Quadrivial Quandary:  Logophiles, Rejoice!  Each day we give you four unusual words.  Can you fit them all in one illustrative sentence?

Today's attempts to resolve the Quandary (login or register to compose yours):

4

You might expect flexible prices at a garage sale, but don't try bargaining with Mrs. Stuck: she is attached to all the odds and ends in her eclectic collection, valuing each pin-back button like a fine filigree brooch, each expired lavender sachet like a bag of gold, and she won't budge a steenth! (by Rudi)

3

As she squinted through the filigree screen into the salon (for the steenth time that afternoon), Badra now saw that the eclectic group seated around the low table included not only some men in Western dress but also - the Prophet forfend! - a woman, the sight of whom caused her to press her peppermint and rosemary sachet against her mouth and nose, for fear of fainting and giving away her presence by falling to the floor. (by cusheamus)

2

He was labeled an abstract minimalist, what ever that was; an eclectic thief whose tedious retrospective varied barely a steenth from one work to the next save for distracting filigrees around tacky bags of dead sachet. (by gumo420)

1

Pausing only to line up the salt sachets and her knife and fork for the steenth time (for she suffered from an eclectic variety of obsessive compulsive disorders) she resumed counting the filigree strands of light that filtered through her lace curtains. (by Et Seqq)

The Quandary for today, Tuesday, March 09, 2010, consists of these words:
  • steenth
  • filigree
  • eclectic
  • sachet

View archived Quandaries (beginning September 2009) using the calendar below or as a list.

Definitions Of Today's Words:

1. Latest in an indefinitely long sequence. 2. One sixteenth.
  1. A delicate and intricate ornamentation made from gold or silver twisted wire.
  2. A design resembling such intricate ornamentation.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 09, 2010 is:

eclectic • \ih-KLEK-tik\  • adjective
1 : selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles *2 : composed of elements drawn from various sources; also : heterogeneous

Example sentence:
The new downtown restaurant offers an eclectic mix of appetizers and entrees at reasonable prices.

Did you know?
"Eclectic" comes from a Greek verb meaning "to select" and was originally applied to ancient philosophers who were not committed to any single system of philosophy; instead, these philosophers selected whichever doctrines pleased them from every school of thought. Later, the word's use broadened to cover other selective natures. "Hard by, the central slab is thick with books / Diverse, but which the true eclectic mind / Knows how to group, and gather out of each / Their frequent wisdoms...." In this 19th century example from a poem by Arthur Joseph Munby, for example, the word is applied to literature lovers who cull selective works from libraries.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

sachet: a small bag containing perfuming powder, to impart a pleasant scent.


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