A. Skytale (n) (from Greek Sky-tala, to change shape) - A greek spy, especially one who disguised himself as a citizen of the city being spied upon.

Submitted by Capfka, who admitted he knew the word. Anyway, Capfka graciously voted for his own submission to try to muddy the water. Annastrophic obliged him.

B. The form of communication commonly known as "smoke signals" when used in conjuntion with ritualistic prayer.

Submitted by Musick.

C. another name for a caduceus, the winged staff of Aescalepius the Healer

Submitted by wofahulicodoc

D. A Greek encryption device, composed of a stick and a long strip of paper which is wrapped around the stick. The message is written lengthwise on the stick. When unwrapped, it cannot be deciphered without a stick of similar diameter on which to wind the paper. It was considered very high security (VHS) until some idiot included in plain text on the end of one of the tapes: Please rewind.

This is the actual definition, minus the last sentence. I ran into it in a novel about spies in which one of the characters was whisked off to a conference at a club for spies called the Skytale Club. It is pronounced SKIT uh lee. It got votes from maverick, wofa, faldage, and dxb. By the way, I was all ready to hit submit to send out the list of definitions when I got that familiar evil glint in my mind and added the last sentence. I have NO will power, it seems.

E. A device similar to a shoulder plane for cleaning out rough-sawn dovetail joints in fine cabinet joinery. From skive, Norwegian term for bird tail, plus tale, an alternative but obsolete spelling of tail.

This was my red herring. I figured I’d get a vote or two because of its connection to woodworking and because both of my prior attempts to be hogmaster dealt with woodworking or carpentry. Worked, too, and got a vote from Sparteye

F. (n.) Northumbrian dialect, 19th c., referring to a secondary mash of beer which considerably reduced the flavour and body of the brew.

Maveick sent in this one.

G. Slang - originating in 1920’s Oxford University. An affectionate term for Russian literature

This came from dxb

H. a basketball term applied when, on an inbounds play, the ball is thrown the length of the court before being received; used when the game or shot clock provide insufficient time in which to dribble or pass the ball to the front court.

Sparteye sent in this gem.

I. a celestial oddity in which the sun is setting at the same time the moon is rising and the North star is in perfect alignment with them both

And I got this from consuelo, who gathered a vote from musick.

J. obs. The distinctive, intricate carving on a scythe used to identify the tool's owner.

Our sweet Annastrophic submitted this one, which I probably would have voted for if I hadn’t had two definitions of my own.

K. ME scytale fr. ON skytael. Covered with dung.

This came from Faldage, who garnered one vote from consuelo.

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So I either won or lost. Four people got the correct answer, but on the other hand I was the only one to get four votes, not counting of course the red herring vote!



TEd