Spoilers for Monday 13th November 2023 (Series 88, Heat 97)

[Gavin Chipper]

Ridiculous that OUTGRABES has found its way into the dictionary. OUTGRABE is used in The Jabberwocky as the past tense (of outgribe according to Humpty Dumpty) and you can't stick an s on the end.

[Fiona T]

Ridiculous that OUTGRABES has found its way into the dictionary. OUTGRABE is used in The Jabberwocky as the past tense (of outgribe according to Humpty Dumpty) and you can't stick an s on the end.

Aye, but it's there

outgrabe
VERB
Used as a nonsense word: (most frequently) to emit a strange noise..

Origin
Mid 19th century; earliest use found in ‘Lewis Carroll’ (1832–1898), author, mathematician, and photographer (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). A nonsense word invented by Lewis Carroll (used in the past tense), and described by him as follows. (Nothing follows!)

outgribe is not there. Completely stupid. Might as well include all nonsense words. But valid for our game.

[Philip A]

Bizarre indeed. I think it’s worth pointing out that the premium.oxforddictionaries.com website, which is the dictionary used for Countdown, does actually contain some (not all, though) content from the Oxford English Dictionary website. I subscribe to both, and found the following information:

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Summary
An imitative or expressive formation.
A nonsense word invented by Lewis Carroll (used in the past tense), and described by him as follows:
Notes

1855
Outgrabe, past tense of the verb to outgribe. (It is connected with the old verb to grike or shrike, from which are derived ‘shriek’ and ‘creak’.) ‘Squeaked.’
‘L. Carroll’, Rectory Umbrella & Mischmasch (1932) 140Citation details for ‘L. Carroll’, Rectory Umbrella & Mischmasch
1871
‘And what does “outgrabe” mean?’ ‘Well, “outgribing” is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle.’
‘L. Carroll’, Through Looking-glass vi. 129Citation details for ‘L. Carroll’, Through Looking-glass

Apparently intended by Carroll as a past tense, but generally understood subsequently as a regular verb, with present tense outgrabe and past tense outgrabed.

Used with various meanings, or meaninglessly, and dependent on context.

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For the record, ‘outgribe’ doesn’t have an entry in OED either and OUTGRABES has a commoner anagram, SUBROGATE.

I must say, Viraj’s 6-small skills are excellent.

[Toby McDonald]

SOLATIUM in R2

R9 alt.: ((3+3+2)*6-2)*7 = 322