Forum > Today's Puzzles
Fri., 11/6 Victor Barocas
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magus:
THEME: synonyms of "list" are arranged alphabetically, and when unscrambled are first words of common phrases
GOOD ONES:
ILST {& theme} ALPHABETIZED LIST [the word is alphabetized: I L S T]
More pinlike? NEATER ["neat as a pin"]
Genesis creator SEGA [the game not the book]
Long time ending? NO SEE ["long time, no see"]
Zipper opening? ZEE
BTW:
Wax on an envelope, say SEALER [can't remember when I received a letter sealed by wax: maybe it was some new car announcement --- and was I impressed!]
Is down with HAS [as in "is down with the flu" --- and I'm down with this clue.]
RATING: ;D ;D
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun
Thomps2525:
What is so "neat" about a pin? What is the origin of the phrase "as neat as a pin"? Well, I found the answers. Actually, I found four answers:
1. "Neat" derived from a word which also meant "shiny."
2. The phrase uses the original 16th-century of definition of "neat" as "clean; free from dirt." But who would ever describe a pin as "neat"?
3. The phrase references the well-made mass-produced pins of the early 1800s in contrast to the earlier hand-made, and often irregular, pins of previous years.
4. The 1898 Dictionary Of Phrase & Fable lists a variant of the phrase: "Neat as a Pin, or Neat as a New Pin. Very prim and tidy." The phrase may have originally been "as neat as a new pin" and became shortened in the same way that "Happy as a clam at high tide" became shortened to "Happy as a clam" (which makes no sense) and "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" became shortened to "The proof is in the pudding" (which makes no sense).
So I found four different origins of the phrase.....and I can't pin it down any further. (Today's bad pun. :) )
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