May 16 2011

Word of the Week: Huldra

HULDRA [HULL-drer] – a nymph of Norse myth who presents as a gorgeous young woman, though she is hollow as an old stump and owns a cow’s tail. [Linked to Norwegian for secret.]

Comments

Rupert — 16 May at 04:01AM

Viking siren is hollow, made with hydraulic components, but not icy.

Rupert — 16 May at 04:15AM

Heating top of cauldron, first to last, dropping on Norse nymph.

SK — 16 May at 07:39AM

Paul: a hard rock version (not rap) of "Norwegian Wood" lacked character

Hula-hooping surgeon and viking nymph

SK — 16 May at 07:48AM

Sorry, that should be-

Paul: a hard rock version (not rap) of "Norwegian Wood" lacking character

RK — 16 May at 10:12AM

Husband radically changed heart to date Norwegian seductress

Boniface — 16 May at 10:20AM

Mythical creature Hydra loses youngest head taking a short slice of Hercules (6)

DC — 16 May at 10:44AM

Ooh, I was thinking of hydra. Something more like

Mythical monster hollow, unfurl over male attribute!

which is entirely unfair since it requires you to (somehow) get hydra and then replace Y (male chromosome) with empty unfurl.

Back to the drawing board. (Which currently involves Hundra -- who would be more useful if she wasn't just as obscure.)

DA — 16 May at 01:32PM

Amazing quality of HULDRA, to my eyes, is that the word entails two depleted synonyms, HAUL and DRAG.

Set me to thinking of other examples, and the pickings are slim. Aside from stuff like TWINE (TWO and NINE), I did well to nail down DASH (DO and BASH) and....

Can we make a decent list? The crux gets down to two depleted synoynms.

RK — 16 May at 01:50PM

BABEL (BAT and BELT)
ORATES (ORAL and TEST)

Boniface — 16 May at 01:52PM

COSH - coy & shy
COED - cot & bed

DA — 16 May at 02:08PM

Great start.

CHASER - char & sear

ARISER? - arid & sere

Boniface — 16 May at 02:31PM

LATEISH - plate & dish

Boniface — 16 May at 02:36PM

Crowing - Crown & king

DA — 16 May at 02:38PM

PANTING - pain & sting

RK — 16 May at 02:42PM

FLUSH: fly & rush

LOAD: low & sad

RK — 16 May at 02:49PM

ARIGHT: war & fight

Boniface — 16 May at 02:51PM

Try to get this next pair from the synonym for STOVEPIPE

SK — 16 May at 03:01PM

Bon, is it FLUE = feeling blue?

And just in case anyone cares (or notices) my apologies for stuffing up on a WOW clue earlier...didn't check my anagram letters properly. Was trying to carve a Beatles theme. Still a work in progress, but here's another whack-

Paul's third break-up tips off shallow girl from "Norwegian Wood"

Boniface — 16 May at 03:01PM

EARRING: bear & bring

Boniface — 16 May at 03:04PM

@SK, it's (s)TOP HA(l)T

DC — 16 May at 03:23PM

Laugh about Mulder losing head, with drug and wood spirit

Boniface — 16 May at 03:54PM

QUOTATION: quot(a) & (r)ation

JPR — 16 May at 07:26PM

Should mermaid lose some mid parts, she's a hollow nymph

RK — 16 May at 08:27PM

PETARD: poet & bard

RK — 16 May at 08:55PM

FIEND: fix & mend

RV — 16 May at 10:54PM

CRAWL: cry & bawl

RV — 16 May at 11:10PM

TOAD: tot & add

Mauve — 17 May at 12:25AM

Kept hoping I'd come up with a clever one but alas, twas harder than I thought

shoot: shoe, boot
sink: skin, pink
petite: pest, mite
strand: strap, band
assure: mass, surge

Boniface — 17 May at 01:26AM

MARRED - marry, wed
DOUR - dog, cur

JPR — 17 May at 08:59AM

Bewitching, empty looker from boundless Thule (semi-tundra)
or
"Pretty Vacant" Norway's lass called in (should..): Rang, "Drop song"

Boniface — 17 May at 09:02AM

For some reason, this one occurred to me during my sleep. DA what are you doing to me?

BOLD: boy & lad

JPR — 17 May at 09:25AM

Norwegian chick: no innards? incomplete shell, pull out entrails -- drop cow's tail

RK — 17 May at 10:08AM

Here are two depleted antonyms:

COCHLEAR: coach & learn

DA — 17 May at 10:19AM

Agreed, Mauve. They are tricky to find, but just as much fun to seek too. Here's a fresh list to decipher:

1 OVERLAIN
2 SUET
3 GUSTING
4 ARSON

RK — 17 May at 01:20PM

1. overt & plain
2. sup & eat
3. gut & string?
4. air & song