Christine Lovatt’s Hello Column
Christine’s Hello column appears monthly in Lovatts BIG Crossword magazine
Happy New Year!
Throughout the year there are many occasions which we commemorate in different ways. Some festivals have religious significance, others remember historical events or mark the passing of time or the seasons. Throughout the world, even though we may follow different faiths, it’s pleasing to realise that we often celebrate in the same way. The [more…]
The season of giving
Exchanging presents at Christmas is a tradition that dates to the 4th century. Bishop Nicholas of Myra was born into a wealthy merchant family in the village of Patera in the south of Turkey. He was known for his many kind and generous deeds, including throwing gold into the houses of the needy and [more…]
Christmas Feasts
Kiviak is a gastronomical Christmas treat from Greenland and is made from the raw flesh of an auk which has been buried under a stone in sealskin for several months until it has achieved an advanced stage of decomposition.
Portuguese families eat a special meal of salted dry codfish with boiled potatoes at midnight on [more…]
Discover popular garden phrases
If everything in the garden is rosy, it means all is well, but be careful you don’t dig up any dirt that would be better left unearthed! Life as a bed of roses is thought to be a good thing, although you would have to think the thorns would make it a bit prickly.
The [more…]
Learn about luck
Luck is a popular theme for proverbs – that is, a short, memorable statement that contains advice, predictions, or a warning. According to one Italian proverb, ‘Fortune comes to him who strives for it’. Another says ‘if you’re lucky enough to be Irish, then you’re lucky enough’. This comes from the fact that Irish [more…]
Mother’s Day Around The World
Mother’s Day is celebrated in many parts of the world, although on different dates. The modern form we recognise now originated in the United States, observed on the second Sunday in May. In the UK, Mother’s Day is also known as Mothering Sunday and is held in March, usually the fourth Sunday of [more…]
Improve your memory with mnemonics
In Greek mythology, Mnemosyne was the goddess of memory. She was one of the daughters of Gaia and Uranus, and as the mother of the nine Muses she represents enchantment, inspiration, and the power of remembering. She is said to know everything, past, present, and future. A mnemonic device, named from the same [more…]
$100,000 Magic Money Winner!
We have a winner! Congratulations to Christine H for winning $5,000 in the Lovatts Crosswords & Puzzles $100,000 Magic Money competition.
Like the $100K Cash Splash before it, the Magic Money draw was a fantastic chance for Christine and the Lovatts Crosswords & Puzzles team to meet one of our wonderful and loyal Lovatts puzzlers in person. It [more…]
How to enter Lovatts DIY Contests
The DIY has been one of our most popular contests in Christine’s BIG Crossword magazine for years and the team and I are always amazed at how clever the entries are.
We are always overwhelmed by the huge effort all our DIY contest entrants make to create a crossword and write the clues. When [more…]