I recently completed an online crossword puzzle and it had an answer that I do not understand in any way, shape, or form. Neither does the Internet.
The clue is: Wood measure
The answer: stese
Does anyone out there have a clue as to what this could mean?
Here's a link to the whole puzzle, in case you're interested:
http://mazerlm.home.comcast.net/wsj090508.puz
You have to have Across Light to read it, but it's free and as far as I can tell harmless.
What is stese?
Wood Measure
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 8145
- Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
- Location: Finger Lakes, NY
Wood Measure
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
Perhaps it's the compiler's fault. Maybe he/she somehow got the idea that the word was 'stese' rather than 'stere'.
The fact that the internet has nothing relevant for 'stese' strongly suggests that there's no such word in English. And if there is such a word, it seems odd that there is another one, just one letter different, that is also specifically a wood measure.
The fact that the internet has nothing relevant for 'stese' strongly suggests that there's no such word in English. And if there is such a word, it seems odd that there is another one, just one letter different, that is also specifically a wood measure.
I used the ngram tool I mentioned recently (www.ngrams.googlelabs.com) to compare stere/stese. "Stere" is much more common. The vast majority of the "stese" examples are in a foreign language -- Italian is common, but also some Slavic languages, Hebrew, American Indian languages, etc. The actual early English examples (around 1820) are misprints/misreadings (by the scanner) for words like "stone"
In short, I can find no support for "stese" being a unit of wood measure in English at any time between 1800 and 2000.
In short, I can find no support for "stese" being a unit of wood measure in English at any time between 1800 and 2000.
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests