beal

[Dave]

beal /0ˈbɪəl/ noun & verb. obsolete exc. dial. LME.
[ORIGIN App. alt. of boil noun¹.]

► A noun. A pustule, a boil. LME.

► B verb intrans. Suppurate, fester. E16.

I think this may be northern English and/or Scottish, Alan.

There are two more today that appear to be Scottish today, recorded by Webster as below:

Main Entry: ban·die   
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): -s
Etymology: probably alteration of banstickle
chiefly Scotland : STICKLEBACK

   
Main Entry: bal·die   
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): -s
Etymology: probably short for Giuseppe Garibaldi died 1882 Italian patriot
: a small double-ended fishing boat used on the east coast of Scotland

I rather like the second one -- the etymology sounds very creative!

[anonsi]

I always try beal, forgetting that Chi doesn't accept it!  Thanks for suggesting it, Dave.

[ellen fremedon]

Here's another vote for beal! I'm always losing percentage points because of that word. I think Ollie's Dad feels the same way, if he'd only tell us.

Ellen Fremedon

[Alan W]

Well, if we accept beal, it won't be the first "obsolete except dialect" word we've admitted. But I am curious about all you people who keep trying it. Is this word part of your vocabulary, or is it just something you've picked up from crosswords or other puzzles?

I'm not persuaded about bandie.

As for baldie, I'd be interested to know why the Scots named a fishing boat after Garibaldi. Anyhow, despite this intriguing aspect, I think I'd have trouble persuading myself to allow baldie if it weren't for the fact that a few dictionaries list it as an alternative spelling of baldy, being a disparaging term for a bald person.

But if we allow baldie, should we then drop support for the plural baldies? As previous discussions on plurals revealed, there are strong feelings about these matters, but I think baldies should be retained in our list, on the basis that baldy is the far more common singular form.

[rogue_mother]

Alan, I think we keep trying beal because, darn it, it just looks like it ought to be a word!

[technomc]

If only that worked RM....
It is a lovely theory and deserves merit....but i wouldn't hold your breath waiting!!

[Alan W]

RM, I feared that would be the explanation. And I fear it's the explanation behind a large percentage of word suggestions. Makes me wonder a bit about where we're going with the word suggestions. Is it actually improving the game to add all these obscure words?

[rogue_mother]

That depends on what one's goal is.  Adding these obscure words helps us pad our word count, but I think it certainly makes it harder to get the trophy, the more possibilities there are.  I can accept that beal (or whatever else) might not be acceptable according to the philosophy of the game.  After I have tried it a half dozen or so times, I will eventually figure it out.  The frustration is temporary.  It's just such a tease, though, given the number of real words, both common and uncommon, formed by adding "eal" to a consonant.

[Binkie]

I think it keeps us on our toes, don't you? After I've done a Homer Simpson a few times, I usually remember that the word is going to be thrown back at me!

[Dave]

RM, I feared that would be the explanation. And I fear it's the explanation behind a large percentage of word suggestions. Makes me wonder a bit about where we're going with the word suggestions. Is it actually improving the game to add all these obscure words?

Alan, we ALREADY have an unrivalled collection of preposterously obscure words, and I would be quite stunned if anybody knows what they all mean.  Why not go on making it bigger and better ?  Besides, some of the new discoveries are interesting, even though I have to admit that some of my contributions have been less than scintillating!

[Binkie]

I say, Dave, old bean, old chap, don't be disheartened. Less than scintillating? What utter rot! We lesser blighters look up to you and all that, what? I mean to say, what's a fellow to do if he doesn't bally well have a chap to introduce a chap to new vocab after all? Jolly good of you to make the efffort, says I. Keep up the jolly old flow of stuff, there's a good man.
Sorry.....been re-reading (hyphen...ha!) P G Wodehouse.

[Linda]

Hi Binks ... have you seen the delightful words that can be made out of today's Standard ... cackle, cackle ... strangely though they are not accepted!! 

[Binkie]

They did not escape my notice , oh hyphenated heavenly-hag!

[Linda]

I knew that thy all(hyphenated)seeing, hag(hyphenated)like eyes would spot them! 

[Dave]

Binks, I appreciate the sentiment.  Must say, though, that you might need to do a more thorough re-reading of the great man to get the style down pat .  Somebody once reckoned that he wrote some of the best prose in modern English.

(Sorry, bad day.  I always have to leave the puzzle at 7 p.m. or shortly thereafter, often when nobody, or at most one or two, has got that bloody rosette -- and invariably find 20 people ahead of me when I start again the next day and discover that I have missed some extremely simple words.  Which is indubitably going to be the case yet again!)