Another change was the vegetation. Our swimming pool had long since reverted to nature, with frogs colonizing it, so we converted it to our Sunken Garden. We had the torn enclosure screen replaced and trimmed back encroaching trees that had actually poked their branches through. We got the water drained and replaced with earth. Then we planted it with assorted shrubs and flowers, mostly shades of purple because that’s MaryLee’s favorite color. What’s my favorite color? I’m not sure, but it could be plaid, Mela Merwoman’s panties having fried my brain. But there aren’t many plaid flowers. We transplanted several plumeria plants. We also planted a pink hibiscus shrub. That dates from several hibiscus plants we got a couple years back and planted outside, only to have the caterpillars and such destroy them. One branch of the pink one got accidentally broken off during the planting, so I put that in a pot and it survived, better protected, and now it is about eight feet tall and flowering in the garden. Also a papaya plant, of similar height. Plus tomato plants we started in a hydroponic Aerogarden, but they outgrew it. Plus a number of flowering weeds. The definition of a weed is a plant where you don’t want it, but I prefer to call them volunteers. We’ll add more plants as we think of them.

  And the credits for the puns. As my critics know, I have little or no imagination; my ideas come from my readers. I try to use ideas by new suggestors before having several by old ones, but I also need to work within the context of the story, so there are repeats. I have many more puns in store than I can use, so selection is essential. The entries are listed approximately in the order they appear in the novel, except that repeats are grouped with the authors of the first ones used.

  Credits:

  Hide Armor—Naomi Blose

  Swing Dancing—Emilio Ross

  Ankle thinks it’s a legend—Douglas Brown

  Power Plants—Misty Zaebst

  Stick-hers—Meeran

  Babies delivered all with the same talent—Cheryl Jacob

  Swearing a blue streak; crazy house; nervous wreck; saw grass; foot of the beds; cartoon talent; Incredibull; all thumbs—Mary Rashford

  Conjuring pies of any type; Add, Minus, Multiply, Divide Dresses; Lip stick, lip branch, lip tree. Mouth stick, face stick. Weap-puns, A-bomb, F-Bomb, H-Bomb, etc.; the sun sick with the corona virus; talent of physically entering one mirror and exiting another, that works for any mirror, not just magical ones; poi-son and poi-daughter; zombie unlives matter: a movement to combat anti-zombie prejudice in Xanth; missile toes; rock keys; bearing; buck naked; Hue Mane; herd immunity; back date; Aunt Ti Dote; vote by male, female; male-in and female-in ballots; ever trees of all colors; covid with germs; Fan Tom—Tim Bruening

  Up to your ears in corn—Christina McQuirk

  Gas cap, screw cap, abundance, fence post—Cal Humrich

  Slow Djinn, necromance, aphrodisiac wormwood, electric currants—Richard Van Fossan

  Abacuss—George Pope

  Dolly Llama—Misty Zaebst

  Pie Rat; talent of capturing sickness in books—Laura Kwon Anderson

  Nimbus can’t hurt his namesake; the Kiss affects all Xanth; Coven-19—MaryLee Jacob

  Centaur/Dragon crossbreed—Jesse Amal

  Pallorjade, the human/dragon crossbreed—Jennifer Morris

  Early characters reappearing—Kathy Hendricks

  Yellow jacket—Guinevere Stoops

  Professional nails—Mamie and Willa Wolfe

  Mundane truckers’ parts upgrade Com Pewter—Owen Gray

  Talent of reversing the talents of others; talent of turning anything into antimatter—James Beardsley

  Aunti Bodi—Ellie Kerans

  Passing the buck—David Seltzer

  And credit to my proofreaders: Scott Ryan and Doug Harter.

  This was Xanth #47. Will there be a #48? Well, I am making notes for one tentatively titled The Ugly Nymphs, which I thought of when Nolan had never seen an ugly nymph. Nymphs are supposed to be beautiful, empty-headed, scream cutely, kick their bare legs high, and fling their hair about. But suppose some aren’t, or don’t? There could be a story there. I will find out.

  About the Author

  Piers Anthony is one of the world’s most popular fantasy writers, and a New York Times–bestselling author twenty-one times over. His Xanth novels have been read and loved by millions of readers around the world, and he daily receives letters from his devoted fans. In addition to the Xanth series, Anthony is the author of many other bestselling works. He lives in Inverness, Florida.

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2023 by Piers Anthony

  Cover design and illustration by Amanda Shaffer

  ISBN: 978-1-5040-6692-1

  Published in 2023 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

  180 Maiden Lane

  New York, NY 10038

  www.openroadmedia.com

  THE XANTH NOVELS

  FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA

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