Author: Ian France
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Prisoners’ Escape
A couple of weeks ago, I set you a puzzle based on prisoners escaping their captivity. Read it here if you haven’t seen it. If you’ve given it some thought and are struggling with it, here’s a hint for you. Clearly they’re not going to just open lockers at random. Think about, as a prisoner…
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Wuthering Heights
Film: Wuthering Heights Year: 2026 Director: Emerald Fennell Rating: 100% Review: Blimey! What a film! Moody, funny, warm, cold, sweet, bitter, stark, lush — it’s a movie full of contradictions: but how well are they done!? The casting is superb, the locations are perfect, the cinematography is second-to-none, the acting is excellent. All that’s without…
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Prisoners’ Escape
Here’s an interesting puzzle for you. One hundred prisoners are kept in a prison (obviously!). One day the prison warder comes by and tells them that they have a chance to escape. The downside is, that if they fail to escape, they will all be executed. In order to facilitate this escape, they are given…
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Values, Vision & Mission Statement
Several years back, I was asked by a school to run a day’s training session on company values. I spent several weeks preparing, and ended up splitting the day into 3 sections: values, vision, mission statement. There was some surprise at this, as several of the staff felt they were the same thing, and this…
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Parallel Lines
Album: Parallel Lines Artist: Blondie Year: 1978 Genre: New wave Run Time: 39m Rating: 80.91% Review: Good quality new wave from Deborah Harry and friends. There’s a bit of filler in the middle of the album, but with no less than 6 hits, 4 of them really well remembered, this is an LP which can…
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Sweet Potato & Red Pepper Goodness Bowl
As detailed here, my diet (along with my fiancée’s) has changed recently. This was one of the first dishes we tried following the change, and we loved it so much, we keep coming back to it. The basic idea came from a book on ‘bowl food’. Here, I’ve simplified it considerably, whist keeping the delicious,…
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Send Help
Film: Send Help Year: 2026 Director: Sam Raimi Rating: 80% Review: I like being wrong-footed by a film. I was expecting a taut horror-thriller; if I’d have realised it was a Sam Raimi picture, I would have expected differently. Elements of horror, certainly, but played as a black comedy for the most part, this is…
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Supernature
Album: Supernature Artist: Goldfrapp Year: 2005 Genre: Electropop Run Time: 43m Rating: 85.26% Review: The angular crunch of 2003’s Black Cherry was somewhat of a surprise for many, following the folktronica of Goldfrapp’s debut. Supernature takes the electropop of that follow up, and camps it up to 100. It’s a wonderful album, where dance beats…
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Anagram Dictionary – some answers
Answer time! Have you done better in any of the questions? Please comment below to tell me! Or just let me know whether you enjoyed them or not.
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Moanin’
Album: Moanin’ Artist: Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers Year: 1959 Genre: Hard Bop Run Time: 41m Rating: 82.36% Review: Originally released as Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers, this is a fine jazz album, featuring some tight playing and excellent tune writing. Only a series of extended drum passages spoil the flow a little.…
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