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Joking Around – June BIG contests

Did you hear about the man sitting under a toadstool? He was a real fungi! (Though there wasn’t mushroom under there!)
Toadstools are associated with magical beings in many cultures, but why? Is it because they appear magically overnight, or because they look like colourful pixie caps? Maybe it’s because of the hallucinogenic affects, if [more…]

Love the new Mega Mix

Thank you for making the Mega bi-monthly! It is an extra treat for us as we sit over pots of coffee doing the Stinkers and Bafflers and Demons together and culling our septuagenarian brains for past knowledge before we hunt through the reference books, the atlas or the Internet on my FRED (Flaming Ridiculous [more…]

Symply too good to be true

I love to collect recipes and am always on the lookout for new ones. So many thanks for the recipes you included in June and July BIG. They’re uncomplicated, economical and a delicious treat for the tastebuds. It’s an added bonus and to me is just as good as winning a prize. Is this [more…]

Women’s Weekly Colossus almost complete

I do the Colossus crossword that you put in the Australian Women’s Weekly to keep myself sane (april 09) and I have only one word left. It has taken a while to complete as I have only a few short moments to myself each day due to two little girls under 6 clamouring for [more…]

Slumber solves the clues

Why is it, when I do a cryptic crossword,
I get stuck on a word,
I go to sleep,
when I awake, I can solve the clues,
very easily,
then I repeat it again the next night,
it works for me,
why is it?!?

Diana Saunders
Mirrabooka, WA

Of birds, bees and crosswords

I’ve been intending to submit this story for sharing with your subscribers for quite a few years. I think quite enough water has gone under the bridge to get away with it now! It is a wonderful tale of the innocence of youth, and I am sure that even the most sensitive and prudish [more…]

Cheryl’s Clerihew

John Jeremy George
Passionately abhorred
Crude Aussie blokes
Telling lewd, bawdy jokes

Cheryl Roach

Lazy Susan

A Lazy Susan is a revolving tray in the middle of the dining table for easy access to condiments and shared dishes.

What a strange name for this turntable that became fashionable in the early 20th century.

If your name is Susan, I am sure you are not lazy, but you are probably interested in the [more…]

As dead as a doornail

English abounds with similes in the form of  ‘as x as a y’ but where did this one come from?

The answer is not clear, but the expression has been around since before Shakespeare (and the good Bard used it in Henry IV).

Quite possibly ‘as dead as a doornail’ has survived down the centuries because it [more…]