Style Invitational Week 1303: Neologisms to di- for


Replace a digraph (a 2-letter blend) in a word with another one.
Plus winning word chains.


Skinchilla -- an example of replacing one digraph with another. (Bob
Staake for The Washington Post)
By Pat Myers

Pat Myers


Editor and judge of The Style Invitational since December 2003
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October 25

(Click here to skip down <#report> to the winning word chains from Week
1299.)

*Skinchilla: The least warm fur stole ever.*

*Bling shift: The time between the end of your day job and closing time
at the club.*

*Crone fruit: Pitted prunes. *

Here’s a brand-new contest idea from Hall of Fame Loser Jeff
Contompasis. Jeff was seeing a commercial for the show “Trading Spaces”
but, as someone who has occasional incidents of dyslexia, kept reading
the logo as “Spading Traces.” And so, as a True Loser, he suggested a
contest with digraphs — blends of two letters, either vowels or
consonants, that make one simultaneous sound. This week: *Replace a
digraph in an existing word or phrase with another digraph to make a new
term,* as in Jeff’s own examples above, and describe the result. It’ll
probably be funnier if the original term is recognizable, and a funny
sentence showing how the word might be used is always welcome. While
there are various technical definitions of “digraph,” ours will be of
two adjacent letters, and will include silent letters.

Submit entries at the website *wapo.st/enter-invite-1303 *
(all lowercase).

Winner gets the *Lose Cannon,

* our Style Invitational trophy.

Second place receives our Deluxe Culinary Gift Pack courtesy of Loser
Connie Schott of West Plains, Mo.: There’s an *apron emblazoned with the
“Squirrel Pot Pie” logo *of the Ozark Heritage Festival, from right in
West Plains, and — nope, sorry, no squirrel pot pie, but the next best
thing: *two big sticks of Roadkill,* which is like a Slim Jim but
instead of beef and chicken, its ingredients include “venison, elk, wild
boar (meat from feral swine) . . . pheasant, rabbit . . .” Perhaps it’s
a diet like this that accounts for the disproportionate presence of
three denizens of West Plains (population 12,000) among the Loser
Community, accounting for 240 blots of Style Invitational ink, including
10 wins. I’m thinking it’s the elk.

*Other runners-up *win our “You Gotta Play to Lose”
Loser
Mug or our Grossery Bag, “I Got a B in Punmanship”
(or perhaps a new design). 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, Nov. 5; *results
published Nov. 25 (online Wednesday, Nov. 21). See general contest rules
and guidelines at wapo.st/InvRules . The
headline for this week’s results is by Jesse Frankovich; Dave Prevar and
Tom Witte each submitted this week’s honorable-mentions subhead. Join
the Style Invitational Devotees group on Facebook at on.fb.me/invdev
. “Like” Style Invitational Ink of the Day on
Facebook at bit.ly/inkofday ; follow
@StyleInvite on Twitter.

*The Style Conversational *The Empress's weekly online column discusses
each new contest and set of results. Especially if you plan to enter,
check it out at wapo.st/styleconv
.

And from The Style Invitational four weeks ago . . .

*WORD SERIES MVPs: THE CHAINS OF WEEK 1299*

**In*Week 1299 *we posted a list of words
that were recently added to Merriam-Webster’s Scrabble dictionary,

and asked the Losers to take any two of the words and create a word
chain to link them, by meaning, similar sounds or both. Hildy Zampella’s
elegantly pithy “LISTICLE > testicle > NUTJOB” made the Empress wish she
hadn’t stated a minimum of six words in the chain.

Baffled by some of the connections? Click on the links in the chains
below for explanations or at least hints.)

4th place*: *

Direct from the Ozarks, only part of this week's second prize.

*OK*> Oklahoma > Cherokee > Indian nickel > Ni
> Knights Who Say Ni
> Monty Python > king cobra
> Stephen King > “Carrie” > John le Carré > Smiley
>*frowny* (Chris Doyle,
Denton, Tex.)

3rd place:

*Bestie* > old chum > shark bait > American Bar Association >“I like
beer”
>
Dos Equis > XX > “Twenty Ways to Please Your Man” > *listicle* (Mark
Raffman, Reston, Va.)

2nd place

/and the real snapping-turtle skull
:/

*Sho* (old Tibetan currency) > “Show me the money!” > Tom Cruise

> “Risky Business” > Paul Manafort > singing > Aretha > urethra > golden
shower > *ew*! (Jesse Frankovich, Grand Ledge, Mich.)

And the winner of the Lose Cannon:

*Zen *> Buddhist > Christian > Fletcher Christian
> Mutiny on the
Bounty > paper towels > Hurricane Maria > "Wind in the Willows" > Mr.
Toad's Wild Ride
> Stormy Daniels > *substorm* (Kevin Dopart, Washington)

Second strings: Honorable mentions

*Captcha* >“I’m not a robot”
>
Marco Rubio
>
bottled water > Aquafina >
*aquafaba* (Jesse Frankovich)

*Captcha* > “not a robot” > Turing Test
> Alan Turing > “The
Imitation Game” >
Rich Little > Notorious
B.I.G > Notorious RBG > RBF
> *frowny* (Pam
Sweeney, Burlington, Mass.)

*Sheeple*

> must have $1,099 iPhone XS > I phone exes > “I Want You Back” >
Jackson Five > Michael Jackson > “Thriller”

> *zomboid* (Luke Baker, Columbia, Md.)

*Hivemind* > the Borg > Bjorn Borg >
Björn Again > John 3:3 > Papa John’s > *papasan* > Comfy Chair
> Monty Python >
“The Full Monty” > *twerk* (Stephen Dudzik, Olney, Md.)

*Farro *(a grain) >wheat > Wil Wheaton > Star Trek > Patrick Stewart >
Saint Patrick > St. Louis > Arch > Archibald Cox > Watergate > Deep
Throat > “Deep Throat”
> *nutjob* (Neal
Starkman, Seattle)

*Puggle* (pug-beagle) > boxer > Oscar De La Hoya > Georgetown Prep
>
Brett Kavanaugh> boys will be boys > Green Mountain Boys > Vermont
>Ben
& Jerry’s >Cherry Garcia
> the
Grateful Dead > Phish
>
*rootkit * (computer hacking
tools) (Chris Doyle)

*Puggle* > snuggle > foreplay > four-ply > Cottonelle > president’s foot
> *cankles* (fat ankles)
(Jeff Shirley, Richmond, Va.)

*Listicle* > Popsicle > “Pop Goes the Weasel” > slimeball > spit > vice
presidency > Pence >
sterling > starling >
cuckoo >*truther* (Ellen Ryan, Rockville, Md.)

*Bizjet *> airplane > “Don’t call me Shirley”
> Shirley Temple > Good
Ship Lollipop >
Pudding Pops > Bill Cosby >
3 to 10
>
“3:10 to Yuma” > Jeff Flake
> snowflake > Snow White >
Grumpy > *frowny* (Kevin Dopart)

*Sriracha* > Tabasco > Louisiana > New Orleans > Mardi Gras > “Girls
Gone Wild” > spring break > Springsteen > “Born in the USA” > born again
> Mike Pence > lap dog > *puggle* (Drew Bennett, West Plains, Mo.)

*Vape* > inhale > Bill Clinton

> Hillary Clinton > server > Serena Williams > Robin Williams > standup
> Viagra > *yowza* (Tom Witte, Montgomery Village, Md.)

*Mulloway* (a kind of fish) > jewfish > gefilte fish > carp > carpe diem
> seize the day > search and seizure > Julius Caesar > Veni Vidi Vici >
Gaul > Macron > *macaron* (Mark Raffman)

*Wayback* > WABAC machine
>
Mr. Peabody > Sherman > tanks > you’re welcome > /Willkommen/ >“Cabaret”
> cabernet > France >
*macaron* (Jeff Contompasis, Ashburn, Va.)

*Conlang* (an invented language) >High Valyrian
> “GoT” > Got Milk? >
spilled milk > no use crying > “No Woman, No Cry” > reggae > Rasta >
ganja > wacky tobacky > *vape* (Bill Dorner, Indianapolis)

*Farro *> wheat > Wheaties > Special K > 401(k) > ESOP
> Aesop >
“The Tortoise and the Hare” > “Yertle the Turtle” > Mitch McConnell
>
Elaine Chao
>
chow chow > *puggle* (Chris Doyle)

*Zen *> koan > Cohen > “the fixer”

> “The Fixer” >
Malamud > malamute > sled
>Kane > mutiny
> Bounty
> paper towels
>Puerto Rico
>
*facepalm *(Rob
Huffman, Fredericksburg, Va.)

*Pizzazz* > ZZ Top > James Beard > Julia Child
>Meryl Streep
> Abba
> Waterloo
> *beatdown*

(William Pifer-Foote, Carmichael, Calif.)

*Chyron*
>
crawl > creep > rake > leaves > “Free Fallin’ ” >Tom Petty
> Heartbreakers >
jawbreakers > Jolly Rancher > Jolly Roger > pirate > stolen treasure >
*bitcoin* (Hildy Zampella, Alexandria, Va.)

*Emoji *> emotion > jealousy > Othello > checkers
> exchequer
> Brexit > EU > *ew* (Jim Blue, Gaithersburg, Md.)

*Aquafaba *(water in which beans were boiled) > chickpeas > chicks pee >
“the dossier” > Christopher Steele
>
Bethlehem Steel > “Away in a Manger” > /Mangia bene/
>
*arancini* (Italian rice balls) (Mark Raffman)

*Sriracha *> red beans > sriracha > red beans > sriracha, sriracha > red
beans > sriracha, sriracha, sriracha > red beans > *yowza *(Warren
Tanabe, Annapolis, Md.)

*Farro* > pharaoh > Moses > Bush

>Katrina

> the Big Easy > Your Mama > *cankles* (Jesse Frankovich)

*Truther* > whatever > whatever > whatever > whatever > *nutjob* (Mark
Raffman)

*Nutjob* > flake > Tony the Tiger
> “Life of Pi”
>
geometry > Oval Office > Monica Lewinsky > B.J. Hunnicutt > “M*A*S*H” >
battlefield surgery >*ew * (Steve Fahey, Kensington, Md.)

*Facepalm* > Palm Beach > Mar-a-Lago > Lagos, Nigeria > Nigerian prince
scam > catfish > *mulloway*
(Pam Sweeney)

*Capcom * > NASA >
Nassau > Bahama Mama > Mother, May I? > Mike Pence
>
Veep > VIP > pooh-bah > Winnie the Pooh > Christopher Robin > Robin
Thicke > “Blurred Lines” >
*bokeh*

(Chris Doyle)

*Bitcoin* > cybercash > Johnny Cash > “Ring of Fire” > “You’re Fired!” >
“Celebrity Apprentice” > “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” > F minor > D minor
> minor edema
>
*cankle* (Mark Raffman)

*Santoku* (chef’s knife) > cleaver > Beaver
> Oregon
> “Portlandia” > Fred and
Carrie

> Carrie Underwood > Underwood Deviled Ham > Mason Reese
> Reese Witherspoon > gag
me with a spoon > *ew* (Chris Doyle)

*Schneid* (losing streak) > losers > Style Invitational > Empress >
impress > flattery > flatter the E > “The best E!” > *bestie * (Eric
Nelkin, Silver Spring, Md.)

*Still running — deadline Monday night, Oct. 29: Our perennial Ask
Backwards contest. See wapo.st/invite1302. *