Word: puffer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...warmest months. Oysters, clams and mussels that eat the organism are poisonous to humans, which is why in some areas such seafood is not harvested in summer. By contrast, fugu poison, which has almost the same effect, is always present in the sex organs and liver of Japanese puffer fish. Hence in Japan chefs who prepare puffers are required to learn how to make the fish edible...
...hives," 9, "snakes," 10 or "long ships," 11 . At other times the patterns may pulse, like the "traffic lights," which flip-flop between patterns 12 and 13. Other figures, including "gliders" and "spaceships," actually move across the board. Some seem to leave clouds of debris behind in their travels ("puffer trains") or climb in a diagonal line ("fuses") and give off clusters of "sparks." One of the more unusual shapes to emerge in Life's repertory of patterns is the "Cheshire cat," 1 4. It gradually changes and shrinks until, after six genertions, only the "grin," 15, is left...
...poisonous puffer fish, which inflates itself into a small balloon when caught, lives in most of the world's oceans. But only in Japan, where it is called fugu, has it become a national tradition. There, though its poison kills 200 victims per year, its flesh sends gourmets into philosophical ecstasies. They get a particular kick from knowing they are playing a kind of gustatory Russian roulette...
...American puffer fish, which are also poisonous, are sold as "sea squab" or under some other euphemistic name. Only the back flesh is cut free; the dangerous remainder of the fish is discarded...
...puffer is a boat that has to be seen to be adequately disbelieved. A tiny Scottish freighter that carries a small crew (the Maggie has four) and barely enough freight to make ends meet, it looks like nothing so much as a seagoing haggis, and not a very clean one at that. When Douglas realizes that his precious plumbing has actually been shipped in such a boat, he rushes to the rescue with a full panoply of American Efficiency: chartered planes, long-distance calls, press conferences, do-it-yourself. He is met by Scots Canniness: the wandering eye, the mislaid...