Lovatts December Big No.154- The Demon

Hi Dutchy,

A2K was running hot last night and early this morning- could barely keep up, and the time just flew! Had lots of fun with 'Answer A Question With A Question' in particular!

Hope you're enjoying watching the cricket this afternoon, it's an exciting match so far- Gilchrist and Katich are batting up a storm!

How did you go with your Sunday crossword today- any curly clues that I can help you with? Thank you for letting me know last weeks solution results- can breathe a sigh of relief now!

Have a great afternoon. Will keep an eye on speed dial.
Talk to you again soon.
Take care Dutch, warm regards Butterfly

Hi Butterfly

Called away. Will be back tonight. Have fun.

Regards Dutchy.

Hi Dutchy,

Almost ready to send in my final entry from the Holiday Collection- 'The Collection Contest' on page 4/5. Just finishing off little blank bits and pieces, but have hit a snag!

191D. Pointy-featured
I have EL?IN

Felt pretty sure the answer was 'elfin', but cannot find any reference to it meaning 'pointy-featured'-only as 'small and delicate'

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Have a nice evening.
Take care Dutch, warm regards Butterfly

Hi Butterfly

I answered your query about 6 hours ago in another thread.(the one about the Holiday Collection) Just got in and decided to check the "speed dial" to see if you agreed with my submission.

The answer to you clue is "ELSIN", which I feel is the appropriate one. I can connect elsin to pointy-featured. Elsin is also known as an awl, a pointed shoemaker tool. See definition below.

awl ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ôl)
n.
A pointed tool for making holes, as in wood or leather.

Let me know what you think.

Talk to you soon. Regards Dutchy.

Friday 10/2/06 6.20am

Good morning Dutchy,

I've signed in early to get a message to you before the electricity outage takes effect- work is going to be done on the power grid AGAIN for the whole day in the immediate area from 8am onwards, so I won't be able to go online again till late this afternoon.
This will be the second time in as many weeks that we have had an outage for the whole day due to grid maintenance- at least this time around it should be a little cooler in temperature- 24 degrees predicted.

Have you sent your 'Collection Contest' entry in yet Dutch?
The 'Collection Contest' usually only has basic answers and I think 'elsin' might be more of an answer for the stinker - I went through all of my dictionaries at home, but didn't find a reference for it in any of them! I could only find reference to it in some of the online dictionaries.
I have been on a search through Google trying to tie 'elfin' to 'pointy-featured' without success, the best I have been able to come up with is that elves have pointy ears! Do you think that will suffice for 'elfin'?
Let me know what you think Dutch.

I'm going to miss the start of the cricket today because of the power outage- bummer! Should be a great match!

Hope you have a great day. Talk to you again soon.
Take care Dutch, warm regards Butterfly

Hi Butterfly

Sorry to hear about your "power outage", real nuisance these things.

Yes, I have sent in my "Holiday Collection", with "elsin" as my answer. I now agree with your reasoning that the "Collection Contest" requires basic answers, accordingly I went back to the drawing board for you to see if I could connect "elfin" to "pointy-featured, and have succeeded!

There is no question about it "pointy ears" are part of the description of elves in many references.

However the following, footnotes to an Edgar Alan Poe poem, "Sonnet to Science", hopefully provides the answer you are looking for.

SONNET TO SCIENCE
by
Edgar Allan Poe
(1809-1849)
Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise?
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jeweled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana¹ from her car?
And driven the Hamadrvad² from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad³ from her flood,
The Elfin4 from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree5?
¹Diana: in Roman mythology the goddess of the hunt and the moon The moon
was thought to be her car.
² Hamadryads: wood-nymphs, believed to die if their homes, trees with which
they had come into existence, were cut down; thus it was sinful needlessly to destroy a
tree.
³ Naiads: immortal wood-nymphs who presided over brooks and fountains.
4 elves: creatures of myth who were thought to be small, delicate, and pointy featured

By the time you read this it is late afternoon, so enjoy the rest of your day.

Talk to you soon.
Regards Dutchy.

Hi Dutchy,

Hope you're having a nice evening and enjoying watching the cricket.

I'm finally back online again,

It started to warm up here mid afternoon, but then a beautiful cool southerly wind came up and kept the heat at bay, so it has been quite a lovely day despite the power outage.

Dutch, you are an absolute angel! Thank you for all of the time and effort you went to on my behalf to verify 'elfin' as the answer to the clue 'pointy-featured', and for being kind enough to go to all the trouble also of printing it out for me. I am truly thankful and appreciative for your help- you are a wizard!

Have a great weekend
Talk to you soon.
Warm regards and many thanks, Butterfly

PS- Catch you on the word threads! :wink:

Hi Dutchy and Butterfly!

Yes, thank you for that wonderful piece of research Dutchy. Like both of you I was not 100% thrilled with Elfin, but after reading the above, it gets my vote!

Hi lezzles & Butterfly

Pleased to be of some help. Proves this site is worth its weight in gold. Different people have different slant on things. Originally I was convinced I had the answer in "elsin" but then with Butterfly's submission my thinking changed and voila, everybody is now happy with "elfin". All Lovatts now have to do is pick one of us as the winner! LOL
Happy Birthday lezzles, I'll drink to that.

Sunday 12/2/06 3am

Hi Dutchy,

Good luck with your Sunday crossword- post if you get stuck and I'll do my best to help you.

Hope you have a good day.
Take care, warm regards Butterfly

go to bed, butterfly!!

Hi Lmur,

You must have ESP- just about to hit the hay now!

Hope you're having a good weekend.
Take care my friend, warm regards Butterfly

PS- Talk to you soon!

Hi Butterfly

Thanks for encouragement. What's this 3am!, working a night shift?

Have a nice day, Regards Dutchy.

Hi Dutchy,

Was burning the midnight oil and the candle- at both ends!

Hope your Sunday crossword went well, and that you're enjoying the cricket.

Have a nice evening.
Take care Dutch, warm regards Butterfly

Hi Dutchy,

In the 'Big' Bigcash competition, for clue:
20D. Load-bearing post
I have P??R

Did you put 'pier' as your answer?

Your help would be greatly appreciated!
Warm regards, Butterfly

Hi Butterfly

That is affirmative, based upon the following info:

There are two parts to a deck foundation: the "pier" and the "footing". The footing is the actual foot of the foundation that the load of the deck rests on. This is made of concrete. The pier is the column that transfers the load of the support post onto the footing.

Regards Dutchy.

Hi Dutchy,

Thank you for confirming 'pier' for me, much appreciated!

Almost ready to mail all the 'Big' entries in - only a few clues in the Goliathon still to answer and then it's all ready to go.

Hope you have a nice evening.
Take care Dutch, warm regards Butterfly