Welcome to my Desk, where you’ll find all sorts of items to hold your interest. Unlike my real office desk, which is cluttered with books, files, news cuttings and the remnants of my lunch, this Online Desk will be efficient and easy to navigate.
Learn some of the tricks of solving those weird cryptic crosswords on my tutorials page.
If you wonder about the origins of some of our wonderful English expressions, Words & Phrases is the place to find out more.
Read about the puzzling but positive effect Lovatts has on your health in Puzzles & your Health. We’d love to hear from you, so write a letter to Christine’s Mailbag. You might want to comment on my regular column @ Christine’s Hello.
There’s something for everyone here, so come on in!
Latest Posts
Tragedy Plus Time
When did drama first start? It’s always been a part of our lives, not just our own personal dramas but also those in literature, stage and film.
We don’t know exactly when humans first started re-enacting life stories, but the ancient Greeks were very keen on performing in public, telling stories. The Greek audience loved it and the theatrical culture flourished. In [more…]
Clue Me In
Once our wonderful crossword and puzzle magazines are shipped to your door, or placed on store shelves, it’s not long before our puzzlers write in to share their thoughts and questions. Here at Lovatts, we encourage your feedback, and we love talking about our clues. I thought I’d share my findings inspired by a recent clue query.
In this case, the clue [more…]
Fly Like An Eagle
There is an old legend that eagles are the only animals that can look into the sun. According to the translation of St Augustine, “The sun invigorates the eyes of eagles, but injures our own.”
It is certainly true that eagles have very special eyesight, estimated to be 4 to 8 times stronger than a human’s eyesight. An eagle can spot a [more…]
Keeping You Posted
One of the great pleasures of life, I feel, is receiving a letter in the post. I mean a friendly letter of course, not a bill, a speeding fine or a sales catalogue. When I first arrived in Australia, many moons ago, phone calls were only used in case of emergencies and the post played a huge part in communicating with [more…]
The origins of Father’s Day
The first Mother’s Day church service was held in 1908 and it became an American national holiday in 1914. It’s natural to assume a Father’s Day soon followed, ensuring that both parents received the recognition they rightfully deserved. However, this was not the case. Father’s Day was first celebrated in 1910, and it was only established as a national holiday in [more…]
A Taste Of Spain
Our linguistic history is closely tied up with the major Romance languages of Europe, especially France, Italy and Spain. Spanish words figure largely in our English vocabulary, due to the historic ties between Spain and Britain over many centuries.
Take the culinary world, for example. We think of tapas and sangria as typical Spanish fare, but there’s also a long list of [more…]