Tumulus

A tumulus, oddly enough, is a mound of earth or stones placed over an ancient grave. Some of you happened upon the graveyard connection in your meanings. Spooky. This word has to rate up there with panoply as one of my favourite words so far in this game. And thanks to new player, 3 Elements, for the winning entry which described the Nissan Tumulus as the newest midsized SUV. Great name for a car.

Cornuted

Cornuted means with horns or horn-like projections. So next time you're down on the farm you can sound incredibly intelligent and describe a horned animal as cornuted. Sonnjea B won the vote with her idea that cornuted related to cost cutting by companies with no thought of the end result for the poor consumer. Keep up the good work Sonnjea B!

Encomium

I think your meanings for encomium are much better than the dictionary meaning - which is a tribute of high praise. Who knew that? Next Stop Oregon gained the most votes with the suggestion that encomium was akin to encouragement. Congratulations!

Stertorous

Stertorous refers to snorelike noises. Interestingly, several people made reference to noises in sleep or different ways of talking in their invented definitions. The voting was close there for a while, but eventually Sonnjea B's version of stertorous as the lurching, jerking gait of monsters and toddlers surged ahead as the winner.

Quern

A quern is really something very simple. It's a hand-operated mill for grinding corn. So Rhonda was spookily close with her mention of corn for dinner! Valentine's wonderful space-time glitch meaning got the most votes. Well done, Valentine. And a first timer as well! Check out the blog of Kimono Hime, winner of the threnody vote a few days ago. She has posted two photos on her blog referring to threnody. Now, that's what I call dedication. Thanks Kimono. I see what you mean! Here's the link: www.midnightnoise.blogspot.com

Panoply

Panoply seems to have a variety of meanings including an impressive display, a suit of armour, any protective covering or ceremonial attire. I think this could become my new favourite word since it covers so many things (pun intended) - and that's not even counting the numerous meanings from the good people who visit my site with satisfying regularity. Special mention of course to Angelfeet who is a first time player. Thanks for trying out the blog, Angelfeet. The public voted and chose the anonymous entry which described romance in the kitchen. Well done, anonymous. Happy panoply!

Regnant

Regnant means reigning as in Queen Elizabeth II, still. I thought a few people might know this. Others suggested connections with pregnancy, which were thought provoking. All in all, I found this a satisfying word and I enjoyed reading your entries immensely. The votes have been counted and the most popular from my top three was the entry of Amalia who renamed a woman's belly post-birth as regnant. Great thinking, Amalia. Obviously, lots of us could relate to that from one point of view or another.

Threnody

Threnody is actually a funeral lament - which Shari described very poetically in her guess at the word's meaning. Well done, Shari. However, three other entries were put on the poll and voters chose Kimono Hime's wonderful suggestion about the crazy loose woven threads on the back of a tapestry. I'm sure the new meaning for this word will be used in her studio often.

Maunder

Maundering is talking or acting aimlessly or in a confused way. The word sounds a bit like its meaning so some of you picked up on that with your guesses. Again, it was really hard to choose, especially because there was a record number of entries. So I chose my favourite three and added a voting poll for visitors to choose. The winner was Blue Eagle! Well done.

Bowyang

I found bowyang in my Heinemann New Zealand Dictionary and I suspect it must be a very Kiwi word because I haven't found it anywhere else, including Dictionary.com. It means the ties used below the knees to keep trousers from dragging on the ground. Apparently they're used by sheep shearers, but I can think of a few teenagers I see around town who could definitely do with a bowyang or two. The competition is certainly heating up, with new people visiting the blog today and contributing creatively. Thanks for your interest. I really appreciate it. It was hard choosing a winner, so I chose two. Even that was difficult. Well done to everyone, especially Sonnjea B's idea about the bow tie going askew and Molly Malone's detailed description of a bowyang as a dull person who can't keep up with colourful conversation full of hyperbole and local metaphor. I loved the Antiques Roadshow one as well.

Termagant

It turns out that a termagant is a noisy and quarrelsome woman. Fortunately, I didn't come across any such people today. I enjoyed all your contributions and chose the meaning sent in by Clare who gave a wonderfully descriptive picture of a termagant as a small game bird with a plaintive ter-ter ter-ter call. I liked her suggestion about the "invisible p" at the beginning. Thanks for visiting, Clare. I hope you'll join us again.

Disport

To disport yourself is to divert or amuse yourself. Hopefully, I'll have heaps of people disporting themselves with my blog before too long. Thanks for your contributions. I chose Sophie's guess which suggested that the cancellation of an exciting upcoming event left her with a feeling of disport.

Deracinate

To deracinate actually means to uproot. My daughter and her friend did some deracinating in the garden today, under the guise of creating a pixie hollow. It's getting harder each day to choose a "best guess" from the many great guesses contributed. Today I couldn't decide between Lachlan, who likened deracinating to eliminating embarrassing members of the royal family, and Ace, who suggested that deracinating could refer to eliminating or mitigating racially distinctive features, using the example of Michael Jackson. So Ace and Lachlan are both well deserved winners. Thanks to everyone who had a go. I hope you come back soon.

Funambulist

A funambulist is actually a rope walker. Today's entries were all great. It was very hard to decide on a winner. However, I have decided on Alan's entry which suggests a funambulist fakes an injury to get a ride in an ambulance. It made me laugh out loud the longest.

Sequacious

Sequacious actually describes someone who is a follower rather than a leader. Someone who lacks originality! Obviously none of my blog visitors are sequacious at all. You're all exhibiting bucketloads of originality. Today I've chosen Annika Rose who thought sequacious might mean something sticky that makes a gooey sound like when you squish your feet in mud. Thanks Annika Rose.

Frippery

It had to happen. But I didn't expect it to happen so soon. JC's guess at a meaning for frippery was so close to perfect, it was uncanny. The official meaning is unnecessary adornment. So if there were prizes, JC would get the prize for fluking the correct answer. However, today's best entry goes to Vicki.B. who suggested frippery was how a frog might describe a slimy lily pad. Great thinking, Vicki. B. and JC.

Prestidigitation

Great guesses everyone! Prestidigitation is actually the sleight of hand that magicians are famed for. We've chosen the guess of Jessmess who used very technical skills to come up with her suggestion that prestidigitation could be the act of using prejudicial treatment for certain numerals. Thanks Jessmess. Hope you'll be back.

Dunnage

Dunnage is the loose stuff used to pack around goods to prevent damage! The winner of today's challenge was definitely JC who suggested it might mean the contents of a long drop toilet. Excellent work JC.

Perspicuous

Perspicuous - it actually means understood easily or expressed clearly.
Thanks for your suggested alternative meanings. We enjoyed reading them. Today's winner is Anonymous who thought perspicuous could be the feeling you get when you're seen through perspex. Well done everyone. We hope you'll be back for more.