lyra

[Dave]

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 2007 records a couple of meanings for this, and at least one is not all that rare: the bell lyra.

lyra /0ˈlʌɪrə/ noun. LME.
[ORIGIN Latin from Greek lura.]

1 A lyre. Also, any of various other musical instruments descended from or resembling the lyre. LME.

bell lyra: see bell noun¹.


2 (L-.) (The name of) a small constellation of the northern hemisphere, lying on the edge of the Milky Way between Hercules and Cygnus; the Lyre. M16.

†3 A gurnard, the piper Trigla lyra. E18–M19.

4 Anatomy. The triangular portion of the undersurface of the corpus callosum lying between the crura of the fornix. M18.


Comb.: lyra glockenspiel: see glockenspiel 2; lyra viol a bass viol tuned and played according to a system of tablature; also called viola bastarda.

[technomc]

Hi Dave,
How are you doing?

You are a crazy person!!!

[Dave]

My angel speaks!  But wherefore doth she call
me crazy?  Some passing weakness of the mind,
a mist that drifts before the rising sun
then fades away, affrighted by the might
of Phoebus' rays, to this I do confess;
but in the main I merely try to supplement
the word-store, augment the powers
of these our companies here assembled
to battle with the beast, the dreaded Dog!

I'd rather have thee utter warmer words,
my distant love, to soothe my unrequited lust:
time flies, runs past us day by day on wingëd feet,
whilst I must pen some weightier stuff today,
before I'm bust!

[Alan W]

Well said, Dave! ... except for the bit about the "dreaded Dog" - what a way to talk about a frolicsome little pup!

Anyhow, as regards lyra, the constellation meaning is a no-go because of the "(L-)", the capital letter. But the other usages are all good.

I must admit I'd not heard of a bell lyra, but apparently it's an upright instrument, designed for use in marching bands. Maybe a non-amos knows about them.



So lyra will be added to the word-store to augment your powers.

[Dave]

Thank you, Alan.  It's nice to be appreciated!

As you can see, I have an almost infinite capacity for wasting time when I have, in truth, got a looming deadline for two poems in the next four days, in verse forms I haven't tried before and with absolutely no idea what I'm going to write about.  But writing bad blank verse while simultaneously annoying T. (well, hopefully entertaining her as well) beats the hell out of working.  No hope, is there?

Cheers,

Dave

[rogue_mother]

Dave, I love your poem!  Don't worry that it is a waste of time, though.  I think writing poems is a lot like taking pictures.  You have to take an awful lot of bad photos to get the good ones.  Even the professionals admit that this is how it works for them.

[technomc]

Dave,
I too have words to say
on this another  busy day.
I thank you for your unrequited lust,
you obviously appreciate my bust,
and warmer words to you i'll utter
while trying to keep them out of the gutter!
I think you are a funny bloke
not averse to cracking a joke,
but mostly i like you for your mind,
It's quite sassy i often find.
As you can tell my poetry's weak...
a new theraurus i must seek?
For now your angel sends a hug
and a secret whisper in your lug 

[Dave]

Dear T., do tell how you deduced
that outsized boobs have me seduced.
I lust to see your shapely bust --
a thought I'll carry till I'm dust!

I have to cut it short (the poem, okay?) because I have a villanelle to finish this afternoon as well as something based on tercets that I haven't even started.  But I do have a suggestion for you and anybody else who likes to dabble in  rhyme: I found a great freeware program that combines a text editor with an extensive rhyming dictionary and thesaurus, among other goodies.  It makes it a lot easier to come up with rhyming ideas quickly, and can be found here: http://www.bryantmcgill.com/Free_Rhyming_Dictionary/

Cheers,

Dave
 

[technomc]

Well, Dave, I don't know what to say...
I saw you looking..in a virtual way!! 

[thanks for the hint...]

[Linda]

It's far too early and far too bright
The day's arrived too soon for the night
The kettle is brewing
The coffee is on
By the time I've typed this
You'll no doubt have gone! 

[technomc]

Don't worry mate,
I'll be about,
in and out,
A while at any rate
without a doubt!!

[Linda]

I've made the coffee
I've made some toast
I've fed the cat
And opened the post
The house is quiet
There's work to be done
Proofs to be read
So I'm in for some fun! 

[technomc]

Yet another day of tribulations...
Tomorrow's Thursday...jubilations!!!
Only one more, then it's Friday...
Saturday will be quiet i pray!
The girls are out all night,
and i'm getting drunk.....

[technomc]

I just put this word in...having just read it on the updated word list...and it got rejected...
I can't decide if i'm  or  or  :'(

How long does it take for the new words to go through...

[Alan W]

Sorry for your disappointment, T. I tried lyra too, and was disappointed when it wasn't allowed. But then I remembered that the puzzle had already started before lyra was added to the list.

The list of words permitted in a puzzle is compiled (automatically) at the moment the first person looks at the puzzle - that is, moments after midnight GMT for a daily puzzle. Once the puzzle's words are defined, they don't change, even if words are added to the list of acceptable words.

(This is probably the fairest way to do it. If a new word could be added during the day, the number of possible words displayed at the start of the day would no longer be accurate. Also, someone who played early and had a word rejected would be at a disadvantage compared with later players. And they would be justifiably upset if they looked at the solution the next day and saw the word listed.)

I always try to ensure that when I update the list, none of the words would have been possible in that day's puzzles, to avoid such confusion. but with so many going in at once, I didn't notice that the letters for lyra were in one of the puzzles. In future I'll try to update the list more often, so there won't be so many words going in at once, and it'll be easier to avoid putting a word in on a day when it could have been played.