A. 芸　B. 英　C. 落　D. 葉

E. 芋　F. 苦　G. 芥　H. 若

Finally, Theoman has solved the age-old question: “What is a potato?”  Answer: it’s a rock with grass on it.  I salute him for this ground-breaking philosophical achievement, though I would recommend that my other readers stay away from his “potato soup” in the future, especially if you don’t have dental insurance.  But H, in fact, is not a potato: in failing to recognize that the bottom portion of H is not “rock” but “right” (as opposed to “left”), Theoman made one of the classic blunders of youth.  Pain (F) apparently reminds him of England, and Art (A) is trashy.  He believes that to fall (C) is to suffer, but his suffering was not total: in the end, on one of his throwaway answers, he correctly picked D as “leaf.”

A(nother) Fan’s response makes a little more sense grammatically when one remembers that the way the issue was phrased in the episode was actually whether or not it is common maritime practice for a ship to have a crew.  His potato, sadly, has rolled off the quarterdeck of A and landed in E, the bilge.  Probably not very appetizing, but then again, when you’re at sea, what other choice do you have?  Better than a rock with grass on top, at least.

Shirley looks to lead the kanji in uprising against their tyrannical oppressors, though she might want to finish learning their names first.  But what sort of radical revolution is she fomenting?  Well, she thinks art (A) is feckless, and she doesn’t seem to care much for England (B), which she called trash.  She wants the government to fall (C) because it is responsible for the people’s suffering.  And she called F (suffering) a fall, so perhaps they are one and the same?  Sounds rather Marxist to me.  And she thinks trash (G) is art.  So, in conclusion . . . well, I don’t really know what this movement is up to, but I would advise locking your doors and windows in the near future.

Man, all that talk about potato/rock soup made me hungry.  Let’s see what else we can make out of rocks.  We can make: jealousy, grinding/polishing, the beach, smashing/crushing, a cannon, an anchor (looks like we’re also following Another Fan’s nautical theme), a magnet, or the game of Go.  Hmm.  Sounds like a violent bunch.  Be careful.

A. 碇　B. 磯　C. 砲　D. 碁

E. 磨　F. 妬　G. 砂　H. 砕