1/4 and 3/4 Box
In your C1 & C2 S/D manual, I came across a reference to both a 1/4 & 3/4 box setup (triple cross pp196). These are formations which I cannot find explicitly described either in your text or any other, such as Clark Baker's S/D Handbook. Could you provide any source for these formations, and some reasoning as to their naming. Any info you can provide would be most appreciated.

The name of these formations derives from a 1/4 Tag formation, the formation obtained from a Squared Set after Heads Pass The Ocean.

A 1/4 Tag is a Wave between Outside Couples Facing In.

A 3/4 Tag is a Wave between Outside Couples Facing Out.

A 1/4 Box is a Box between Outside Couples Facing In. (e.g., From a Squared Set after Heads Touch 1/4).

A 3/4 Box is a Box between Outside Couples Facing Out.

A 1/4 Line is a (Two-Faced) Line between Outside Couples Facing In. (e.g., From a Squared Set after Heads As Couples Touch 1/4).

A 3/4 Line is a (Two-Faced) Line between Outside Couples Facing Out.

And, a 1/4 Diamond is a Diamond between Outside Couples Facing In.

And so on, and so on...

Clump
What is a "clump"?

Usually,

XX++
XX++
++XX
++XX

Assuming 'X' represents a dancer, this formation is referred to as a clump.

Occasionally, a clump can also be:

XX++++XX
XX++++XX

or

XX++XX
XX++XX

etc.

Delimiters in calls/concepts requiring more than one argument
How do you phrase it when calling Hinge By? Hinge By x BY...By etc. -- or Hinge By x AND...And etc? What about Interlace? Interlace a WITH b or Interlace a AND b?

For Interlace, I use "With".

As long as we're on the subject...

SANDWICH a AROUND b

CHECKPOINT a BY b
REVERSE CHECKPOINT a BY b
TRACE a BY b
OWN THE a BY b
SLANT a BY b
TOUCH AND GO a BY b
TOUCH BY a BY b
TOUCH TONE a BY b
VEER AND TURN a BY b

ROLLING RIPPLE a BY b (BY c)

INTERRUPT a AFTER/BEFORE b WITH c
a REPLACE b WITH c

ANCHOR THE a FOR (A) b
DRAG THE a FOR (A) b
IGNORE THE a FOR (A) b
PREFER THE a FOR (A) b

Formation: 1/4 <anything>

I had an argument with someone who is studying to be a caller. I said that when you have a two faced line in the center and a couple facing in on the ends, that is called a quarter tag formation. He said that it is only a quarter tag formation if there is a wave in the center, not any other type of line. Also, what if you have a wave or some sort of a line in the center and miniwaves at the ends. That is not a quarter tag nor is it a three quarter tag formation. What is it called?

A 1/4 Tag with a 2FL and In-Facing Couples is a "1/4 Line". If there is a Diamond in the middle, it is a "1/4 Diamond".

If the outsides are Out-Facing Couples, we have a "3/4 Tag", "3/4 Line", or "3/4 Diamond".

If the outsides are in a Mini-Wave, we have a "Generalized 1/4 Tag, Line, or Diamond".

That's all folks!

Here Comes The Judge / Sock It To Me

I am a Japanese sqaure-dancer and unfortunately a non-native speaker of English. I have a quaestion for you. There are some calls whose literal meaning does not convey what to do. For instance, on "sock it to me", I was wondering what the word "sock" means. ON this call, the leftmost dancer initiates an outroll circulate while the rightmost one on "here comes the judege". I wonder if there is a good clue to remembering "left" on "sock it to me". Thank you for your kind reply.

The word "sock" has two meanings in American English:
  1) A garment for the foot and lower part of the leg
     靴下
  2) A  hard blow or punch
     拳パンチ

• SOCK has four letters, like LEFT
• JUDGE has five letters, like RIGHT

Left vs. Reverse
This past weekend, you called Left Dixie Style to a Wave several times. I use this frequently (usually at Plus and above, rarely with poor Mainstreamers :-) ) as REVERSE Dixie Style to a Wave. I correlate the call as Flutterwheel/Reverse Flutterwheel, Dixie Style/Reverse Dixie Style. Any thoughts on what would be a more correct use?

Lacking the technically proper term (i.e., 'Mirror'), I selected the next best term, 'Left'. 'Left' is consistent with 'Left Fan The Top', 'Left Touch 1/4', etc. I mean, would you ever say 'Reverse Touch 1/4'???

'Reverse' has problems in that it has no precise meaning. 'Reverse' can mean any of the following: Mirror, In Reverse Order, Rewind, Leaders do the Trailers part and vice-versa, and a few other usages (e.g., Reverse The Diamond [Centers Trade the Wave as Others U-Turn Back, converts R-H Diamonds to L-H Diamonds and vice-versa]).

Anyway, I cued the call as "Boys Lead Left Dixie Style to a Wave, Left Pull By then Right Touch 1/4 with the Girl, swing the Girl into the Center" (or something to that effect), so it was, in my most humble opinion, unambiguous what I wanted.

New calls
Is there any good place where new calls can be found?

I allow people to submit new ideas to my Experimental Calls and Concepts database at http://www.ceder.net/experimentals/view.php

Partners in Ocean Wave
Who is your partner in an Ocean Wave?

From any general line (one-faced, two-faced, 3&1, or a WAVE), Partners are generally defined as the Ends and Adjacent Centers. This holds true for calls such as PARTNER HINGE, PARTNER TRADE, and PARTNER TAG.

This is the "Formation"-relative Partner, who may or may not be your original Partner, and could even be dancing the same Role (i.e., Boy or Girl).

For the purposes of call such as RIGHT AND LEFT GRAND, and LEFT ALLEMANDE, you need to look at the 8-dancer formation as a "Circle", and the Boy's partner is the lady counter-clockwise around the circular formation.

And, of course, not all callers may subscribe to this, nor understand it. So, bottom line, do what your caller wants. :-)

Same spot crashing with a "Left" call
When two dancers "crash" to the same spot, do they always step to right hands? What if the call is Left <anything>? Thank you.

On "Left <anything>", it is not clear what happens. E.g., from Tandem Couples: Left Pitch 1/2 Circulate.

Square Breathing
From Parallel Waves e.g. Heads Square Thru + all Swing Thru, do you train the dancers to close up the formation so that there is no space between the two waves?

At Challenge, I expect dancers to dance this way. If you ever get a chance to watch a C4 floor, you will notice that they close up the spaces after each call. Challenge dancers need to close up the gap or they might breakdown on the next call.

I'm going to start an A1 class in January or February, and I expect to drill the dancers on keeping their squares tight. I will try to train them to close up their formations.

On a recent trip to England, I was impressed when I called Promenade Home. Most squares had all the Boys in a very tight (good looking) Star. The Boys were all sticking their left-elbows up, trying to touch the points to make a Star. I asked them later why their Promenade looked so sharp, and they explained that one of their callers teaches the Boys to touch elbows. The dancers in this particular club were, in jest, trying to over-emphasize the elbows-up part, and in doing so, made some very nice looking tight Stars.

As long as I'm on the 'European-styling' soap box, here's another thing about the European dancers that impressed me:

The dancers can actually do the call Circle To A Line! There is no such thing as 'slide out to a line'. When you call 'Heads Lead Right, Circle To A Line', they do something similar to what I'm about to describe (I don't know exactly how they do it, but someday I intend to find out)

On the call Circle To A Line, they join hands in the group of 4,

On beat 1, they raise their hands in the air on beat 1 and start circling;

On beat 2 they lower their hands and continue circling;

On beat 3 they raise their hands and continue circling;

On beat 4 they lower their hands and the appropriate (Head) man breaks;

On beat 5 the Sides raise their hands; and

On beat 6, the (Side) Girl twirls under.

This styling looks very sharp.

Unusual Uses at Challenge
There are probably a lot of mainstream calls in which unusual uses don't come up until the challenge level. Are there any generally recognized written resources for resolving questions like the foregoing?

Clark Baker is working with Callerlab, trying to write a set of technical definitions.

We're also slowly working on a set of web-based definitions. A few have been completed so far.

Who is a Neighbor?
The term "Neighbor" is used in several square dance references, but I can't find a precise definition of "Neighbor". By inference - one possible definition extracted from "Follow Your Neighbor" is "the Person next to you before you started to a particular move". This would be a good enough definition for my needs. But I'm curious to find out if there is an agreed definition.

This notion has definitely fallen out of use today. In my opinion, all challenge dancers/callers, and most advanced dancers/callers are taught that from a Wave, the ends and adjacent dancers are Partners (in the formation). This is necessary for calls such as Partner Tag.

These URLs (old definitions) mention "Neighbors":

http://www.ceder.net/oldcalls/viewsingle.php?RecordId=1776

http://www.ceder.net/oldcalls/viewsingle.php?RecordId=692