Solving crosswords can be an emotional pastime. You can feel frustrated when stumped on a clue, elated when you’ve completed the grid or surprised when a prize arrives in the post. To express these emotions you may use an ‘interjection’.
An interjection is an exclamation or remark that expresses sudden emotion. The word interjection means [more…]
Most of us know someone whose life has been affected by cancer. I have received many letters over the years from puzzlers who have found comfort in doing crosswords throughout their own or their partner’s chemotherapy treatment, when a lot of time is spent waiting in hospitals for tests, results of tests or for [more…]
There are many reasons why we enjoy competitions – the glory of being a winner, the recognition for our efforts, the motivation to achieve at a higher level of performance and the skills gained while competing.
According to the Oxford dictionary, competition means ‘the activity or condition of striving to gain or win something by [more…]
Because food is a basic necessity of life, words for food have probably been around since the first words were invented. The word food itself is an old word, related to fodder and comes from the Old English fodor which in turn came from the Germanic futter.
You may remember I’ve previously written about that [more…]
Hello!
You’ll find that the June issue of Big is dedicated to football because even if you’re not usually a soccer fan, you could get swept up with footy fever. Did you know that football is the most played and most watched sport on Earth?
The 2010 FIFA World Cup, being held in South Africa in [more…]
Mother’s Day is celebrated in many parts of the world, although on different dates. In Britain it’s on the fourth Sunday of Lent (14th March this year) and is known as Mothering Sunday, The Italians make a big heart-shaped cake when La Festa Della Mamma comes around in May, and mother gets a day [more…]
Okay, I’ve got the message that some of you readers don’t like seeing the word okay in a crossword, because you were taught at school that it’s a slang word and should never be used in polite company.
Since those days, however, the English language has moved on in leaps and bounds. So many of [more…]
Have you ever seen how much muscle is lost after a broken bone has been in a cast for several weeks due to lack of use? Similarly our brains need to be exercised to stay in tip top condition.
Countless research studies tell us that our minds need to remain mentally active to avoid the [more…]
There are probably more quotes about love than any other topic, and why not, when love is what makes the world go round?
With St Valentine’s Day this month, there’s no better time to read what famous people have said about love:
“It’s easy to halve the potato where there’s love”
Irish proverb
“You can’t blame gravity for [more…]
