Yup, it’s back — the Wednesday Words compilation of words in crossword puzzles that I had to look up once I figured out the answers. There’s nothing quite so humbling as realizing that I can put the correct letters in and still not be sure I actually got the right word, because I don’t recognize it.
Here are the ones from recent weeks, and yes — I did know a couple of the words, sort of, but if you had asked me to define them exactly I would have had a tough time. And in one instance, the word I didn’t know was in the clue . . . that makes it really hard to figure out the answer, right?
Clues:
- Ill-gotten gains
- Rocky peak
- Poutine base
- A noun or name derived from a person’s name
- Glacial pinnacle
- A romantic attraction with an obsessive need to have feelings reciprocated
- Makeshift device
- Old oar-driven ships
Answers in random order:
- Eponym
- Kludge
- Biremes
- Serac
- Limerence
- Pelf
- Fries
- Tor
Ready to know which is which?
- Ill-gotten gains = pelf
- Rocky peak = tor
- Poutine base = fries
- A noun or name dervied from a person’s name = eponym
- Glacial pinnacle = serac
- Makeshift device = kludge
- Old oar-driven ships = biremes (pictures)
- A romantic attraction with an obsessive need to have feelings reciprocated = limerence
I had never imagined kludge, limerence, or pelf . . . how about you?
*The part of the Cruciverbalist definition that applies to me: An enthusiast of word games, especially of crosswords.