retiarius /reh tee AR ius/
choose one:

a) any of a number of species of bird whose head and tail seem so similar in flight as to appear to be flying backwards (cf. the French word for duck, canard) Geoff

b) a person who is just about to give up working for a living, on a permanent basis Rhubarb Commando

c) retiarina: regency victim of a broken engagement going back 'out' with her best frock on and her bejewelled head held high; hence retiarius: the first ball after said jilting dodyskin, 1 vote

d) a parasitic microbe which feeds on the retina of tropical mammals, swiftly causing blindess WhitmanO'N

e) the name for the Roman hunting tool which resembles the modern-day boomerang; also the word shouted when it was thrown etaoin

f) a Roman gladiator who carried a net with which to entangle his adversary OED2, 4 votes

g) the crest or tuft on the head of a bird Wordwind, 4 votes

h) hilarious consuelo

i) A net of metal rings used as a weapon by a gladiator. TEd Remington, 2 votes (for a null def'n!)

j) in a last ditch effort to salvage a fiasco Ford Motors introduced the Edsel Retiaris which featured a gold chrome grill, a hydro-thermo-glide transmission, and a three tone paint finish; production stopped in mid first shift, only 17 were made, with 2 extant -- the rarest car in the world according to Guinness. darned if I can remember who sent this one, oh well...

k) the original name for Stan Lee's Spiderman FishonaBike (as interpreted by tsuwm)

l) a yellow calcite that forms on metallic artifacts from the Fertile Crescent when exposed to acidic liquids Jazzoctopus, 1 vote

m) the circle of hair surrounding the tonsure, or shaved crown, of a monk's or priest's head slithy toves, 2 votes

n) a compendium of visions; a dream journal Verlangen, 1 vote

o) one skilled in fanciful story-weaving tsuwm


we have a few new players this time; the entrants inclue: WO'N, dodyskin, slithy toves, Jazzo, Wordwind, milum, tsuwm, OED2, consuelo, Fishona, Verlangen, etaoin, Rhubarb & Geoff

so Wordwind tied with OED2 for most votes (4) [nice work Theresa!]. the correct votes were cast by Vernon Compton, Bobyoungbalt, RhubarbCommando and rapunzel, of whom only RC was a 'player'. there were four(4) own votes cast, largely to no avail whatsoever (quite obviously so in three cases!).