Elvenar Wordsearch - Terry found a friend.

[Sir Derf]

And, since @Herodite failed to explain, the Anagram is made by rearranging the first letters of all the search words. As i kept saying, you folks were overthinking this way too much. Of course, having a secret message whose only vowels are 3 Os and 2 Us was a little sneaky.

 

[Laurelin]

And, since @Herodite failed to explain, the Anagram is made by rearranging the first letters of all the search words.

In defence of the ever-discreet @Herodite - and given that we were looking for a "rather special" anagram, not specifically a "Forum-related" one - it seems to me more that she couldn't explain the anagram than that she failed to do so... whether or not an explanation was indicated before the contest results were published?

See my own contest entry, below, which appears exactly as I uploaded it for the competition - and shows that my own anagram was 'Mercenary Camp' instead of 'Our Forum Rocks'... perhaps not least because we Brits very rarely say that anything 'rocks' - it's largely a US-only expression. There may be other anagrams too, of course, but my own seemed to fit the description ("rather special" is a broad term), and it does include one letter from each of the Clues - although not their first letter in every case, of course.

This anagram 'jumped-out' at me as soon as I'd found the four Clues which run from the very top line downwards; the four letters M, E, R, and C, appearing in sequence, were almost immediately noticeable to my words-orientated mindset - and I often call it the 'Merc Camp' for short, too.

In fact, I thought that the placement of only the letters M E R C, visibly in sequence in the top row, was probably an intentional attempt to provide a helpful hint about what would otherwise have been an extremely difficult anagram puzzle with a huge number of possible answers [when considering more than the first letter of each word], and, as such, it seemed a clever piece of design on the part of the Wordsearch's author(s). The letters of 'Mercenary Camp' also appear (somewhat) in order, reading left-to-right and top-to-bottom, which also seemed largely intentional.

I see now that I was completely wrong... and I'd like to say here, as I have in my prize claim, that awarding me a prize anyway (presumably because I did come up with an anagram which, although wrong, at least fitted the description in the contest rules?) is a testament to the fair-mindedness and honesty of the Wordsearch judge(s). Diamonds or no Diamonds, I think that's a genuinely admirable decision, and it's much appreciated!

As i kept saying, you folks were overthinking this way too much.

That's one view, of course, but being me (i.e. generally annoying inclined to muse upon possibilities), I can't resist also regarding this as perhaps a classic example of Science vs the Humanities... both disciplines engage in a great deal of professional thought, and both seek to find truths where such exist, but where Science usually tries to define THE answer, Philosophy often assumes that there may well be MANY of equal value...

Extra words... Above the "A" in Ranger, written upwards is both FARM and ARMY. Anyone see anything else, double points if Elvenar related.

I spotted the word 'Silk', as below, and I marked it (in pink outline vs purple for the actual Clues, with a brief explanation included too) - just for fun, really, and, I hoped, maybe to give the Wordsearch author(s) a smile? - even though it did also cross my mind that marking it on the Wordsearch could potentially disqualify my entry. Again, my thanks to the open-minded contest judge(s) for letting me get away with it!

My thinking here was that it's a pretty common Elvenar-related word - and speaking as a Silk-boosted player, it also seemed a rare chance to grab one of the very few perks of having those Huge & Horrid Leg-Wobbling Spiders infesting my City until almost the end of the game... haha

... I'd also love to know if anyone else found extra words... well, I just love words (as will be very obvious to anyone who actually reads my posts...) !