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DECEMBER '08
 Hello!
I often write about interesting new words coming into our language, but they come at a cost. They’re 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 new words needed to be included. To make room, some lovely old words would have to go. (See the endangered words list below.)
This announcement created a huge storm of protest by word lovers everywhere, so a last-minute reprieve was granted, for 24 words. If Collins can find evidence of these words being used in everyday speech and writing, they won’t be dropped from the next edition. The deadline set for the doomed words is February 2009. Being a cruciverbalist , I have to say that the thought of any word being on death row sends a shiver up my spine.
In fact, without embrangling the matter, I vilipend this abstergent move, finding it quite oppugnant to cast a malison on our more agrestic words and condemning them to caliginosity. I wonder if their caducity is really apodeictic and would like to see them becoming roborant instead of being exuviated.
Various British celebrities have been enlisted in the Save a Word campaign to rescue the 24 words. Politicians, media personalities and the current Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, have vowed to use the words in their poetry, speeches and TV programmes to bump the words up the rankings.
Stephen Fry has chosen fubsy and Andrew Motion will support skirr, a word he has occasionally used to describe the sound of beating wings.
The Times newspaper has also called on readers to save some of the victims from exile by voting online for words they feel are worthy of saving.
I’ll keep an eye on any announcements Collins make in February about the final cut, but meanwhile let me know which of these words you’d like to see being rescued.
Happy Puzzling!
ENDANGERED LIST
Abstergent: Cleansing or scouring
Agrestic: Rural; rustic; unpolished; uncouth
Apodeictic: Unquestionably true by virtue of demonstration
Caducity: Perishableness; senility
Caliginosity: Dimness; darkness
Compossible: Possible in coexistence with something else
Embrangle: To confuse or entangle
Exuviate: To shed (a skin or similar outer covering)
Fatidical: Prophetic
Fubsy: Short and stout; squat
Griseous: Streaked or mixed with grey; somewhat grey
Malison: A curse
Mansuetude: Gentleness or mildness
Muliebrity: The condition of being a woman
Niddering: Cowardly
Nitid: Bright; glistening
Olid: Foul-smelling
Oppugnant: Combative, antagonistic or contrary
Periapt: A charm or amulet
Recrement: Waste matter; refuse; dross
Roborant: Tending to fortify or increase strength
Skirr: A whirring or grating sound, as of the wings of birds in flight
Vaticinate: To foretell; prophesy
Vilipend: To treat or regard with contempt
SEPTEMBER '08 (CLICK TO VIEW)
Hello!
In these days of advanced technology, it sometimes feels that we can fix anything, if we just get the right pill or medicine or have the right operation.
Doctors can now cure so many of the diseases our forebears were carried off with, but one thing they can’t do anything about is growing old.
The fear of losing our independence as well as our hearing, sight and brain function makes us wish there was a pill we could take to retain our youth forever.
A recent issue of Choice magazine looked into the benefits of taking chemical supplements that claim to sharpen your thinking processes. Overall, they advise eating oily fish and following five simple rules:
Eat well, stay socially connected, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep and get your brain working – by doing crosswords or Sudoku, playing a musical instrument or learning a new language.
It’s never too early to start exercising your brain, and solving our puzzles is one very positive way of keeping mentally active and strengthening the pathways that send the messages to and from your brain.
We’ve often noticed that our Lovatts puzzlers are sharp-witted, lively-minded folk so it must be true.
Happy puzzling!
Read about 'Brain Trainer' puzzles
featuring now in Lovatts Super Sudoku
APRIL '08 (CLICK TO VIEW)
Hello!
We’re often told by health experts that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Unfortunately, it’s also the most rushed meal, and many people skip it.
 Studies show that children who eat breakfast do better in school. When they skip breakfast, they are likely to become tired when their brains and bodies run low on fuel. They become less able to learn at school, get less iron (an important nutrient) in their diets, and are more likely to have a higher body mass index (BMI), which is a sign they may be overweight. Eating a good breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Some kids skip breakfast because they sleep too late or they don’t feel hungry. Others might mistakenly think they can lose weight in this way. Sometimes their parents might not even realise that their children are skipping breakfast, especially if they go to work before the children leave for school.
Australian Red Cross provides a service called Good Start Breakfast Club™, with material support from Coles Supermarkets, which is operated by two volunteers, generally within school grounds. It’s for children aged between 5 and 12 years who want a nutritious breakfast. Volunteers provide a safe, friendly and encouraging environment for children, allowing them to socialise in a positive atmosphere and have a routine start to the day. Along with making their own breakfast and helping to clean up, children are also encouraged to share and cooperate with each other.
 This vital service provides nutritional support in a comforting environment and works towards encouraging children to develop social and living skills. Through nutritional and social support, the Good Start Breakfast Club program can help young school students to achieve their full potential.
I recently attended the launch of the Good Start Breakfast Club™ at a local school, Chertsey Primary School, with my personal assistant Nicole Schull. We found the children happily tucking into muffins, cereals and fruit before washing up their plates and tidying them away. Speaking to some of the parents and school staff, I learned that the effects of a good breakfast have been quite noticeable in other schools that have been using this service. Children have become more attentive and alert and generally happier.
So if you want to be more alert and feel better, don’t forget to have a good breakfast!
Happy puzzling!
JANUARY '08 (CLICK TO VIEW)
Hello!
I read recently that new year’s resolutions only last for an average of 9 days. By 10th January, it’s just too hard to stick to the diet/give up chocolates/give up smoking/give up drinking/give up swearing/give up whatever and all the good intentions are blown to the wind.
Perhaps it’s better to take something up instead – like eating one chocolate every day. Now that’s positive thinking. Once you’ve done your daily deed you can relax, instead of having to fight temptation every day.
We can blame the Babylonians for starting these foolish promises in the first place. The celebration of the new year was going on in ancient Babylon at least 4000 years ago. In those days, it was celebrated around March or April. It began with the first new moon after the vernal equinox, or first day of spring, of the northern hemisphere, which is 20th March this year. The full moon is the next day so that’s when they would have been celebrating this year. Our Easter weekend is calculated the same way, with Easter being the first Sunday after this full moon.
The Babylonians started the custom of resolutions by returning borrowed farm equipment. Past cultures didn’t generally have our overweight problems, as most people were physical workers whose diet would have been more natural than ours today. They didn’t have tobacco either, except for American Indian cultures. I wonder if they ever tried to give up the weed?
Nowadays, countries around the world have their own way of ringing in the new year. In many countries Robbie Burns’ song Auld Lang Syne is sung at midnight.
In Scotland, New Year’s Eve, known as Hogmanay, is a huge celebration. On New Year’s Day, the bravest Edinburghians jump into the freezing water of the Firth of Forth!
In Japan, 1st January is called Shougatsu. Special postcards are sent to friends and relatives to wish them a happy New Year and mochi rice cakes are eaten.
In Greece, New Year’s day is also known as St Basil’s Day, and a special cake is cooked with a coin inside. Whoever receives the coin in their slice of cake is believed to have good luck for the year.
Whatever you wish for 2008, I hope all your wishes come true.
Happy puzzling!
OCTOBER 2007 (CLICK TO VIEW)
Hello!
We recently held our traditional Trivia Night, which we organise every year to raise money for a different charity each time.
It involves the staff at Lovatts, plus their families and friends. The idea to is make as much money as we can while having fun. Being a puzzle-creating company, you’d think it would be a piece of cake, but making the questions suitable for everyone is the hardest part.
Similar to the puzzles we create for our magazine solvers, we have to tailor the trivia questions to suit a wide range of ages and tastes. We try to include modern films and music (which the more mature folks don’t appreciate) and the 50s – 70s material (which the under-25s struggle with). Then there are the gender-related questions, such as sports questions for the men, food and drink for the women and lots of general knowledge, especially current events.
There’s the Test of Agility contest, where young and brave volunteers must keep a hoop spinning around the waist for the longest. We all remember keeping that hoop going for hours in the school playground, but it comes as a ghastly reminder of age that now the contest is over in seconds.
Tossing the Coin for the Bourbon bottle is always good for revenue. This year, last year’s champion was winning again so the challenge was on – and it was finally won by last year’s runner-up!
(They must have been practising all year.)
Once again, Club 48 was the winning table, their third year in a row, except that last year they were called Club 47 after their ages. Does this mean the optimum age for recalling trivial facts is the late 40s?
In the end you can’t please everyone, but the main thing is that we all enjoy the night, and make more money than the previous year.
This year we donated all funds to Camp Breakaway, a holiday camp for disabled children and their carers.
I’m sure most of our readers would have attended a Trivia Night at some time, and I’d love to hear your stories, suggestions or comments – no matter how trivial.
Happy puzzling!
SEPTEMBER 2007 (Click to View)
You’re In The Army Now
Hello!
Old soldiers never die, they live on in our vocabulary. Not just soldiers – sailors and airmen too – have contributed hugely to our everyday language.
Many of these words have been brought back from the Far East, such as that very English expression a cup of cha. Cha means ‘tea’ in Mandarin Chinese, and was introduced by Cockney sailors. The word gung-ho, meaning ‘enthusiastic’, came from Mandarin Chinese gonghe taken to mean ‘work together’. It was adopted as a slogan by US Marines.
The British army brought many Hindi words back from India. Take a dekko means ‘have a look’, from the Hindi dekho meaning ‘look’. Cushy (easy) came from the Urdu kushi , meaning ‘pleasure’. Another Urdu word bilayati, meaning ‘foreign’, gave us the name Blighty, meaning England, as in the song “Take me back to dear old Blighty”.
Going a little bit mad is known as going doolally tap. Deolali is a town near Bombay, tap is ‘fever’ in Urdu. When a soldier finished his tour of duty, he waited at the Deolali transit camp for a ship home. It was often a long wait, boredom set in and soldiers would feel they were going mad.
Taking the flak means weathering harsh criticism nowadays, but in WW11, flak was anti-aircraft fire, from the German fliegerabwehrkanone.
Plonk is an Australian term for cheap wine, brought back from France, (vin blanc sounds like plonk) by Aussie soldiers.
Breaking new ground and digging yourself in both come from trench warfare. Digger, meaning an Anzac soldier, came originally from miner, but was reinforced by association with the trenches also.
So think of these brave servicemen next time you hit the sack, at the eleventh hour. Or when you’re feeling shell-shocked having gone over the top giving a spit and polish. Not only did they defend their country, they also enriched our world of words.
Happy puzzling!
AUGUST 2007 (Click to View)
Hello!
Back in 1985, Australian business and explorer Dick Smith decided to combine charity-raising with fun, and took a few mates for a drive in the outback in old cars while raising money for charity. They travelled from Sydney to Bourke in Far West New South Wales, and from there to Burketown in Northern Queensland. He charged everyone to enter and they all had a lot of fun while raising $250,000 for Variety.
It became known as the Bourke to Burketown Bash. Since 1986 the Bash has grown and Variety now organises one in each state. The annual Variety Bash is now Australia's most successful charity motoring event. The money is raised to help sick, disabled and disadvantaged children.
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Last year, Lovatts supported the NSW Variety Bash, which drove from Brookvale to Bundaberg. This year, we’re supporting it again, and if they come your way, we hope you do too. This time, the trip is from Base to Bathurst, ie Garden Island Base to HMAS Bathurst in Darwin.
Some of the places they’re travelling through are Thargomindah, Longreach, Burketown, Hellsgate and Borroloola. Look out for the Batmobile, being driven by Batman and the Riddler (a.k.a Paul Hartin and Steve Shuttleworth) - pictured at right. Also joining them will be Spiderman (Glenn Jewell). They might even give you a complimentary Lovatts magazine, if you flag them down and ask them.
Happy puzzling!
JULY 2007 (CLICK TO VIEW)
Hello!
 Hope you’re enjoying our new-look website, with all the latest features of help and interest for keen puzzlers and word lovers.
Another recent innovation you may not have seen yet is our free monthly e-zine (online magazine) called Puzzlextra. This has been the brainchild of my eldest son Patrick, who has overseen the project with help from various departments.
Lovatts Puzzlextra is the place where you can sample puzzles, find information about our magazines and meet other readers and it’s as easy as viewing the magazine on screen then printing out any pages you want.
In every issue you'll have the chance to share in $500 in cash and prizes by entering the E-nigma contest crossword. The Editor’s Choice page will feature a different puzzle handpicked by our editor Ivan Blake from one of our puzzle magazines and the Puzzle Lab is where you can become a Lovatts guinea-pig and tell us what you think about our latest puzzle concepts.
You can view Christines Inbox - my letters page of your always-appreciated feedback, and you can also become our featured ‘Puzzler of the Month’ - just follow the link from page 13 and remember to attach a photo.
Patrick has been steeped in puzzles for as long as he can remember! I used to create crosswords while he sat on my lap playing with a crossword book. For years he’s had to endure listening to James and myself discussing crossword clues, and as a young boy he and his brother Dominic were the first creators of our Kids Zone puzzle section, which led to the launch of our successful Puzzle Fun for Kids, so he’s well-qualified to dabble in puzzles!
Check out Puzzlextra and tell us what you think.
Happy puzzling!
JUNE 2007 (CLICK TO VIEW)
Hello!
Welcome to our new look Lovatts website. It’s been completely overhauled with some brand new features and is much easier to navigate. Have a good time exploring all the new avenues!
You can now solve the most popular puzzles from our Big, Colossus, MEGA and Holiday Collection magazines, complete with practice grids and solutions.
Although we have a crack team fighting the battle against errors, occasionally one will sneak through. If you think you have spotted a mistake online or in any of our magazines, visit the Gremlins page. It’s also easier for you to order your subscription online, or merchandise or gift vouchers.
Have a look at Magazine of the Month. Each month, we are featuring a different Lovatts magazine and will give you the opportunity to buy it at a discount. This month’s special magazine is Codecracker Star Hunts.
We’re also launching PuzzlExtra, the FREE new ‘e-zine’ which can either be read on your computer screen or downloaded at your leisure to be read offline. You can print off just the pages you choose or the whole magazine, it’s up to you. It will be packed full of fun features including a $500 cash contest, new puzzles for you to test out, interesting articles from the world of puzzling and much more.
If any of you are feeling creative, you might like to contribute to Readers’ World. Send in songs, poems, pictures or any other creations for consideration and we will feature the best.
Please come and visit my desk, where you’ll find my monthly column, as well as the Inklings page and the mailbag. You still have all your old favourites – the crossed wires and cryptic tutorial and much more. Read letters from other online puzzlers and have your say too, because we’d love to hear from you.
Happy puzzling!
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Christine's Hello 
