1. The number of kakuro books sold by Nikoli has risen 60–fold in the past 20 years and is expected to keep rising, particularly as the number of people reaching retirement age – assiduous puzzle–book buyers in many countries – continues its inexorable expansion.

2. Recent articles Yes, you can judge a bloke by his cover Gay son‘s prison ordeal after island murders Bid to bring a Queen home Killer freed without full assessment Orphanage paedophiles are jailed Olives are the new English roses Where women get real respect TV film rebrands it like Beckham Band of hope to stop errors by surgeons New inquest into Rachel‘s syringe death mystery Mothers‘ job prospects are worst of all Book lays 1m trail of jewels UK guns in al–Qaeda hands This week we want to know all about Cesar Millan Suffolk takes on Dubai with plan for 350m alps Book lays 1m trail of jewels Ben Flanagan Sunday March 1', 2006 The Observer A puzzle book containing clues leading to jewels worth 1m is set to spark a treasure–hunt craze unseen since the publication of Masquerade in 1'7' caused a frenzy of nationwide digging in search of a golden hare.

3. The only thing that keeps me sane is remembering that there‘ll be a party on Sunday and Monday and Tuesday." Outwardly, Georgie – "the way–out winger with a wardrobe of mod gear as vast as a pop star‘s" – gave the appearance of being totally in tune with the times. ("He has to be a great footballer," a disbelieving teammate once commented to a reporter, "to get away with that haircut and that outfit.") Never very far below the surface, though, was Belfast George, who was a traditionalist at heart and, even while he was still a teenager, had established a basic style and routine of living which he would follow with very few signs of impetuosity or variation for the next 40 years: the bird, the boozer, the puzzle book and the gee–gees, and then the inevitable alcoholic sprees and five–day benders which, unsurprisingly enough, earned him a reputation for chronic flakiness and unreliability.