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Hello, Elle!
Have you let M&S know about the inconvenience?
I have no idea if you are due a refund from them or not.
Best ask?
Good puzzle today. 12a and 19d are new words to me.
I have been watching a video of Mireille Mathieu singing "La Marseillaise".
Very impressive. A proper singer with passion in her soul.
Laura Muir got her season off to a good start with a win in Glasgow last night.
I think it is a week today she runs for Britain in the team x-country event at Stirling.
Eilidh Doyle won, too.

Hi, Rusty!
Ah, I was in error when I referred, in my last post, to expecting a refund from M & S!
It was, of course, to Royal Mail that I wrote my letter of complaint.....
I suggested to them that they reimburse my delivery fee, as a matter of courtesy, for my inconvenience...and their....er...untruth!
Yes, chordal and statice were both new words for me, too....but quite doable from the parsings.
I didn't know that Athletics were afoot?
In what event was Laura participating, in Glasgow?
I shall have to check next week's TV guide, when I get it, to see if any Athletics are to be televised on my available channels.
Are you going to watch "The Greatest Dancer" tonight?
I shall be interested to see just how closely the producers have copied "The Voice"!
I have set the recorder for it, as it clashes time wise with "The Voice" itself.

Hello, Elle!
But you paid your fee to M&S?
I would take it up with them.
It was their carrier who let you down.
Laura ran 5,000 metres, paced by Beth Potter.
I don't know why she needed a pacemaker?
I had a wee look at the schedule for next Saturday.
All BBC1 channels are showing the Stirling events.
Is it BBC1 London you get?
I am recording "The Greatest Dancer" and "Millionaire" and will watch them tomorrow, probably.
I read Rose's column today and was interested when she said The Times dictionary of choice is Collins Dictionary.
I have been pondering trying Collins for some time now, and World of Books has some "very good" copies for sale.
I will ponder some more!

Update, Elle!
Put this in your programme planner.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0c074nn

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I did indeed pay the fee to M &S, but am unsure who can be held responsible ?
Anyway, I filled in the requisite form provided by Royal Mail for complaints of that nature...and have had an automatic acknowledgement, saying that it would be addressed within four working days.
If do not get any satisfaction from that official channel, I can then try M&S .
I am not really expecting my delivery fee to be refunded......but thought I might as well as try!
Never knuckle under......or be downtrodden, is my motto!
That is interesting what you say about Collins......because I think that I read somewhere that the Times followed the Oxford dictionary?
I do have both......although not recent additions.
I do use the online Collins dictionary a lot, though, and find that very good.
Try it out before you buy?
Oops! I nearly forgot...thank you for the Athletics timings!

Hello, Elle!
Well, you may get a result from Royal Mail.
I would let M&S know, too, though.
Their carrier was lax, to say the least!
Well, Rose said Collins, but they may use Oxford as well?
"Our favourite dictionary, Collins", she has today.
In the past she has mentioned other expert sources for grammar, and style guidance for the constructing of sentences etc.
There are complaints every week about certain use of words etc.
Today the words "of" and "former" had been complained about.
I think the debate was, is it "bored" or "bored of/with", and "former" was not the proper term for "retired" service personnel.
And there were many complaints about a photo of "a barrel rolling race", and Rose admitted they were, in fact, hogsheads, not barrels!
I must admit, Rose's column, Feedback, is one of my favourite parts of the paper!
There was a hoo-ha, too, about the numbering of the cryptic crossword puzzle.
There was no Times published on Christmas Day, but there was an online one with puzzles, which many did not realise, and they took to the keyboards to complain the numbers were out of sync!
I have "saved" the Collins Dictionary and will decide later whether to buy or not.

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, you have a good point there about informing M&S anyway.
However, I shall wait until Monday to see if my parcel does then arrive.....
Because then, if it fails to do so, I can "kill two birds with one stone " so to speak, when I contact M&S.
That makes sense, don't you think?
I think I should like Rose's column!
It is a pity, in that respect, that we only buy the Sunday Times .....
Unfortunately, I missed the initial part of "The Voice" tonight, due to receiving a long phone call........
But I shall record tomorrow morning's repeat show, so will catch up with it then.
The last three acts were brilliant!
All three were picked by the coaches.
And.....guess what...... one turned out to be Lonnie Donegan's son!

Hello, Elle!
Yes, see how your delivery goes on Monday.
This will have happened to M&S before and they will have a procedure to follow, I think.
I think you would like Rose's column, too.
I find it interesting and entertaining.
I liked Lonnie Donegan!
I hope his son does well.

Did anyone watch The Greatest Dancer? I was disgusted (of Tunbridge Wells, obviously) the fabulous male ballet dancer didn't get through but the starstruck idiot in the gold waistcoat (whose dancing was not as good as that of my 8 year-old grandson) did. Switched off and not switching that program on again.

Good morning, Rusty!
It is a lovely day here
Still cold...but bright blue sky and sunny.
We have the feel good factor!
I am chasing my tail this morning,.....would you believe I got up late?
I have a lot to do..... not least, the Everyman - my usual Sunday "treat" - and all the decorations to take down from the Christmas tree.
The superstition is that they must come down today as this is the twelfth day of Christmas!
What are you up to ?



Hello, Ros!
No, not yet.......but I have recorded the Dance show ...purely because I was interested to see just how closely they had copied he idea of "The Voice"!