Hugo Kornelis
November 15th, 2008, 03:34 PM
Hi all,
My great plan for this round was quickly thwarted by Johnny and Dick. I found the word in the International House of Logorrhea at Forthright's Phrontistery, an onlne dictionary of obscure words. It define huitain as "group of eight lines of verse". With its shortness, the missing article, and the obvious reference to the French word for eight, I gathered that this lookes sufficiently like a quick throwaway def, sent in just before the deadline, to stand a chance of a D0. As I don't consider the Phrontistery a very reliable source, I wanted to find a confirmation somewhere, and a quick google search turned up an entry of this word in the Brittanica Online Encyclopaedia, with a much better definition: "French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line." (And then some extra explanation, as encyclopaediae are wont to do). So I decided the word was good and entered the Phrontistery's definition in Coryphaeus.
And then Johnny sent in his def: "early French verse form consisting of 8 line of 8 syllables" (couldn't you just have DQ'd as you do in all other rounds, eh?). Quickly followed by Dick's "a poem or stanca of eight lines". It was clear that not combining the defs was not an option, as there is no better vote magnet than a set of three so similar but un-combined definitions. And combining them with the original def was not an option either, as I felt that this would leave out too much detail from Johnny's def. So I did the only thing I felt I could do - I replaced the definition from the Phorntistery with that from the Brittanica Online Encyclopaedia and combined Johnny's and Dick's defs with the real one. Which scored me a D3, and them 3 points each.
The winner of round 1953 is Scott Crom, whose definition "an archaic term for Easter" earned a natural 6 . Christopher Carson and Tony Abell are the real winners, with 4 points each.
The true definition was, as described above, def 9: "French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line" (Brittanica Online Encyclopaedia), which was guessed early by Tim, late by Tony, and somewhere in between by Paul.
Congratulations Scott. The floor is all yours!!
1. influence
Votes from: Carson, Savage
Submitted by: Scott, who scores natural 2.
2. a small portion
Vote from: Carson
Submitted by: Bourne, who scores 1 + 2, total 3.
3. a long, narrow racing boat for eight rowers and a coxswain
Vote from: Bourne
Submitted by: Stevens, who scores natural 1.
4. in Elf lore, a sickly child of great wisdom; a prophet
Vote from: Widdis
Submitted by: Hirst, who scores natural 1.
5. a bright green dye made from sulfites of copper
Votes from: Savage, Barrs
Submitted by: Abell, who scores 2 + 2, total 4.
6. a small codpiece worn under a kilt
Vote from: Scott
Submitted by: Shefler, who scores natural 1.
7. a large artillery caisson
Votes from: Shefler, Hirst, Stevens, Weltz
Submitted by: Carson, who scores natural 4.
8. an archaic term for Easter
Votes from: Cunningham, Shefler, Schultz, Emery, Hirst, Barrs
Submitted by: Crom, who scores natural 6.
9. French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10
syllables in each line
Votes from: Bourne, Keating, Abell
Real definition from the Phrontistery, http://phrontistery.info
Submitted by: Barrs, who scores natural 3.
Submitted by: Weltz, who scores natural 3.
10. the Mediterranean octopus (Fr.)
No votes
Submitted by: Shepherdson.
11. a pungent cheese made of goat's milk
Vote from: Scott
Submitted by: Widdis, who scores natural 1.
12. [Viet.] a woven basket for carrying dry goods
Votes from: Widdis, Schultz, Weltz
Submitted by: Emery, who scores natural 3.
13. in Piquet, a sequence of eight cards of the same suit
Vote from: Crom
Submitted by: Keating, who scores 1 + 2, total 3.
14. one eighth of an ecu (French)
Vote from: Emery
Submitted by: Cunningham, who scores natural 1.
15. a large, soft fruit of southeasst asia (family Malvaceae)
Votes from: Cunningham, Keating
Submitted by: Savage, who scores natural 2.
16. [Fr.] an octothorpe
Vote from: Crom
Submitted by: Heimerson, who scores natural 1.
17. commander of a military unit originally consisting of eight men,
later as many as twelve [_now rare_]
Votes from: Stevens, Abell
Submitted by: Schultz, who scores natural 2.
Player Def Voted for Votes Guess DP Total
------ --- --------- ----- ----- -- -----
Crom 8 13 & 16 6 0 6
Carson 7 1 & 2 4 0 4
Abell 5 9 & 17 2 2 4
Barrs 9 5 & 8 3 0 3
Emery 12 8 & 14 3 0 3
Weltz 9 7 & 12 3 0 3
Bourne 2 3 & 9 1 2 3
Keating 13 9 & 15 1 2 3
Savage 15 1 & 5 2 0 2
Schultz 17 8 & 12 2 0 2
Scott 1 6 & 11 2 0 2
Cunningham 14 8 & 15 1 0 1
Heimerson 16 N/V 1 0 1
Hirst 4 7 & 8 1 0 1
Shefler 6 7 & 8 1 0 1
Stevens 3 7 & 17 1 0 1
Widdis 11 4 & 12 1 0 1
Shepherdson 10 N/V 0 0
Best, Hugo
My great plan for this round was quickly thwarted by Johnny and Dick. I found the word in the International House of Logorrhea at Forthright's Phrontistery, an onlne dictionary of obscure words. It define huitain as "group of eight lines of verse". With its shortness, the missing article, and the obvious reference to the French word for eight, I gathered that this lookes sufficiently like a quick throwaway def, sent in just before the deadline, to stand a chance of a D0. As I don't consider the Phrontistery a very reliable source, I wanted to find a confirmation somewhere, and a quick google search turned up an entry of this word in the Brittanica Online Encyclopaedia, with a much better definition: "French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line." (And then some extra explanation, as encyclopaediae are wont to do). So I decided the word was good and entered the Phrontistery's definition in Coryphaeus.
And then Johnny sent in his def: "early French verse form consisting of 8 line of 8 syllables" (couldn't you just have DQ'd as you do in all other rounds, eh?). Quickly followed by Dick's "a poem or stanca of eight lines". It was clear that not combining the defs was not an option, as there is no better vote magnet than a set of three so similar but un-combined definitions. And combining them with the original def was not an option either, as I felt that this would leave out too much detail from Johnny's def. So I did the only thing I felt I could do - I replaced the definition from the Phorntistery with that from the Brittanica Online Encyclopaedia and combined Johnny's and Dick's defs with the real one. Which scored me a D3, and them 3 points each.
The winner of round 1953 is Scott Crom, whose definition "an archaic term for Easter" earned a natural 6 . Christopher Carson and Tony Abell are the real winners, with 4 points each.
The true definition was, as described above, def 9: "French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line" (Brittanica Online Encyclopaedia), which was guessed early by Tim, late by Tony, and somewhere in between by Paul.
Congratulations Scott. The floor is all yours!!
1. influence
Votes from: Carson, Savage
Submitted by: Scott, who scores natural 2.
2. a small portion
Vote from: Carson
Submitted by: Bourne, who scores 1 + 2, total 3.
3. a long, narrow racing boat for eight rowers and a coxswain
Vote from: Bourne
Submitted by: Stevens, who scores natural 1.
4. in Elf lore, a sickly child of great wisdom; a prophet
Vote from: Widdis
Submitted by: Hirst, who scores natural 1.
5. a bright green dye made from sulfites of copper
Votes from: Savage, Barrs
Submitted by: Abell, who scores 2 + 2, total 4.
6. a small codpiece worn under a kilt
Vote from: Scott
Submitted by: Shefler, who scores natural 1.
7. a large artillery caisson
Votes from: Shefler, Hirst, Stevens, Weltz
Submitted by: Carson, who scores natural 4.
8. an archaic term for Easter
Votes from: Cunningham, Shefler, Schultz, Emery, Hirst, Barrs
Submitted by: Crom, who scores natural 6.
9. French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10
syllables in each line
Votes from: Bourne, Keating, Abell
Real definition from the Phrontistery, http://phrontistery.info
Submitted by: Barrs, who scores natural 3.
Submitted by: Weltz, who scores natural 3.
10. the Mediterranean octopus (Fr.)
No votes
Submitted by: Shepherdson.
11. a pungent cheese made of goat's milk
Vote from: Scott
Submitted by: Widdis, who scores natural 1.
12. [Viet.] a woven basket for carrying dry goods
Votes from: Widdis, Schultz, Weltz
Submitted by: Emery, who scores natural 3.
13. in Piquet, a sequence of eight cards of the same suit
Vote from: Crom
Submitted by: Keating, who scores 1 + 2, total 3.
14. one eighth of an ecu (French)
Vote from: Emery
Submitted by: Cunningham, who scores natural 1.
15. a large, soft fruit of southeasst asia (family Malvaceae)
Votes from: Cunningham, Keating
Submitted by: Savage, who scores natural 2.
16. [Fr.] an octothorpe
Vote from: Crom
Submitted by: Heimerson, who scores natural 1.
17. commander of a military unit originally consisting of eight men,
later as many as twelve [_now rare_]
Votes from: Stevens, Abell
Submitted by: Schultz, who scores natural 2.
Player Def Voted for Votes Guess DP Total
------ --- --------- ----- ----- -- -----
Crom 8 13 & 16 6 0 6
Carson 7 1 & 2 4 0 4
Abell 5 9 & 17 2 2 4
Barrs 9 5 & 8 3 0 3
Emery 12 8 & 14 3 0 3
Weltz 9 7 & 12 3 0 3
Bourne 2 3 & 9 1 2 3
Keating 13 9 & 15 1 2 3
Savage 15 1 & 5 2 0 2
Schultz 17 8 & 12 2 0 2
Scott 1 6 & 11 2 0 2
Cunningham 14 8 & 15 1 0 1
Heimerson 16 N/V 1 0 1
Hirst 4 7 & 8 1 0 1
Shefler 6 7 & 8 1 0 1
Stevens 3 7 & 17 1 0 1
Widdis 11 4 & 12 1 0 1
Shepherdson 10 N/V 0 0
Best, Hugo