As an amateur magician, Dickens knew the secret to “the shell game,” which was referred to at the time as “thimblerigging” (see below). There is evidence of this literary slight-of-hand that runs throughout Dickens’s unfinished novel, ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood.’

Perhaps Dickens felt he was giving too much away to cover artist Charles Collins (and readers) by having Rosa looking back at Mr Tope and his mace (pic 1). So he brought on [Sir] Luke Fildes to move the verger next to the cathedral’s arch, where Jasper now points an accusatory finger at him.

Note how Dickens gives us clues in each vignette: Mr. Tope holding his mace (‘the spike that intervenes’); Jasper on the spiral stairway pointing at him; the ‘Lost’ placard emphasizing how Jasper (not Sapsea) was the one who quickly initiated the search for his lost nephew. (Can you see the others?)

When we zoom in on the cover of ‘Drood’ (pic 1), Dickens displays in chapter 15 how Jasper, not Sapsea, quickly initiates the search for his beloved nephew—so much so, that Jasper even goes a bit overboard in his verbiage (pic 2). Just one of many examples in “The Shell Game Theory of Drood.”

Lining the reflecting pool with the $16 million the renovation cost would have given it a nicer shade o’ green.

The question Dickens poses in the very first paragraph: “What IS the spike that intervenes, and who has set it up?” The answer: “the spike” is Mr. Tope’s mace, which also doubles as the cryptic “thorn of anxiety” (a spike in miniature), and the one who ”has set it up” is none other than the Dean.

Lighthouses shine red lights in warning to prevent tragedy, not cause it. And Dickens writes the verb “warn” four times in chapter 2. He even underlines the importance of “warning” in his keynotes. (Typed image of his handwritten notes below taken from the David Paroissien edition.)

A closeup of [Sir] Luke Fildes’s illustration of John Jasper’s Gatehouse, which Dickens refers to as a “Lighthouse” three times in his unfinished masterpiece, shows a cross in the window. Dickens refers to Jasper as “the living waters” where the “tide of life” stems from. (See chapter 12.)

My quote above: “That’s not a beer, it’s a swimming pool” is much funnier if you picture Walter Matthau saying it (and perhaps throwing in a “For Christ sakes” along with it). Nevertheless, Nik, cheers!

When it comes to news, I’ve come to realize over the years that the truth in the headlines usually lies somewhere in the middle.

Anita (my wifey) received this orchid for her birthday back in September and it’s the first time we’ve ever had an orchid re-bloom. Her secret? After we thought it was dead, she did absolutely nothing to it. 🌺

If you love Charles Dickens (like me), be sure to view Dr. Lydia Craig’s article in Dickens Studies Annual, “Recent Dickens Studies: 2024.” (There’s also a brief summary of my “Spike that Intervenes” theory under the Law, Crime, and Detection section.) Happy reading, Bluesky friends!

Living up to its name. 😢 (That’s Pete Hegseth putting up the sign.)

Whenever I listen to Pete Hegseth, I can’t help feeling that I’m listening to a used car salesman. (But instead of trying to sell me a used car, he’s trying to sell me a new war.)

This reminds me of “The Waving Girl”. Legend has it that she greeted ships because as a young girl, she had fallen in love with a sailor and wanted to be sure he would find her when he returned. When, after 44 years he did not, she died of a broken heart. (Those are my daughters are in the pic.) 🙂

If you need me, I’ll be on the Bluesky Ferris wheel with a pint o’ Guinness. ☘️Happy St. Patrick’s Day!☘️

(Of course, we’re also proud of her dog Cinnie too.) 🙂

A cup of coffee or tea for you on this fine Sunday. Cheers! 🙂

For those who believe Rosa is frightened of Jasper because she is a good judge of character when it comes to men, be sure to reread the beginning of chapter 10:

Dickens tells us the plot in his first paragraph. He tells us that if we find the spike, we find the villain. That the sultan in procession is the Dean in procession. That the cryptic “Stay!” is Rosa’s plea for the stay of Jasper’s execution. Jasper’s opium dreams not only ‘do tell’ but ‘tell all.’