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Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I think I must have "sucker" tattooed on my forehead!
I really fell for the compiler's sidestep, hook, line and sinker!
Speaking of which...
"Hook , Line and Sinker" are a trilogy of books by Len Deighton!
I remember reading them years ago......they were very good.
But I digress!
I am done with crosswords for today!
We are out early as usual in the morning with the dog, then back home for the remainder of the day.
Daughter and family are coming over for lunch.
That will be nice!
How about you?
Any plans for tomorrow?

Hello, Elle!
Poor old Patch was unplaced, but it was his stable companion, Always Dreaming, who won the Roses!
So, a win for Todd Pletcher.
It was great entertainment though, and the going was officially "sloppy"!
It's the setter's job to mislead you, while sending you in the right direction.
A difficult skill!
No plans for tomorrow.
I am still not at 100% yet.
I'll content myself with the Tour of Italy in the afternoon, and maybe watch some programmes on YouTube..
And I have paperwork to attend to.

Good morning, Rusty!
Somewhat dreich here now.
Although interestingly, when I got up , it was raining in the front street.......but not in our back garden!
"Dry as a bone", there!
Very strange!
We went up to Crystal Palace Park for our walk.
The "Historic Commercial Vehicle Society" run from London to Brighton is taking place this morning.....all the "old" vehicles assemble up at Crystal Palace and set off to Brighton between 7 and 9 am.
It was a pity that BB wasn't with us ( he is coming midday) as he would have loved to have seen some of the old vehicles.
An ancient (open -topped) fire engine, festooned with big bells, was a positive delight!
Back home again now, drinking coffee, and about to do the Everyman!

Good morning, Elle,
Quite bright up here today.
I have just watched BGT.
Quite a lot of so-so acts, I thought.
My favourites were the choir, Faye and her Dad, and the contortionists.
Have you bought Sunday Times?
I read bits of it on line.
Good article by David Walsh on Paula Radcliffe.
Worth a read.

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, as I said yesterday, I wasn't all that enamoured of the performances in BGT this week.
I thought some of them were very poor - and I cannot find such acts funny; they just try my patience!
I thought the contortionists were excellent.
They travelled all the way from Russia, just to take part in the show.
Dedication indeed to their art!
The two young ballet dancers were good, too.
They had choreographed their dance themselves. It was well done.
The father and daughter could certainly sing...but dad yelled a bit and drowned out daughter when they sang together.
But definitely talent there.
I felt so sorry for the young man who composed a song for his gran (who has Altzeimers) and sang it himself.
Amanda was openly crying.
It was heartrendingly sad...but unfortunately the poor guy couldn't sing.
Although he was put through to the next round.
The rest (in my humble opinion) were awful!
We haven't got the Sunday Times yet!
Sainsburys only opens at 11am on Sundays.
My husband has just gone out for the paper now.
I shall read the article about Paula later.
Daughter and boys should be arriving soon!

Hello, Elle!
I agree with most of your views regarding BGT.
I have narrowed it down to two, for me.
The choir and the contortionists.
I missed where about in Russia the contortionists came from?
They said it was a 6 hour flight to Moscow, though?
Is 11 o'clock opening normal for Sundays?
My ASDA never closes.
It is a lovely day here now.

Good afternoon, Rusty!
Whew!
I am exhausted...albeit nicely so!
We have just finished a highly competitive game of Ludo, won eventually by BB.
The family have now left in time for a quick visit to Sainsburys en route for home.
Now....... the UK 1994 Sunday Trading Act states that small shops can remain open any hours they choose, but larger shops - bigger than 3000 sq ft - can only open for six continual hours.
Our Sainsburys opens from 11am till 5pm on a Sunday.
As I think do most of the larger shops in Bromley and Croydon.
If your Asda stays open all the time, perhaps it is under 3000sq ft?
I am down to one last clue to be parsed in the Everyman!
I shall persevere......
It's lovely here, too, now, and very warm!

Hello, Elle!
It is a fine warm day here, too.
I did not realise that your shops can only open for 6 hours on a Sunday?
Our ASDA, TESCO, MORRISONS, never close.
Usually 24 hours open 7 days a week.
These are large superstores.
There is a Sainsbury on the other side of town but I would think it would not close either.
Basically, there is no difference here on Sunday to any other day.
When I was young there was, but those days are long gone.
When shall your Sainsbury store re-open?

Hi, Rusty!
I just checked on Google, and the Sunday Trading Act only affects England and Wales, not Scotland.
I don't know why that should be?
Our Sainsburys opens again tomorrow morning : 8am - 9pm all weekdays; 7am -8pm on Saturdays and 11am - 5pm on Sundays.
Those hours seem to meet most people's needs.
I have now read the article in the Sunday Times by David Walsh about Paula Radcliffe.
It strikes me as being a little odd......and perhaps a tad unfair?
I think Paula calls it how she sees it?
As far as I am aware, she has always been strongly against doping in sport.
As for her being against this move to nullify all sporting World Records prior to 2005....well, can you really blame her?
Such a move would make a mockery of so many athletes' life work and ambitions.
I know that it is now being proven that a lot of such records are "false" because of being drug- inspired, but for those athletes who have "played it straight", such a decision must surely prove heart-breaking?
Where will all this end?
or maybe it will be forever ongoing.........?

Hello, Elle!
There are quite a few differences up here.
For whatever reason we have larger juries.
15 folk as against 12 for you.
I have always been slightly suspicious of Paula, and as time goes on and no other woman coming near her record, my suspicions grow.
Is she one who has asthma?
I do, however, feel sorry for Marita Koch and the East Germans.
They were doped and had no say in the matter.
I remember seeing the East German swimmer, Kornelia Ender, and her shoulders were just incredibly huge.
She won numerous golds but became suspicious of the huge muscle gain and correctly concluded that it was the stuff her coaches were giving her and telling her it was vitamins etc.
She refused any more treatments and was thrown off the East German team by the Marxist authorities.
The East German athletes have my sympathies.
It is difficult to best know the way forward with these records.
And are they really so important, anyway?