!! MAX AIRMAILS A THREE(3)!!

a) a kind of mistletoe – OED2
b) a state of mild depression; low-spiritedness – tsuwm (1 point)
c) a situation in which a large ego is depleted - jazzo
d) of or relating to horses, equestrian – flatlander (2 points)
e) a plant which lives in a commensal type of symbiosis at or near the tops of trees, esp. of the genus Fagus or Betula – byb (5 votes*)
f) a small rubber or plastic sheath at the point where an electrical cord enters an appliance which prevents the cord from crimping - fiberbabe
g) a rare type of amber, black in colour - bingley
h) of or relating to the light of a variable star, which pulsates in a regular cycle - caradea
i) an outer garment used as ex cathedra casual vestments in the Greek Orthodox Church - maverick
j) a mondegreen of 'I fear' - jimthedog
k) a compound used in papermaking to dissolve raw fibers – sparteye (1 point)
l) the bulbous cap on a mushroom's head – brandon (2 points)
m) a variety of long-eared corn bred to feed livestock – whitman (1 point)
n) a golden circlet worn by astrologers… - ted
o) wife (from Hymen, God of marriage and phear,…) – max (1 point)

the voting
----------
jimthedog e
bingley e
caradea e
bobyoungbalt a
max a
rapunzel m
marianna d
whitman l
flatlander l
sparteye b
squid k
paulb d
jazzo o
brandon e
maverick e

OED2 gives “a kind of mistletoe” [obs] and this citation: A difference there is in the Hyphear and Misselto, on what tree soeuer they are found.
Bobyoungbalt and max(!) got it right; byb also submitted (e), which garnered five(5) votes. Brandon collected two(2) points for his slightly off-color mushroom thingy; and Flatlander rode in with two(2) points for “equestrian”.

Irregularities:

- to those that voted for (e), having concluded that (e) was a metadef© that includes (a), I say congratulations. Good work. Kudos.
- when queried as to his def. (e), Bob replied, “[self-incriminating bits excised]… led me to believe that the word refers to some kind of a growth on trees…. The definition I submitted was made up, with a lot of flak to make it look authoritative.”
- subsequent to our exchange of PMs, Bob voted for the correct definition.
- early on, caradea voted for (e) via PM, so as not to “add to the bandwagon population for a definition that's not mine”

*given the above set of unusual circumstances, I have arbitrarily and capriciously adjusted Bob’s score – whines only to tsuwm@aol.com.

THE SCORE (for what it's worth)

tsuwm 30+1=31
squid 24
Bingley 24
Flatlander 19+2=21
wordcrazy 18
maverick 17
Jazzoctopus 17
Sparteye 16+1=17
paulb 15
Hyla 15
rodward 14
caradea 15
Geoff 13
Bobyoungbalt 9+5+2-2-1=13*
WhitmanO'Neill 12+1=13
Brandon 9+2=11
jimthedog 10
Rapunzel 9
Marianna 7
fiberbabe 8
RhubarbCommando 7
MaxQuordlepleen 2+3=5
Avy 3
wwh 3
VernonCompton 2
Faldage 2
Jackie 2
frmPennsylvania 1
nuntius 1
AlexWilliams 1
freckled_snout 1
consuelo 1
Juanmaria 0.5

<whew>
-the hogmaster® [thanx to flatlander]