes the key is to wait

Event: Death of Tokugawa Ieyasu, warlord and founder of Japan’s third shogunate
Year: 1616
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period