Rod-Land

When the title screen appears, press P to pause the game. Press the Help key S five times then unpause and you should see a white heart in the top right of the screen. You can now press the Space Bar to advance levels.

Jamming your rod into a monster's side (steady...) stuns it briefly, while continuing to bash the joystick button throws it repeatedly back and forth over your ahead. If there's a platform underneath it'll be smacked painfully to death, leaving a bonus item in its wake. Otherwise this method can be used to stop hoovering up blooming bonuses