Memorize these and you could recognize 30.5% of all Weights & Measures clues.
| # | Answer | Appearances | Sample Clue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | an inch | 11 | In 1324, England's King Edward II decreed that this was the length of three barleycorn kernels |
| 2 | a cubit | 10 | Noah knew it's the distance between a man's elbow & the tip of his middle finger |
| 3 | an acre | 9 | Originally, it was the area a yoke of oxen could plow in 1 day; now it's defined as 43,560 sq. feet |
| 4 | a ton | 8 | A long one weighs 240 pounds more than a short one |
| 5 | a barrel | 7 | For wine this measure equals about 31 gallons; for oil, 42 gallons |
| 6 | a carat | 7 | It's the measure of gold in an alloy |
| 7 | Celsius | 6 | The centigrade temperature scale was officially renamed this in 1948 |
| 8 | troy | 6 | 1 of 2 systems of weight in which 12 ounces equal one pound |
| 9 | a pinch | 6 | An amount held between the thumb & index finger, one can be "of salt" or "of snuff" |
| 10 | a meter | 6 | This unit was originally intended to be 1/40,000,000 of the Earth's circumference |
| 11 | a ream | 6 | Sometimes it's 480 sheets, but most often it's 500 sheets of paper |
| 12 | a nautical mile | 6 | 6,076.11549 feet is this type of mile |
| 13 | a furlong | 6 | Used mostly for horse racing today, this is based on the length of an average plowed furrow |
| 14 | a fathom | 6 | The name of this nautical unit of depth comes from faedn, Danish for "outstretched arms" |
| 15 | avoirdupois | 5 | While a troy or apothecary's pound is 12 ounces, this kind is 16 |
| 16 | a league | 5 | It's the only measure of distance mentioned in the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" |
| 17 | degrees | 4 | Arcs can be measured in these, minutes & seconds or in radians |
| 18 | acres | 4 | In Louisiana land is sometimes measured in arpents, which are slightly smaller than these |
| 19 | a quart | 4 | Half of a half-gallon |
| 20 | a kilogram | 4 | It was originally intended to be exactly equal to the mass of water in a liter |
| 21 | a bushel | 4 | If I loved you one of these & a peck, I'd actually love you five pecks |
| 22 | a bolt | 4 | A measure of cloth equal to about 30 yards |
| 23 | troy ounce | 4 | 1 of 2 units of measure whose names are from the Latin "uncia", meaning "twelfth part" |
| 24 | a liter | 4 | This metric unit is equivalent to 1.057 liquid quarts |
| 25 | a horsepower | 4 | This is defined as the power needed to lift 550 pounds 1 foot in 1 second |
| 26 | a hectare | 4 | This metric measure of area is almost 2 1/2 acres |
| 27 | paper | 3 | It's what's counted by the ream |
| 28 | miles | 3 | In U.S. measures, a township is equal to about 36 square ones of these |
| 29 | liters | 3 | Of imperial gals., U.S. gals. or liters, the 1 of which it would take greatest number to fill your tank |
| 30 | decibels | 3 | A noisy office registers about 60 of these units |
| 31 | a stone | 3 | Legally, this British measurement is 14 lbs. avoirdupois |
| 32 | a magnum | 3 | A wine bottle holding 1.5 liters is called this |
| 33 | a lot | 3 | At an auction it's a number of items that are bid on as one item |
| 34 | a finger | 3 | A small bunch of bananas is called a hand; an individual banana is called this |
| 35 | a cord | 3 | Firewood is usually sold in these units, which are 8' x 4' x 4' |
| 36 | 3 | 3 | Number of teaspoons in a tablespoon |
| 37 | rod | 3 | yd. is short for yard & rd. is short for this measure |
| 38 | an angstrom | 3 | Seen here is the symbol for this unit of length that was named for a Swedish scientist |
| 39 | a yard | 3 | Spelled "G-E-R-D" in Old English where it meant a small stick, it now means a precise length |
| 40 | a patch | 3 | A 5-letter term for a field of beans or pumpkins |
| 41 | a parsec | 3 | Of a parsec, an astronomical unit or a light year, the one that's the longest |
| 42 | a kilowatt-hour | 3 | In common practice electrical power is billed in terms of this hyphenated term, equal to 3.6 million joules |
| 43 | a jigger | 3 | An Irish dancer, or about an ounce & a half of liquor |
| 44 | a gallon | 3 | U.S. liquid measure equal to 231 cubic inches, which makes 2310 cu. in. to a Stetson |
| 45 | a decibel | 3 | Unit measuring intensity of sound, named for inventor of the phone |
| 46 | wood | 2 | While notes in a measure of music can come in chords, this substance can come in "cords", without the "H" |
| 47 | tufts | 2 | Clusters of short hair or grass growing close together, perhaps in a Medford, Mass. university |
| 48 | the circumference | 2 | To determine this for a circle, multiply the diameter by pi |
| 49 | stones | 2 | In Great Britain, a 154-pound man is said to weigh 11 of these units |
| 50 | plenty | 2 | It's how much o' "nuthin" Porgy had |