I'The merry widow-Potter's wife.

But the joyfully conniving, "merry, and yet honest too" wives of Windsor, from Shakespeare's comedy that bears their name, prove extraordinarily able in the art of feminine wiles.

And then the door burst open, and in came his merry wife, Jane, with scones and jam and fresh cream.

LAST month, the merry wives of the Wild West discharged blanks.

Now, the merry wives of the Borscht Belt are really cooking.

When Falstaff arrives to meet Mistress Ford, the merry wives trick him into hiding in a laundry basket ("buck basket") full of filthy, smelly clothes awaiting laundering.

The merry wives, Mistresses Ford and Page, sing of cuckoos in counterpoint to Ford's rage.

The merry wives compare the letters and see that they are identical except for the names.

At Ford's house, the merry wives, with Mistress Quickly present, are setting the trap for Falstaff, in the form of a laundry hamper.

The merry wives arrive, but before anything between the three of them can happen, some fairies appear and the merry wives quickly depart.