The Challenge Factory discussion

Welcome to Hard Scavenger Hunt XV

The challenge runs from January 1 - June 30, 2025.

Similar to the other Scavenger Hunt Challenges, but this one will be a bit more challenging to find all of the words and is published semi-annually.

• Most items are specific, but if in doubt about an item – just ask!

• You may use a single book to fulfill multiple items

• When you find one of the items, list the Book Title and Author (or link the cover), then specify where the item is found within the book and a blurb from the sentence. For audiobooks try to put the chapter if possible. If not, then at least let us know you got it from an audiobook.

Note:
For each bonus word you find, you can replace TWO (2) of the regular list words! Be sure to list which 2 words you are choosing to replace.

Good Luck & Happy Reading! ☺

The List

Ablutions
Affirmation
Ambiance
Apoplectic
Avatar
Balderdash
Beset
Cabriolet
Cacophony
Compartmentalize
Custody
Eddy
Ethereal
Girl Scout
Ingenue
Kipper
Magnate
Mere
Mundane
Penultimate
Perfunctory
Quark
Rime
Tumultuous
Wayside

Bonus Words
Bifurcated
Heath
Hyperbole
Petulant
Quasar

Good Luck & Happy Reading!

More Challenges
Archived Challenges

Welcome to Hard Scavenger Hunt XV

The challenge runs from January 1 - June 30, 2025.


Note:
For each bonus word you find, you can replace TWO (2) of the regular list words! Be sure to list which 2 words you are choosing to replace.

List: 16/40
Bonus: 1/5


The List

✅Ablutions - Still Me p 260
Nathan made a great show of shepherding me into the bathroom first, making sure I'd locked the door, and waiting for me to get into bed before he emerged from his ABLUTIONS.

Affirmation -
✅Ambiance - The Royal Marriage Arrangement p207
Between the view and the warm, sweetly scented air, the whole AMBIENCE was out of a dream and left her speechless.

✅Apoplectic - Bad Tourists p155
"Yes!" Kate says, APOPLECTIC. "Years ago. I begged them to look in it. "
✅Avatar - The Fairy Godmother p379
..to devour or otherwise incapacitate the opposition, or the Duel by AVATAR where each magician transformed into a magical combat took place between them
✅Balderdash - A March Bride p166
"BALDERDASH. She's plenty left of herself. Her faith. Her love for you and yours for her.

Beset
Cabriolet
✅Cacophony - Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour p357
Loud noises fill the air suddenly, like a party is just letting out, a CACOPHONY diffusing into the night. There's the clang of shattered glass, followed by laughter and shouting.
✅Compartmentalize - The Last Letter p808
"No". All of my life I'd been able to COMPARTMENTLIZE, to turn off my emotions. It was how I survived all those years in foster care...
✅Custody - Dashing Through the Snow p334
"Tell him to keep them in CUSTODY until we get there. Call in backup; I don't want to take a chance of letting Davidson slip through our fingers again."

Eddy

✅Ethereal - The Fairy Godmother p172
Elena pulled off her coarse, workaday clothing and slipped it on over her head, it caressed her skin like a soft sigh, and felt so light and ETHEREAL it was if she was wearing nothing at all.
✅Girl Scout -Laughing at Life's Most Embarrassing Moments: Stumbling Along with Hope and Humor p 525
Maybe you were a GIRL SCOUT. Maybe you just helped your parents work on the farm.
✅Ingenue - A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death p13
"Yes. INGENIOUS plan, I thought. Who else but you would have hated her enough to want her dead?

Kipper
Magnate

✅Mere - A Few Drops of Bittersp 47
The woman looked exhausted, a MERE shell of the vibrant, fun-loving, compassionate, veterinarian, whom Savannah and Brody enjoyed chatting with in her clinic.
✅Mundane - Hopeless p300
We're done after that. Our lives will become MUNDANE and boring and I'll have to divorce you and marry a wife who's twenty years younger than me...

Penultimate
✅Perfunctory - Before She Knew Him p189
And when he eventually entered the house, sullen and quiet, and gave Hen a PERFUNCTORY kiss on the top of the head and went straight to the refrigerator for a beer...

Quark
Rime
✅Tumultuous - Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour p629
While Fen is TUMULTUOUS energy and wild affection, Mei embodies a certain kind of steadiness, like a sweet breeze on a hot day.

✅Wayside - The Escape Room p106
His Catholic guilt had long fallen by the WAYSIDE. Money, he learned, absolved even the guiltiest conscience.

Bonus Words

Bifurcated
Heath
✅Hyperbole - The Women p 153 Large Print Edition
Such was the nature of the friendships Frankie had formed over there. It wasn't HYPERBOLE to say that she trusted Barb and Ethel with her life.

Petulant
Quasar

ebook Finished 1/6/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ebook via Libby 1/11/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ebook via Libby 1/12/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Finished 1/18/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ebook on Libby Finished 1/24/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ebook on HOOPLA Finished 1/26/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Finished 2/1/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ebook on Libby Finished 2/14/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ebook on Hoopla 3/2/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ebook on HOOPLA 3/12/25 ⭐⭐⭐
ebook on Libby 3/23/25 ⭐⭐⭐
large print edition 4/21/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Finished 4/27/25 ⭐⭐⭐
Finished 6/3/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Finished 6/18/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Welcome to Hard Scavenger Hunt XV

The challenge runs from January 1 - June 30, 2025.

Note:
For each bonus word you find, you can replace TWO (2) of the regular list words! Be sure to list which 2 words you are choosing to replace.

List: 40/40
Bonus: 4/5

The List

Ablutions "ablutions and devotions were the order of the day" p. 42 Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes 3.28.25
Affirmation "It's an affirmation" p. 152 The Cosmopolitans Sarah Schulman 1.5.25
Ambiance "gave everything an extra eerie ambiance" p. 36 Copper Heart by Leena Lehtolainen 1.29.25
Apoplectic "Hortense was apoplectic" p. 295 The Cosmopolitans Sarah Schulman 1.5.25
Avatar - "Part of an avatar of online identity?" p. 203 Ink and Shadows by Ellery Adams 1.27.25
Balderdash - found bonus word Bifurcated so get this word as bonus
Beset "beset by a feeling of not-quite-rightness." p. 102 Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro 2.3.25
Cabriolet "arrived in a gleaming Mercedes cabriolet" p. 72 A Fool's Kabbalah by Steve Stern 5.10.25
Cacophony "It took a second for Nora to hear words among the cacophony" p. 216 The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams 1.1.25
Compartmentalize "compartmentalized well over a decade earlier." p. 199 Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro 2.3.25
Custody "The sheriff has two suspects in custody" p. 264 The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams 1.1.25
Eddy "a little eddy of attention seemed to wash through the courtroom" p, 82 Last Ditch by Ngaio Marsh 2.15.25
Ethereal "She stood in the living room. Ethereal, yet royal." p. 130 The Cosmopolitans Sarah Schulman 1.5.25
Girl Scout "she hadn't sponsored the Little League or invited the Girl Scouts to sell cookies under the Miracle Books awning." p. 19 The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams 1.1.25
Ingenue - found bonus word Bifurcated so this is second bonus word I get
Kipper "greasy smoked kippers that the old men loved to eat" p.5 The Cosmopolitans Sarah Schulman 1.5.25
Magnate "magnate and patron of the arts" p. 194 Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes 3.28.25
Mere "such person or persons are merely models" p. 46 The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams 1.1.25
Mundane "having to engage all the mundane details" p. 117 The Cosmopolitans Sarah Schulman 1.5.25
Penultimate "this island being the penultimate station in one of the heroin routes into Great Britain" p. 118 Last Ditch by Ngaio Marsh 2.15.25
Perfunctory "Mutt gave a perfunctory wag" p. 33 A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow 4.1.25
Quark - found bonus word Heath so this it substitutes for this word as a bonus
Rime -"made iridescent by the cracks in the rime" p. 95 The Woman Who Waited: A Novel by Andrei Makine 3.18.25
Tumultuous "Ella's tumultuous confession felt atrangely incongruous" p. 220 Copper Heart by Leena Lehtolainen 1.29.25
Wayside "so we had to stop at Wayside Inn and flop on the benches outside" p. 20 In the Wake by Per Petersson 1.28.25

Bonus Words

Bifurcated - "the party famously bifurcated into Menshevik and Bolshevik factions" p. 36. What You Did Not Tell: A Russian Past and the Journey Home by Mark Mazower 6.25.25
Heath "on the edge of the heath" p. 29 No Man's Nightingale by Ruth Rendell 3.12.25
Hyperbole "attitude of hyperbole to life" p. 470 Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes 3.28.25
Petulant - "barefoot and petulant, the kimono loosely belted at her waist" p. 336 xWidows by Ed McBain 1.15.25 -
Quasar

The List
0/40
0/5

Ablutions
Affirmation
Ambiance
Apoplectic
Avatar
Balderdash
Beset
Cabriolet
Cacophony
Compartmentalize
Custody
Eddy
Ethereal
Girl Scout
Ingenue
Kipper
Magnate
Mere
Mundane
Penultimate
Perfunctory
Quark
Rime
Tumultuous
Wayside

Bonus Words
Bifurcated
Heath
Hyperbole
Petulant
Quasar

So... can I get credit for using the word bifurcated when I wrote my dissertation? IJS

Hard Scavenger Hunt XV
Jan. 31-june 30, 2025
The List

Ablutions
Affirmation
Ambiance
Apoplectic
Avatar
Balderdash
Beset
Cabriolet
Cacophony
Compartmentalize
Custody
Eddy
Ethereal
Girl Scout Aristotle and dante
Ingenue
Kipper
Magnate
Mere: Mere interns at job sites are not worthy of chairs. 26% Technically, You Started It - Lana Wood Johnson 1/18-19
Mundane
Penultimate
Perfunctory
Quark
Rime
Tumultuous
Wayside

Bonus Words
Bifurcated
Heath "Um, maybe a Heath bar, if they still have any?" 86% Bringing Me Back - Beth Vrabel 1/14-21
Hyperbole
Petulant
Quasar

Hard Scavenger Hunt XV
Duration: January 1 - June 30, 2025

READ: 14/30

The List

Ablutions
he went in to perform his own ablutions pg 265
Affirmation
Something I needed to hear again as an affirmation of Larry's emotional logic Our Game pg 260
Ambiance
Apoplectic
Avatar
For a moment his avatar stared at her in her virtual field Children of Time pg 11
Balderdash
Beset
Polly was beset with memories Homecoming Pg 633
Cabriolet
As she sat in the old cabriolet beside the father of her dead lover The Awakening Pg 129
Cacophony
Compartmentalize
Custody
it has never occurred to Jess to wonder about the custody arrangements put in place when Polly was a baby Homecoming Pg 166
Eddy
the captain bowed proudly, showing an eddy of baldness on his crown The Last Unicorn loc 845
Ethereal
... her blue gaze fixed on her mother in an expression of ethereal agony Our Game pg 258
Girl Scout
Ingenue
Kipper
Magnate
The female magnates shuffle and settle Children of Time pg 414
Mere
the mere fact of the small glass of deep burgundy liquor was proof of how shocked she'd been Homecoming Pg 205
Mundane
even when he was asking the most mundane questions about her life at Darling House Homecoming Pg 728
Penultimate
I had a penultimate question Our Game pg 144
Perfunctory
Mrs Turner wrote only a few perfunctory lines Homecoming Pg 269
Quark
Rime
Tumultuous
the tumultuous response from the ground tells her what has happened Children of Time pg 478
Wayside
I could weep at being left by the wayside The Awakening pg 129

Bonus Words
Bifurcated
Heath
Jess had seen them often on the Heath Homecoming Pg 118
Hyperbole
Petulant
sounding, even to her own ears, like a petulant teenager Homecoming Pg 762
Quasar

Books
20/01
07/03
05/04
21/05
19/06
22/06

Hard Scavenger Hunt XV
Duration: January 1 - June 30, 2025

READ: 24/30

Blood Orchids - Toby Neal 1/4
Affirmation - the affirmations were part of therapy, p18
Cacophony - a cacophony of barking started up, p61

The Last Outpost - Hannah Ross 1/6
Mere - a mere formality, p24

Already Gone - Diane Benefiel 1/18
Eddy - helpless as a leaf caught in an eddy, p51

The Angel of Paragon - Genevieve Jack 1/25
Compartmentalize - compartmentalizing the family and relationship stuff, p25

Promise Not to Tell - Jayne Ann Krentz 1/26
Ethereal - almost ethereal, ch3

A Catalogue of Catastrophe - Jodi Taylor 2/10
Tumultuous - a fixed point in a tumultuous universe, p266

Deadly Animals - Marie Tierney 2/14
Beset - he was beset with a restlessness, p259
Mundane - it was a mundane yet wretched place, p325

Aftermarket Afterlife - Seanan McGuire 2/18
Girl Scout - as solid as a girl scout, p217

The Foxglove King - Hannah F. Whitten 2/23
Avatar - when I become his avatar, p439

Murder Marks the Page - Karen Rose Smith 3/8
Custody - Theo Carstead is in custody, p309

The Hemlock Queen - Hannah F. Whitten 3/29
Apoplectic - was nearly apoplectic at the security risk, p32

Curse the Day - Annabel Chase 4/6
Ambiance - I guess it was the upscale ambiance p142
Perfunctory - their relationship was very perfunctory, p134

Body Count - Jodi Burnett 5/12
Wayside - to go by the wayside, p122

Spark of the Everflame - Penn Cole 5/1
Ingenue - the male fantasy of the innocent ingenue, p164

The Bad Weather Friend - Dean Koontz 6/3
Cabriolet - a Porsche 922 Turbo S Cabriolet, p12

Forged in Frost - Jasmine Walt 6/12
Kipper - spattered kippers and porridge all over him, ch10

Servant of Earth - Sarah Hawley 6/22
Rime - ground was slick and rimed with overnight frost, p3

****************************
Ablutions -
Balderdash -
Magnate -
Penultimate -
Quark -

Bonus Words
Deadly Animals - Marie Tierney 2/14
Heath - the journey to west heath, p52

The Foxglove King - Hannah F. Whitten 2/23
Petulant - one might look at a petulant child, p336

The Hemlock Queen - Hannah F. Whitten 3/29
Bifurcated - it was difficult work this bifurcation, p9

Blood Over Bright Haven - M.L. Wang 6/27
Hyperbole - some would think that was hyperbole, p108

**************
Quasar -

Hard Scavenger Hunt XV

Duration: January 1 - June 30, 2025

0/40
0/5 bonus words

The List:

Ablutions
Affirmation
Ambiance
Apoplectic
Avatar
Balderdash
Beset
Cabriolet
Cacophony
Compartmentalize
Custody
Eddy
Ethereal
Girl Scout
Ingenue
Kipper
Magnate
Mere
Mundane
Penultimate
Perfunctory
Quark
Rime
Tumultuous
Wayside

Bonus Words
Bifurcated
Heath
Hyperbole
Petulant
Quasar

Hard Scavenger XV
Begins: 01Jan25 / Ends: 30June25


21 / 25 words found
4 / 5 BONUS words found
15 books read


Ablutions - A Year in the World ✔ – 12Feb25 - pg 31 - "…ritual ablutions at the fountain…"

Affirmation - Crying in H Mart ✔ – 31May25 - pg 14 - "…verbal affirmation, but in subtle…"

Ambiance - A Year in the World ✔ – 12Feb25 - pg 127 - "…a special ambiance we did not…"

Apoplectic - Graceland ✔ – 09Apr25 - pg 16 - "…by all accounts, been apoplectic."

Avatar - see BONUS word "bifurcated"

Balderdash - On the Wrong Track ✔ – 23Jan25 - pg 19 - "…my flair for balderdash, it's…"

Beset - The Egg and I ✔ – 18Jan25 - pg 122 - "Beset by flies and long-standing…"

Cabriolet - Sun Dog Memory ✔ – 20Mar25 - pg 128 - "…fancy black cabriolet is…"

Cacophony - Comfort & Joy ✔ – 04Jan25 - pg 26 - "…a strange cacophony of sound…"

Compartmentalize - Mile High ✔ – 17Jan25 - pg 359 - "…to compartmentalize them to…"

Custody - The Soul of an Octopus ✔ – 14Mar25 - pg 78 - "…to get legal custody of…"

Eddy - Incredible Journey ✔ – 06Jan25 - pg 70 - "…a back eddy, and was now caught…"

Ethereal - The Egg and I ✔ – 18Jan25 - pg 107 - "…for such ethereal pursuits."

Girl Scout - Graceland ✔ – 09Apr25 - pg 205 - "...Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies."

Ingenue - A Certain Age ✔ – 27Mar25 - pg 336 - "…beautiful, young ingenue and a…"

Kipper - On the Wrong Track ✔ – 23Jan25 - pg 190 - "…order for kippered herring."

Magnate - The Night We Lost Him ✔ – 12Apr25 - pg 69 - "Like the hotel magnate?"

Mere - Comfort & Joy ✔ – 04Jan25 - pg 139 - "…back in mere moments, a …"

Mundane - Mile High ✔ – 17Jan25 - pg 292 - "…including mundane trips to…"

Penultimate - Under the Big Top ✔ – 28Jan25 - pg 37 - "…with this penultimate stage…"

Perfunctory - A Certain Age ✔ – 27Mar25 - pg 332 - "…a perfunctory knock hits…"

Quark - See BONUS word "bifurcated

Rime - Incredible Journey ✔ – 06Jan25 - pg 124 - "…the light rime of frost which…"

Tumultuous - See BONUS word hyperbole

Wayside - Crying in H Mart ✔ – 31May25 - pg 41 - "…all responsibility to the wayside."

Bonus Words
Bifurcated - Horse ✔ – 20Apr25- pg 1 - "…by a bifurcated existence."

Heath - A Year in the World ✔ – 12Feb25 - pg 214 - "…Midsomer Norton, Flackwell Heath."

Hyperbole - The Egg and I ✔ – 18Jan25 - pg 81 - "…for hyperboles of enthusiasm,…"

Petulant - Bury Your Dead ✔ – 25Jan25- pg 81 - "Entitled, petulant, petty."


Quasar

January-June Hard Scavenger Hunt

✅ Ablutions: Like old ladies caught at their ablutions Rebecca p 6
✅ Affirmation: despite his affirmations that no one is here Phantom p 309
✅ Ambiance: to create a serene ambience Phantom p 279
✅ Apoplectic: she’d refined her goal to an apoplectic fit The Viscount Who Loved Me p 145
Avatar
✅ Balderdash: Balderdash! Lady Danbury said Romancing Mister Bridgerton: Penelope & Colin's Story p
✅ Beset: She is sometimes beset by the fear The Immortalists p 359
Cabriolet
✅ Cacophony: a cacophony of warnings The Songbird & the Heart of Stone p 253
✅ Compartmentalize: Life was meant to be compartmenalized The Viscount Who Loved Me p 236
✅ Custody: Jack‘s dad was granted full custody The Measure 27%
Eddy
✅ Ethereal: this was not one of the ethereal temples The Songbird & the Heart of Stone p 302
✅ Girl Scout: the small group of Girl Scouts The Pumpkin Spice Café p 63
Ingenue
✅ Kipper: from the eggs to the scones to the kippers The Viscount Who Loved Me p 265
✅ Magnate: His great-great-grandfather was a steel magnate Starter Villain p 148
✅ Mere: the mere proximity eating at his skin The Songbird & the Heart of Stone p 272
✅ Mundane: say something mundane The Songbird & the Heart of Stone p 221
Penultimate
✅ Perfunctory: the female voice said in a perfunctory tone Ice Blue p 17
Quark
Rime
✅ Tumultuous: trying to contain the tumultuous emotion The Last Letter from Your Lover p 255
Wayside

Bonus Words
Bifurcated
Heath
Hyperbole: my second answer was hyperbolic The Raven Scholar p 45
✅ Petulant: like a petulant child All the Missing Pieces p 46
Quasar

Hard Scavenger Hunt XV
January 1 - June 30, 2025

Note:
For each bonus word you find, you can replace TWO (2) of the regular list words! Be sure to list which 2 words you are choosing to replace.


The List

Ablutions
Affirmation
Ambiance
Apoplectic
Avatar
Balderdash
Beset
Cabriolet
Cacophony
Compartmentalize
✔ Custody - "the alleged killer is in custody" - Holmes, Marple & Poe - pg 40
✔ Eddy - "That whirlpool ... that eddy ... was stronger" - You Like It Darker - pg 425
Ethereal
✔ Girl Scout - "She's a good Girl Scout who comes prepared." - You Like It Darker - pg 124
Ingenue
Kipper
Magnate
✔ Mere - "his body felt like a mere appendix" - Holmes, Marple & Poe - pg 118
✔ Mundane - "a mundane gallery of urban locations" - Holmes, Marple & Poe - pg 157
Penultimate
✔ Perfunctory - "raised a few fingers in a perfunctory greeting" No One Can Know
Quark
Rime
✔ Tumultuous - "end over end into the tumultuous waters of the Cotton River" - Lies He Told Me - pg 274
Wayside

Bonus Words:
Bifurcated
Heath
Hyperbole
Petulant
Quasar

Just finding this one too on Feb. 1, 2025.
So, I will challenge myself to finish by July 31, 2025

Hard Scavenger Hunt XV
January 1 - June 30, 2025

Note:
For each bonus word you find, you can replace TWO (2) of the regular list words! Be sure to list which 2 words you are choosing to replace.

19/30

The List

Ablutions
✔ Affirmation-p.243-Phineas Finn-"...would have been equal to an affirmation." 8/10/25
✔ Ambiance-p.21- Eye of the Storm- "The ambience, I thought as I went down the hall..." 6/23/25
✔ Apoplectic-p.274-Dombey and Son-"...against all kinds of apoplectic symptoms..." 9/1/25
Avatar
✔ Balderdash-p.274-part 2- Phineas Finn-"All that Irish stamp balderdash will never..." 8/12/25
Beset
✔ Cabriolet-p.252-Dombey and Son-"...staring through the window of a hackney cabriolet." 9/1/25
✔ Cacophony-p.132-Eye of the Storm-"There was a cacophony of tinkling glass..." 6/30/25
Compartmentalize
✔ Custody-p.186-Battambang-"Two or three died in custardy." 3/8/25
✔ Eddy-p.130-Eye of the Storm-"...talk and laughter to eddy around me." 6/30/25
✔ Ethereal-p.57-Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages-"...a very soft and ethereal language..." 2/26/25
✔ Girl Scout-p.81-Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice: Useful Tips and Fascinating Facts for Every Day of the Year-"Juliette Low founded the Girl Guides, precursor of the Girl Scouts." 3/12/25
✔ Ingenue-p.366-Time Regained-"...an ingenue and a dowager in a play." 2/6/25
✔ Kipper-p.108-Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages-"...courtesy of the fishing trade was 'kipper city'. 8/18/25
✔ Magnate-p.44-Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice: Useful Tips and Fascinating Facts for Every Day of the Year-"...came to railroad magnate Jay Gould..." 2/5/25
✔ Mere-p.314-Time Regained-"...excited in us a mere paltry physical desire..." 2/1/25
✔ Mundane-p.158- Battambang-"Prying loose quality from the mundane." 3/5/25
Penultimate
✔ Perfunctory-p.71-Eye of the Storm-"The tour of the first floor was perfunctory..." 6/26/25
Quark
Rime
✔ Tumultuous-p.139-Battambang-"Vibrant, wet, tumultuous town." 3/3/25
Wayside

Bonus Words:
Bifurcated
✔ Heath-p.280-Dombey and Son-"Through the hollow, on the height, by the heath..." 8/3/25
✔ Hyperbole-p.393-Russell Baker's Book of American Humor-"...wearied by tension and hyperbole..." 4/8/25
✔ Petulant-p.162-Eye of the Storm-"His had a distinctly petulant tone..." 7/2/25
Quasar

TCF - Hard Scavenger Hunt XV

❌ Total: 27/30

1. Ablutions
1/6 - In Xanadu, William Dalrymple - ⭐️⭐️
"imams were performing their ablutions" p.110

2. Affirmation
28/5 - The Only Study Guide You'll Ever Need: Simple tips, tricks and techniques to help you ace your studies and pass your exams!, Jade Bowler - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"a positive affirmation" p.172

3. Ambiance
29/5 - The Mindful Day: Practical Ways to Find Focus, Calm, and Joy From Morning to Evening, Laurie J. Cameron - ⭐️⭐️
"welcoming ambiance in preparation" p.194

4. Apoplectic
2/6 - Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress's Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump, Rachael Bade - ⭐️⭐️
"they were apoplectic" p.102

5. Avatar
31/5 - Networked David Lynch: Critical Perspectives on Cinematic Transmediality, Marcel Hartwig - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"David Lynch and his avatar Gordon Cole" p.164

6. Balderdash

7. Beset
1/6 - Lotharingia: A Personal History of Europe's Lost Country, Simon Winder - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Beset on every side" p.340

8. Bifurcated
4/6 - Queer Oz: L. Frank Baum's Trans Tales and Other Astounding Adventures in Sex and Gender, Tison Pugh - ⭐️⭐️
"Such a bifurcated vision of girlhood" p.174

9. Cabriolet

10. Cacophony
30/5 - The Eyes of Gaza: A Diary of Resilience, Plestia Alaqad - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"the sound of the drones like a cacophony of destruction" p.79

11. Compartmentalize
4/6 - Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia: The Philosopher Princess, Renee Jeffery - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"however, they compartmentalize" p.119

12. Custody
26/5 - Cuba's Car Culture: Celebrating the Island's Automotive Love Affair, Tom Cotter - ⭐️⭐️
"Ivan got custody" p.141

13. Eddy
27/5 - A History of Ghana, W.E.F. Ward - ⭐️
"back eddy of the cold Benguela current" p.74

14. Ethereal
27/5 - Black Girl from Pyongyang, Monica Macias - ⭐️⭐️
"she felt like an ethereal being" p.53

15. Girl Scout
27/5 - Jen-X: Jenny McCarthy's Open Book, Jenny McCarthy - ⭐️⭐️
"in my Girl Scout uniform" p.209

16. Heath
31/5 - The Weight of Sand: My 450 Days Held Hostage in the Sahara, Édith Blais - ⭐️⭐️
"Dr. Jeffrey Heath" p.262

17. Hyperbole
29/5 - Target Tehran: How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination – and Secret Diplomacy – to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East, Yonah Jeremy Bob - ⭐️⭐️
"with Trumpian hyperbole" p.110

18. Ingenue
5/6 - Australian Horror Films, 1973-2010, Peter Shelley - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"[Weir is] an ingenue at work" p.24

19. Kipper
12/6 - The Wheel is Spinning but the Hamster is Dead: A Journey Around the World in Idioms, Proverbs and General Nonsense, Adam Sharp - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"the kipper’s knickers" p.72

20. Magnate
2/6 - 50 Battles That Changed the World: The Conflicts That Most Influenced the Course of History, William Weir - ⭐️⭐️
"the armed retainers of the great magnate" p.19

21. Mere
27/5 - Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy., Bob Goff - ⭐️⭐️
"a Savior into a mere teacher" p.81

22. Mundane
26/5 - Parking the Moose: One American's Epic Quest to Uncover His Incredible Canadian Roots, Dave Hill - ⭐️
"something so mundane" p.276

23. Penultimate
3/6 - Majapahit: Intrigue, Betrayal and War in Indonesia’s Greatest Empire, Herald van der Linde - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"the penultimate leg of the tour" p.42

24. Perfunctory
30/5 - Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service, Michael Bar-Zohar - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"underwent a perfunctory checkup" p.178

25. Petulant
30/5 - Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World, Nick Lane - ⭐️⭐️
"a petulant pyromaniac" p.198

26. Quark
5/6 - Still Just a Geek: An Annotated Memoir, Wil Wheaton - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"a restaurant that features Quark’s Bar" p.34

27. Quasar

28. Rime
26/5 - The Mythology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained, Various - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"layers of ice and rime" p.234

29. Tumultuous
27/5 - Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story ... and Why It Matters Today, Edouard Kayihura - ⭐️⭐️
"Throughout these tumultuous days" p.120

30. Wayside
29/5 - Horror Films of the 1970s, John Kenneth Muir - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"His rule soon falls by the wayside" p.317

Update to Message # 10 above - Challenge completed - ✔ 31 May25


I found FOUR BONUS words; and was missing only three of the regular words.