a. The area surrounding an ancestral manor occupied by those who rent cottages and land from the familial owner, from Father Steve, voted for by etaoin

b. special gouge used for faceplate turning on a wood lathe, from TEd, voted for by Alex Williams

c. European aquatic mole, found in Pyrenees and in Russia, from wikipedia and several other sources, voted for by tsuwm

d. an acronym for "DE406; Earth's Special Mars August Nexus" used by astronomers to refer to the August 27th opposition of Mars with Earth - the closest that Mars will approach Earth in about 60,000 years, from themilum; no votes

e. (sl.)A blue collar worker from the steel industry, specifically from Pennsylvania, USA; sent in by musick; no votes

f. a blithering idiot [after P. G. Wodehouse character Malcolm Desman]. From tsuwm; vote from Father Steve

g. industrial pressure roller to apply printed images to heavy backing in the manufacture of jigsaw puzzles. After Robert Desman, inventor, from Sparteye; votes from Annastrophic, Bingley and Elizabeth Creith

h. A litter used for local transport by important personages in the Ottoman empire, from Bingley; voted for by Sparteye.

i. The bar connecting the treadle and crank of a spinning wheel, from Elizabeth Creith, votes from musick, faldage, and Fiberbabe

j. Canadian sagebrush, from AnnaStrophic; voted for by themilum

k. soft-soled slipper typically worn indoors; from Alex Williams; voted for by Consuelo
- - - - - -

There was a tie between Sparteye’s contribution of industrial roller and Elizabeth’s bluff of a spinning wheel part. I was so taken with the latter that I told Elizabeth that it was certain to garner several votes; I almost voted for it myself and then remembered that I was the HM on this round.

SJMAXQ submitted a comment, but I went back and read it three times and did not see even a hint of a vote.

I ran across desman when I was googling something we had talked about here on line recently, though I now have no good memory what it was; I was afraid someone would have followed the same path I did. I think it had something to do with some endangered species in the Iberian Peninsula, something which is a good classification for the western version of this odd little animal.

TEd