Subject: NIDOR: the results!

From: Ranjit Bhatnagar <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 12:24:12 -0500

Sorry for the delay-- the commissioner made me do two recounts.  But
now the results are in -- Fran is the winner, with 8 points for sheep
dandruff!  Coming in second, Elliott's nest building.  And if you want
to know what the real def was, you'll have to scroll down.

-- ranjit

p.s. take it away, Fran!

Judith:
Nidor:  a small piece of jewelry.

Linda-- "Haven't seen too many nidor cases at the jewelry counter."
Judith-- 
"Ok, we have two basic ideas.  "not gold" and "nest-like".  So what do 
we go for? Anything that is neither one?"

Elliott: 6 points
nidor (n.) -- (Of poultry)  Propensity to build, care for, and sit on a
nest spontaneously.

1 point from David
2 points from Amy
2 points from Joshua
1 point from Linda-- 
"One would think that "nid" has to do with nests, so why are there two
nest defs?  Either two people were thinking about nests or Ranjit could not
decide if the real and fake defs were too close to cancel or it's a huge
bluff and one is real. Or neither.  Anyway, despite cold and snow, it's
almost spring, so my ducks and chickens are starting to lay, so--1
point--for anything to take my mind off the snow, except I still like to
slide down hills on sleds with my kids and grandkids."
Pierre-- "Another nest def."

Pierre: 2 points
nidor, n. 1. Qualities belonging to a particular nest. 2. A commingling of
odors of animals who live together.

2 points from Linda--
"Whoever wrote this knows that a lot of female poultry share nests.  It
uses up less space, it fills one nest rapidly with more females sitting
longer as a group (so the eggs are more viable and protected and less likely
to freeze), it speeds up the reproduction time  (they do not incubate until
the nest is full, since it takes a certain number of eggs to maintain proper
temperature), it is easier on the females (who often do not eat or rest
enough during incubation)(and don't stand too close behind them when they
get up for a bathroom break), and it provides diversity for the gene pool.
I've also found that some females are polyandrous so that the various males
they mate with will accept each others' offspring.  This all may have
something to do with sharing odor, since they are not housebroken.
Anyway--two points--for better or worse"
Jean-Joseph--
"Interesting that there are two "nest" definitions.  Makes me think that
this must appear to have a root with that meaning that I don't recognize.
But I'm not going to vote for them."

Joshua: 2 points
nidor (n) a minor functionary of the imperial Persian court.

2 points from Pierre
Linda-- "This is the most unusual, so plausible, but...."
Jean-Joseph-- "Doesn't float my boat."

Jean-Joseph: 1 point for correct guess
nidor - adj. - 1) Composed of lead or other base metals.  2) Worthless.

Linda-- "That last word should alert me that a reversal is possible."
Jean-Joseph--
"Mine.  My thinking in submitting this was that it would have come from
the French "ni d'or", meaning roughly "and it's not gold, either"."

Webster's 1913: 1 point
Scent or savor of meat or food, cooked or cooking. 

1 point from Jean-Joseph
Linda-- "Never seen this in a cookbook, but what do I know?"

Linda: 2 points
NIDOR--medical acronym for Nobody Dead In Operating Room.  Often used on
paperwork at end of shift. 

1 point from Amy
1 point from Judith
Jean-Joseph--
"As everyone else will doubtless point out, this should be either "NDIOR",
or "Nobody In Damned Operating Room"."
Linda--
"Sorry, folks, but I've been doing a  lot of word puzzles lately, and
Ranjit's subject heading came with capital letters.  Linda  PS By the way,
did you ever solve the "heir" thing?  I was thinking "legator" and
"legatee", but I did not pursue it.  PPS As an artist  (my family will get
paid after I die, like life insurance, a sort of "legacy"), I once (eek!
over 20 years ago!) made a book from heavily-textured homemade paper.
Included in the paper were pieces from my kids (ages 10, 11, and 11) and our
farm, like hair from a haircut  (probably had some cat and dog mixed in with
the kid hair), pieces of some old clothes (sanitized and cut up), dead bees
from our hive  (their usual lifespan is about 6 weeks and then they
expire)(can't recall the pun)(ditto the duck feathers), pieces of an ancient
bedspread  ("heirloom"), etc. The title was "An Heir-Razing Tael" and
consisted of about five or six pp with each featuring a pun on "heir".  It
was "bound" with leftover linen warp ("loom-hair") from a weaving project.
The book was actually seen in several exhibits in the Providence area,
including one for the blind, since one could touch the embedded objects
(using protective extra-thin cotton gloves, of course)."

Fran: 8 points
nidor (n) Dandruff-like skin condition in sheep, resulting in skin
flakes trapped in
the wool.

2 points from David
1 point from Joshua
2 points from Judith
2 points from Jean-Joseph-- 
"I'll give the aroma one point, and the dandruff
two points and the Raddled Nosema Award."
1 point from Pierre
Linda-- "I don't even want to think about the disgusting things that 
must get washed and carded out of wool, like burrs and--ugh!--ticks."

David:
nidor - n. - copper jewelry tinged with verdigris

Linda-- "Ah, I love old metal, but no points left."
Jean-Joseph: "Same deal here for a "jewelry" root."

Joke def:
Pierre: 
Nidor, n. A backward-thinking French sculptor. See also Lacsap.

Linda-- "It's a good thing my favorite sculptors are Italian, or I'd 
have to do more backward-thinking."

---

From: Fran Poodry <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 21:31:38 -0500

Well, I sure wasn't planning on winning.  Remind me to send a word out after
science olympiad on Thursday...too busy until that is over.
-Fran