APSE /aps/ n. a large recess in a church that is usually semicircular in shape and often covered with a highly decorated half-dome

As always, you can learn a few more things about a word by thinking about the clues that are often given for it, and then doing a little bit of research…

• Choir section
• Part of St. Paul’s
• Vaulted recess
• Basilica area
• Altar spot, perhaps

I also got a chuckle out of a clue I once encountered for this word: [Area under a semidome]. I wondered how on earth the editor could possibly expect the average crossword solver to be familiar with calculus ;-)

Architectural structures which resemble an apse in some way are often described as APSIDAL. A good example of an apsidal structure is an EX(H)EDRA (pl. EX(H)EDRAE or EX(H)EDRAS), which is a semicircular seating area usually set into an external face of a building.

Some churches have a small secondary apse on either side of the main apse. Such an apse is called an APSIDIOLE. Here’s a picture of a mummy apse with her two baby apsidioles…

Confusingly, today’s word is sometimes also used interchangeably with the word APSIS (pl. APSIDES), which is an astronomical term referring to a point of either closest or furthest approach of an orbiting body. These points, which are known as the PERIHELION and APHELION respectively, are often connected by an imaginary line called the line of apsides, which I just thought I’d mention in passing.

P.S. An architectural structure with three apses, like the one I showed you above, can be described by Collins/CSW/SOWPODS players as TRIAPSIDAL, or TRIAPSAL. North American Scrabblers however, must refer to such a thing as ‘an architectural structure with three apses’.

AGORA /uh.GOR.uh or AG.er.uh/ n. an open marketplace or assembly area for public gatherings in Ancient Greece pl. -E or -S

Nothing too tricky in the clues you’re likely to see for this one, although you might learn something new from the last clue in the list…

• Ancient assembly area
• Plato’s marketplace
• Greek square
• Forum : Rome :: ____ : Athens

Although I have long been familiar with the word agora, it didn’t occur to me until today that it is the source of the word AGORAPHOBIA, which can be read off literally as a fear of open public places. It’s obvious when you think about it, but perhaps I never have.

Today’s word has another meaning too: an Israeli monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a SHEKEL. This meaning gives rise to the less familiar plurals AGOROT and AGOROTH.

If you don’t believe me, just read the fine print…

And if you thought I was going off on a bit of a tangent there, I bet you can’t guess how I’m going to weave this little fellow into the conversation…

This eerie looking plant is commonly known as a MANDRAKE, but its formal name is the MANDRAGORA. Get it?

Take that grandma!