thinking

Ever wonder how the brain makes connections between symbols and language?
I do.
Most of the time, I just seem to follow rabbits around, whether they be white or invisible or of any other ilk.
Every once in a while, though, I get to follow a thought in slow motion to a logical conclusion.
Three times over the past two weeks, solving a Jumble has showed me the way that works.
I speak not of solving the actual riddle, but of unscrambling the four words to obtain the letters needed for the puzzle's answer.
On three occasions, I was able to follow a train of thought as I unscrambled a single word.
Let me show you what I mean.

The initial one was dated July 23rd, with the letters t-e-c-r-i-m.
I left it until last, then tried it as t-e-r-m-i-c, which led to m-i-c-t-e-r.
No, those were certainly not real words.
Neither were r-e-m-i-c-t nor t-i-c-m-e-r.
The fifth try yielded c-i-m-e-r-t, which certainly sounded false.
Okay, time for c-r-i-t-e-m...
and I suddenly realized the correct word was m-e-t-r-i-c.
Eureka!

The next was from the Jumble printed on July 31st, stumping me with a-a-t-r-o.
My initial try with all those vowels gave me t-o-a-r-a.
That would have worked if there was an "i" instead of that "o".
Trying again, I had a-r-o-a-t, which sounded horrible, making it wrong.
What about o-a-r-t-a, I thought aloud...
but immediately had it: a-o-r-t-a!
My heart certainly liked that one!

On August 3rd's puzzle, the word giving me fits to unscramble had these letters.
p-h-i-b-s-o
My first attempt - p-h-o-b-i-s - sounded Greek, not English.
The second rearrangement - p-h-i-b-o-s - was not helpful at all.
The third time - s-i-b-o-p-h - was not the charm.
Hmm... how about s-h-i-b-o-p...
which made me think of "Ladyhawke" and Rutger Hauer...
and that evil b-i-s-h-o-p...
success!

As I was doing these back issues of the local paper, I happened to have all three of these Jumbles handy.
I had done these in no particular order, but I had noted the wrong word choices and thought someone out there in the world of ether might enjoy my musings.
Remember, the real trick is to say the words out loud.
If they don't sound real, they most likely are not.
Folks tend to favor language that flows, not only in organic and biochemical nomenclature, but in everyday life.
(smile)