As I read and write and wander about, I often come across things that I have to look up. This week’s Challenge questions aren’t especially hard, but as always, be sure to verify that you found the correct answer. (You’ll almost always want to do at least two searches to make sure.)

Here are my personal SearchResearch Challenges from the past week.

1. What’s placket? (This might be obvious to you, but it’s a word I’ve only ever heard before, so I had to look it up. In the book I was reading, it seems to refer to both shirts AND petticoats, which doesn’t seem to make any sense. Can you tell me what it is and what the shirt / petticoat connection is?)

2. Speaking of clothing, what’s that little loop on the back of a man’s shirts called? And WHY is it there?

3. At the local pond, red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) are out in force. But this year, their songs seem slightly different. Can you find out if their songs change from year-to-year?

Let us know what you find out! Be sure to show your work. HOW did you figure out the answers?

I’ll be back on Monday with what I found.

Search on!