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Hello, Elle!
I do not know your clue/answer?
Yes, go for Centennial.
If you like it there are many more written in a similar style.
One non-fiction book he wrote was Iberia, which I liked.
And he wrote an excellent historical novel about Poland.
They say for every book he wrote, he would read two hundred for research.

Hi, Rusty!

Shameful broadcast observed and performed (6)
sordid = shameful (def)
sor sounds like saw (observed)
did - performed

Only "sor" does not sound like "saw", does it?
At least, it doesn't to me?
I can imagine you (and Malone!) going spare here!

We are being promised 7 hours of rain tomorrow , beginning at 9am!
Temperature will stay high, though, with probably thunderstorms!
I think a very early morning walk is indicated before it all kicks off!
Right, time for a coffee and a shortcake biscuit.......

I'm about to go on my dogless walk now, elle. I'm really hoping for ths rain, though have had a few garden-saving showers recently.
Took a friend for a pub lunch yesterday- place was absolutely packed. Not venturing out much over the next few days, except to walk.

I'm reading a book published in 1905 about the history of Middlesbrough by Lady Hall (!). She argues that making pig iron (molten iron ran into "moulds" made simply of piled sand, which men kept banked up!) was likely to be healthier than sitting in a small room writing up ledgers. I suppose she may have had a point, especially about sitting all day. Not sure about what the ironworkers were breathing, though.

The author called on 200 homes to ask about their reading habits. (had she not been an owner's wife, I expect she might have got a few dusty answers). I like "Wife prefers the News of the World, which she considers a great paper for enlarging the mind." The novels of Mrs Henry Wood are mentioned quite a lot. One man "Does not like his wife to read- thinks she might get hold of wrong notions".

The common reason given for women not reading was the vast amount of sewing to be done. We should be grateful we do not have to darn socks, turn sheets and collars and patch trousers every evening. But I was thrilled to be told my grandson had run into his house saying "I need Grannie, I need a patch!" He was 3.

Good morning, Elle!
Fine dry morning here.
I would never get "sordid"!
"Sor" certainly does not sound like "saw"!
I thought "seen/scene" may have been in there.
To me, sordid and shameful have different meanings, anyway.
I'll see what Anne Bradford has to say, later!

Hello, Rosalind,
That was "the good old days"!

I dislike homophones anyway, but "sor" and "saw" sound exactly the same to me!

Good morning, Rusty!
Minimally cooler here!
No sign so far of any rain! It is no longer showing on the BBC online weather forecast.
"They" must have changed their minds!
I shall risk putting out all the washing out on the "hoist"!
Amazon have just informed me that my last orders worked out cheaper than expected, and consequently I have more money remaining in my account!
I shall compare prices for that book by James Michener that I am planning to buy....if there is little difference in cost to what it is on ebay, I might as well use my Amazon account to pay for it, mightn't I?
Nothing planned as yet for today - other than watching the athletics at 1.10 pm on BBC1!
How about you?




Hello, Ros!
I hope you enjoyed your walk?
Did you encounter many people to speak to? I thought of that whilst walking the dog.....I counted eleven folk who either passed the time of day or actually stopped to chat!
I remember, when I was a child, my mother used to darn socks, and turn sheets and collars!
Money was tight, so it was 'needs must' !
I guess we should all be grateful that such is largely not the case nowadays.

Hello, Rosalind,
We all speak differently, I suppose.
But, there is no "r" sound in saw.
Not with me, anyway!
I am not keen on homophones either.

"sor" and "saw" do not sound the same to me, either , Ros!
I wouldn't say "sawdid"!

Hi elle
I only walk because I think it's healthy! I saw one person, a paper girl, and I did speak to her. It is a 30 minutes walk, half of it up quite a steep hill, so that's about all the exercise I will get today unless I decide to garden.
My mother darned socks and made some of our clothes. I preferred it when she bought them!

You're right, rusty, I don't pronounce the r in "sor" properly. The two words sound exactly the same to me. In Oxfordshire double ts are hardly pronounced at all, they're almost swallowed. My sons said them properly at home and the same as their friends at school.

Hello, Elle,
There is another in today's Times.
"What might be taken for piercing sound of seabird" (6)
I have s?e?e?
I think it is skewer?
A skewer pierces.
Could the seabird be "skua"?
Surely the setter doesn't fondly think "skewer" and "skua" sound alike?
Or am I not seeing something?
Rosalind?