winkle

\WINK-ul\

verb

1chiefly British : to displace, remove, or evict from a position — usually used with out

2 chiefly British : to obtain or draw out by effort — usually used with out

Is it me or does WINKLE sound a lot like this past Tuesday's ABDICATE: to cast off; discard. Come on now. I've been awake for thirty-three hours—red eye to JFK International, shuttle to Grand Central Terminal, commuter rail to the burbs, drive into the country, a nectarine in a lawn chair and I think—OOH! The word-of-the-day! I fumble with my friend Liz's technology, attempting to type my email address into some touch-screen device, and this is what I find: WINKLE.

Okay, the words are slightly different, I realize this. I'm just jet-lagged and bitter. Let's talk about WINKLE...

...and how WINKLE also resembles June 5th'S FERRET: to drive out of a hiding place.

!

Perhaps there is something about the month, perhaps that's where the secret behind the word-of-the-day's supposed randomness shields itself. Maybe Merriam-Webster is dropping clues for me, provoking me to WINKLE its codes from their indecipherable states.

I should look into this further.

On another sleuth-like note, while Liz and I reclined in lawn chairs, a man drove by her house, rolled down his car window, and took a photograph before speeding off.

M-W, I'm onto you.

Also: Ron Van Winkle (see above)