| Entry |
Judges' comments |
From Neil Evans:
Adjectival noun (?) for turtles/tortoises/terrapins is TESTUDINAL,
which, spookily enough contains all of the letters IN THE RIGHT ORDER of
your password "tuna".
Proof of having read every line of your fantastic prose (I had you down
as having consumed a lot of beer rather than wine, actually). I can advise
that amongst the many anagrams of "testudinal" are:-
Laid us tent
Date in lust
Entail dust
Tuna Lid Set (is this a clue to the prize ?)
Or perhaps the above could describe the sequence of events that take
place when you're zipped firmly into your tent.(Well. I'm always peckish
afterwards... ) |
What can we say? Factual accuracy, high farce, and praise
for the prose. This is going to take a lot of beating... |
From Jeff Stein: ...
1. Turtlini
2. Terpintine (actually James Kilcoyne came up with this one)
3. Shellonbackigan
Also, other obscure words that I came across in my search for words
meaning turtle-like:
terpitude (noun) - A base act with a turtle.
terpedo (noun) - A turtle-shaped, self-propelled underwater projectile
launched from a submarine, an aircraft, or a ship and designed to detonate
on contact with or in the vicinity of a target.
I've been reading your website fairly regularly. It has been amusing,
informative and is making us all really jealous over here. |
Well, not many marks for factual accuracy. A few for the
extra silly words, and obviously an impressive although gratuitous piece
of flattery at the end adds another fifty or so.
|
From Steve Hayes:
...terrapinical - 1) The highest point on the Earth, otherwise known
as Mt Everest or Mallory's Tomb. From the Latin terra (earth) and pinical
(peak);
2) The highest part on a tortoise. In either case, a usage example
is "Have you measurde the terrapinical yet?"; 3) In urban argot, the scariest
moment
before the police move away. |
Some marks for being rather learned. However, we do have
to regretfully dock some marks due to the entry not actually attempting
to answer the question - although see the next entry... |
From Jane Shreffler
...what is what? what is terrapinical or what is the tortoise equivalent of canine?... |
It appears that confusion about the meaning of the question reigns in at least two of our learned readers' minds. Which is odd, because it doesn't look ambiguous at this end - perhaps the struggle to learn Spanish is adversely affecting our grasp of the mother tongue. |
From Mareta Petersen:
...Canine is to dog as (family = canid)
Testudin is to desert turtle (family = testudinidae)
Terrapins, although of the same family as land turtles, are actually North
American edible turtles living in fresh or brackish water, so they have nothing
to do with your desert turtle. |
Yet another basically correct answer (yawn - we'll have to make it more difficult next time). One extra mark for the gratuitous discourse on terrapins moves this into a different position. |
From David Harvey:
...I expect testudinal is to tortoise as canine is to dog... but if you're
really wondering this then I suspect the combination of the baking heat
and shimmering mirages has already had a bad effect. |
OK, so you the reader decide. Is he really that good that he can guess right? And does he deserve any points for deliberate anti-greasing? Extra weight from any voter that's actually met David. |