"Mmm." A little pause. "What is a... a 'crook of dials'? ...The description I was given was not only not very detailed, but it sounded a bit... exaggerated. And as though it had nothing to do with crooks of any sort, or dials, but some sort of creature in the waters...."

Three guesses what word he was previously unfamiliar with. Go ahead; he has all day.