choose one:

a) describes the facial expression of one who has a nasal hair tickling the side of his/her nose

b) the name for the mechanism that produces several graph lines at once as may be found in a lie detector, a seismograph, etc.

c) an Italian version of chili, somewhat similar to the Tex-Mex variety but substituting cannellini for kidney beans and featuring traditional Italian herbs, including basil, oregano, and garlic

d) also psylli,(sil-I) more often psyllic(SIL-ik) ceremonial snake handling

e) a type of mathematical puzzle popular in the 19th century

f) the wrapping at the base of a double-reed that assures a snug fit onto the bocal of the bassoon or oboe

g) descriptive of tiny, eyelash-like protrusions on lower marine life forms

h) to use as the outside indicator of an Enigma message the letters appearing in the windows at the end of the enciphering of the previous message, thereby revealing the finished position for message and, in certain circumstances, facilitating the determination of its true setting and wheel-order (from the initials of the girlfriend of a German operator, who found them easy to remember)

i) (slang) insanity induced by lead poisoning

j) a Coast Guard officer

k) a battlefield formation used with great success by the Roman legions during Caesar's earliest campaigns

l) a meadow strewn with flints (These meadows are found on chalk downs and are used for grazing sheep. The soil is too shallow for crops and the grass insuffiently lush to fatten cattle adequately. Originally was two words, "cill lye". Cills being igneous rock intrusions and lye being the old word, or one of them, for a meadow.)

m) an obsolete variant of the word silly

n) the decorative, frilled hem of a slip that is designed to peep from under the skirt of a latin dancer

o) a hairlike tail or end

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the bonus challenge: find the common thread

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the usual suspects: consuelo, dxb, musick, Wordwind, Jazzo, ASp, ron obvious, Fiberbabe, WO'N, slithy toves, RC, Bingley, milum, dodyskin, and a really obscure dictionary

I shall fall straight into the polynymic one's trap, and vote for my usual grade in Hogwash rounds: F

g)

O

I ceme to c cense in c

H for its sheer preposterousness.

common "thread": You want me to obviousize, tsuwm?

That's my role this week.

But I'm holdin' back; I'm tuckin' it in...right beneath the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin.

I also can't make up my mind about the definitions. They're all correct this time. Except one. The others are all correct.

Will be back with my choice after I blindfold myself and point randomly at the list.

Beard regards,
WordWolf

common "thread": You want me to obviousize, tsuwm? ~ asp

Well if you won't, Annatypic, I will. In fact there are two major themes and one minor theme running through these definitions.

A) the hairlike boys............. five.
B) the military boys............. five.
C) the snake charmer boys... three.

And I am so happy that two of you have voted for my definition. ___

I, myself, will probably vote for the occam razor outside these groupings "M". But I'm still waiting to see what the big boys do.
___________________________________________

Now I think they're all wrong. I would reveal my reasoning, but that wouldn't be very sporting, would it? One of them I'd hoped would the correct one, but then I spotted something in the definition that told me it was a fake. Drat. It would have been a great definition for a word well-needed.

So, I will side with simplicity, with the fact that I have no (i.e., zero) idea what the truth is here, and with the apparent thread that ran among many of the definitions. I cast my vote for:

O

oh, what the hell: M

Oh, what the hell: O...make that a Jazz-O!