"Let me noodle it"

[Laurence Horn]

At 4:45 PM -0500 1/24/01, Gregory {Greg} Downing wrote:
>Hence one hears "to noodle (around) with" = to mess around with, informally
>experiment with, tinker with, i.e., I've always assumed (note the
>disclaimer), using one's *head* to do so. In more specialized usage, people
>often use "to noodle" in application to musical playing that the user of the
>verb views as aimless or unmusical, if perhaps highly skillful in technical,
>mechanical ways. E.g.: "He can really play guitar, but his solos are nothing
>but noodling." (Synonym: to wank, which we all know from elsewhere.)
>
from "noodle" = 'head' again, no doubt    ;-)