I don't know if this counts as an attraction, but yesterday in my home town of Perth, Western Australia it was 43 degrees Celsius (about 109 degrees Fahrenheit).  Our other summer attractions include bushfires and water restrictions.   

Thank you Alan.  That sounds like a great idea (especially as I seem unable to count!) 

Happy new year, everyone!

Some of you may remember that some months ago, in a post bemoaning the lack of a rosette 'league table' in Chi, I revealed that I was keeping a tally of my rosettes for the year (much to the amusement of a couple of my fellow forumites!)  Well, I can now tell you that I managed 256 rosettes in 2013 (139 Standard, 68 Challenge, 49 10-letter).  That's nowhere near the top echelon of players, of course, but not bad for an honest toiler.  I didn't keep a tally of the times that I missed a rosette by one word - there were lots of those.  And if I could stop missing easy words I reckon I'd double my tally.

I still wish I could compare my tally with others.  Not necessarily in a competitive way, but just to see where I stand.  In the meantime, I'll be counting again in 2014.  So far I have 2!       

I agree with Tom44's views on mamie, though in the past, Alan has indicated his reluctance to remove words entirely (see my earlier rantings about ibid being classified as a word).

I don't necessarily agree that anyone who gets a cup has looked up the answers.  Is it so unlikely that there are a few people out there who are lexical savants?  And wouldn't they be attracted to a game like this?  And as others have said, what would be the point of looking up the answers? 

Here are another couple of anomalies that have come up recently:

vulcanize (rare) and vulcanized (common)
serer (rare) and serest (common)

I had better luck with woops which counted as a rare word.  I missed whoopee, though, and missed a rosette as a result.  Dammit!

This was listed as a common word in yesterday's standard puzzle.  I must admit, I've never seen or heard it before (although obviously some people have because there were 19 rosettes in that game).  Is it really common?

Hmmmm....perhaps I was being a little too enthusiastic.  Mind you, I don't necessarily agree that the word would be unknown to those who don't exercise.  I haven't been anywhere near a gym in more than 30 years, but I still know what a burpee is.  I also know lots of other words associated with things I'm not actively involved in or have never done.