Clearance Sale—Xerus & Ratufa SpecGram Vol CLXXI, No 4 Contents

EtymGeo™—Weird Little U.S. Towns, Part VI

by The SpecGram Puzzle Elves™

Below are clues to the names of a number of cities. The name of each city is a homograph of an English word. The clues supplied are fairly etymological, and doubtless not particularly valuable. All your geographical scholarliness will probably not be sufficient to furnish any real guidance. Welladay.

These towns, as with the prior assemblages, are all allegedly in the United States, though that may not be factual. If true, you still probably haven’t heard of any of them, unless you grew up in one of them, in which case you have our sympathies.

???, Texas
From the Greek word for “fennel”, which gave its name to the location in the story of Pheidippides
???, Utah
Via Spanish from the name of the Taíno god who controlled the weather and lived atop El Yunque
???, Vermont
From the name of a Connecticut river, after a Native American tribe, from an Algonquian word for “to sink” + “a boggy place”
???, Virginia
Via Old French, from a Latin word for “customary, regular”, going back to a cognateless Proto-Italic word for “arrangement”
???, West Virginia
Via Middle English and Old English, from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz, going back to PIE *gwih3wós, “alive”
???, Washington
From a Latin word for “forefinger”, from a Latin word for “pointing”, going back to PIE *deyḱ-, with similar meaning
???, Wisconsin
Via a French word meaning “to obstruct”, possibly from a Spanish word meaning “to impregnate” or “to annoy”, possibly via Portuguese from Arabic or Latin, unless it’s via Italian from Vulgar Latin—so, shamefully “obscure”
???, Wyoming
Via Old French for “confinement, prison” from Late Latin for “to enclose”, going back to the PIE root *klāw-, “key, hook, or nail”

There are no prizes this month—the Puzzle Elves™ have ascertained that while “Etymology is Fun”®, it seems that “EtymGeo™ is Too Easy”®. The solution will appear in the upcoming January 2015 issue.

Some plausible answers to last month’s query concerning the third batch of L’Ishing du Gwujlang mnemonically merged definitions (MMDs) are presented below:

  • Thor’s sleeping snort is a Norse snore.
  • A homeless pet forced to run competitively is a raced stray.
  • A confederation of jubilation is a glee league.
  • To diminish a voiced bilabial fricative is to abate beta.
  • A frozen pigpen is an iced sty.
  • A frolic at a formal dance is a prom romp.
  • A cheeky teeter-totter is a saucy seesaw.
  • Having performed well at a stopover is to have had an aced stay.
  • A garland for a trio is a three wreath.
  • A duplication in the microörganism culture is a Petri repeat.
  • When a vassal complains a subject objects.
  • Detaining the little finger is pinkie keeping.
  • Having bellowed from a boxlike storage compartment is to have drawer roared.
  • Soldiers with mismatched colors and color names are Stroop troops.
  • Having exhorted threnody is to have urged dirge.
  • Impermeable lacustrine soil is lake clay.
  • An overly dependent notion is a clinging inkling.
  • Mature unemployment benefits are old dole.
  • Eviscerating a gold bar is ingot gutting.
  • A terpsichorean to whom one has riposted is an answered dancer.

Thanks to Siva Kalyan, Adam Bernard, and The Slater Family for their contributions to the decipherment. Each will receive a prize for their help, as eligible.

Clearance Sale—Xerus & Ratufa
SpecGram Vol CLXXI, No 4 Contents