Round 3654: RICKMATIC results
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Daniel B. Widdis
Jun 8, 2026, 2:30:15 AM (yesterday) Jun 8
to Dixonary
Congratulations to Tim Lodge, who earns the "next dealer" award for his definition which none of you actually saw.
Tim's definition was "An agricultural machine which forms bales of hay or straw and loads them into a stack." I tried, unsuccessfully, to find a way to cleanly combine it with Efrem's horsedrawn farm implement without ruining either definition, and decided at the end to keep Efrem's definition intact and assume Tim's more general description was the same thing. Whether my decision was correct or not, Tim is not complaining about it.
As Tim is ahead of Efrem in the 4-round (before now) and 5-round (after these results) rolling scores, he gets the deal.
The real definition is succinctly defined in M-W as "concern, business".
A more verbose definition from the Dictionary of the Scots Language is: RICKMATICK, n. Also rickmatic, ric-matick, rikmatick (Sc. 1918 Weekly Scotsman (2 April) 2). A group of people or things, gen. in phr. the hale rickmatic, the whole lot or concern, “bag of tricks”, “caboodle”, the sum total (Sc. 1903 Farmer & Henley Slang VI. 21). Gen.Sc.
I trust at least one of you will attempt to use this in everyday speech sometime in the next decade. I will certainly try to do so myself.
*** RICKMATIC ***
1. A spiral-shaped pattern that was popular on ties and socks in the 1950's; also, a descriptive word used in advertising to convey modernity.
Submitted by: Nancy Shepherdson, who voted for 6 & 10 and scored 1 + 2 = 3
Votes from: Debbie Embler
2. describing frequent or unexpected changes in rhythm, especially in Creole folk singing.
Submitted by: Mike Shefler, who voted for 3 & 11 and scored 3
Votes from: Tim Lodge, Tim Bourne, Tony Abell
3. An early 20c horsedrawn farm implement for stacking hay, orig. a trade name.
Submitted by: Efrem Mallach, who voted for 9 & 10 and scored 6
Submitted by: Tim Lodge, who voted for 2 & 4 and scored 6
Votes from: Mike Shefler, Eric Boxer, Shani Naylor, Judy Madnick, Tim Bourne, Debbie Embler
4. Children's word: arithmetic.
Submitted by: Paul Keating, who voted for 6 & 11 and scored 2 + 2 = 4
Votes from: Tim Lodge, Tony Abell
5. showing symptoms of rickets.
Submitted by: Tim Bourne, who voted for 2 & 3 and scored 1
Votes from: Eric Boxer
6. concern, business
Submitted by: Merriam-Webster, and scored D3
Votes from: Nancy Shepherdson, Paul Keating, John Barrs
7. Approximate calculation; guesstimation.
Submitted by: Eric Boxer, who voted for 3 & 5 and scored 0
No Votes
8. [Obs] A person (usually a woman) employed to answer calls at a telephone exchange.
Submitted by: Shani Naylor, who voted for 3 & 9 and scored 0
No Votes
9. Automated loading system to handle small loads of timber and wood products more efficiently.
Submitted by: Debbie Embler, who voted for 1 & 3 and scored 3
Votes from: Efrem Mallach, Shani Naylor, Judy Madnick
10. a small, spring‑loaded latch used to keep folding stools or step‑ladders locked in the open position.
Submitted by: Judy Madnick, who voted for 3 & 9 and scored 3
Votes from: Nancy Shepherdson, Efrem Mallach, John Barrs
11. A temporary summer bothy; originally a small cottage so badly built that it was not expected to last even a season
Submitted by: John Barrs, who voted for 6 & 10 and scored 2 + 2 = 4
Votes from: Mike Shefler, Paul Keating
12. A computer virus that randomly redirects a web browser to a YouTube video of Rick Astley performing Never Gonna Give You Up (c.f., rickroll)
Submitted by: Tony Abell, who voted for 2 & 4 and scored 0
No Votes
Def Submitter Votes Guess Total
3 Tim Lodge 6 6
3 Efrem Mallach 6 6
11 John Barrs 2 2 4
4 Paul Keating 2 2 4
2 Mike Shefler 3 3
9 Debbie Embler 3 3
10 Judy Madnick 3 3
6 Merriam-Webster 3 D3
1 Nancy Shepherdson 1 2 3
5 Tim Bourne 1 1
12 Tony Abell 0 0
7 Eric Boxer 0 0
8 Shani Naylor 0 0
Tim's definition was "An agricultural machine which forms bales of hay or straw and loads them into a stack." I tried, unsuccessfully, to find a way to cleanly combine it with Efrem's horsedrawn farm implement without ruining either definition, and decided at the end to keep Efrem's definition intact and assume Tim's more general description was the same thing. Whether my decision was correct or not, Tim is not complaining about it.
As Tim is ahead of Efrem in the 4-round (before now) and 5-round (after these results) rolling scores, he gets the deal.
The real definition is succinctly defined in M-W as "concern, business".
A more verbose definition from the Dictionary of the Scots Language is: RICKMATICK, n. Also rickmatic, ric-matick, rikmatick (Sc. 1918 Weekly Scotsman (2 April) 2). A group of people or things, gen. in phr. the hale rickmatic, the whole lot or concern, “bag of tricks”, “caboodle”, the sum total (Sc. 1903 Farmer & Henley Slang VI. 21). Gen.Sc.
I trust at least one of you will attempt to use this in everyday speech sometime in the next decade. I will certainly try to do so myself.
*** RICKMATIC ***
1. A spiral-shaped pattern that was popular on ties and socks in the 1950's; also, a descriptive word used in advertising to convey modernity.
Submitted by: Nancy Shepherdson, who voted for 6 & 10 and scored 1 + 2 = 3
Votes from: Debbie Embler
2. describing frequent or unexpected changes in rhythm, especially in Creole folk singing.
Submitted by: Mike Shefler, who voted for 3 & 11 and scored 3
Votes from: Tim Lodge, Tim Bourne, Tony Abell
3. An early 20c horsedrawn farm implement for stacking hay, orig. a trade name.
Submitted by: Efrem Mallach, who voted for 9 & 10 and scored 6
Submitted by: Tim Lodge, who voted for 2 & 4 and scored 6
Votes from: Mike Shefler, Eric Boxer, Shani Naylor, Judy Madnick, Tim Bourne, Debbie Embler
4. Children's word: arithmetic.
Submitted by: Paul Keating, who voted for 6 & 11 and scored 2 + 2 = 4
Votes from: Tim Lodge, Tony Abell
5. showing symptoms of rickets.
Submitted by: Tim Bourne, who voted for 2 & 3 and scored 1
Votes from: Eric Boxer
6. concern, business
Submitted by: Merriam-Webster, and scored D3
Votes from: Nancy Shepherdson, Paul Keating, John Barrs
7. Approximate calculation; guesstimation.
Submitted by: Eric Boxer, who voted for 3 & 5 and scored 0
No Votes
8. [Obs] A person (usually a woman) employed to answer calls at a telephone exchange.
Submitted by: Shani Naylor, who voted for 3 & 9 and scored 0
No Votes
9. Automated loading system to handle small loads of timber and wood products more efficiently.
Submitted by: Debbie Embler, who voted for 1 & 3 and scored 3
Votes from: Efrem Mallach, Shani Naylor, Judy Madnick
10. a small, spring‑loaded latch used to keep folding stools or step‑ladders locked in the open position.
Submitted by: Judy Madnick, who voted for 3 & 9 and scored 3
Votes from: Nancy Shepherdson, Efrem Mallach, John Barrs
11. A temporary summer bothy; originally a small cottage so badly built that it was not expected to last even a season
Submitted by: John Barrs, who voted for 6 & 10 and scored 2 + 2 = 4
Votes from: Mike Shefler, Paul Keating
12. A computer virus that randomly redirects a web browser to a YouTube video of Rick Astley performing Never Gonna Give You Up (c.f., rickroll)
Submitted by: Tony Abell, who voted for 2 & 4 and scored 0
No Votes
Def Submitter Votes Guess Total
3 Tim Lodge 6 6
3 Efrem Mallach 6 6
11 John Barrs 2 2 4
4 Paul Keating 2 2 4
2 Mike Shefler 3 3
9 Debbie Embler 3 3
10 Judy Madnick 3 3
6 Merriam-Webster 3 D3
1 Nancy Shepherdson 1 2 3
5 Tim Bourne 1 1
12 Tony Abell 0 0
7 Eric Boxer 0 0
8 Shani Naylor 0 0
Paul Keating
Jun 8, 2026, 3:47:12 AM (yesterday) Jun 8
to Dixonary Google Group
I was delighted to see from the DSL entry that the real definition (#6) and my fake (#4) have the etymology in common.
P
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Tim Lodge
Jun 8, 2026, 5:16:54 AM (yesterday) Jun 8
to Dixonary
It's totally hectic this morning - I'll try and post a def in 3-4 hours.
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