Puzzling Poet

I do love Lovatts puzzles,

They keep me on my toes,

Word puzzles, number puzzles,

Anything that goes.

When first I started puzzling

It was to have some fun,

My only real ambition

To solve each and every one.

I started entering contests

And to my great surprise

I found upon my doorstep

A little booklight prize.

Then followed in succession

A voucher and a cheque,

A dictionary/thesaurus

And a lovely kitchen pack;

 

A DIY winner’s pen

And to complete the set,

The pride of my collection,

A gremlin spotter’s magnet.

I do love doing puzzles

And I really have to say,

Thank you so much Lovatts

For brightening up my day.

 

 Judith Ann Hall

Luckier than most

Well golly gee what can we say
Another prize from Lovatts has come our way!
The first prize last year was out of the blue,
The prize this year is just tickety-boo!
The compilers of puzzles are both clever and wise,
With so many prizes we just can’t believe our eyes!
We haven’t written this poem to brag or to boast,
Just to say we realise that we’re luckier than most!

Mr Mike & Mrs Christine Selvage
Thornlands, Qld

A Little Lovatts Ditty

I’m sat here with my Lovatts mug, crossword books and pen,
dictionaries, reference books, and my Oxford little gem,
white out, pencils, rubbers too, all to help my aim,
to finish both The Stinker and The Demon once again.

Love your crosswords.
Pauline Allen
Eaglescliffe.

Clever Acrostic Contributions

In our June BIG and Holiday Collection 73 we asked our puzzlers to write their own acrostic poem and send it in.  We have received many creative submissions. Here are some of them:

Gorgeous I’d call you
Wonderful one
Ever a memory
Naïve as the sun

Shy with affection
Cos youth is too lame
Always I’ll love you
None other can tame
Ere I adore your sweet name

Gwen Morgan
Toowoomba, Qld

Two way teaser, it’s so easy
Recipe of the month - easy peasy
I love your puzzles and try to win
So you just throw them in the bin
However, I keep on trying - lots of sighing

Peering at Dictionaries hour after hour
Agonising over Goliathon right now
Remembering words I’ve seen before
Noting them down for ever more
Elevenses no trouble for me
Lefties? They’re for others, I see
Lovatts we love you collectively

Trish Parnell
Whakatane, NZ

Loves Cryptics and Stinkers, sometimes
Yells in frustration, but
Never gives up and
Notes all unusual
Expressions and words

Avoids using white-out and
Tries to be neat. She
Keeps her own Dictionary
In a cramped little
Notebook that must have a
Second volume soon.

Goes
Over and
Over clues
Rearranging letters
And
Mispronouncing sentences
Browsing Dictionaries
And always
Trying, Trying, Trying

Lynne Atkins
Goorambat, Vic

Peruse very carefully
Every single clue
Track every lead
Establish your game plan
Reach a conclusion and you might win!

Begin at the top
Until you can start
Track every lead
Choose very carefully
Handle with care
Every single clue
Reach a conclusion and you might win!

Peter Butcher
Rostrevor, SA

Sunshine on each day
Hope becomes reality
In everything one does
Reach for the stars
Love can be spread
Everywhere to enjoy
Yes! Sunshine on each day
Brighten everyone’s lives
Outshine any darkness
Overshadow doom
Twinkle like the stars
Happiness and health to all.

Shirley Booth
Bourke NSW 2840

To do or not to do
Only you decide
Longing for a clue
Each puzzle ‘gets you in’
Right to the very end
And another puzzle is solved
That is a wonderful feeling
Everybody should try them
Subscribe and enjoy till the next time.

Mrs J Leske
Tea Tree Gully, SA

Can I ever work ‘it’ out?
Remember all I’ve learnt?
Oh, I’ll fossick through my dictionary
Some things I’ve never heard
Sometimes they flash so clearly
With joy into my mind
Or if it’s politics and history —
Really so unkind
‘Demons’ are for devils, at least that’s what I find!!
So today I’ll concentrate on BIG - the best way to unwind!

E McEwen
Manning, WA

Makes errors in the Stinker
Into Starhunts
Cannot solve Sudokus
Has trouble with Cryptics
Avid puzzle solver
Enters all Lovatts competitions
Likes acrostics

Michael Selvage
Thornlands, Qld

I’d love to solve the Wordygig
Many a time I’ve tried
Poring over Dictionaries
Only to be denied
Searching for Enlightenment
Seeking the elusive words
I think I’m getting somewhere
But then could they be nouns or verbs?
I hate to be a quitter
Loath to leave that empty space
I read Wordygiggs off the prize list
That means I can now save face
Yippee!

Lorraine Luff
Nollamara, WA

Hard to put down because
Every puzzle is a challenge
Answers can be elusive, but
The thrill of the chase is addictive
Help is always at hand
Everyone is a winner if they
Reach their goal of completion

Brighten up your day
Arouse your curisotty
Rack your brains
Never be bored
Advance your knowledge
Relax and enjoy
Do Lovatts puzzles

Heather Barnard
Murwillumbah, NSW

Multiple tasks – for a Gemini; it’s a breeze
Autumn has gone; winter’s in with many a sneeze
Ready to write, crossword, or read
Going out and about, lunching with mates
Avoiding work – one of my hates!
Right now: there’s nothing I need …
Easy to see, Retirement’s easy to take -
Then – only decisions are a choice to make!

Margaret Worrington
Belfield, NSW

BIG mags they are the best
One arrives every month, to test
Oh be quick I cannot rest
Sometimes I figure I’ll go nuts
The puzzles often very tough
Yet the enjoyment that they bring
Often makes me laugh and sing
Up or down, I don’t know!
Right or left, just have a go!
Where do I begin? Right here!
Out comes the hair, oh dear!
Roots are everywhere, I fear
Doesn’t mean I’m bald, I’m not
Perhaps just getting old, so what!
Over the moon, I won something
When the prizes come, ka-ching!
Even if I get it wrong,
Rather keep my wordpower strong

Ali Nielsen
Ballogie, Qld

Another Lovatts bought with anticipation
Daunting Demons cause a heart palpitation
Double Take fun, the DIY and Do Your Block
I’m challenged by BIG 1 to Beat the Clock
Cryptics in all forms are my special love
Teasing my brain, it’s like manna from above
I seem to forget to wash, clean and cook
Oh how I enjoy my Lovatts crossword book
Nothing on earth is as satisfying
Solving these puzzles is most gratifying.

Chris Barker
Alexander Heights, WA

Creative and challenging right from the start
Ruthless, the Demon, near breaks my heart
Often the answers so hard to find
Searching great tomes I almost go blind
Sometimes I want to give up in despair
Words never heard before appear from nowhere
Outlandish, long forgotten from days of my youth
Return miraculously and that is the truth
Dedicated addicts, we’ll never refrain
So bring on the Lovatts again and again

Joy Egan
Toowoomba, Qld

Lovely time just to myself,
Either read, or clean the shelf.
In the morning I’ll do that,
So just now I’ll ring and chat.
Urgency does not exist,
Really it’s not on my list.
Extra time to dream and laze,
Time to play and time to gaze.
I might e-mail to my friend,
Maybe, I’ve got time to spend.
Even watch the news on Prime,
So, why not! I’ve got the time.

Val Young
Sunshine, NSW

Addictive
Clues
Raise
Ordinary
Souls
Towards
Idiotic
Conclusions

Helen Peut
Gillen, NT

Duties done
Open book
Ideas come
Thinking crook
You’re ready
Once you’ve had a cuppa
Urging brain cells to
Reach an upper
Stimulating that grey matter
Evokes memories
Left in a scatter
Finally, “I have it”, brain no longer in a tatter

Elizabeth Sullivan
‘”Two Hoots” Corangula NSW

Lovatts puzzles are a must
You oil my brain and clear the rust
Not only do you stimulate
Daily you invigorate
Sayonara, is that goodbye?
Adios is worth a try
You may even say bye bye
Cryptics are a cunning lot
Open your mind, stop the rot
Perhaps my thinking is not right
Easy when you see the light
Many hours I spend with you
Astonished by your clever crew
Now I bid you fond adieu.

Lyndsay Copeman
Ridgewood, WA

Adventures galore
Under the beautiful
Southern Cross
Travelling north, south, east and west
Roads leading to
Amazing places with
Landscapes both rugged and serene
Idyllic lifestyle, touring
Australia, our land

G R Siviour
Nuriootpa SA

Many who enter
Are
Right
Gaining
Along the way a
Real prize
Each
Time to a lucky M.A.R.G.A.R.E.T.

Margaret Miles
Rockdale, NSW

Been a Lovatts fan for years
Eating pencil and tearing hair, just to
Verify hidden words and clues
Every answer brings a cheer and
Really makes my day
Learn Cryptics? No way! But
Even they make sene today, so
Yes! Yes! Yes! Lovatts books for me

Bev Robb
Seacombe Gardens, SA

Dreaded Demon
Always a challenge
Wizwords is fun
Now concentrate

Brain not working
Oh for a computer
Where’s the Dictionary?
Recipe of the month
At last – all finished
Now for a cuppa!

Dawn Bowran
Rosanna, Vic

Puzzles and posers
Anagrams too
Trying our cryptic
Researching clues
Internet, Dictionary
Calling the kids. The
Ironing’s forgotten
As I fill out the grids

Patricia Murray
Wandin North, Vic

Scottish ancestry – thus my name
Crossword addict – Lovatts to blame?
Occupation teacher – and also housewife
Travelling’s been my passion – all my life
Interests are reading – and tennis, too
Aussie am I – true blue!

Scotia McCawley
Pittsworth, Qld

Makes time for puzzling
Acquires knowledge with Stinker
Rarely fails to finish crosswords
Loves anything that requires logic
Ever keen to win a prize
Never gets bored with life
Every day is a new challenge

Marlene Stuart
Centenary Heights, Qld

Doing Lovatts Crosswords
Often for half the night
Reaching for the reference books
Over-taxing my ageing sight
Then, fan me with a feather
Here is the word I require
Yippee - it’s finished - now I can retire!

Dorothy Nankrvis
Hawthorn, Vic

Our Puzzling Poets Are Prizewinners!

Thank you for your puzzle books
That keep dementia at bay,
Whenever the postman brings one
It simply makes our day!

We do them for the challenge
Never expecting to win a prize,
But the $50 voucher from FindaWord
Was a lovely surprise!

So keep those puzzles coming
The Starhunts , Colossus and BIG,
Particularly the Demon,
Which makes us dig and dig and dig!

Mr Mike and Chris Selvage
Thornlands, Qld

Beauty of Maths

I saw your “Beauty of Maths” article on the inside of the front cover of the December Super Sudoku.

I have received a similar version of this with an extra part, which, as a Maths teacher, I really liked.

It says that if A=1%, B=2%, etc., then HARD WORK = 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11=98% and KNOWLEDGE=11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5=96% but ATTITUDE=1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5=100%.

Therefore, HARD WORK and KNOWLEDGE will take you a long way, but ATTITUDE will get you all the way to the end.
Peter Green

The Baffler

The Baffler is bafflier,
The Stinker’s demonic.
Our searches are deeper,
We need a MNEMONIC.

El Camino’s trail REAL
We found was quite royal.
We love being baffled.
To Lovatts we’re loyal!

If your sand sea’s an ERG,
Then you’re in the SAHARA.
If your tree seeds are wingèd,
It’s M for SAMARA.

FIACRE? A French word
For an old-fashioned coach.
Don’t GYBE in your yacht
If you don’t want to BROACH.

The SYRINX’s a word
For the pipes of God Pan.
An ENDOMORPH chap
Is a round-bodied man.

We thank you, Christine
For so working our brain.
Please Baffle us bafflier,
Again and again!

Perfect prize poem

The weather becomes mighty cold down here,
Normal for this time of year,
When I need a ‘cheerer-uppa’,
My first instinct is to make a ‘cuppa’,
So to win a Bodum mug and teapot,
Which keep my beverage piping hot,
Is a definite plus – they look good too,
And when I settle down to do,
A Lovatts puzzle – or maybe two,
I have the perfect combination,
Contentment is a great sensation.

I have been doing your puzzles for years – always a challenge. BIG is my favourite, because of the diversity the puzzles present. This is the first time I’ve won a prize but I’ll keep trying.
Ruth Coleman
Bowral, NSW

Calkuro Convert

My brain was wary-
Maths can be scary!
Then, believing “if you don’t try,
you don’t know”,
I gave Calkuro a go.
Calkuro, does my brain tease -
But now for it
my braincells shout “More please!”.

Mrs Maree Thorpe
Wallsend

Try CALkuro for yourself by clicking here, or follow this link to view our online tutorial.

Of birds, bees and crosswords

I’ve been intending to submit this story for sharing with your subscribers for quite a few years. I think quite enough water has gone under the bridge to get away with it now! It is a wonderful tale of the innocence of youth, and I am sure that even the most sensitive and prudish of the Lovatts ‘family’ will not be offended.

This true story took place almost 35 years ago in my 3rd year of high-school, so I was about 14 at the time.

On rainy days the school often invoked a ‘wet weather timetable’. During a shortened lunch-period students could, rather than being sent outside into the elements, engage in (supposedly!) quiet socialising or private study in designated class-rooms.

On one such occasion two of my colleagues decided to attack the crossword in the daily newspaper. A couple of clues eluded them. Peter was quite a wordsmith back then, so the clues must have been fairly tough. I don’t recall the actual clues, so let’s say for the purposes of this story that one of the missing answers was ‘gamin’.

Mandy was helping by trolling through the standard school-issue dictionary - no computers or Internet in those days - looking for potential words that fitted the letter combinations on hand. I should note that Mandy’s willowy blonde looks belied her beautiful sweet and naive nature!

After a little while Mandy triumphantly exclaimed, “I’ve found it…….SEMEN!!” “Oh for God’s sake, Mandy”, hissed the more worldly Peter exasperatedly, “read the definition!”

Although it took some time for Mandy to get over her embarrassment, it has obviously had no long-term effect on her. Some years later I was proud to be the best man at her wedding…..to my mate Steve, not Peter!!

Ron Cooke
Ringwood North, Vic

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