As regular readers would know, I usually start my columns with ‘Hello!’, which is a much newer word than you might think.
It first came into use because of the telephone. The first telephone call was made in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell, who wanted to use the word ‘ahoy’ as the telephone greeting. ‘Ahoy’ [more…]
Considered to be the greatest writer of the English language and the most well-known dramatist in the world, William Shakespeare was born over 450 years ago, and lived to the age of 52. Celebrations are planned around the world to remember the great man known as the Bard.
He must be the most quoted writer [more…]
I’ve often said that one of the best parts of my job is reading your letters and you tell me how much you enjoy reading other puzzlers’ letters. Your feedback (both positive and negative) helps me to maintain and improve the quality of our puzzle magazines.
But on a personal level and just as importantly, [more…]
The most famous fathers throughout history were not always fathers in the literal sense. Biologist Gregor Mendel may have had no heirs, but he is often regarded as the father of genetics. Similarly, the first president of the United States, George Washington, rose to prominence as the father of his country despite having no [more…]
One of the clues you might find in our crossword puzzles is ‘Aimlessly (5-5)’ – answer WILLY-NILLY. It comes from will I, nill I – ‘I am willing, I am unwilling’. It is an example of a rhyming jingle.
Rhyming jingles are fun to use, even though they have the rather serious name of reduplicatives. [more…]
Why are cryptic crosswords singled out as the most popular brain-sharpening tool? It seems that the task of solving cryptics really works in improving the way the pathways in the brain connect with each other.
As we age, it seems easier to remember events of our childhood than what happened yesterday. This has been attributed [more…]
Did you know that it’s been over one hundred years since the first crossword was created? Arthur Wynne, a Liverpudlian working in New York, was playing around with a puzzle for the Sunday edition of the New York World. He came up with a diamond-shaped puzzle with clues and squares in which to fill [more…]
Hello!
In all traditional measuring systems, humans used their bodies as measuring standards, which is why some units are still based on the dimensions of the human body.
The inch represents the width of a thumb, which is why, in many languages, the same word is used for both ‘inch’ and ‘thumb’. In Dutch, duim means [more…]
Hello!
The Greek alphabet was first used in the 8th century BC and is still used today. It has a set of 24 letters which you might see as mathematical symbols or the names of stars.
Our own alphabet is named after the first two Greek letters, Alpha and Beta, and you may have noticed that [more…]
