Hello - BIG February 2012

Good news this month for anyone whose birthday falls on 29th February – this is a leap year so you can celebrate your birthday on the correct day instead of 28th February or 1st March. Or maybe you don’t mind not having a birthday, because you claim to be only a quarter of your age!

Adding an extra day to the calendar every four years compensates for the fact that a period of 365 days is shorter than a solar year by almost 6 hours. A person born on February 29th may be called a leapling or a leaper.Famous people born on 29th February include radio DJ Jonathan Coleman, singer Dinah Shore and actor Joss Ackland.

In Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, Frederic is finally released from his pirate apprenticeship when he turns 21,only to discover that because he was born on 29th February, and his contract states that he be released on his 21st birthday, he must serve for another 63 years. Luckily his girlfriend Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully.

However, any woman unwilling to wait for her man to propose may take advantage of the tradition which gives women the right to propose on 29th February. As the story goes, the tradition of women romantically pursuing men in leap years began in 5th century Ireland, when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about the fair sex having to wait for men to propose.

In English law, the leap year day had no recognition (the day was ‘leapt over’ and ignored, hence the term ‘leap year’). It was considered, therefore, that as the day had no legal status, it was reasonable to assume that traditions also had no status.

Consequently, women who were worried about being left on the shelf took advantage of this anomaly and proposed to the man they wished to marry.

It was also thought that since the leap year day corrected the calendar discrepancy, it was an opportunity for women to correct a tradition that was one-sided and unjust. So get down on your knees, ladies and pop the question!

Happy Puzzling!

CHRISTINE’S HELLO
appears every month in Christine’s BIG Crossword magazine. » More info here

Hello - BIG January 2012

Fishing is one of the oldest occupations in the world, dating back at least as far as the Paleolithic era when catching fish was necessary for survival. Today, people fish for many reasons such as relaxation, the sport of it, or simply for the fish story - that colourful boastful tale about the size of the fish almost caught. There’s an old proverb that says nothing grows faster than a fish from the time it bites to the time it gets away.

Over time, many fishy terms and expressions have found their way into our language.

The expression a fine kettle of fish dates back to the eighteenth century and means a muddle or mess. There are a couple of possible origins, one is that the phrase was originally ‘a fine kiddle of fish’, a kiddle being a barrier in a river with an opening fitted with nets to catch fish. Poachers would raid the traps and destroy the kiddles, leaving a mess. Kiddle then became corrupted to kettle over time. Another theory is that the gentry would take a kettle down to the river on the border of Scotland and England. Salmon would be caught and thrown into the boiling kettle. The expression relates to the resulting mess or muddle of bones and broken up fish. A different kettle of fish, meaning a different state of affairs, is a newer term, dating from the twentieth century.

To fish for a compliment is to use leading questions to obtain praise and a cold fish is someone who is distant and unfeeling. The expression a fish out of water, meaning a misfit or someone unsuited to a situation, dates back to 1613 where it was published in Samuel Purchas’s Pilgrimage - ‘The Arabians out of the deserts are as fishes out of the water’.

If you’ve been disappointed in love someone might tell you that there are plenty more fish in the sea, meaning that there are many other potential opportunities still available. This is a modern version of the old sixteenth century proverb there are as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it.

To swallow something hook, line and sinker is to believe a tale or be extremely gullible, like a fish that not only takes the bait and hook, but the lead weight and some of the line as well. A similar but older phrase is to swallow a gudgeon. A gudgeon is a small freshwater fish used as bait to deceive fish and came to mean an easily fooled person.

So, if you don’t have other fish to fry, then dive into this issue and get solving. I know you’ll have a whale of a time!

Happy puzzling!

CHRISTINE’S HELLO
appears every month in Christine’s BIG Crossword magazine. » More info here

Hello - December BIG

As we start counting down the days to Christmas, here at home, it’s a good time to look at what the rest of the world does at this time.

Nearly all countries that celebrate Christmas have Christmas trees, although not necessarily fir trees. Sometimes fig trees or palm trees are decorated and lit. Most countries display Nativity scenes and people gather to sing Christmas carols. Present-giving is fairly universal.

Santa Claus has different names abroad. In Britain he’s known as Father Christmas and in France he’s Père Noël. In the Netherlands he’s St Nicholas or Sinter Klaas (pictured left).

In Germany, children receive their gifts from Christkind, a sprite-like child (pictured right) considered to be an angelic messenger.

Swedish children get their gifts from Tomte, a gnome who lives in the forest and arrives by sleigh.

In Russia, the presents come from Babouschka, a kindly old grandmother in a headscarf whereas in Italy it’s a good witch called La Befana. Her name possibly comes from Epiphany, which is celebrated on 6th January.

Surprisingly Christmas Day is a public holiday in non-Christian countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Pakistan, Lebanon, Indonesia, India, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Wherever you live, and I know we have puzzlers from every corner of the globe, we wish you a very Happy Christmas!

Happy Puzzling!

CHRISTINE’S HELLO
appears every month in Christine’s BIG Crossword magazine. » More info here

Hello - November BIG

The early 20th century was a time of huge changes in the global marketplace. Before this time most of what manufacturers made could be sold easily. For example, soap was once made a batch at a time in kettles and sold in chunks from door to door. There was no variety in colour, fragrance, or performance. Soap was. . . just soap.

Technological advances during and after the war greatly increased manufacturing capacity and consumers soon had more and better products to choose from, meaning manufacturers had to pay attention to their customers. Soap makers, holding unsold chunks of “just soap,” began to respond to demands for better cleaning soap and more fragrant soap.

Out of this, the industry known as marketing research came into its own. Pioneers such as Arthur Charles Nielsen and George Gallup invented methods to survey the public so that the consumer’s opinion was finally being heard by the manufacturer.

Today, the gathering and analysis of public opinion for business, political, and social issues is sponsored by government agencies, academic institutions, and business groups. The growth of survey research means that, for example, instead of getting any old crosswords, you get good-quality crosswords that cater to the needs of the readership – or puzzlership. Your opinions do count. Surveys are how your opinions are collected.

So although being stopped in the shopping centre or on the street by an opinion pollster can be quite a nuisance, especially when you’re in a hurry, it’s often in the cause of perfecting the product or making it more available.

Here at Lovatts, from now until the end of the year we’re conducting a reader survey to gain an insight into you, our readers. On completion of the survey, you will go into the draw to win $500 cash plus other prizes!

To get started, go to www.lovatts.com.au/survey

Happy puzzling,

CHRISTINE’S HELLO
appears every month in Christine’s BIG Crossword magazine. » More info here

Hello - October BIG

When making a crossword, one of the useful words is the Spanish cry “ole!” There’s a theory that it is derived from the Muslim cry “Allah!” from the days when the Moors invaded Spain, with the pronunciation changing over the years, so that instead of meaning God it has become a shout of triumph or encouragement, associated especially with bullfights and flamenco dances.

Puzzler Keith Brook recently wrote about our use of the word toreador, meaning bullfighter. It is really an archaic name, nowadays referred to as torero in Spain, but we are probably familiar with the word toreador because of The Toreador Song , one of the most famous arias from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. Sung by the matador Escamillo, it describes various situations in the ring, the cheering of the crowds and the fame that comes with victory. If you think you’ve never heard it, I challenge you to listen to it and I’m sure you’ll find you’ve heard it before.

The picador is the lancer horseman and is often jeered by the crowds for weakening the bull by piercing his neck, but in the past the picador was the star of the bullfight. It was only when the matador started to face the bull on foot that the picador was relegated to the unpopular role of lancer. The matador is the one who kills the bull in the end.

Aficionado is now used to mean a person who is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a particular subject, but once meant a bullfighting buff and comes from the Spanish aficionar ‘to inspire affection’.

The ballroom dance Paso Doble (meaning double step) is based on the bullfight, the man playing the part of the matador and the woman represents the matador’s cape.

The first bullfight can be traced back to 711 Ad, when it was staged to entertain the crowds at the coronation of King Alfonso VIII of Spain. It has now been banned in Barcelona and activists are hoping it will soon be banned as a cruel sport in the whole of Spain.

Happy Puzzling!

CHRISTINE’S HELLO
appears every month in Christine’s BIG Crossword magazine. » More info here

Hello - September BIG

It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re absorbed in solving our crosswords, but most of you tell me it is time well spent!

The means of keeping time began with the observation of day following night. As early as 3500 B.C.the Babylonians started using a sundial, an instrument that estimates the time of day by tracking the movement of the sun’s shadow.

The Egyptians invented the water clock, consisting of a pot with a hole in the bottom. People could easily tell the hour of the day and night by noting the water’s level in the bowl. This was the first timepiece that worked independently of the sun. Further progress came with the invention of the hourglass or sand clock which possibly originated on sailing ships. In China candles or incense were used to measure time. By the Middle Ages the first mechanical clock had been designed.

The word clock derives from the Medieval Latin word clocca, meaning bell. This Latin word may have been of Irish origin, reaching English via Middle Dutch klocke. Clocks were bells that were rung to announce the hours, although they were not very accurate!

These bell clocks were referred to as turret clocks. One of the world’s oldest turret clocks, dating back to 1386 is the Salisbury Cathedral Clock in England.

Big Ben, the world’s most famous clock, often appears in our crosswords.

Big Ben is, strictly speaking, the name of the bell hanging in the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster, but the nickname is commonly used to refer to the whole clock tower, hence our clues ‘London clock bell’ and ‘London clock tower’.

Big Ben is famous for its accuracy. Small adjustments are made regularly, by putting a penny on or taking a penny off the top of the pendulum. Adding one penny creates a 0.4 second adjustment by increasing the rate at which the pendulum swings.

We’ve been working round the clock to get this latest issue to you, so start puzzling.

There’s no time like the present!

Happy Puzzling!

CHRISTINE’S HELLO
appears every month in Christine’s BIG Crossword magazine.
» More info here

Hello - August BIG

I was just about to take a bite of my hot buttered toast this morning when it slipped through my fingers and landed on the floor… buttered side down.

Although my outlook on life is generally optimistic, I found myself thinking of that well known expression with the underlying message that if anything can go wrong, it will - bread never falls but on its buttered side. This phrase was first published in a New York magazine in 1835 as part of a rhyme:
I never had a slice of bread
Particularly large and wide
That did not fall upon the floor
And always on the buttered side!

After testing the theory, scientists found that humans and tables aren’t actually tall enough for toast to regularly land butter-side up. Toast sliding off a plate from a height of less than 8ft spins too slowly to make a complete revolution and is more likely to land buttered side down.

Naturally, my thoughts drifted to other butter-related expressions, and there are quite a few.

Someone who is clumsy or prone to dropping things may be called butterfingers. The term could be used to describe someone who has a tendency to drop toast but is more often associated with cricket, where “butterfingers!” is sometimes shouted at the poor cricketer who misses the catch. To flatter with smooth talk is to butter up, usually in the hope of receiving something in return and bread and butter is a person’s livelihood or provider of income.

To know which side one’s bread is buttered is to be mindful of one’s own interest; or know what to do in order to gain an advantage. To butter one’s bread on both sides is to gain advantages from two sides at once or to be wastefully extravagant.

Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth is a phrase that dates back to the 16th century. It refers to a person who has a cool demeanour without enough warmth, even in the mouth, to melt butter.

Fine words butter no parsnips means that words alone are not enough to rectify a situation and what you do is more important than what you say.

So as I sweep up the crumbs and re-stock the toaster, I’m hoping you can plough through the puzzles in this issue like a hot knife through butter while I get back to my bread and butter job of making crosswords!

Happy puzzling!

CHRISTINE’S HELLO
appears every month in Christine’s BIG Crossword magazine.
» More info here

Hello - July BIG

At Lovatts we pride ourselves on producing crossword and puzzle magazines of the highest quality and we try our best to avoid errors. While we do always check our puzzles, the occasional mischievous gremlin sneaks in and upsets a clue.

A gremlin is a mythical creature, a cheeky invisible sprite responsible for causing unexplained disorder and confusion. According to most dictionaries, gremlins originated in the 1920s among RAF aviators and were blamed for the engine faults in aeroplanes. The word possibly derives from the Old English greme ‘to vex’.

It could also come from a blend of Irish gruaimin ‘ill-humoured little fellow’ and goblin.

The earliest recorded use of the word gremlin in print is in a poem published in a 1929 journal called Aeroplane, however aviation and history writer Dave Stern says that gremlins first appeared in 1923. Stern says that a British navy pilot who was rescued after crashing into the sea blamed little people for causing the crash. He explained that they jumped out of a Fremlin beer bottle and started messing with the flight controls. During World War II gremlins were blamed for many inexplicable aircraft accidents, on both sides of the conflict.

Aviator Pauline Gower described Scotland as ‘gremlin country’ in her 1938 book The ATA: Women with Wings. She wrote ‘Scotland is a mystical and rugged territory where scissor-wielding gremlins cut the wires of biplanes when unsuspecting pilots were about’.

Author Roald Dahl, an ex-RAF pilot, called his first children’s novel The Gremlins. It was published in 1942 by Disney, but a revised version was published by Random House in 1943. In the story, the gremlins sabotage British aircraft in revenge of the destruction of their forest home.
He named female gremlins fifinellas, after the racehorse that won the Epsom Derby and the Epsom Oaks in 1916, the year Dahl was born. Baby gremlins were called widgets.

Since then, gremlins have featured in many stories, films and cartoons and have ventured outside of aircrafts and into other things, including on the rare occasion, our crossword books!

As you know, the best way to recognise evidence of gremlin activity is if there is an error in a puzzle that makes it frustrating, difficult or impossible to complete.Luckily, with our terrific team of compilers and checkers, gremlins are few and far between. Should you spot one, the best way to report it is via our website, by email or by letter.

Happy Puzzling!

CHRISTINE’S HELLO
appears every month in Christine’s BIG Crossword magazine.
» More info here

Hello - June BIG

Every industry has its own jargon and the rag trade is no exception. Puzzler Rose Riordan recently wrote to say she was flicking through a clothing catalogue and realised she needed a dictionary to work out what was on offer.

I see what she means. I picked up a current catalogue, and read ‘marled cable jumper’. In the dictionary, marl was defined as ‘sedimentary rock used as fertiliser’. The jumper was not sounding attractive. Luckily another dictionary included a second meaning, ‘mottled yarn of different coloured threads’ - a shortened form of ‘marbled’.

Then there are terms like placket, ruching, shirring, slub and batwing. In the dictionary, a placket is a flap of fabric over a zip or pocket. Ruching means ‘plaiting’, and involves a ribbon gathering the material to form a scalloping edge. Shirring is two or more rows of gathers, slub is a rough knobbly texture and batwing means wide sleeves.

Then there’s bootleg jeans. The word ‘bootleg’ comes from smugglers carrying liquor bottles hidden in their boots. Is this what’s on offer? No, it just means the legs are wide enough to go over a pair of boots.
Another pair of jeans is described as having ‘a light wash with whiskering’. Hmmm. Here even the dictionary was no help – I’ve heard of stonewashed and sandblasted jeans, but whiskering? I had to go online to find out that it’s the pre-fabricated creases that create a broken-in and worn look in the denim.
So, instead of a jumper made of fertiliser and whiskery jeans hiding illegal liquor – we find the truth. Hail the dictionary and the internet!

Happy Puzzling!

Hello - May BIG

When we hear the story of the Tasmanian teenager who met the 33 ­year­ old State Minister for Education when she was only 15 and married him two years later, we feel this could be a partnership doomed to failure in the future. Yet this particular couple went on to have 12 children and became the most well­known people in Australia.

Their names were Enid and Joseph Lyons. He went on to become Prime Minister and she became the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives. They had a strong and loving partnership, devoted to each other and their children, one of whom died in infancy. What a role model Enid made for working mothers. As well as juggling the tasks of motherhood and prime ministerial wife she travelled constantly to meetings and speaking engagements.

With her large family divided between The Lodge in Canberra, school in Melbourne and the family home in Devonport, Tasmania, she had to manage a family spread across three states. When she entered parliament, she was the widowed mother of a family aged from 10 to 27 years. She spoke in parliament expressing traditional views on families and social welfare issues.

Having given birth to twelve children, she had a perfect platform to speak from a woman’s point of view. Referring to population policy for instance, she said her knowledge came not from reading with `her feet up on the mantelpiece’ but `from being knee deep in shawls and feeding bottles’. She has been an inspiration to countless working mothers in Australia and abroad.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers everywhere! May we all be inspired by the courage and dedication that Enid had.

Happy puzzling!