Crystal Ball Stumpers 9 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hooey

Won by FT player satguru of the classical music/mansan team on 26 November, 2018, hooey is a word that today we understand to mean a pile of rubbish or nonsense. There are two possible explanations for its origins, each of two parts. The first is that it comes down to us from an old Russian word to describe a contemptible person OR a vulgar term for the male appendage.

The second is that it is related to the word phooey, a word that expresses disdain, OR that it possibly means the end product of a horse - and I don't mean its tail.

Answer: Oppugn

Guessed correctly by knudd77 of The Mossbacks team on 27 November, 2018, oppugn is a very unusual looking word that mean to challenge the validity or truth of a statement made by another person. This word has been in use in the England language since the mid 1500s, and comes down to us from the Latin "oppugnare" which meant to fight against any form of attack - as in ob (against) and pugnare (pugnacious).

Answer: Papillate

Won by Looking4IQ of the United States of Trivia team on 28 November, 2018, the word papillate, according to online dictionaries, is to cover with papillae - which isn't the slightest bit helpful. Further research in Bing reveals that papillae are "small rounded protuberances on a part or organ of the body" and they give the example of those tiny lumps on the surface of a tongue - along with a perfectly revolting close-up photograph of same.

A close-up photo of a tongue before dinner is a sure fire way to lose weight.

Answer: Akaryocyte

This word was won by Baldricksmum of the No Worries team on 29 November 2018. According to assorted dictionaries, an akaryocyte is a cell without a nucleus, and an example of same given in Wikipedia is a red blood cell. The most common of the body's cells, these akaryocytes transport oxygen through the body to our tissues. Gosh, this is interesting: We produce approximately 2.4 million new red blood cells every single second. Isn't that amazing? Each one lasts between 100-120 days before being consumed by microphages after its job is done. Microphages are white blood cells whose job it is to digest any debris in the body, including those old red blood cells, any foreign substances and cancer cells. Old red blood cells never die, they just get cannibalised.

Answer: Loupe

Won by drewh2os of The Moops team on 30 November, 2018, a loupe is a small magnifying instrument, but one that hasn't got a handle. Instead it's shaped a little like an upturned glass that one places over an object that needs magnifying, and observes that object by peering down through the instrument at it.

It can be used by coin or stamp collectors, jewellers, tattooists, in photography and printing, by surgeons and even, somewhat unbelievably, by dentists. Another instrument of torture to shove into our reluctant gaping mouths.

Answer: Diaphysis

Won by a teamless DirtyRook on 3 December, 2018, diaphysis is defined as the middle section, or shaft, of a long bone. Within that middle section is another enclosed part like a tube. This contains the marrow, which is where new bone cells, called osteoblasts, are formed.

There are four main types of bone in the human body, broken down into the classifications of long, short, irregular (such as the distinctly shaped pelvic bones) and sesamoid. These last bones are found in muscles and tendons, providing a solid bases for tendons to move over back and forth as they carry out their work.

The kneecap or patella is the largest of these bones, and that, as you can imagine, plays a very important role in the body's locomotion.

Answer: Diarthrosis

Won by ClarkyB of The Moops team on 5 December, 2018, the word diarthrosis describes a freely articulated joint of the body that allows for a wide range of movement. Joints of this kind include the hip, the elbow, the shoulder and the knee. Also known as a synovial joint, diarthrosis first appeared in medical definitions in 1578.

Answer: Tudung

This interesting word was won by the teamless shadow71 on 5 December, 2018. Also known as a tudong, the literal translation of the word tudung is "cover". This is a head covering worn by Muslim women in Malaysia, in accordance with Islam's requirements of the hijab.

This requires Muslim women to cover the hair and chest area when in the presence of any male apart from their own family members. Interpretations of this rule, depending on the level of fundamentalism practised, can mean anything from a light head covering, to covering the entire body.

Much debate, to and from, continues today as to the actual requirement of this instruction from Muhammad.

Answer: Botryoidal

Won by Looking4IQ of The United States of Trivia team on 7 December, 2018, the word botryoidal is described as a type of texture on the external face of some minerals. It resembles small groups of grapes. The most notable mineral on which this can be found is hematite, but it also can be seen in part on other minerals such as smithsonite, fluorite and malachite.

These grape-like shapes form when the original mineral contains specks of sand, dust or other minute particles. Crystals then begin to grow around these to form miniature globular shapes which eventually fuse together into that unusual botryoidal appearance.

Answer: Phyllo

Won very appropriately by BlueJane of The Baker's Dozen team on 9 December, 2018, phyllo - also known as filo - is a thin dough made by denizens of the Middle East and the Balkans to make treats such as baklava, bougatsa, gibanica and zelnik. This art of rolling out very thin strips of dough, which are then layered one on top of the other up to the various levels required, is believed to have originated in the Topkapi palace, the main abode of the sultans of the Ottoman empire, in the 15th century.