Here you'll find a variety of puzzle themed items and pieces of information to hold your interest. Learn about some of the wonderful words and phrases in our everyday language, find out about the health benefits of crosswords and puzzles, be entertained by Christine's Hello column… and there's much more on offer. The latest submissions appear below. Thanks for dropping by and we hope you enjoy your visit.
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…]
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…]
Extract from Crossed Wires BIG 189
The last day of November is the feast day of St Andrew, a Jewish fisherman from Bethsaida and younger brother of St Peter. Obviously popular internationally, he’s the patron saint of Scotland, Russia, Romania, Greece, Amalfi, and Luqa in Malta. The Scottish flag features St Andrew’s X-shaped cross.
The name [more…]
Extract from Crossed Wires BIG 188
With all the coughing and sneezing going on in the office, I looked into the origins of these words, and found that cough comes from German keuchen ‘to pant’ and wheeze from Old Norse hvaesa ‘to hiss’.
Hiccup, once called hicket or hyckock, is named after the sound of the [more…]
Interested in becoming a crossword compiler?
You’re in luck! Hidden beneath the dust bunnies during a recent spring-clean we discovered a typewritten aid for compiling crosswords written by none other than Crossword Queen, Christine Lovatt. And much to our surprise and delight the advice contained therein still holds true.
So, if you want to try [more…]
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