Wow! I had guessed 40,000 to 50,000 for the old WW database. I suppose I underestimated that one too. I don't suppose that you want to tell us the source or sources of the current DB? The oddities keep coming from the same 8 possibilities when I check through www.onelook.com for them. Of course, the source could be something else entirely.

I'll keep reporting 'problems' that I find, of course.

Happy New WW Trivia!

Wrong answer: a message transmitted by means of the sun''s rays

As Abechstein noted above it does seem that apostrophes are doubled.

Happy Punctuation Trivia!

14. The basic unit of money in Syria
Your answer: pound

What are the capitalization criteria in the current WW? Syria was capitalized in the question in this case. It seems that as in the old WW that if the definition was to be selected, it would not be capitalized. Since the questions are not being capitalized currently should Syria and other similar cases be lower case?

Happy Capitalization Trivia!

These definitions seem to be way too close together in meaning to be included in the same answer set:

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1. Aberrancy

Your answer: an event that departs from expectations

an event that departs from expectations is the definition for "discrepancy"

The correct answer was a state or condition markedly different from the norm

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I know it's got to be tough to figure out how to exclude semantically equivalent definitions from appearing in the same set, but at least I get a little bit of venting out of the way by posting these here...

<< Since the questions are not being capitalized currently should Syria and other similar cases be lower case? >>

Proper nouns should be capitalized.

Incredibly minor consistency issue:

15. (meteorology) altitude of the lowest layer of clouds

Your answer: ceiling

On the Result Report as in the above example, if the definition begins with a '(', the first word is not capitalized as other entries are.

I see that some (all?) "''" have been corrected to "'".

Happy WW Trivia!

In the Champion level, the last hour's scores can't be seen. At least not by Qp, who tends to leave her glasses on top of her head.

I can see other levels' scores from the previous hour, but not my own. The WW page shows who won the last hour, and I can see my own results as well as the winners for the last 12 hours or whatever it is, but not the list of players from the last hour at Champion level. I can see a list of last hour's players, but no Champions are in it.

I do like that seal with the horse's head and laurels! (Laurels? I dunno, maybe it's a blanket of roses.)

This doesn't belong here, but while I'm at it, the winner's list on Who's the Smartest says I just won Smartest of the Smart. I actually won it Feb. 15, 2009. If that doesn't matter, fine.

Just a typo here:

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13. A window shash that is hinged (usually on one side)

Your answer: casement

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"shash" should be "sash".

8. A period in a man''s life corresponding to menopause

Your answer: climacteric

I see that there are still cases of double apostrophes in the database.

9. Hold_one's_own

Your answer: maintain one''s position and be in control of a situation

Single apostrophe in the word and double in the definition.

Happy WW Trivia!

15. Distilled rather than fermented

Your answer: liquor

The definition is missing the lead-in phrase: 'an alcoholic beverage that is' for some reason.

Happy WW Trivia!

Rhabdomyoma

Your answer: benign rumor of striated muscle

......................

I believe that should be "tumor" rather than "rumor."

This was on a WW quiz I took just a few minutes ago. I'm afraid I didn't copy the item number, but I hope my comment still helps.

1. Common_European_earwig

Your answer: sometimes destructive to cultivated bulbs

Although the 8 online dictionaries agree with the definition the word 'insect' or something equivalent really needs to be added here.

12. Rhabdomyoma

Your answer: benign rumor of striated muscle

Although the regular online dictionaries have 'rumor', fortunately(?) the medical dictionaries correct it to 'tumor'.

Happy WW Trivia!

It is great to update the data base to add new words. I love this quiz--am a writer and professor. Sometimes, I stare and stare at some q's either because
their meaning is idiomatic--be it American or British vernacular or slang,
or because
the answers do not contain an noun synonym so that one is forced to interpret which meaning best completes a definition--and this may be very subjective.
Here is one example "absent-minded dreaming while awake"--
Choices(and I don't have all of them)
guilt
common European earwig
black buffalo crater
the correct answer is "castle in the air"
That is an example of what kind of mental action can happen when day-dreaming , but it is not the only one, not a synonym for the action in the question. Not all absent-minded dreaming while awake become castles in the air.

Another one from today
Grizzle--the right answer is given as "a grey wig"
Searching on-line dictionaries, one finds "to make or become grey," or archaic: "gray hair." not specifically a grey wig. Admittedly, the other choices had nothing to do with grey/gray, but, when looking for answers, it is jarring to see wig in the mix.

One last one from today
cacodyl
the answer is "the univalent group derived from arsine."

However when reading the choices, nothing says specifically that it is a chemical compound--"univalent group" is a very general term.

Sometimes, the answers can be a big leap from the word to define. There is I'm saying sometimes a lot of leniency in terms of levels of colloquialisms and/or levelling out the layers of root definition. It would be clearer (if anyhing can be clear about the defitions of words) if it felt less like one were jumping off a diving board into a sometimes blurred soup of answers (I'd say about 20-30 percent on some quizzes--others this does not happen at all).
Windswept

1. Dekko
Your answer: ...

The correct answer was british slang

Should be, "British slang for a look."

Wickedness=
The right answer was said to be "estrangement from god." I thought of that too long;that is one possible meaning of wickedness--
Could it not be, should it not be 'estrangement from good." Possibly is there a letter left out?

For 'Grizzle' check www.onelook.com as an example.

www.freedictionary.org lists 'a grey wig;' as the only noun definition of 'Grizzle'. However, I'm suspicious of that trailing semicolon. I would guess that there might be a missing piece to the definition.

'castle in the air' Def: 'absent-minded dreaming while awake' shows up in 14 online dictionaries, but I can sympathize somewhat with your complaint.

'cacodyl' seems like a very technical term. It does occur in 18 of the searched dictionaries, but would seem that it wouldn't be known to other than chemists.

The weeding process has just begun.

Happy WW Debate Trivia!

6. The male is chestnut-and-black

Your answer: orchard oriole

Something seems to be missing here.

Strangely, the old 1913 Websters has a much better definition:

Orchard oriole (Zool.), a bright-colored American oriole (Icterus spurius), which frequents orchards. It is smaller and darker thah the Baltimore oriole.

Except for that pesky 'thah' typo.


Happy WW Trivia!

Thank you for your great reply.
With "grizzle," no where is it clear that it's a noun. If that were clear, it would change everything into thinking of some "thing" versus a verb action.
Maybe there is some way, any way to clarify- as in n. vt, vi to demonstrate that what way to consider.
I didn't write about "necessitate" for fear of writing too much--necessitate to become or make necessary or some relative thereof like "to require or to compel" is the standard way to come into this verb action.

I think the verb versus noun difference is at the heart of any difficulties.

Here is one in this hours Word Wizard:

structure where a wall or building narrows abruptly

ash grey
cosmetics
set-back
corpulence
peel
squiggle

The answer given is "set-back." Of course a set-back can be an adverse effect, a loss in battle, in a life course, in anything. In this one, it feels like one must eliminate the ones that can't fit--like ash grey, cosmetics, corpulence, peel, squiggle. My question is since more idioms and slang terms are in here, seeing this q puts one on alert because of the usual use of the term as a negative outcome.

After posting this, I'll look up and study the "set-back" one.

It really does not jump out at one that the question is calling for an architectural kind of set-back; probably it would help if other answers were somehow related to buildings. I guess in the course of time, Word Wizard time, our minds will try to make these jumps, leaps into new ways of defining.

And I'm not complaining really--just trying to see how everything is fitting or not fitting together and playing as much as I can.

<< I think the verb versus noun difference is at the heart of any difficulties. >>

But don't we want difficulties in this game?

Yes, of course we do want lots of challenges. The word 'difficulty' was not right before.

Don't we also want a clear field of competition with the lanes evenly marked for our swiftest racing?

I'll be quiet and let the chips fall as as they may.

4. Gentile

"The correct answer was a person who does not acknowledge your god" ???

Almost always the term refers to someone who is not Jewish.

The word gets hopelessly mixed up with genteel which has to do with people with pristine manners and airs.

On this one, I really think there needs to be some kind of adjustment.

Sorry for my sudden loquacity.
Windswept

<< Don't we also want a clear field of competition with the lanes evenly marked for our swiftest racing? >>

Hmm not really I like the challenge of not entirely knowing what usage of a word is being requested. It means that you really have to think about more than just one thing. Uses a different part of the brain I think.

As a right brained poet, ok, then, I'm all for flamboyant illuminated synchronous guessing.