I was just about to take a bite of my hot buttered toast this morning when it slipped through my fingers and landed on the floor… buttered side down.
Although my outlook on life is generally optimistic, I found myself thinking of that well known expression with the underlying message that if anything can go [more…]
At Lovatts we pride ourselves on producing crossword and puzzle magazines of the highest quality and we try our best to avoid errors. While we do always check our puzzles, the occasional mischievous gremlin sneaks in and upsets a clue.
A gremlin is a mythical creature, a cheeky invisible sprite responsible for causing unexplained disorder [more…]
Every industry has its own jargon and the rag trade is no exception. Puzzler Rose Riordan recently wrote to say she was flicking through a clothing catalogue and realised she needed a dictionary to work out what was on offer.
I see what she means. I picked up a current catalogue, and read ‘marled cable [more…]
When we hear the story of the Tasmanian teenager who met the 33 year old State Minister for Education when she was only 15 and married him two years later, we feel this could be a partnership doomed to failure in the future. Yet this particular couple went on to have 12 children and [more…]
Nearly all the words associated with the classical music world come from the ancient Greek language, with a few Roman terms thrown in.
In the days of ancient Greece, the earliest form of drama was a series of odes, sung and danced by a chorus directly in front of the stage. This area became known [more…]
Names of well-known music bands and singers often crop up in crosswords, and the origins of some names are quite interesting.
Uriah Heep is named after an insincere fawning character in Charles Dickens’ novel David Copperfield and the rock band Utopia is named after Thomas More’s 1516 novel, his view of an ideal world.
60s band [more…]
As crossword solvers, you will be only too familiar with the synonym, the most common form of crossword clue, a word that means the same as another. Big and large, small and little, topic and theme or field and paddock.
But it’s been said that there’s no such thing as a completely synonymous synonym [more…]
I hope all our Lovatts onliners enjoyed Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2011 – health, happiness and the best of luck if you’re entering our puzzle competitions!
The New Year is a good time to look at new words entering the dictionary, and they come from all different sources. We need [more…]
Exchanging presents at Christmas is a tradition that dates back to the 4th century. Bishop Nicholas of Myra was born into a wealthy merchant family in the village of Patera in the south of Turkey. He was known for his many kind and generous deeds, including throwing gold into the houses of the needy [more…]
