36 voters was a little disappointing after a great start with 25 voters in the first 16 hours. Perhaps the 4th of July holiday had something to do with it. That pattern certainly happened in both 2003 & 2004.

The Email Reminder List is slowly growing again, but many of the new people on it did not vote. Still, I am sure that we can get the voting back up into the 50's by next year, especially with the superior service from our new host. There have been no outages once we got it up and running.

It was a busy month on the Forum with the highest number of posts and noms for the year, helped along by the Awardsmaster's Challenge. I will run it more often if this is the likely effect.

There were a record-equaling number of awards this month with 17 awards going to 11 members. The two challenges and one tie help this happen. The last time this occurred was in January 2002.

This was a great contest this month with any of the top seven having a good chance of winning an award.

Paul Pan was the 12 hour leader with five others within three points of him. At 24 hours, Paul still led by three, with David and Deano tied for second. At 48 hours Paul was just one point clear. The final day saw Deano jump into a four point lead with Mey and Ellie finishing fast for second and third places.

Deano's win was his first for the year, but his 9th overall. Ellie's award was her 3rd for 2006 and gives her 14 on the All-Time Table.

1

  Deano

32  

'Slices of bread' ~ describes loaf.

2

  Mey Kraus

28  

Professional lion tamer = One's in peril of a lost arm.

3

  Ellie

26  

The shoe lover = Hot over heels?

4

  Paul Pan

24  

Fascist rule = racist's fuel.

4

  Andrew

24  

The bachelor party = Try a cheap brothel.

Only the top three here were ever in contention.

Scott was the leader at 12 hours by seven points and extended that lead to 13 at the close of voting. Eight awards for Scott this year giving him 25 wins all up.

1

  Scott Gardner

56  

Rembrandt, "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" = Smart men of Holland study inert corpse on a table.

2

  Mey Kraus

43  

Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" = Lord Savior and pupils at the scene.

3

  Tony Crafter

35  

Milton's 'Paradise Regained'= Serial poem deriding Satan.

This was a great battle between our two Israeli members.

At the 12 hour mark and at 24 hours, they were tied. By the end of Day Two, View was just two points ahead. Mey beat him at the post by two points.

1

  Mey Kraus

47  

The Iranians' nuclear weapons = I can see another war in US plan.

2

  View

45  

Christians, Muslims and the Jews = Jerusalem stands within schism.

3

  ofap

24  

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi terminated = I'm amazed at war result in Baquba.

Another close event that got closer as it went on.

David was five points ahead at 12 hours with Mey always challenging. David held on to win by just one point.

1

  David Bourke

41  

Miss Ann Coulter = Nastier columns.

2

  Mey Kraus

40  

The former president Saddam Hussein = Punish the arrested man for misdeeds.

3

  Scott Gardner

30  

Saint Catherine = A Christian teen.

A solid performance by Toby here this month.

Toby was a huge 15 points clear after the first 12 hours. He held that lead down to the line. Four wins this year give him 25 awards altogether.

1

  Toby Gottfried

46  

The American Dental Association = To attain each smile and no caries.

2

  Ellie

33  

The National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit ~ are ideally able to help a running nose, or an itch, too.

3

  Tony Crafter

32  

England's Manchester International Airport = It costs an arm and leg on an internal trip here.

This was the only category that Mey led from start to finish this month.

Mey was always 10 to 15 points ahead of Ellie and never looked in doubt.

1

  Mey Kraus

53  

Michael Gerson, top speech-writer to president Bush for years, is leaving the administration =
Having inspected that report, I am basically surprised. Someone *wrote* these inferior things?!

2

  Ellie

40  

'Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte' ('Un dimanche aprés-midi à l'Ile de la Grande Jatte') =
Pointillism as an art: an idea of one talented Frenchman, Seurat, and adjudged a real delight. Enjoy!

3

  Tony Crafter

36  

Motion picture "The Da Vinci Code"'s mauled by negative critics =
Intrepid, comic-cut academics investigate body in The Louvre.

This month we had two challenges, both using "The World Cup Finals in Germany". The first was to find anagrams containing the name of or reference to a competing country. The second (see below) was to create anagrams without reference to a competing country.

It was nice to see Richard get one nom in for the month.

Rick started off with the lead at 12 hours, but Richard took over by the end of Day One and kept that small lead over Rick and Andrew to the end of the contest.

This was Richard's first win since July 2005. He has 154 awards to his credit.

1

  Richard G

30  

England fail, country whimpers.

2

  Rick

27  

France may win during hot spell.

3

  Andrew

23  

Germans would play French in it.

This was one that I watched with interest and the final result of a tie was a fair one.

Paul had a four point margin over me half way through the first day. At 24 hours and 48 hours, he was one point ahead. I spent the last hour of the competition checking the Leader's Board and was delighted with the tied result.

1

  Larry Brash

36  

Crushing win led from a penalty.

1

  Paul Pan

36  

Champions win, feel truly grand!

3

  Mey Kraus

20  

Nap? Screw? Only during halftime!

Only three starters here. I was predicting a good win for Mey with his very clever anagram.

When I found that I was leading at 12 hours, I was pleasantly surprised but sure that Mey would pass me soon. At the end of Day two, I was still in the lead and realised that I could win. I ended up eight points ahead of Mey with a surprise win.

My two wins this month lift me out of a slump and give me four wins for the year. I am now one award short of 100 wins.

1

  Larry Brash

58  

Two hunters are out in the woods in New Jersey when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be br...

2

  Mey Kraus

50  

A man lives on the 10th floor of his apa... = Officers find a short man hanging in a...

3

  Tony Crafter

45  

A man came home from work, plopped himse... = I have been the victim of a hellish ro...

Only three members took part with a total of seven entries. It was only fair that they win one award each.

David led out with mey a few points behind. Mey lead at 24 hours and they were tied at 48 hours. Mey won with a strong finish.

Mey had four awards, for 26 for the year and 257 all-up. David's two wins given him a dozen this year and 88 in all. Tony has ten awards this year and 36 on the All Time Table.

1

  Mey Kraus

41  

Wilfred Owen's Anthem for Doomed Youth.

2

  David Bourke

35  

Medway News item

3

  Tony Crafter

26  

Asterisks and Ampersands.

4

  Tony Crafter

16  

"THE CLOSEST THING TO CRAZY" by Katie Melua

4

  Mey Kraus

16  

A limerick containing an anagram anagrammed into another limerick also containing an anagram.

Paul led from start to finish.

Paul was eight points clear halfway through Day One and maintained a good margin right to the end. His two wins for the month is his best result ever. He has won four awards in 2006 and a grand total of 15 since he started with us in 2002.

1

  Paul Pan

39  

Penis reduction = cut in one's pride.

2

  Mey Kraus

34  

A shirt's wet? = Saw her tits!

3

  Rick

24  

A pleasing shape = Appealing ass, eh?

There were only three serious contenders for this award as so many people had already won an award. I considered Andrew's General (which I liked a lot), View's perilously close loss in Entertainment and Rick's runner-up in the first of the challenges. In the end I chose View as he was unlucky to lose that category and it was one of his better anagrams.

View with:
Christians, Muslims and the Jews =
Jerusalem stands within schism.