When making a crossword, one of the useful words is the Spanish cry “ole!” There’s a theory that it is derived from the Muslim cry “Allah!” from the days when the Moors invaded Spain, with the pronunciation changing over the years, so that instead of meaning God it has become a shout of triumph [more…]
It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re absorbed in solving our crosswords, but most of you tell me it is time well spent!
The means of keeping time began with the observation of day following night. As early as 3500 B.C.the Babylonians started using a sundial, an instrument that estimates the time of [more…]
Thank you very much for my third win on the “Large Print Crosswords” competition! What’s even luckier is that I have received a different prize every time – first was the Collins Large Print Dictionary, second was the Collins Large Print Dictionary & Thesaurus (‘cos you’d run out of the dictionaries, lucky me!) and [more…]
I have always loved poetry and over the years have collected poems of all sorts. The other day, I decided to have a good clean out and came across this poem. I thought you might get a laugh at ‘my version’ on the bottom!! Hope you enjoy it.
Lesly Adams
Avonsleigh, Vic
P.S. I don’t think I [more…]
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…]
Thank you so much for selecting me as a Super Sudoku prize winner. I was very excited since I don’t tend to win anything in raffles or sweeps or whatever – in fact, the last thing I can remember winning was a side of lamb back in 1971. That was more of a problem than [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…]
