Known as the Mad Monk, Grigori Rasputin had great influence in the Russian Court. His actions added to the rising discontent that led to the Russian Revolution.
From a poor, rural background, Rasputin came to prominence when as a monk and mystic, he was brought into the Russian royal house to alleviate the suffering of [more…]
Extract from Crossed Wires BIG 191
A reader recently wrote to tell us she thought our puzzle magazines were the bee’s knees, which was nice to hear. ‘The bee’s knees’ is a phrase used to describe an excellent or ideally suitable person or thing.The exact origin of this phrase is uncertain. One story is that [more…]
From Colossus Inklings No.119
Milliner – ‘originally meant ‘native of Milan’, later ‘a vendor of fancy goods from Milan’.
Stationer – comes from the medieval Latin stationarius meaning ‘tradesman at a fixed location, ie not itinerant’.
Butcher – ‘variant of the Old French bochier from boc ‘he-goat’ or buc ‘male deer’.
Tailor -‘Originally from the Latin taliare [more…]
Legendary western character, William Frederick Cody is better remembered as Buffalo Bill, but why?
This nickname was given to Bill by his friend Ned Buntline, who made Cody the hero of a series of cheap western novels. The name alludes to William Cody’s early days as a buffalo hunter. He reportedly killed 4,280 buffalo [more…]
The January issue of Lovatts BIG Crossword is supporting the RSPCA, Australias best known and most trusted animal welfare organisation and the SPCA in New Zealand. Together each year, they accept hundreds of thousands of animals from the public and investigate thousands of complaints of animal cruelty and neglect.
Both organisations actively work to promote cage-free [more…]
Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his tales of the macabre and mysterious. He is said to have invented the detective fiction genre.
Edgar Poe was born in Boston and within two years of his birth, his parents – both actors – had died. He was taken in by John Allan, who never legally [more…]
Extract from BIG Crossword Magazine No.191
Thanks for all your clues for bedrock and motive. More than one of you clued bedrock as home of the Flintstones, fundamentals, basics, hard mattress and solid foundation.
For motive, many of you offered reason, cause, incitement and purpose. I liked Psychology which arouses an organism to action toward a [more…]
Extract from Crossed Wires BIG 190
Here are some interesting facts about the traditions of Christmas:
The Christmas cracker is 161 years old this year. It was invented by English baker Tom Smith, who first sold wrapped sweets and added mottoes into the wrappers. When he heard the crackle of a log in the fire, he [more…]
I often write about interesting new words coming into our language, but they come at a cost. Theyre now jostling with our older words for space in our dictionaries, the oldies being threatened with eviction.
In September 2008, the lexicographers at Collins dictionary started preparing for their forthcoming new edition and found that over 2,000 [more…]
