I've completed Guardian Cryptic Crossword 30009 in 21 mins and 33 secs. All finished byb09:00. It’s a good start to the day. (And the sortvof crosswordxI like.) Get the Android app here play.google.com/store/apps/d...

I'm not one ro criticise Tolstoy, but I think the opening sentence of ‘Anna Karenina’ is incomplete. He should have added ‘but most families just muddle through’. Yes, I have just been dealing with family stuff. Why do you ask?

It's been claimed that I’m a bit of an egghead: • I watch Shakespeare for pleasure • I watch foreign films with subtitles • I go to opera and stay wide awake • I listen to Radio 3 I listen to Radio 3 and then they say, "Donizetti tossed it off in a week..." and believe me I'm not sophisticated.

Royal Mail *estimated* delivery 09:10 - 13:10. I wonder at what point I should give up hope.

I've completed Guardian Cryptic Crossword 30005 in 34 mins and 15 secs. This was fun. I'd have been quicker if I'd not tried to use some idiosyncratic spellings... Get the Andoid app here play.google.com/store/apps/d...

Who'd have thought Jimi Hendrix and George Fridiric Handel would have lived next door to each other? Not at the same time, obviously. I was there for the Handel: Lucy Crowe singing arias from Handel operas in Handel’s front room. It was a joy. A return visit is definitely called for.

I've completed Guardian Cryptic Crossword 30004 in 14 mins and 25 secs. / These are my favourite type of crosswords, a bit of headscratching but still doable - with some smiles. Get the Andoid app here play.google.com/store/apps/d...

What are these people on? A love story? Seriously? A woman seduces and betrays a man. She then taunts him and he kills a lot of people including himself and the woman. A love story?

Spookiness of the day! I got a spam/scam call to my landline. I went to check the number on a website (on my phone) - and the number was already in the search box. (Presumably because kots if people were checking it, but it still seems a bit weird.)

I've completed Guardian Cryptic Crossword 30000 in 39 mins and 41 secs. And I hated it, I'm afraid. Hardly any clues that raised a smile. Definitely not celebrating 30,000. Get the Andoid app here play.google.com/store/apps/d...

Wordle 1,783 2/6 ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Considering that this is the day where I thought a meeting that began at 13:00 started at 14:00, things have started looking up.

I'm not always a fan of 'versions', but Marianne Elliott's version of 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses' works for me. The play itself raises questions. Should we be really laughing at the seduction and destruction of innocence? And a very neat touch at the very end. (Go and see it to find out.)

I know it was quoting a listener, but - unless my hearing is totally stuffed - Radio 3 has just referred to "Verdi's 'Tosca'". I'm going to lie down in a darkened room for a while.

What Scarborough does today, the National Theatre does tomorrow. The village fete at the original Scarborough run was, I remember, a hoot. (And, as a veteran of many community events, I know what I'm talking about.)

Forget about banning social media for younger people, and take phones away from alleged adults. At yesterday's performance, two phones went off - and a woman further down the row from me kept checking her phone. If you can't manage an hour without your phone, just stay at home!

'Please Please Me' - which I saw today - was set in the 1960s. The equivalent then would have been a play set in the early 1900s, the Edwardian period. All of a sudden I am feeling terribly, terribly old - and am starting to understand why I might seem like a dinosaur to youngsters...

'Please Please Me' at the Kiln is about Brian Epstein, and his relationship with John Lennon. In many ways, it reminded me of 'Amadeus' - seeing the rise of a star from someone not quite in the same league. When the most sensible character in a play is Cilla, you wonder what the Hell was going on!

Well, that's certainly one way for the Green Party in one of the UK's largest cities to respond to a series of attacks against the Jewish community, of which Wednesday's stabbing attack was just the latest. Not even pretending it's about Israel now, are they?

🅦🅞🅡🅓🄸🄿🄻🅈 #1227 🌟 Length Score: 100% 💫 Rare long word found! 🚀 Letter Score: 12 🔗 Play Wordiply: www.wordiply.com 🎬 Today's starter: 🄴🄰🅁🄻

I've completed Guardian Cryptic Crossword 29995 in 38 mins and 21 secs. I was getting nowhere with this, then left it for quarter of an hour, and hey, presto! Still a slow time, though. Get the Andoid app here play.google.com/store/apps/d...

When I woke up this morning, I was trying to work out some form of anagram. It seemed to involve Dua Lipa and the letters RM - and I'm unable to come up with an anagram for that. (So far, at least.)

I've just received a spam/scam email claiming to be from MySpace. Up to date, or what?

I changed my email on the 'pension portal' ages ago. When I logged in again recently, I got a security email to the old address. Because I have to change it on another system as well because systems don't communicate with each other. For crying out loud, it's 2026, lads!

I went for a swim after breakfast and was not very energetic. Then went to the dentist and called in at the supermarket and was fairly half-hearted about it. Walking home took me ages for some reason. I got home to find... my coffee was still on the worktop. I'm useless without coffee, evidently.

Bloody pigeon just walked into the flat to try to get to the sunflower hearts. Bastard!

As a business approach, this may not be the best way to persuade punters to buy more. But what do I know?

I've been to 'Copenhagen' - the play, not the city. It's one of those times when you wish you knew more about the subject (quantum physics and other matters scientific) and the context of the Second World War. Strong performances - and a really complex script to deal with - made it worth the visit

Never change, Bluesky, never change.

I'm baking - and there are people in Hampstead wearing fleeces! What is the world coming to!

The new ENO season is a bit of a mix. I see 'Tosca' and 'Traviata' are topping the bill again. The Sullivan double bill ('Trial by Jury', brilliant; 'The Zoo', not so much) might be fun, with the rest of the season being somewhat serious. But will it work? www.eno.org/news/eno-unv...

I've completed Guardian Cryptic Crossword 29987 in 11 mins and 28 secs. And there was a lot of guesswork in that! Get the Andoid app here play.google.com/store/apps/d...

I've just cancelled this week's Ocado order - and bought a few plants instead.

Still a smarty-pants. Some things - some people - never change.

Some years ago, a colleague described a work situation as "a bit 'All About Eve'". (The reference was lost on the youngsters.) I thought it was unfair, but rewatching the film, I realise how accurate the comment was - and how it went beyond simple manipulation. And how I was taken in at the time.

Being grown up means: If I decide that I want cherry crumble for my evening meal, I can have cherry crumble for my evening meal. Hell, it’s one of my five-a-day, isn’t it?

I'm listening to something on BBC Sounds and they keep using phenomena as a singular noun. I know it shouldn't bother me, but my blood pressure would like to differ.

'The Authenticator' in the Dorfman relies on coincidence and stretches credibility a bit, but so what? It's a play not a docunentary and I really enjoyed it. Playwright Winsome Pinnock nudges you to think about race rather than lectures you and that works (for me at least). And it has good laughs!

🅦🅞🅡🅓🄸🄿🄻🅈 #1210 🌟 Length Score: 100% 💫 Rare long word found! 🚀 Letter Score: 54 🔗 Play Wordiply: www.wordiply.com 🎬 Today's starter: 🄾🅆🄴🅁 Yup, still a smartypants!

I've completed Guardian Cryptic Crossword 29980 in 9 mins and 31 secs. Under 10 minutes - Yay! Get the Andoid app here play.google.com/store/apps/d...

And the AI alt text suggests that this shows a young girl in a purple and orange dress brushing her hair. Who brushes their hair like that!

God, I hate Shopify. If I didn't check out, maybe I don’t want it - so stick your 'friendly' reminders where the sun don’t shine. And the inability to stop spam from retailers using shopify addresses is a pain. As well as the fact Shopify mangles my address. Grumpy Monday it is, then!

I've completed Guardian Cryptic Crossword 29979 in 20 mins and 38 secs. Get the Andoid app here play.google.com/store/apps/d...

🅦🅞🅡🅓🄸🄿🄻🅈 #1208 🌟 Length Score: 100% 💫 Rare long word found! 🚀 Letter Score: 84 🔗 Play Wordiply: www.wordiply.com 🎬 Today's starter: 🄻🄸🅂 My rare long word was 34 LETTERS, may longer than the 20 letters of the common words. (I'm far from common...) Thank the Lord for Disney, eh?

Yes, I've been very productive this morning. Connections Puzzle #1036 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 Strands #770 “Get ready!” 🔵🔵🟡🔵 🔵🔵🔵🔵 Wordle 1,758 4/6 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

The suggested alternative text for this - perhaps developed by AI - is 'a man in a green shirt sits on a couch eating food'. I beg to differ. Alt text is important, so please check it because sometimes it's rubbish.

I was looking forward to 'The Gondoliers' at Hackney Empire tonight. Signalling at Thameslink has other ideas - no trains "for at least a couple of hours". I'm cheesed off (obviously) but it’s not the worst that could happen. 1/2

Trains are disrupted again because of a trespasser. Was this always an issue or do we/I only notice this because of apps and social media?

TFW: the publicity tells you the show will be 1 hr 45 m (including interval - why does 'Pagliacci' need an interval!) but it turns out it will be 2 hr 45 m. I'm officially not in a good mood - no refection on the show.

I've completed Guardian Cryptic Crossword 29977 in 22 mins and 17 secs. A new (to me) compiler - and I got there (eventually). Get the Andoid app here play.google.com/store/apps/d...

Yes, I'm still a Smarty-pants. (As if you didn’t know already!)