Personal Notes:
Mr. Poe is a terrible person. (1)
“99 percent of the orphans participating in this program were overjoyed to have whole villages taking care of them…” I love that this is actually a thing, and there is a brochure. (1)
“convention of orthodontists”
(3)
Hector seems overly interested in the children’s secrets. (3)
Are the children’s other guardians and Mr. Poe equally at fault for the children’s circumstances as well as Count Olaf? (3)
Hector says the hot air mobile home can last one hundred years. Is he planning on dying up there? What’s the contingency plan here, Hector?? (3)
Does anyone else’s book have a typo on page 80? (4)
Hector quotes Louis Carroll, which is supposedly one of the Baudelaire’s favorites, but in TGG Violet says Lewis Carroll is too whimsical for her. (5)
“It would be a shame to light you on fire.” Oh my goodness. (6)
If Hector was part of V.F.D., wouldn’t he know Jacques? (6)
“None of Olaf’s associates have the same tattoo.” Does that mean none of them are in V.F.D.? (10)
Seriously, these kids NEVER sleep. (10)
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THE VILE VILLAGE
CHARACTERS:
Violet Baudelaire
Klaus Baudelaire
Sunny Baudelaire: Learns to walk at the end of the book.
Mr. Poe (1)
Duncan Quagmire
Isadora Quagmire
Count Omar (1)
Esmé Squalor/Officer Luciana
Mr. Fagin (1): a nineteenth cousin of the Baudelaires
Bus driver (2)
Council of Elders (2): there were twenty-five of them, and the youngest one looked to be about eighty-one years of age
a rude person in the back of the bus (2)
Mr. Lesko (2): man in plaid pants
Previous chief of Police (2): swallowed thumbtacks, likely due to Count Olaf
Hector (2)
Mrs. Morrow (2): Woman dressed in a bright pink bathrobe
several hundred townspeople (2)
The hook-handed man (m) (3)
The two powder-faced women (m) (3)
The bald man with the long nose (m) (3)
The one who looked like neither a man nor a woman (m) (3)
Ogden Nash (4)
Verhoogen Family (5)
Jacques Snicket (6)
Count Olaf/Detective Dupin (9)
VIOLET’S INVENTION:
Fixing the self-sustaining hot air mobile home/Deus ex Machina
KLAUS’S RESEARCH:
Mob psychology/solving Isadora’s poem
SUNNY’S BITING:
murdering Count Omar… wait, no…
Opening Fowl Fountain
V.F.D.:
Village of Fowl Devotees (3): has existed for more than three hundred years. In other words, it is older than the U.S.
THE LIBRARY:
Hector’s secret library
SNICKET SECRETS:
He used fresh black ink to write this story. (2)
He was in love with a wonderful woman and thought she would be his bride, but she read something in The Daily Punctilio and married someone else. (4)
It would be better to dig an escape tunnel than write to your congressman to rescue him. (4)
He wishes he could strike the morning Jacques died from the Snicket calendar (8)
REFERENCES (real and made up):
The Littlest Elf (1)
The Daily Punctilio (1)
Book about mob psychology
Rule book
SNICKETISMS:
the one about what you don’t read being as important as what you do read (1)
the one about aphorisms not being helpful (1)
the one about traveling by bus (2)
the one about small potatoes (2)
the one about a bolt from the blue (4)
the one about not knowing who you can trust (4)
the one about barking up the wrong tree (4)
the one about jumping to conclusions (6)
the one about finding yourself in a quandary (7)
the one about entertaining a notion (10)
the one about a huge cloud of dust (11)
BAUDELAIRE FAMILY HISTORY:
Klaus received a biography of Ogden Nash for his seventh birthday. (4)
Violet’s father taught her how to answer the telephone when he was unavailable. (5)
Violet once again remembers the promise she made to take care of her siblings. (7)
On Klaus’s twelfth birthday, his parents made bread pudding, but it was burned, sour, and soggy. They said next year he would have the best birthday meal in the world. (10)
Violet gave Klaus a book of Finnish poetry when he turned eight. (10)
Once the children’s parents had taken them to the circus, and they saw acrobats. (11)
Violet’s mother tried to braid her hair, but the braids came unraveled. (13)
SNICKET DICTIONARY:
Changed her tune: immediately said ‘Gounce!’ instead, which meant something along the lines of ‘Let’s live there!’” (1)
Concentrated its efforts on Violet: before long her hair was so wildly tangled that it looked like it had never seen a comb (2)
Depressed: a secret button, hidden in a crow statue, that is feeling just fine, thank you (11)
Did not rise to the occasion: continued to sit in his folding chair with his eyes cast downward (6)
Extremely prone to error: always had a cough, and had placed the three Baudelaire children in an assortment of dangerous positions (1)
Fire away: begin telling me about your plans (8)
Floated several theories: talked quietly about the two couplets by Isadora Quagmire (5)
Gargantuan: having attained an inordinate amount of botanical volume (3)
Having attained an inordinate amount of botanical volume: it was the biggest tree the Baudelaires had ever seen (3)
Here, here!: I don’t want Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire to live with me, either! (2)
Horizon: the boundary where the sky ends and the world begins (2)
Impenetrable: impossible to break into and rescue kidnapped triplets (11)
In their element: in the sort of home the three siblings would prefer (7)
Jumping to conclusions: you are believing something is true even though you don’t actually know whether it is or not (6)
Ordeal: a heap of trouble, most of which was Count Olaf’s fault (3)
Retrace their steps: turn around and run the other way when they saw townspeople approaching (12)
Room was in pandemonium: filled with Elders and townspeople standing around arguing (6)
Saw them off: put the Baudelaires on a bus, rather than doing the polite thing and taking them to their new home personally (2)
Second thought: considered, even for a second, what it would look like when thousands of crows would fly together to a new location (2)
Throw off all pretense: take off part of his disguise for a moment (9)
Took the plunge: knocked firmly on the door with her tiny knuckles (2)
We’re not out of the woods yet: there’s still plenty of trouble on the horizon (11)
Wild-goose chase: unlikely to reveal the Quagmire triplets’ location (4)
Without preamble: almost as soon as Hector sat down (4)
SUNNY SPEECH:
Albico!: And let’s solve the mystery of V.F.D. that the Quagmires told us about! (7)
Azzator!: Don’t worry – your secret is safe with us! (3)
Bark!: If you’re up there, Quagmires, just hang on, and we’ll get you first thing in the morning. (4)
Blake!: And the poem is written in Isadora’s distinct literary style (4)
Boiklio?: Do you think you could make some more welding torches, to melt the bars? You made some excellent ones when we lived with the Squalors. (10)
Brioche!: And bread! (10)
Burb: Anywhere, as long as it’s out of town. (13)
‘Bye. (10)
Calten!: I wouldn’t return there for all the tea in China! (1)
Chift. (10)
Contraire!: I can think of something else we can do – hold me up to the window latch! (4)
Cose: (That was close.) (12)
Couplet! (8)
Cra!: She probably means the beak of a V.F.D. crow. (5)
Dala?: Did you tell the Council of Elders that we were with you the night Jacques was murdered, so we couldn’t have committed the crime? (10)
Donax!: But that takes years and years, and if we don’t escape, we’ll be burned at the stake tomorrow afternoon. (10)
Dulch!: And we still haven’t figured out what they really mean. (5)
Esmé: (Something about Esmé not really being a kidnap victim) (1)
Fata?: (2)
Fountain! (11)
Frulk!: (something about being in a jail cell) (10)
Gaksoo!: There’s no point in arguing, because we’ll never know whether we’re right or wrong until we knock on the door. (2)
Gerhit!: (agreement) (4)
Glaji! (9)
Gounce!: Let’s live there! (1)
Grebe!: As usual! (7)
Grespo: Quite a bit of the mortar has actually begun to wear away. (10)
Hasserin: And without you, Klaus, we wouldn’t know how to save Jacques. (8)
Heni! (11)
Honz? (What’s a battering ram?) (11)
Hooray! (6)
Hurol! (11)
I! (11)
Jidu!: Surely Isadora has given us a hint about how to rescue her! (11)
Kay! (4)
Ko!: (8)
Krechin: And if I used my four big teeth to bite something as sloppily, I wouldn’t even leave one toothmark! (1)
Kyun: And that’s why we chose this town, in the hopes of finding the secret of V.F.D., rescuing the Quagmire triplets, and defeating Count Olaf once and for all. (3)
Laper: (agreement) (5)
Leucophrys!: I think I can explain that – the crows are delivering the couplets. (8)
Like me. (13)
Lililk!: Let’s go! Don’t look behind you! Let’s just try to get to Hector and his self-sustaining hot air mobile home before the mob cathes up with us and burns us at the stake! (12)
Loidya!: I’m absolutely sure that nobody approached the tree all night, and at dawn the note dropped down from the branches of the tree. (8)
Machina! (13)
Merganser! (7)
Minga!: (Three!) (11)
Mush!: The mortar is almost dissolved – just a little bit longer! (11)
N! (11)
Neebdes?: Could you explain that a bit more? (3)
Ning! (8)
No!: I’m not sure that’s the wisest plan – we won’t survive a fall from such a height! (13)
No lean! (2)
Novedri!: Living underground would be no fun at all! (2)
Ogufod!: What a lot of crows! (3)
Ollawmove!: Olaf could move them at any time! (4)
One (11)
Peng? (4)
Pereg: And if only the Quagmires were here, they could solve the other mystery – the meaning of the real V.F.D. (10)
Phelon!: And of proving that we’re not murderers! (13)
Pipit!: Wait! (6)
Plan! (7)
Plinn? (1)
Poe! (7)
Pojik?: Do you mean we’ve come here for nothing? (3)
Quandary?: What in the world can we do about it? (7)
Racah: It’s almost like walking through a quiet, but polite, crowd of very short people. (2)
Ready! (10)
Roger! (8)
Sabisho! (11)
Sanks!: That’s very considerate of you! (2)
Scylla!: It’s either the self-sustaining hot air mobile home, or being burned at the stake. (12)
Shize! (11)
Shoart!: A dead mean is not a thrill! (9)
Snoita!: I prefer to be tucked into bed by my siblings, not by strangers! (1)
Stop! (10)
Sturo?: (murder?) (3)
Tesper!: Let’s try to gather up as many pages of these notebooks as we can. (13)
Therill: It won’t be any more frightening than the time I climbed up an elevator shaft with my teeth. (7)
Took! (11)
Towhee?: Is there a rule that clearly states that people must listen to speeches? (8)
Two (11)
Vireo!: Let’s run – or, in my case, crawl – as fast as we can! (12)
Vue: Yes, I remember. (8)
Wazay?” (What is a mob?) (8)
Wibeon: It’s more confusing than superlative – we still don’t know where the Quagmires are. (11)
Wock!: The fountain looks as solid as can be. (11)
Wryb: That’s true. (4)
Yikes!: That doesn’t give us much time. (8)
Yoil! (13)
Zimuster: It would be silly to be afraid of a bunch of birds. (2)
Zounce!: That’s ridiculous!
GEOGRAPHY:
Mulctuary Money Management
Paltryville (m) (1)
Lucky Smells Lumbermill (m) (1)
China (m) (1)
Tedia (m) (1)
Lousy Lane (m) (1)
horseradish factory (m) (1)
Ophelia (m) (1): had a rivalry bank to Mulctuary Money Management
V.F.D. (2)
Town Hall (2)
Nevermore Tree (2)
Hector’s house (3)
Hector’s barn (3)
Pacific Ocean (3)
Prufrock Prep (m) (5)
Deluxe Cell (9)
Lake Lachrymose (m) (12)
Finite Forest (m) (12)
667 Dark Avenue (m) (12)
FOODOLOGY:
Chicken Enchiladas (3)
Hot tea (4)
Cabbage Sandwiches (5)
Hot fudge sundaes (5)
Huevos Rancheros (7)
Cranberry Juice (13)
Whole Wheat Flour (13)
RULES:
#1. No one may harm a crow. (13)
#2: Anyone who breaks a rule is burned at the stake. (6)
#19: The only pens that are acceptable within the city limits are ones made from the feathers of crows. (8)
#39: It is illegal to make anything out of crow feathers. (8)
#67: No citizen is allowed to build or use any mechanical device. (3)
#108: The V.F.D. library cannot contain any books that break any of the other rules. (3)
#141: All prisoners receive bread and water. (10)
#201: No murdering. (9)
#492: The Council of Elders will only discuss things that are on the platform. (2)
#920: No one may talk while on the platform unless you are a police officer. (2)
#961: The Council of Elders’ hot fudge sundaes cannot have more than fifteen pieces of nuts each. (5)
#1,742: No one is allowed to escape from jail. (12)
#2,493: Any person who is going to be burned at the stake has the opportunity to make a speech right before the fire is lit. (8)
#4,561: Citizens are not allowed to use their mouths for recreation. (3)
#19,833: No villains are allowed within the city limits. (2)