Style Invitational Week 1266: The Tile Invitational V


Our neologism contest playing off ScrabbleGrams; plus winning
crossword clues



By Pat Myers By Pat Myers Email the author

Entertainment
February 8 Email the author

Follow @PatMyersTWP //

(Click here to skip down <#report> to the winning crossword clues)


(Bob Staake for The Washington Post)

*AUEALGB: AA-bulge:* The result of choosing too small a bra size. /(Hugh
Thirlway) /

*AUEALGB: * *AA-bulge: *The result of eating every time you feel the
urge for a drink. /(David Adlerstein)/

*AUEALGB: Galbeau:* Transgender heartthrob. /(David Ballard) /

*AUEALGB: Begaul:* Try to impress with French expressions. “That pompous
jerk kept begauling me with ‘ma cherie.’ ” /(Chris Doyle)
/

It’s our fifth go-round with the neologism challenge based on the
syndicated ScrabbleGrams game that runs every weekday in The Post: In a
graphic below is a list of 40 seven-letter sets taken from the
out-of-print “Big Book of ScrabbleGrams.”

Each of them contains at least one real seven-letter word, but that’s
not the point. Instead, *create a five-, six- or seven-letter word (or
phrase) by scrambling the letters of any of the sets and define it,* as
in the examples above from 2014 (that set isn’t included this time).
Feel free to make your entry funnier — and more inkworthy than someone
else’s similar idea — by using your term in a funny sample sentence.
(Note that we are not playing for Scrabble points; the letter values
don’t matter.) *The Empress implores you: *Begin /every/ entry — as
usual, up to 25 in all — with the letter set you’re unscrambling, as
above, and spell it correctly, so that it won’t take hours for the E
just to sort the entries. (At the bottom of the page is a list of the 40
racks as text you can copy.)

Submit entries at the website *wapo.st/enter-invite-1266*
(all lowercase).

Winner gets the *Lose Cannon,

* our Style Invitational trophy. Second place receives the book “How to
Poo on a Date: The Lovers’ Guide to Toilet Etiquette,”
a
handy paperback advising aspiring lovers what to do if you are “in a
gondola,” “having a webcam chat and just can’t wait” or “at her place
and you stink up the toilet.” Donated by that romantic Loser Dave
Prevar, who also threw in, for that perfect date, a little strand of
rubbery fake snot that you let hang out your nose.

*Other runners-up *win our “You Gotta Play to Lose”
Loser
Mug or our Grossery Bag, “I Got a B in Punmanship.”
Honorable mentions get one of our
lusted-after Loser magnets, “We’ve Seen Better”
or
“IDiot Card.”

First Offenders receive only a smelly tree-shaped air “freshener”
(FirStink

for their first ink). *Deadline is Monday night, Feb. 19; *results
published March 11 (online March 8). See general contest rules and
guidelines at wapo.st/InvRules . The headline
for this week’s results is by Kevin Dopart; Jesse Frankovich wrote the
honorable-mentions subhead. Join the Style Invitational Devotees group
on Facebook at /on.fb.me/invdev ./

*The Style Conversational *The Empress’s weekly online column —
published late Thursday afternoon — discusses the new contest and
results. Especially if you plan to enter, check it out at
wapo.st/styleconv
.

And from The Style Invitational four weeks ago . . .

(Grid by Evan Birnholz/DevilCross.com)

*CLUE CARDS: REPORT FROM WEEK 1262*
**In*Week 1262* **we asked you to supply
creative clues for any of the words in a grid by Washington Post Sunday
crossword constructor Evan Birnholz; here are the best among them.

Some
would be at home in a “cryptic crossword,” requiring you to think
flexibly; for example, *ABE* as *“1 PM in Tokyo” * refers to *P*rime
*M*inister Shinzo Abe. If a clue stumps you: The Empress Explains
Everything in this week’s Style Conversational at wapo.st/conv1266
.

4th place:

*JOSEREYES:* The ICE agent told him, “You must be Joe King” (Mark
Raffman, Reston)

3rd place:

*FETED:* Only its homophone describes the Redskins (Jeff Hazle, San
Antonio)

2nd place and the “Dance the Macarena” VHS tape:

*ITALIANO:* /“Veni veni veni!”/ (Jeff Shirley, Richmond)

And the winner of the Lose Cannon:

*BAD:* Only half what Leroy Brown is (Drew Bennett, West Plains, Mo.)

Evan help us!: Honorable mentions

(/Asterisks denote First Offenders.)/
*MAMASBOY: *Son of Yo-Yo Yo-Yo (Ken Gallant, Conway, Ark.)

*ITALIANO:* What the World Cup selection committee said right after
/“¡España, sí!”/ (Mark Raffman)

*ABOUND: * Unit of building-leap effort for Superman (Elliott Shevin,
Oak Park, Mich.)

*TIRAMISU:* Italian for “love handles” (John Hutchins, Silver Spring, Md.)

*TIRAMISU:* Where Tiramisians go to college (Jesse Frankovich, Grand
Ledge, Mich.)

*REWARD:* Name the Cleavers briefly considered for their younger son.
(Jim Derby, Rockville, Md.)

*REWARD:* Another magnet for Dr. Kay (Ward Kay, Vienna, Va.)

*ETC:* Abbreviation for “I don’t know the rest” (Neal Starkman, Seattle)

*ETC:* What a teen hears after the first word of another lecture from
Mom (Dave Prevar, Annapolis, Md.)

*LEI:* Even in Hawaii, it’s best not to ask a female co-worker for one
of these (Mark Raffman)

*DIETER:* One who is hungry to succeed (Ben Aronin, Washington)

*ASIDE:* At Minibar, one caviar-stuffed olive served on a flower petal
(Janelle Gibb, Rockville, Md.)

*ASIDE:* How much beef Your Mama ate last night (Mark Raffman)

*TWEETY:* An orange-crested nuthatch usually found near golf courses
(Barry Koch, Catlett, Va.)

*TWEETY:* “Mr. Fudd, what was signed at Versailles in 1919?” (Mark
Calandra, Sudbury, Mass.)

*RATTY:* Ancient Egyptian communication device (*Richard Campbell, Austin)

*PIMA:* Home-schooler’s answer to a geometry question (Ward Kay)

*CONES:* How I knew Beldar, Prymaat and Connie were not from France
(*Bert Klimas, Rice, Wash.)

*CONES:* “I get two scoops on mine. Two! All those losers just get one”
(Sean Bender-Prouty, Arlington)

*ANTIQUE:* Beautiful furniture, ugly price (Lawrence McGuire, Waldorf, Md.)

*ANTIQUE + SOUNDS:* “You’re welcome,” “My pleasure” (Harold Mantle,
Walnut Creek, Calif.)

*ASHEN:* How Rooster gets on ‘”RuPaul’s Drag Race” (*Mark Oldenburg,
Biglerville, Pa.)

*ITSPAT:* Genius Bar brawl (Steve Honley, Washington)

*ITSPAT: *“May I call you Thelma, Mrs. Nixon?” (Elliott Shevin)

*ITSPAT:* How to explain the glob of camel phlegm on your shirt (*Liv
Johansson, Alexandria)

*CHA:* Cha’s partner (Deb Stewart, Damascus, Md.)

*CHA:* May I half this dance? (Jon Gearhart, Des Moines)

*CHA:* Put this in a purse to make a purchase (Jeff Contompasis,
Ashburn, Va.)

*MSG: *What Sarah Grziebienewski’s first-grade students call her (Robert
Schechter, Dix Hills, N.Y.)

*TOWBAR:* Metro’s answer to continually breaking escalators (John Hutchins)

*TOWBAR:* Exam for traffic court lawyers (Ward Kay)

*EXITLINE:* The Hotel California doesn’t have one (Rob Huffman,
Fredericksburg, Va.)

*EXITLINE:* Most exciting part of a five-act opera (Frank Mann, Washington)

*ESTRANGE:* Website that offers do-it-yourself divorces (Mark Raffman)

*ESTRANGE: *Dating site for fetishists (Dave Matuskey, Sacramento)

*MITE:* The littlest Romney (*Dinah Rokach, Silver Spring)

*ATIT:* Key part of John Mitchell’s wringing endorsement

of Katharine Graham (Kevin Dopart, Washington)

*ALA:* Deity in Reader’s Digest Condensed Koran (Jeff Shirley)

*ALA:* Mobile home (Chris Doyle, Denton, Tex.)

*ALA:* Near Miss. (Chris Doyle)

*ONSET: *When the false-starting sprinter left the blocks (Gordon Cobb,
Marietta, Ga.)

*YOUVEGOTMETHERE:* What every man yearns to hear in bed (*Matthew
Zimmer, New York)

*YOUVEGOTMETHERE:* Why I’m not here. (Gordon Cobb)

*YOUVEGOTMETHERE:* Accusation by London bobby while busting a drug lab
(Paul Wilmes, Minneapolis)

*YOUVEGOTMETHERE:* Sign pointing to Citi Field (Dave Silberstein,
College Park, Md.)

*BARR:* Second item on a pirate’s daily to-do list, after “A. Get up”
(Duncan Stevens, Vienna, Va.)

*ABE:* 1 PM in Tokyo (Brendan Beary, Great Mills, Md.)

*ABE:* What “To be or not to” is missing (Robert Schechter)

*ABE+SASS: *Name of s---hole bar right behind Lincoln Center. (Kevin
Dopart)

*SOW+SASS: *Something you definitely can’t make a silk purse from (Jesse
Frankovich)

*EDDIE+SASS: *What Pugsley might kick in an Addams-Munster brawl (John
McCooey, Rehoboth Beach, Del.)

*EDDIE:* What Ed do when Ed fall out of plane with no chute (Ellen Ryan,
Rockville, Md.)

*STEPOUT*: French patron saint of supermodels (Warren Tanabe, Annapolis,
Md.)

*TRAP:* “Our waitress sure is pretty, isn’t she?” (Danielle Nowlin,
Fairfax Station, Va.)

*WASHASHORE: *First the oil spill does it; then we have to (Lindsay
McClelland. Fairfax, Va.)

*JESUIT + REWARD:* Frequent friar miles (Chris Doyle)

*FAQ:* “Are we there yet?” is one (Rob Huffman)

*SEXES: * Checks out the chicks
(Brendan Beary)

*MIEN:* Bobby McGee’s facial expression (John McCooey)

*ANT:* Hill aide (Eileen Doll, Gwynn Oak, Md.)

/And Last: / *ITSPAT:* What drew the record number of “And Last” entries
to this contest (Dave Prevar)


*Still running — deadline Feb. 19: our contests for song parodies about
education. See wapo.st/invite1265. *


*THE SCRABBLEGRAMS RACKS FOR WEEK 1266, as text*

AAALWYY
AACERWY
AADMRSU
AAILLNV
ABCLOOX
ABEFFOT
ABELNRY
ACCEPRY
ACEMNOR
ACILSUY
ADDIKTY
ADEEKWY
ADEILRV
AEEEGNT
AEELTVW
AEGINRV
AEIOQSU
AELTTUX
AEPRRTU
CIIOSUV
DEEFHLU
DEFGITY
DEHLOOT
DEILRVY
DELMTUY
DHILNOP
DIILRTY
EEGLNOZ
EENPRTV
EFHINST
EFHLSTY
EGHIINT
EHILLNO
EILSSTY
ELNOSSW
ELNOSTV
FIMNORS
IINRTTY
ILSSTTY
LLMPPUY