Words from the Metro

I've been doing the daily crossword on the Metro newspaper for the last few weeks out of sheer boredom. They tend to be easy (and probably why I do them). Well 95% of the words are usually pretty easy but the last 5% can be a lot of fun. As always, its been particularly cool to discover some interesting new things, such as (more to follow in later posts):

1. Peck = A unit of capacity for dry goods equal to a quarter of a bushel, now equivalent (in Britain) to two imperial gallons (approx. 9.09 litres) or (in the U.S.) to eight quarts (approx. 8.81 litres).
   
   
2. Ogee = An arch whose curve is formed by two S-shaped or double curves meeting at its apex. [related to the more familiar ogive]
   
   
3. Keen = An Irish funeral song accompanied with wailing in lamentation for the dead.
   
   
4. Lorelei (this one is terrific) = "...The Lorelei (originally written as Loreley) is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen, which soars some 120 meters above the water line. It marks the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea. A very strong current and rocks below the waterline caused many boat accidents in former times....The rock is associated with several legendary tales originating in German folklore. It appears in many forms, but is best known through a poem by Heinrich Heine that begins "Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten" (which means in English, "I don't know what to make of it"). In the most common form of the story, the Lorelei is a maiden who threw herself into the Rhine in despair over a faithless lover, and became a nixe whose voice lured fishermen to destruction..." [Wikipedia]
   
   
5. Nix = Nix (also known as Näcken, Nøkken or Nixe) are water creatures in German and Scandinavian folklore, usually shown in human form. The name is related to the Anglo-Saxon nicor, and Old High German nihus, all designating some kind of water fiend.
   
   
6. Nixie = U.S. Post which cannot be forwarded by the postal services because it is illegibly or incorrectly addressed.
   
   
7. Stet[1][2] = Direction on a printer's proof or manuscript to indicate that the alterations be undone and the original word or passage be restored.