the correct definition, as you may have gleaned by now, has to do with ivory billiard balls. the voting was heavy and close between ASp's and Flatlander's entries, with Bingley seeming to come along belatedly to cast the decisive ballot -- but wait! one of the votes for B was by ASp her-own-self, nefariously jumping on her own Bandwagon. so it's a flatfooted tie, with Flatlander getting the nod via the tiebreaker. [see Code of Ethics and Bylaws, Item 17f.]

a) In calligraphy, a writing implement used for engraving special inks (i.e.
gold-embossed).
[def'n by WhitmanO'Neill]

b) A small writing desk (similar to a secretary) popular during the Italian Neoclassical
period (1760-1800), and characterized by a marble writing top, pendant floral
carving on the drawers and fluted tapering legs.
[AnnaStrophic - 7... 6 votes]

c) A removable paper cover protecting a bound book; a dust jacket.
[caradea - 1 vote]

d) an inspector of entrails, for the purpose of divination
[tsuwm - 1 vote]

e) An old way of writing short notes - a kind of shorthand, indeed, not dissimilar in
intention to the text that people use on mobile phones.
[RhubarbCommando]

f) A fountain pen made entirely of glass, also called a dipping pen.
[TEd Remington - 1 vote]

g) A small but deadly knife with the blade twisted in the manner of a screw before
the final tempering. Associations: Shiv= blade. Shive=knife. Scr= screw Stilo=stylus.
Stilletto=little knife Manufactured in Italy, thescrivello quickly became the favourite
assassination tool of the "Black Hand"-a secret Serbian society, outlawed in 1917 for
the suspected assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. A scrivello
appears in the upcoming Arnold Schwarzenegger movie-Collateral Damage.
[milum - 1 vote]

h) A decorative masonry technique in which a thin line of mortar is excised from a
joint and then filled with white lime.
[Flatlander - 6 votes]

i) The operating expenses of an opera house. [origin unknown]
[Wordwind]

j) from the root "scrivo" meaning to write, plus the diminutive "ello" so - "to do little
writing"
[stales]

k) A public letter writer who works in a house of joy.
[Bobyoungbalt]

l) A small elephant tusk, once commonly used to produce billiard balls
[OED2 - 1 vote, from caradea :-p ]

m) from latin v. scrivirto write pron. ellohim, penpal
[consuelo - 1 vote]

n) A marble patterning in which white and green stripes are alternated, used in
Romanesque Italian cathedral architecture.
[Jazzoctopus -1 vote (jazzo must be wondering why so many preferred H... 8) ]

o) Hastily written piece of music in the style of Ivor Novello (Welsh actor, composer
and playwright (1893-1951)).
[Bingley]

p) A portable writing desk.
[Sparteye]