De-enthused

GRACE, until then an enthusiastic amateur, began earning
DOUGH for doing what she’d always loved: playing
SPORT. The tedium of endless travelling, training and timekeeping,
CIRCA 2020, soon took the edge of her enthusiasm.

Misunderstood

STEIN (Rick Stein the chef, not the drink) came in for a
REFIT. Seems a bit of his aging anatomy – a
JOINT – had gone awry. No wonder he was
TESTY. Wait! Did he mean a joint he’d cooked?

Fizzy

FRITZ is not a common name to
UTTER, but the one-syllable zip of it is
LIGHT to the tongue, giving an extra tingle to the
AORTA.

Flat flatting

ULTRA crisp, clean white
SHIRT – or so I dreamt. I
AWOKE to one wet, unironed – had to
VAUNT sleeping cat, snoring dog, last night’s empties, three packs of crackers, only to find the flatmate had ‘borrowed’ the iron last week.

Angled pasta

PENNE is “an extruded type of pasta” best eaten in a
GLADE. It has “cylinder-shaped pieces,” which, with a
CRICK of the fork, you can flick hither and yon in a
MANLY way. “Their ends are cut at an angle.”

Ovine gloom

MISSY, I miss you a lot, my sunshine, moonshine
OVINE. This, your resting place, your supine space, midst yellow
BROOM – a kind of womb with heaps of room – where your
SOAPY wool now cools, while my soul’s a darkroom full of gloom.

Ah, cruel fate!

The
SUITE was tiny, my stay not helped by the
TRUNK being undeliverable. Ah,
CRUEL fate! Even though I don’t travel
ALLOT, I still have the worst traveller’s tales.

Stain

BOBBY, with considerable difficulty, removed the
STAIN – or so he thought. Pulling it out of the
DRIER he discovered the stain wasn’t gone, merely
PALER.