Original Palindromes Newest

A Redditer posted “I” as a palindrome in the palindromes sub-reddit. That's silly. Every letter of the alphabet looks like a palindrome, but isn't. While “A” and “I” are both words, they don't count as palindromes. I wanted to comment in a way that suggested “I” is not a palindrome. My first idea, “E. M. Ordni lap-ons no palindrome” contained the literal message but didn't feel satisying. I played with the middle until I came up with this variant. It’s more subtle and slightly more coherent.

Looking back at some of my earlier work, I started with an intermediate result:  snog aw wagons. As before, that lead petered out, but then I tried flagons. Ah: snog Alf flagons. I quickly added “plug gulp” in the middle and kept going with one association after another. Obviously, this is a list of tasks, some of them rather odd. On the other hand, my To Do lists are often cryptic to others.

A highly organized person would tick off each item in order from the left. The list ends, perhaps badly, at the DOT in Oregon, Oklahoma or Ohio.

The story began with a gemstone trader, Evil Ed. Despite his nickname, he wasn't all bad. During a spell in prison, he discovered an ability to produce wonderful artworks. This became a great comfort to his long-suffering wife, Meg.

It all started with gnostic, an unlikely word for a palindrome. That lead to a call for music: “elicit song gnostic ile.” Next up, ileitis, an inflammation of the ileum. “Sit. I elicit song. Gnostic ileitis.” Interesting, but not compelling. Tried colon next: colon no-loc. With the intestinal theme, local anesthetic seemed possible. I stopped there. Something about colon-gnostic just sounds right.