April 2016: All of My NaNoWordSprints Prompts

Okay, so I don’t really have any excuse for not posting these prompts earlier. I’ve been very busy with work and it’s not going to get any better schedule-wise in July. Despite all my grumbling, research is going in a good direction but it also means less time for me to devote to this. But all I can say is I’ll try.

Anyways, here they are, all the prompts that I tweeted out on the @NaNoWordSprints account on Twitter during Camp NaNoWriMo in April. As for Camp NaNoWriMo in July, yes, I’m leading sprints again–for most of the month, anyway. The last week will be extremely iffy since I will be away for a work-related (science!) conference.

March 31, 2016,  11:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
Horace Kephart

  • Trail mix (10 min)
  • Tenderfoot (20 min)
  • Fire in the rain (10 min)

April 1, 2016, 8:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
Nature, March 31, 2016 issue headlines

  • Play nicely (10 min)
  • Honey trap (20 min)
  • Fanning the flames (30 min)
  • Making risk takers settle (10 min)
  • Warm weather sets rocks loose (20 min)
  • Cultural conundrum (10 min)
  • Siren call (20 min)
  • Power of the pen (10 min)
  • Forgetting inhibits new memories (30 min)
  • When jobs go wrong (20 min)

April 2, 2016, 10:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
The Fifth Element

  • Add something hot (10 min)
  • Describe your character’s dreams, desires, most intimate of intimates (20 min)
  • Most beautiful concert hall in the universe (30 min)
  • Character’s roots and childhood (15 min)
  • Fight scene (15 min)

April 3, 2016, 8:00am-10:00am (UTC-8)
Beat the Sprint Leader

  • Beat around the bush (10 min)
  • Barking up the wrong tree (20 min)
  • Ball is in your court (30 min)
  • Best of both worlds (15 min)
  • Bite the bullet (15 min)

April 4, 2016, 12:15pm-2:30pm (UTC-8)
Food Idioms

  • Easy as pie (10 min)
  • Go bananas (20 min)
  • Apple of my eye (30 min)
  • Spill the beans (10 min)
  • Have your cake and eat it too (20 min)
  • The way the cookie crumbles (15 min)

April 4, 2016, 10:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
Cat Pics

  • Horrified (10 min)
  • A bad idea (20 min)
  • An unconventional hat (30 min)
  • Put in a box (10 min)
  • Incognito (20 min)

April 5, 2016, 7:30pm-10:00pm (UTC-8)
Idioms from other countries, Part 1

  • You have tomatoes on your eyes (10 min)
  • There’s no cow on the ice (20 min)
  • Take ears to the field, take eyes to the farm (30 min)
  • To blow little ducks (10 min)
  • To swallow grass snakes (15 min)
  • The thief has a burning hat (30 min)

April 6, 2016, 7:20pm-8:30pm (UTC-8)
Ghost Sprinting

  • Chains (5 min)
  • A mysterious disappearance (25 min)
  • Flickering lights (20 min)

April 7, 2016, 4:30pm-11:00pm (UTC-8)
C Idioms

  • Chain of command (10 min)
  • Close call (20 min)
  • Cold feet (30 min)
  • Can’t see the forest for the trees (10 min)
  • Change your mind (20 min)
  • Cruising for a bruising (30 min)
  • Cry me a river (10 min)
  • Chasing rainbows (20 min)
  • Clear the air (10 min)
  • Chickens come home to roost (30 min)
  • Call off the dogs (15 min)
  • Cart before the horse (10 min)
  • Climb the walls (30 min)
  • Common thread (10 min)
  • Come undone (15 min)
  • Cost a pretty penny (15 min)
  • Caught in the act (15 min)

April 8, 2016, 10:00pm-1:00am (UTC-8)
Idioms from other countries, Part 2

  • To arrive like an elephant at a bowling game (10 min)
  • Mouse in the chest (20 min)
  • At half voice (30 min)
  • To hit like pliers on a pig (10 min)
  • Piece of one’s liver (20 min)
  • Decorating an earthen pot (30 min)
  • In a tooth socket (10 min)
  • Tail made of straw (10 min)

April 9, 2016, 10:30pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
Traveling to the LA Times Book Festival

  • Mishap (10 min)
  • Balcony seats (20 min)
  • Misdirection (30 min)
  • Unusual weather (10 min)
  • Stationary (20 min)
  • Music (30 min)

April 10, 2016, 9:30pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
Drama Tropes

  • A tragedy of impulsiveness (10 min)
  • Best for last (20 min)
  • Bond breaker (30 min)
  • Cycle of revenge (10 min)
  • Daylight horror (20 min)
  • Feuding families (30 min)
  • Ignored epiphany (20 min)

April 11, 2016, 10:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
Tea Sprints

  • Milk, lemon, or nothing at all (10 min)
  • Loose or bagged (20 min)
  • Bronze, clay, porcelain, and silver (30 min)
  • Infusion (10 min)
  • Bitter medicine (20 min)

April 12, 2016, 9:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
Libraries

  • Burned down (10 min)
  • Sphinxes and snakes (20 min)
  • The three crowns (30 min)
  • Medicine (10 min)
  • Wisdom (20 min)
  • Garden (30 min)
  • Palimpsest (20 min)

April 13, 2016, 9:00am-10:00am (UTC-8)
Waking Up

  • Clock (10 min)
  • Pillows (20 min)
  • Cold reality (10 min)

April 13, 2016, 12:15pm-2:00pm (UTC-8)
Food

  • Curdle (15 min)
  • Brewed or blended (30 min)
  • Cultivated (15 min)
  • Extrusion (25 min)

April 13, 2016, 8:30pm-11:00pm (UTC-8)
Batman Quotes (1989 film)

  • Hair color so natural, only your undertaker knows for sure (10 min)
  • I want you to tell all your friends about me (20 min)
  • You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? (30 min)
  • You set me up over a woman. A WOMAN! You must be insane. (10 min)
  • I’ve been dead once already. It’s very liberating. (20 min)
  • We run this city to the ground (25 min)

April 14, 2016, 9:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
Deadly Mushrooms

  • Destroying angel (10 min)
  • Ivory funnel/sweating mushroom (20 min)
  • Deadly parasol (30 min)
  • Autumn skullcap (10 min)
  • Chestnut dapperling (20 min)
  • Poison pie (30 min)
  • Jack o’lantern (20 min)

April 15, 2016, 10:00pm-2:00am (UTC-8)
K-pop Boy Bands

  • Monster (10 min)
  • Devil (20 min)
  • Growl (30 min)
  • Danger (10 min)
  • Why so serious (20 min)
  • Error (30 min)
  • Overcome (10 min)
  • Just right (10 min)
  • Trespass (15 min)
  • A funny but sad day (15 min)
  • Drawing the line (15 min)

April 16, 2016, 2:45pm-7:00pm (UTC-8)
Idioms from other countries, Part 3

  • A lung and liver on the nose (10 min)
  • Now and then (20 min)
  • Greediness is a deep tragedy (30 min)
  • Over my dead body (10 min)
  • Does not move even the stick of one’s ear (20 min)
  • The sea likes to increase (10 min)
  • Onion-skinned (30 min)
  • All thumbs (15 min)
  • Have you been smoking your socks? (15 min)
  • Love outside face (15 min)
  • The door handle has been pressed (20 min)

April 16, 2016, 10:30pm-1:00am (UTC-8)
Madam Sprints with the Tarot

  • The fool (10 min)
  • The empress (20 min)
  • The tower (30 min)
  • Justice (10 min)
  • The hanged man (20 min)
  • The moon (25 min)

April 17, 2016, 8:00am-10:00am (UTC-8)
Cat Idioms

  • Let the cat out of the bag (10 min)
  • Look what the cat dragged in (20 min)
  • Fighting like cats and dogs (30 min)
  • Faster than a cat lapping chain lightning (10 min)
  • Conceited as a barber’s cat (20 min)

April 17, 2016, 7:00pm-10:00pm (UTC-8)
License Plate Sprints

  • Rescue me (10 min)
  • Flicker (20 min)
  • I am late (30 min)
  • Ripple (10 min)
  • Cheese (20 min)
  • Idiot (30 min)
  • Sharks (5 min)
  • Aces up (10 min)

April 18, 2016, 11:00am-2:00pm (UTC-8)
English Idioms

  • Add insult to injury (15 min)
  • All bark and no bite (15 min)
  • Around the corner (30 min)
  • Easy pickings (10 min)
  • Element of surprise (10 min)
  • Empty promise (30 min)
  • False alarm (15 min)
  • Fan the flames (15 min)

April 18, 2016, 10:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
G Idioms

  • Gather dust (10 min)
  • Get the vapors (20 min)
  • Give someone a piece of one’s mind (30 min)
  • Grasp at straws (10 min)
  • Guilty pleasure (20 min)

April 19, 2016, 10:00am-1:00pm (UTC-8)
H Idioms

  • Hang by a thread (10 min)
  • Hard nut to crack (20 min)
  • Haul someone over the coals (30 min)
  • Have one’s cake and eat it too (10 min)
  • Heart and soul (20 min)
  • Herding cats (30 min)
  • Hot potato (15 min)

April 19, 2016, 10:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
S Idioms

  • Sail down the river (10 min)
  • School of hard knocks (20 min)
  • Scraping the bottom of the barrel (30 min)
  • Shoot oneself in the foot (10 min)
  • Sweet dreams (20 min)

April 20, 2016, 5:15pm-7:15pm (UTC-8)
P Idioms, Part 1

  • Pain in the neck (10 min)
  • Paint oneself into a corner (20 min)
  • Pale in comparison (30 min)
  • Part company (10 min)
  • Point of no return (30 min)

April 20, 2016, 9:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
P Idioms, Part 2

  • Point blank (15 min)
  • Pot calling the kettle black (15 min)
  • Press the panic button (30 min)
  • Protest too much (10 min)
  • Pull a fast one (20 min)
  • Push the envelope (10 min)
  • Pick up the pieces (10 min)
  • Play both sides against the middle (30 min)

April 21, 2016, 9:30am-12:00pm (UTC-8)
W Idioms

  • Wake up and smell the coffee (10 min)
  • Wait on hand and foot (15 min)
  • Walk the line (30 min)
  • Watered down (10 min)
  • Wave the white flag (15 min)
  • When the dust settles (5 min)
  • Work wonders (30 min)

April 21, 2016, 9:15pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
K-pop Girl Groups

  • Come back home (10 min)
  • Liar liar (20 min)
  • Taller than you (30 min)
  • Four walls (10 min)
  • Catch me if you can (20 min)
  • One of these nights (30 min)
  • Anxious (10 min)
  • Sixth sense (10 min)

April 22, 2016, 10:00pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
K Idioms

  • Keep a low profile (10 min)
  • Keep someone in the dark (20 min)
  • Kick the bucket (30 min)
  • Knight in shining armor (10 min)
  • Know every trick in the book (20 min)

April 23, 2016, 8:30pm-12:00am (UTC-8)
T Idioms

  • Take a chance (10 min)
  • Talk of the devil (20 min)
  • Teach someone a lesson (30 min)
  • Tempest in a teapot (10 min)
  • Test the waters (20 min)
  • There’s only one (30 min)
  • Thin-skinned (10 min)
  • Things that go bump in the night (20 min)
  • Tough cookie (10 min)

April 24, 2016, 8:00am-11:00am (UTC-8)
R Idioms

  • Rack and ruin (10 min)
  • Rain or shine (20 min)
  • Raise eyebrows (30 min)
  • Rally around (10 min)
  • Reach for the sky (20 min)
  • Read someone the riot act (30 min)
  • Reap what one sows (20 min)

April 24, 2016, 2:00pm-4:00pm (UTC-8)
Meow Sprints

  • Cataclysm (10 min)
  • Catacombs (20 min)
  • Catapult (30 min)
  • Category (10 min)
  • Catwalk (20 min)

April 25, 2016, 10:00pm-1:00am (UTC-8)
U Idioms

  • Under a spell (10 min)
  • Until the cows come home (20 min)
  • Underwater basket weaving (30 min)
  • Unknown quantity (10 min)
  • Up the ante (20 min)
  • Up to no good (30 min)
  • Uphill battle (20 min)

April 26, 2016, 9:00am-12:00pm (UTC-8)
V Idioms

  • Vale of tears (10 min)
  • Valley of death (20 min)
  • Vent one’s gall (30 min)
  • Victory at sea (10 min)
  • Voice in the wilderness (20 min)
  • Vouch for (30 min)
  • Verbal assault (20 min)

April 26, 2016, 9:15pm-1:00am (UTC-8)
I Idioms

  • If looks could kill (10 min)
  • In a heartbeat (20 min)
  • Into thin air (30 min)
  • In no uncertain terms (10 min)
  • Inner circle (20 min)
  • It takes two to tango (30 min)
  • It can’t be helped (10 min)
  • Ice-calm (20 min)
  • In the nick of time (30 min)

April 27, 2016, 12:15pm-2:15pm (UTC-8)
More Food Idioms

  • Grist for the mill (20 min)
  • In a stew about (30 min)
  • Out of the frying pan and into the fire (20 min)
  • Bitter pill to swallow (30 min)

April 27, 2016, 7:00pm-10:00pm (UTC-8)
J Idioms

  • Jump at the chance (10 min)
  • Just deserts (30 min)
  • Just another pretty face (20 min)
  • Join forces (15 min)
  • Jack of all trades, master of none (15 min)
  • Jump to conclusions (20 min)
  • Judge, jury, and executioner (30 min)

April 28, 2016, 9:00am-12:00pm (UTC-8)
Proverbial Phrases, Part 1

  • A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (10 min)
  • A change is as good as a rest (20 min)
  • A friend in need is a friend indeed (30 min)
  • A golden key can open any door (10 min)
  • A good man is hard to find (20 min)
  • All is fair in love and war (30 min)
  • Another day, another dollar (10 min)
  • An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure (10 min)

April 28, 2016, 6:15pm-8:15pm (UTC-8)
Proverbial Phrases, Part 2

  • Bad news travels fast (30 min)
  • Beauty is only skin deep (10 min)
  • Beggars should not be choosers (20 min)
  • Behind every great man, there is a great woman (30 min)
  • Better the Devil you know than the Devil you do not (10 min)

April 28, 2016, 10:00pm-1:00am (UTC-8)
Proverbial Phrases, Part 3

  • Clothes make the man (10 min)
  • Cold hands, warm heart (30 min)
  • Cowards may die many times before their death (15 min)
  • Cut your coat according to your cloth (15 min)
  • Do not bite the hand that feeds you (20 min)
  • Every cloud has a silver lining (30 min)
  • Everything comes to those who wait (20 min)

April 29, 2016, 10:00pm-2:00am (UTC-8)
German Proverbs

  • Great minds agree (10 min)
  • Fight fire with fire (20 min)
  • He that lives on hope shall die fasting (30 min)
  • Many a true words are spoken in jest (10 min)
  • The more one pets the cat, the higher it holds its tail (20 min)
  • Sweep your own doorstep clean (30 min)
  • Better bow than break (15 min)
  • One cannot change nature (15 min)
  • A fool does not need any bells (10 min)
  • Hasty judgements begets remorse (25 min)

April 30, 2016, 7:00pm-3:00am (UTC-8)
Collocations

  • Do someone a favor (10 min)
  • Make a mistake (15 min)
  • Have sympathy (15 min)
  • Do the cooking (20 min)
  • Make trouble (30 min)
  • Take a chance (10 min)
  • Break a habit (20 min)
  • Catch a thief (15 min)
  • Make a mess (30 min)
  • Take someone’s place (20 min)
  • Catch someone’s attention (15 min)
  • Keep control (10 min)
  • Break the rules (20 min)
  • Save space (30 min)
  • Get frightened (20 min)
  • Go astray (20 min)
  • Come to a compromise (30 min)
  • From dawn till dusk (20 min)
  • Draw a conclusion (30 min)