[Hobbsicle] I Shirk the Titling of This Puzzle

[Hobbsicle]

What is the connection between Greco-Roman soccer, a drum from New Zealand, a mailbox photographer, and a bird with one wing?

Caveat Earl E. Spoyler

[WiZ]

Is this connection to do with words (e.g. how they might be named or described)? Are there any specific examples of the above that are relevant? Would the describing words form a contradiction or redundancy? Would they rhyme?

Are 'kiwis' (for any definition of that word) relevant?

[Hobbsicle]

Is this connection to do with words (e.g. how they might be named or described)? Yes, small ish
Are there any specific examples of the above that are relevant? No Would the describing words form a contradiction or redundancy? No Would they rhyme? No

Are 'kiwis' (for any definition of that word) relevant? Kiwis are always relevant, WiZ...but no, not really in this puzzle

[trebor]

Greco-Roman soccer as in an ancient version of the game? Harpastum? Modern soccer?

Relevant that a bird with one wing would be flightless? Is a specific species of bird relevant?

[Earnest]

Relevant that Harpastum is similar to rugby? All blacks relevant? Relevant that the "wing" is a role in soccer? That mails and mailboxes are often represented with wings?

a mailbox photographer --> privacy violation relevant? stalking relevant?

a drum from New Zealand --> relevant that it is singular? Like the wing of the bird...are drums usually played together? Or maybe a single drum might be played? Is the sound of the drum relevant? Can it be a not NZ drum?
any representation of drum relevant? modern drum? ancient drum? name of the drum relevant? Pronunciation of the word "drum" relevant? Are there conventional drums in NZ?

Is the connection an event? Something that happened to you? Or maybe an object? Are all the Harpastum, the drum, the mailbox photographer and the bird with a wing in the same place? Are we talking about an alive bird? Relevant how he lost his other wing (assuming that he originally had two)? Did the photographer shoot him? Was someone playing Harpastum? Are they related by an accident which would not have happened had one of these elements not been present?

[Hobbsicle]

trebor

Greco-Roman soccer as in an ancient version of the game? Yes Harpastum? Nope! Modern soccer? No

Relevant that a bird with one wing would be flightless? Not really for the scope of the puzzle Is a specific species of bird relevant? Yope

Earnest

Relevant that Harpastum is similar to rugby? No All blacks relevant? No Relevant that the "wing" is a role in soccer? No That mails and mailboxes are often represented with wings? No

a mailbox photographer --> privacy violation relevant? stalking relevant? No

a drum from New Zealand --> relevant that it is singular? Only vaguely Like the wing of the bird...are drums usually played together? Or maybe a single drum might be played? Is the sound of the drum relevant? No to these Can it be a not NZ drum? No, it needs to be a NZ drum
any representation of drum relevant? Yope modern drum? ancient drum? Not sure, likely this? name of the drum relevant? Yes...ish Pronunciation of the word "drum" relevant? No Are there conventional drums in NZ? not actually relevant

Is the connection an event? Something that happened to you? Or maybe an object? No to all Are all the Harpastum, the drum, the mailbox photographer and the bird with a wing in the same place? Yes-ish, explore Are we talking about an alive bird? No Relevant how he lost his other wing (assuming that he originally had two)? He did not originally have two Did the photographer shoot him? No Was someone playing Harpastum? No Are they related by an accident which would not have happened had one of these elements not been present? No

[Earnest]

Are all the Harpastum, the drum, the mailbox photographer and the bird with a wing in the same place? Yes-ish, explore --> are they all in a journal/newspaper/magazine? In a picture? crossword?

[trebor]

Is it relevant what the old soccer game actually is called? Is there a relevant rule to it? Relevant how many players per side? Was there relevantly more than one ball used?

They are yesishly in the same place...Do the three things here have a relevant synonym? or homonym? that can be found together somehow? Can they be found together in a physical location in the real world? In a physical location in a fictional world? In a TV show? Film? Song? Play? Game? Book? Opera? Classical music piece?

Is the one-winged bird a bird shown in profile? Is it a species that exists IRL? In mythology? In one of the above forms of art? In religion? Is it the dove on Dove soap?

Does the drum have to be from a specific province of New Zealand? A specific city? Are the Maori relevant to the puzzle? Would it be a traditional drum? One brought over by colonizers? One common in western music? Does it matter what type of drum it is?

Mailbox...relevant whether the mailbox has mail in it? If it's one that's attached to a house? The traditional kind on a post with the red flag bit that goes up and down? A communal mailbox for an entire block/apartment, with separate bits for each house/tenant? Would the photographer have to use a certain brand of camera? Could the picture be taken with a digital camera? Or phone? Does film have to be used instead? Is the word "postal" relevant? Or any variant on "post"?

[Hobbsicle]

Earnest

Are all the Harpastum, the drum, the mailbox photographer and the bird with a wing in the same place? Yes-ish, explore --> are they all in a journal/newspaper/magazine? No to these, but close, OTRT In a picture? crossword? No to both

trebor

Is it relevant what the old soccer game actually is called? Yes and no, what it is called is relevant to the puzzle, but you don't have to know the actual word Is there a relevant rule to it? Relevant how many players per side? Was there relevantly more than one ball used? No to rest

They are yesishly in the same place...Do the three things here have a relevant synonym? or homonym? that can be found together somehow? No to these Can they be found together in a physical location in the real world? The physical manifestations of them cannot In a physical location in a fictional world? Not really this either In a TV show? Film? Song? Play? Game? Book? These are relevant Opera? Classical music piece?

Is the one-winged bird a bird shown in profile? No Is it a species that exists IRL? No! In mythology? No In one of the above forms of art? In religion? Is it the dove on Dove soap? No to rest

Does the drum have to be from a specific province of New Zealand? A specific city? Are the Maori relevant to the puzzle? Yes, it is described as a Maori drum, but not relevant beyond that Would it be a traditional drum? One brought over by colonizers? One common in western music? Does it matter what type of drum it is? All other specifics are irrelevant

Mailbox...relevant whether the mailbox has mail in it? No If it's one that's attached to a house? Not really relevant, but it wouldn't be one like this The traditional kind on a post with the red flag bit that goes up and down? Possibly A communal mailbox for an entire block/apartment, with separate bits for each house/tenant? No, but again, not that relevant to the puzzle Would the photographer have to use a certain brand of camera? Could the picture be taken with a digital camera? Or phone? Does film have to be used instead? Is the word "postal" relevant? Or any variant on "post"? No or irrel to the rest

[Doriana]

Dictionaries relevant? Encyclopedias? Wikipedia?

[Hobbsicle]

Dictionaries relevant? Encyclopedias? Both of these, yes Wikipedia? No

[Doriana]

Would the four entries be found close to each other in a dictionary/encyclopedia? Not close to each other, but in similar positions, such as first/last entry for four different letters?

Copyright traps relevant at all?

[Hobbsicle]

Would the four entries be found close to each other in a dictionary/encyclopedia? No Not close to each other, but in similar positions, such as first/last entry for four different letters? No

Copyright traps relevant at all? YES

***************SPOILER********************

They are all definitions given for fictitious entries found in dictionaries or encyclopedias as copyright traps.

Apopudobalia - a Greco-Roman sport similar to soccer. False entry for a non-existent sport in a 1986 German encyclopedia, Der neue Pauly.

Zzxjoanw - a type of Maori drum. Found as the final entry in Rupert Hughes' encyclopedia of music, The Musical Guide.

Lillian Virginia Mountweazel - fountain designer and rural mailbox photographer who died in a freak explosion while on assignment from Combustibles magazine. A non-existent person in the New Columbia Encyclopedia.

Jungftak - I'll just quote the entry: "A Persian bird, the male of which had only one wing, on the right side, and the female only one wing, on the left side; instead of the missing wings, the male had a hook of bone, and the female an eyelet of bone, and it was by uniting hook and eye that they were enable[d] to fly, -each, when alone, had to remain on the ground." This was in the 1943 Webster's Dictionary.

Finally, the title of the puzzle is a reference to the entry in the New Oxford American Dictionary, esquivalience, "the willful avoidance of one's official responsibilities".

Thanks for playing, good job to Doriana for the solve.

[WiZ]

I should have suspected something was up when you started talking about Māori drums - that wasn't one of the musical instruments in their repertoire, although anyone who has seen a haka knows that they definitely have the means of percussion...