灰
=
𠂇
+
火
:
Helga Horse (hu) wants to cut out a piece of fire (火) in front of the Eiffel Tower (ei1) using a pair of scissors (𠂇), but every time she cuts she just gets a little bit of gray ashes (灰).
山
=
丨
+
凵
:
Mnemonic symbol: 山 looks like the tip of a fork. Sherlock Holmes (sh) is climbing a mountain (山) in front of the anthill (an1). He uses a dinosaur bone (〡) as walking stick, and to have better grip he attached a fork (山) to its tip. Unfortunately he accidentally sticks the fork into a receptacle (凵) on the ground of the mountain and gets shocked.
椒
=
叔
+
木
:
Joan of Arc (ji) and Arthur Schopenhauer (叔) are absolutely out of food. In front of the aorta (ao1) they have no better option than to eat a Christmas tree (木). At least they have some pepper (椒) left to add some flavor to it.