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Good afternoon, Rusty!
Daughter and YB have just left ...they are on their way to pick up Big Brother from school.
It was lovely to see them.
YB is 15 months now...and able to climb on and off the sofa unaided!
He is into everything.... we need eyes in the backs of our heads!
Yes, I shall look up Sandy the horse...I haven't yet had chance to do so.
Whom are you backing for today's racing?
I don' t know the tennis schedule......I have a feeling that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is playing?
I am about to switch on the TV to find out........
Very hot here, but more bearable as not as humid!

Hello, Elle!
Had a rain shower but not the promised heavy stuff!
I am doing one horse today, just for fun.
In the last race, the 3A's.
1,The horse is "A"sking.
2, Trainer is "A"idan O'Brien.
3, And the jockey is Aidan's daughter, "A"nastasia, though she is usually called Ana.
Asking, Aidan and Ana may run into a place.
I hope so!
It is definitely cooler here!

Hi, Rusty!
No rain here...the breeze is long departed and the temperature is now in the thirties.
But it is pleasanter than yesterday - hotter but not as humid.
Three "A"s must surely be a good omen!
Fingers crossed!
I am doing the 15x15...it is quite a good one, don't you think?
I am actually enjoying it! ( I don't always , sometimes I struggle!)
I have now done three quarters - and all parsed, too, so far - so have reached the bottom right-hand side.
I like to be systematic!
I got off to a good start with 1a - I liked "technobabble"
Have you done your puzzle yet?

Hello, Elle!
Yes, technobabble was a good one.
Good luck with the ones you have left!
I have finished it.
Not as hard for a qualifier as I thought it may be.
It is 33 degrees at Ascot!

Hi, Rusty!
It is 32 C here!
I have finished the crossword - therefore including parsing!
I found it easier than some of the "ordinary" puzzles?
Today's puzzle was more on the lines of the "Everyman" in that every part of the clue was included in the parsing.
I don't always find that with the Times 15x15?
16 d was my last one to parse....my mind was on "Wallis" not "Marge "!
(I don't watch "The Simpsons"!)
The QC - by a new setter - was ridiculously easy!
Whatever is happening at Queens - Jo Tsonga is also out!
Grigor Dimitrov is through, having dropped the first set.

Hello, Elle!
Snap!
I thought of Wallis Simpson, too.
I have never watched the cartoon, though I have heard of Homer.
I thought it on the easy side, too, which I don't like.
I see Laura Robson and Heather Watson have wild cards for Wimbledon.

Hello, Elle!
Asking came sixth at Ascot.
Great ride from Ana, but Asking not quite up to it.
Have you found anything on Sandy?
Steady rain here, no thunder, though.

Hi, Rusty!
Ah, but you are so much cleverer than I am at solving these Times Cryptics!
I actually enjoyed today's better because it was more on my wavelength!
I felt "satisfied" once I had completed it.
A pity about your horse!
Speaking of which....yes, I have read about Sandy.
It is good that he reached home again.
But I didn't like the idea of his head being mounted on a wall?
I know that this is done with stag's heads being thus displayed as trophies...(and I don't like that either )....... but somehow I dislike the idea even more so of this being done to a horse.
Perhaps I am being ultra sensitive?
I hadn't heard of the Wild Cards allocations.
What about Marcus Willis? Didn't he get one?
(I take it that Maria didn't?)

Hello, Elle!
Now, Now!
I am not better than you at The Times cryptics, but have been doing them for longer, is all.
And it is the only one I attempt.
My horse ran very well, and I was very pleased how young Ana rode him.
I liked the story of Sandy, too.
There is another good tale about Simpson and his Donkey.
No, I disapprove of mounted heads.
There is a pub in town (serves excellent ales and tasty food) and it has a fighting bull's head on the wall.
I find that sickening.
I rarely went into it, mainly because the staff were not the best when it came to conversation.
Marcus Willis has a "qualifying" wild card, not one for the main tournament.
The girl who was "poisoned" has a wild card too.
No mention of Sharapova, but Novak has a wild card for Eastbourne or someplace?
I hear the thunder now, so I do, and it is heavy rain!

Hey, Rusty!
Lucky you with heavy rain and a thunderstorm!
We badly need something similar to relieve the tension and the heat.
It was tolerable during the day, but is becoming oppressive as night approaches.
I don't know of Mr Simpson and his donkey?
Is this another wartime story?
I seem to have been going around with my head in the sand.........
Who is the girl who was poisoned?
I know nothing of this?
When did this happen?
Accidentally? or was it a deliberate action?
Sounds mysterious?
There was a question on 15 to 1 about Victoria Pendleton!
I cannot remember what it was, though!
What is she up to, these days?