Length

Each week The Sun's John McIntyre presents a moderately obscure but evocative word with which you may not be acquainted, another brick to add to the wall of your working vocabulary. This week's word: DOLICHOCEPHALIC There are classifications for noggins, but the basic one is whether yours is long or wide. If you have a long head,a skull with a breadth that it less than 75 or 80 percent of its length, you are dolichocephalic (dahl-uh-koh-suh-FAL-ik)

No-gripe grip: Grab the handle and place your opposite hand's index finger between your fingers and palm. If the index finger fits comfortably, that's probably the rip for you. Head size: Because of their power and forgivingly large sweet spots, "oversize" rackets are best for baseline or doubles players. "All-court" and "serve-and-volley" players pften prefer midsize or "midplus" rackets. Length of racket: Long or short? Racket length is the main factor to consider when buying for a child.

In yesterday's editions, the maximum length of a boa constrictor was incorrectly reported. While most boas do not often exceed 10 feet while in captivity, other varieties can reach lengths of more than 30 feet.* The Sun regrets the error.

Now's a good time for men to go browsing through their favorite retailer's outerwear department -- if only to learn whether or not what you own is up-to-date. Likely finds: a variety of weights and lengths, underscoring the stylish yet practical merits of developing an outerwear wardrobe.Generally speaking, a man needs a raincoat for protection from wet weather, a mid-weight coat for days that are cold but not outrageously so, and a heavy coat for days when the temperature takes a nose-dive.

Toward the end of the summer, I was up in Cape Cod and visited this adorable vintage bridal shop with my future mother-in-law and bridesmaid Lindsey. I found a great veil with three rows of satin edges that was both beautiful and inexpensive, so I bought it. It has been in my car, in a bag ever since. Two weekends ago, I went to Betsy Robinson to try on my dress for two out-of-town bridesmaids. I brought my trusty vintage veil only to discover that vintage equaled really, really yellow.

Feeling a little down lately? Worried about your job? The fighting in Bosnia? Sister Souljah?Well, perk up! There is good news at hand.The "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather" is now going to quote politicians at greater length.There. I knew you'd feel better.Concerned that the average TV sound bite for presidential candidates has shrunk from 42.3 seconds in 1968 to 7.3 seconds today, CBS will now give candidates at least 30 seconds on the air "or they won't be heard at all."And can I see a show of hands as to which you'd prefer?

The moon was made of cheese. Saturn was the only planet with rings. Canals criss-crossed the surface of Mars, which was inhabited by little green men and little green women.That was the solar system before Apollo Lunar Excursion Modules, Viking orbiters, the Hubble Space Telescope and, now, Pathfinder and its faithful roving companion on Mars, Sojourner.The moon is the same rock as the Earth's mantle, because that is the moon's probable origin. Saturn's three rings of ice-covered rock and dust are mimicked by the 11 rings of Uranus and the three rings of Neptune.

Murphy Brown surprised the pundits and decided to have the baby in the season premiere of that CBS show last night.After the script by "Murphy Brown" executive producer Diane English made the expected pro-choice stand -- and revealed that the father was her left-wing ex-husband and not her right-wing recent boyfriend -- the show's main character wrestled with the what-to-do? question for most of the hour-long episode.Eventually, Eldin the painter stepped forward, not only as the only person happy for Murphy, but also as the substitute fatherFor those who think that Murphy's being laden with child will immediately burden the office-oriented comedy with a conventional domestic layer, consider that the length of Murphy's pregnancy is exactly the length of one prime-time season.

Bob Baffert stepped into uncharted territory when he bid $1.5 million for Forestry two years ago at the July yearling sale at Keeneland. Baffert, the Southern California trainer, had never paid more than a million dollars for a horse.He bid for Aaron Jones, who lives in Oregon, owns one of the largest lumber companies in the country and considers himself an expert in pedigrees. Jones and Baffert knew that Forestry, a son of Storm Cat out of the Pleasant Colony mare Shared Interest, was regally bred and would probably earn back his purchase price as a stallion.

Scotland Williams, the 31-year-old Arnold man charged in the slayings of two prominent Bethesda lawyers, must start growing a beard immediately, Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Eugene M. Lerner ordered yesterday."