I didn't even see the word, so crisis averted. I have been known to get hot under the collar occasionally, but when that happens, I just loosen my collar. Have a nice day all you wonderful Chi peeps.

It is what it is.   

Hi John. I've noticed over the years that the great majority of Olde Englishe words like that are rejected as unknown. There would be so many, that once you make an exception for one, then in theory Alan would have to allow all of them. It's probably best not to open Pandora's box. Doth thou agree(eth)?   

And CMH, I agree. Having watched many American sitcoms featuring Jewish characters, I have never come across the word 'kvetch'. When Mrs Bits asked if I had got the seed word yet, I said 'no', and commented that I bet it was a Yiddish word we hadn't heard of, and I was right. We have just binge watched 6 seasons of 'Somebody feed Phil'. He frequently jokes about the Jewish trait of complaining, and never once was that word used. Having said that, I note that more than 1 in 3 players got the word. I would hazard another guess that the vast majority of those were either Jewish, or living in the USA. It will all depend on the 'majority of well-read players' test. Over to you Alan. ( BTW, that Netflix series was very entertaining, and made us both re-think our overseas travel plans.)

I agree with the vape words, but I'm not so sure about the others. Most of us would have read about or spoken about a famous orator, giving a speech that might be called an oration. How many times have you seen orate, orated or orating in print, or used in discussion? I would guess virtually never, so I suggest they remain as rare words.

Oratorio is another beast altogether, referring to a musical piece that contains some spoken elements, and should probably remain common.

I generally prefer those with around 20 or 30 common words at most. Your puzzles allowing 'S' words often end up with lists well over 100 words, and I tend to skip those, unless I have lots of spare time.

Ooh ahh!!!   

New word for me too.

+1.