Upwords & Downwords XV Trivia Quiz

Answer: womanizer

A womanizer or philanderer is a (typically male) person who habitually engages in casual (non-committal) affairs and/or flirtations with women.

Pop icon Britney Spears recorded "Womanizer" in 2008 for her sixth studio album, "Circus". The song was a smashing critical and commercial success and was hailed as her comeback single.

Answer: Romanize

Linguistically, romanization might be accomplished via transliteration and/or transcription. Transliteration involves converting text from one script to another (e.g. from Greek to Latin alphabet). While transliteration is primarily concerned with faithfully representing individual characters, transcription involves mapping the sounds of a language into the writing system of another.

Conversion to Roman Catholicism is also referred to as Romanization.

Answer: moraine

Moraines are formed as byproducts of glaciation through a variety of geomorphological processes that deposit debris onto the landscape, typically at glacial edges or onto the glacial surface. The debris usually consists of rounded fragments of rock and other sediment like sand and mud.

Answer: marine

The words 'marine' and 'maritime' are both derived from the Latin word 'mare', meaning 'sea', and are used interchangeably in everyday parlance, much to the chagrin of some who we will affectionately call "word nerds". Dictionaries are little help if you're looking for a clear cut distinction between the two. Yet, there is some evidence to suggest that there are indeed semantic differences. Whereas 'marine' generally connotes something related directly to the sea, its environment, and its biology, 'maritime' more commonly refers to human activity at sea.

Answer: miner

If your first thought was 'dwarf', you weren't wrong. Dopey was brought to life in Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937). He was mute, a lovable klutz, and the only dwarf without a beard.

Answer: mien

Chinese wheat flour noodles are described by the word 'mein', as in "lo mein" or "chow mein". The cryptic clue asks you to mix it up, yielding 'mien'.

One's mien can be described as a facial expression, aspect, comportment, or bearing that reflects character, mood, or personality. For example, "he was a man of noble mien".

Answer: nim

Nim is a strategy game in which two players alternate removing any number of objects from one of (usually) three heaps of objects. It is typically played as a misere game, meaning that it is "played to lose", i.e. the player who loses according to the conventional rules is the winner. In misere nim, the player forced to draw the last object loses.

Answer: mind

While there is disagreement on the precise nature of the mind and how it relates to the brain (the mind-body problem is an unresolved philosophical question), there is general agreement that the mind enables consciousness, self-awareness, perception, and intentionality.

Answer: denim

Twill weaves are accomplished by interlacing the weft and warp threads with a "step" or offset between rows. This creates an uneven surface with a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs. It also makes for a more durable and forgiving fabric. Thanks to this sturdy construction, denim has been popular among American laborers since the late 1800s.

Answer: midden

The word 'midden' is Scandinavian in origin and used to describe a mound of domestic waste containing anything from human products and consumables to bones and excrement. For archeologists, such mounds are often a good resource of important information relating to human activity and everyday life.