Round 3630 BRAIT results

[Tim Bourne]

In round 3630 Paul Keating, Tim Lodge, Judy Madnick and Mike Shefler all scored 3 points. Tim's and
Judy's 3 points were natural, unlike the others, and Judy is higher in the rolling scores, so she
takes the deal; Tim, Paul and Mike are joint ‘real’ winners.

The real definition was number 3, “[obs.] A rough diamond .”, which Johnny, Paul and Mike all
guessed; no-one was DQ. The idea for the word came from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of 1755, but the
definition I used came from Webster's Dictionary 1828, and is also in Wiktionary.

1 A wedding.
Submitted by Paul Keating, who voted for 2 and 3* and scored 3.
Vote from Tim L.

2  Copper mine tailings.
Submitted by Mike Shefler, who voted for 3* and 8 and scored 3.
Vote from Paul.

3 [obs.] A rough diamond.
Submitted by the Dictionary, which did not vote and scored D3.
Votes from Johnny, Paul, Mike.

4 A short flourish on a brass instrument.
Submitted by Eric Boxer, who voted for 7 and 10 and scored 0.
No votes.

5 [Scot.] painfully distressing; harrowing.
Submitted by Tim Lodge, who voted for 1 and 11 and scored 3.
Votes from Debbie, Judy, Shani.

6 To protect, keep from harm, or preserve.
Submitted by Debbie Embler, who voted for 5 and 11 and scored 2
Votes from Johnny and Judy.

7 An Icelandic species of marine fish belonging to the Cod family.
Submitted by Anonymous (Roy Olivas?), who did not vote and scored 2.
Vote from Eric and Efrem.

8 [dialect] To play truant from school; esp. in order to pick blackberries.
Submitted by Shani Naylor, who voted for 5 and 10 and scored 1.
Vote from Mike.

9 British AI: The UK Government's planned  AI data-centres to enhance the UK challenge.
Submitted by Johnny Barrs, who voted for 3* & 6 and scored 2.
No votes.

10 A small, wedge-shaped spacer used to maintain even separation between wooden boards during curing.
Submitted by Judy Madnick, who voted for 5 and 6 and scored 3.
Votes from Eric, Efrem and Shani.

11 A highly fluid yeast-cultured dough, a pre-ferment traditionally used in the production of Scots
and northern England bakery products.
Submitted by Efrem Mallach, who did not vote and scored 2.
Votes from Debbie,TimL.

My calculations in spreadsheet form are attached as a PDF.

So the next deal is yours, Judy! Congratulations!

Best wishes,
Tim Bourne.

[Efrem Mallach]

I did vote, but for 7 and 10 (both of which show that I voted for them, even though my def shows "did not vote") so it doesn't affect the scoring.

By the way, Webster's 1828 was a good choice of dictionaries to use. I was tempted by the correct definition, but was familiar with the set phrase "diamond in the rough," which is how Wiktionary has it. I didn't think a dictionary would mess with a set phrase and eliminated #3 on that basis. Perhaps "diamond in the rough" wasn't yet a set phrase two centuries ago. That choice of dictionaries saved me the deal!

Efrem

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[Hugo Kornelis]

When I see the phrase "diamond in the tough", my only association is the
proverbial one (as for example used in the Disney movie Aladdin, where
only a diamond in the rough can safely enter the magical cave)
When I see the phrare "rough diamond", my association is a dimaond that
has yet to be cut.

But I'm of course not a native English speaker, so this might be on me.

Op 14-3-2026 om 12:48 schreef Efrem Mallach:

[John Barrs]

we are all different - diamonds in the rough conjures up Johnny Cash for me (and maybelle carter)

JohnnyB

Virus-free.www.avg.com

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[Paul Keating]

Google Ngram viewer suggests that diamond in the rough was American in origin and began to overtake rough diamond in frequency in the 20th century. In BrE rough diamond was and still is the more common, with frequency of diamond in the rough very low until the 21st century.

Webster 1828 took its definition pretty well verbatim from Johnson 2ed, 1773, changing only the spelling of jewellers and the typographical treatment of the subject label. Johnson’s earlier definition folded the subject label into the definition: a term uſed by jewellers for. He wrote that when he was at letter B: he acquired increasingly economical phrasing as he proceeded through the alphabet.

On Hugo’s point: I am familiar with diamond in the rough only in the figurative sense. Though in my own speech I would avoid either phrasing of the metaphor as dated and patronizing.

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Paul Keating

Soustons, Nouvelle Aquitaine, France

[Tim Bourne]

Sorry, Efrem. I was all prepared to post the results when your vote came in. I made all the other changes, but missed that one in my hurry. Without the rush the results would have been 3 hours later!

Best wishes, Tim B.

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