February 2023

4. An ornamental centerpiece for a dining table, typically used for holding fruit or flowers
11. Impromptu, improvised, ex tempore or offhand
13. A drumming or beating sound
14. A rustling or whispering sound, such as leaves in the wind, susurration
15. To stare vacantly without doing anything
16. The concentration of mental energy on one particular person, idea, or object (especially to an unhealthy degree)

1. A wall of earth or other material built for defense; rampart
2. Neither harmful nor beneficial
3. A contradiction between two beliefs or conclusions that are in themselves reasonable; a paradox
5. A choice or preference
6. Things worthy of notice
7. Resembling a character from Charles Dickens' novel "David Copperfield" especially in being irresponsibly optimistic
8. Inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join in conversation
9. Character in Voltaire's 1759 satire "Candide, or Optimism;" A person who is optimistic regardless of the circumstances
10. To wither; to become, make lean and wrinkled by shrinkage, as from age or illness
12. Call into question the truth or validity of