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Hi, Rusty!
Home again now....with my hair about an inch shorter!
What was the outcome of the calculator testing?
Have you chosen a new one?
Yes, recording "The Voice" is a good idea.
You can find out how it works and see whether you like the format.
I find the very obvious excellent rapport between the coaches is very appealing.
And the younger members of the panel are very respectful to Tom Jones, which I think is nice courtesy.
The competitors this last week were all of a high standard... ...I was impressed.
Time for some lunch...maybe home -made soup?

Good afternoon, Elle!
Happy haircut!
Yes, I have bought two calculators online and one from ASDA, so I am quite pleased, and the prices are very reasonable!
One is a Texet make, and the other is an Aurora, and an ASDA branded one.
I saw Tom Jones perform when I was young.
In the California Ballroom just outside Dunstable.
And Ike and Tina Turner, too.
I'll record "The Voice" and take it from there.
i have been fairly busy today and have neither read my paper or tackled the puzzle, so I'd best get cracking!

Cerasus, Malone and Elle

A belated thank you for the information. I have never heard of IT in the vermouth sense. After reading your postings, I mentioned to Mrs Jigjag that I had not realised that vermouth was wine. "Oh yes" she said, "you can have it with gin and it is called Gin and IT".

She does not do crosswords, or drink but she is well-read, the opposite to me.

I was pleased to hear about Crick. It has given me some ideas for "cricket" clues which I write from time to time. There are some good possibilities involving microbiologist, alien, insect etc., which Elle would be interested in.

Malone, I see there was another Homer clue in the Times today, the 4th in the last 2 months but not a Simpson one unfortunately!

Thanks, Jigjag. I think I've seen IT used so often in crosswords that I maybe assumed it was more widely known than it is. I'm glad the Crick information is going to be of use to you.
Yes, I saw today's Homer clue - and immediately thought of you!

Good afternoon, Rusty!
Yes, I am pleased with my haircut...…..you can now tell the difference between me and my shaggy dog!
Why have you bought three calculators?!
I have of course heard of the California ballroom - a well-known venue at one time - although I have never visited that neck of the woods!
You were living around there .... was it in Luton?.... for a time, weren't you?
I, too, have not yet done the crossword puzzle as I have been busy!
I rather think I shall give it a miss today.....my brain power decreases as the day progresses!
The "new" friendly plumber has just phoned...he is popping in on Friday to do another small job for us.
A nice man.
Now.....I wonder what to have for dinner?



Hello, Jigjag,
Thank you for your message.
Do you write crosswords just for your own pleasure / satisfaction?
Or do you submit them to a newspaper or journal?

Hello, Elle!
I lived in Luton, briefly, then Dunstable.
I lived in Dunstable when the police were hunting for Harry Roberts.
Policemen everywhere. I remember it well!
Now, the calculators!
Firstly, I do not actually need one, for I have one on my Chromebook, my phone, and my tablet.
But I like having one separately.
I had two, that I use for doing sums.
But, last week my Canon one gave up the ghost, so I thought of a replacement.
(I'd had the Canon for a long time!)
I happened to mention it to Miss O and she let slip that she and her class are always short of calculators.
So, two of the three calculators are for her and her class, and one for me.
So, is the friendly plumber coming for his dinner, too, or have I got that wrong?
It is very thoughtful of you if you have invited him?

Hi, Rusty!
Harry Roberts? That is stretching my memory a bit...didn't he kill a policeman?
Yes, I had wondered if two of the calculators might be for Miss O to use at school.
You had mentioned that she could do with some for her class.
Oops! No, the plumber is not coming for dinner!
I really must watch how I phrase my sentences!
I recall your once teasing me about my going to a pop concert - was it an Elvis concert? - in Lowestoft, with that man who was searching the beach with a metal detector for old coins.......
And all because of my misuse of a pronoun!
Do you remember that?
It was a while ago now.......
( The man had found a William IV gold coin)
I have been watching "Eggheads"......I missed it over the festive season.

Good evening, Elle!
Harry and accomplices killed three policemen, in London.
It was in the summer, I remember that, and very close to a prison.
He was on the run for several months, I think, then he was caught in Epping Forest.
I will be pleased to help Miss O and her class/es.
I remember you going to the concert!
Now, Elle, Elvis has been dead for years, must have been someone else?
I had just got used to watching "Millionaire" again and the series has finished until March!

Hi, Rusty!
I don't remember all that much about Harry Roberts?
I rather think it all happened in the mid sixties?
In Shepherd's Bush?
That was well before I first moved to London, and took up my post at the Royal Free Hospital, in Hampstead.
I would have still been living in Bolton in those days.
I was thinking that the Lowestoft concert might have been an Elvis tribute concert.....
But I am having flashbacks now....and think it might well have been based on Buddy Holly ?
I saw quite a number of Buddy Holly tribute concerts, including the Big Bopper, Eddie Cochran, Richie Valens, and such.
Great stuff!

Hello, Elle!
I remember it very well.
The police were searching everywhere.
Is there a prison at or near Shepherd's Bush?
The policemen were killed close to a prison.
I liked the Big Bopper (and Buddy Holly, of course).
I think he was killed with Buddy when the plane crashed.
Not a very cheery post!
So...., I have decided to buy the Collins Dictionary.
It is not too expensive, and I'd like to explore it.