A nice short word this time: ORT.

Please send your daffynitions to me in the usual way, by PM.

Four daffynitions plus the real meaning are in so far. However, three are from the same person. Keep 'em coming!

Just sent you a pm.

I know! Since 18 May is the date that Washington's Mt St.Helens blew, sending shockwaves up and down the Cascade mountain range, it stands for "Oregon Really Trembled." It gave my house a good shaking 150 miles away.

Ten daffys plus the real meaning so far. I'll give it twelve hours or so and then post the list for you to guess from.

I sent mine, and I have to say, it is good!

A good selection of meanings this tie, but only one is the real one.

Make your guesses below!

1. A theoretical ice cloud which forms a spherical shell around the outer solar system at a distance of between one and three light years from the sun.
2. Military acronym. Operationally Required Transport - the list of vehicles required during a specific military operation.
3. A scrap or remainder of food from a meal.
4. a small hole in the stern of a sailboat into which is inserted the pivot of the tiller
5. a cross between an orange and a tangerine
6. A vessel used by alchemists to heat quicksilver.
7. The goo-like material from which an orc is made.
8. Often Really Tired; an acronym used in medicine to describe a state of continuous fatigue.
9. A hypothetical particle that is smaller than a quark.
10. An abbreviation for Ophthalmic Resonance Testing
11. A line in geometry that extends beyond the plane of the ecliptic.
12. A secret or unknown place.
13. The original name for the reboot button on a computer; also, used in the same way in robotics.

Having eliminated various ones for various reasons I am left with about four to choose from - so I'll try number 11.

I keep changing my mind. I have three I like, One, four, and six. I think I will go with number one as the correct answer, and six as the most creative.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sattva,

I know this one so I'm staying mum for now.

Interesting that there should be multiple entries claiming it as an acronym. Though one could, of course, be correct, do you think people were influenced subconsciously by your writing it in caps?

It's actually a pron used in some regional dialects, as in "I don't want to but they say I ort to do it."

Possibly, Bob.

Actually, three out of eleven acronym definitions (27%) are given, which is not really all that many.

In fact, though, the thread's heading has it in lower case and I only wrote it in caps to make it stand out. I suspect the reason is also that it has only three letters, as do so many acronyms.

Just to make sure it's not #1 I'll pick it. However, being fond of small holes in sterns, I'll make #4 my second choice.

Only four guesses in so far. There's still two or three regulars yet to post. Proof: I see you posted but didn't make a guess. How about it?

Cross-threading:
"Everyone, move to the back of the boat," said Tom sternly.

Ipsi-threading:
For cleverness: another vote for 6. Runner-up for cleverness: 9.
For superb misdirection: 1.
For real: 3.

I have no idea but nine seems reasonably idiotic.

3

Last call. Any more guesses? Kalleh, anyone?

The results

1. A theoretical ice cloud which forms a spherical shell around the outer solar system at a distance of between one and three light years from the sun.
Bob's. Fooled sattva and Geoff.

2. Military acronym. Operationally Required Transport - the list of vehicles required during a specific military operation.
Bob's. Fooled no-one.

3. A scrap or remainder of food from a meal.
The real thing. Hab and tinman got it. See https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ort

4. a small hole in the stern of a sailboat into which is inserted the pivot of the tiller
hab's. Fooled no-one.

5. a cross between an orange and a tangerine
Mine. Fooled no-one.

6. A vessel used by alchemists to heat quicksilver.
Geoff's. Fooled no-one.

7. The goo-like material from which an orc is made.
sattva's. Fooled no-one.

8. Often Really Tired; an acronym used in medicine to describe a state of continuous fatigue.
Kalleh's. Fooled no-one.

9. A hypothetical particle that is smaller than a quark.
sattva's. Fooled Proof.

10. An abbreviation for Ophthalmic Resonance Testing
sattva's. Fooled no-one.

11. A line in geometry that extends beyond the plane of the ecliptic.
sattva's. Fooled no-one.

12. A secret or unknown place.
Bob's. Fooled no-one.

13. The original name for the reboot button on a computer; also, used in the same way in robotics.
sattva's. Fooled no-one.

B35 said she knew it, but didn't prove it, and Kalleh entered a daffy but didn't make a guess. Bob made the best showing by fooling two people with his allusion to the Oort cloud in 1.

Just a quick note on my three.

The ice cloud was meant as a spoiler because Oort.

The acronym was probably just because it's three letters and arnie originally wrote it in caps and I thought that the military love their acronyms.

The mysterious place was another attempt at a spoiler because "Ort" is German for "place".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

On 11, I fooled Bob, but he fooled me on one of his.

Ort used to be a common crossword puzzle word. I don't know if it still is.

I think Bob should do the next word as he fooled two of us.

I did "bumfit" very recently. I'm sure someone else would like a turn.

Anyone have a word they want to use in a bluffing game?

quote:

Originally posted by tinman:
Ort used to be a common crossword puzzle word. I don't know if it still is.

This was my problem. As a decades-long crossword-puzzler wannabe, I know this word from way back, so I didn't vote. As you note, it doesn't show up as often anymore.

BTW, my yrs of assaying have produced if anything less crossword-acumen than I had in youth. Have actually become adept at the below-the-fold "KenKen" (a sudoku-type number-logic puzzle) purely as periodic relief to the sweat-inducing crosswoed.

I am better at the 'tricky' stuff: Mel Taub's "Puns & Anagrams" was my fave, & I enjoy it when NYT brings out his old stuff (they just did last week), tho the previously-unpublished selections pale in comparison to his '70's-'80's prime material. My Mom excelled at the NYT crossword AND diagramless [which still leaves me foundering] AND the Middleton acrostics (the best of that genre) AND taught me how to do the Taub stuff.

And I LOVE the relatively-new NYT adjunct puzzle-page w/its Spelling Bee, Winding Down & Whirlpool. But still trying desperately to glean the game behind Brit-style (?) cryptics... any hints/ cheats, you-all?

I am a bit of a dab-hand at cryptic, although I prefer those of middling difficulty such as The Telegraph. The Times is too obscure, some of the Sunday Supplements are plain ridiculous and the tabloid ones are far far too easy. Introduced them to some chums at the bar and now we buy books of them and work on them as we drink. We can generally polish of a typical one in about half an hour.

If anyone is interested (bethree5?) I'd be happy to start a thread explaining how to solve them.

The typical US style crosswords a) are reliant on knowledge rather than skill and b) contain way way too little black space meaning that many words might be completed without even reading the clue.

I am sorry - I didn't vote. We were busy over the Memorial Day weekend.