Sevenns

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Yes. It is spelled like that (for this, anyway).

It’s a new puzzle game that was shared on Reddit, and when people said that they like the format, the author revealed that he’s made an app for it.

Here are the IOS and Android links:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/sevenns/id6502391025

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.CommuterGamesLimited.sevennsTheGame&pcampaignid=web_share

The puzzle itself is like a three way Venn diagram, with three ellipses forming seven separate regions. Each ellipse has a clue, and there are seven different two-letter tiles to put into each ellipse to make a word relating to the clues on the ellipses.

Sounds complicated, but it’s not really. Here’s an example:

For this one, the answers are DE CI MA TE, HO MO CI DE & MO DE RA TE.

The DE tile is shared by all three words, so it goes in the middle.
CI is in homoCIde and deCImate, so it goes bottom left. MO is shared by hoMOcide and MOderate, so bottom right, and DE goes top middle because it’s in DEcimate and moDErate.
Fill in the gaps with MA on the left, RA on the right, and HO at the bottom and Robert is your Aunt’s hubby.

You’re a bright sort. You see how it works.

I’d love to show you the finished article, but the app is occasionally a bit buggy and wouldn’t let me take a screenshot.

But it is a lot of fun. Add this to some Geoguessr and a bit of Puzzgrid, and you are sorted for brainteasers for at least a while; maybe even some time.

That’s it.

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That’s it. After that result at Wembley, obviously, I’m giving up on football.

Aside from the La Liga stuff I watched yesterday after the playoff game.
And the DfB Pokal final last night.

But that really is it.

Well, I did just watch the Girona v Atletico Madrid game.
And I will be watching several (or more) Premier League games this evening after some Villareal v Sevilla.

And then maybe the Bilbao game at 9 tonight.

And that will be that.

OK, maybe the UEFA finals on Wednesday and Saturday.
That’s just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.

And then perhaps the FIFA Club World Cup, just because you can’t go full cold turkey. That’s dangerous.

And maybe some more English football after that, because there will be a new season to watch.

But then that’s it. I’ve learned my lesson.

Possibly.

All for nothing?

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No matter who wins this afternoon’s little matchup in North London, it’s going to be a massive struggle for them to stay in the Premier League next season. The last six clubs promoted to the top flight have come straight back down, and between them, scored a record number of points. And not a record number in a good way.

Why is this? Well, the gulf between the two leagues has always been opening up, but it seems that soon after Covid, it widened into a chasm of epic proportions. And if you were in there when this happened, you now seem to have some sort of protection against relegation.

So suddenly, you have the likes of Bournemouth, Fulham, Brentford and Brighton battling it out for European places. And no offence to those clubs, but they’re not exactly historically the biggest teams. But they were in the mix when it counted and now they are the new biggest teams.

Of course, 95% of it comes down to money. Plucky performances and passionate support can only do so much. And how on earth are Championship cubs meant to compete when there’s this level of financial disparity?

When you don’t have European football, and when you don’t have an assured place in the Premier League, you simply can’t attract big players. And the double whammy is that the opposition can.
And thanks to English teams performing way above the average in the European competitions this year, there could be as many as 10 of the 17 existing teams in the Premier League playing in Europe next year. Six of them will be in the top tier on the chart below, another four in that second tier.

There’s a lot of money splashing around for the other clubs when you aren’t in those top two bands.

Spurs and ManU might have had absolutely awful seasons this time around, but they were still miles clear of the relegation places. There’s just no competition anymore when it comes to going down. And while that might be a very comfortable position for the established clubs, it will slowly(?) kill the league.

Of course, I hope we go up this afternoon. We have played brilliantly all season and we deserve to celebrate with something to show for it. But at the back of my mind (and those of dirty l**ds and Burnley fans, if they’re being honest), is the tinge of realism that next season will be a hard watch.

Still… let’s deal with that if and when we have to.
COME ON YOU RED AND WHITE WIZZZZZAAAAARDS!

EDIT: OK, a few days later now and that didn’t go well.
But I have just spotted this:

Which does kind of prove the point.

It’s all going off on the Manx border

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I’ve said before that there’s a whole different pace of life on the Isle of Man. And that’s a good thing. All too often in this world, we’re rushed and stressed and pressured, and so I think that preserving that more gentle way of life in places like the IOM (and maybe , more locally, like Cape Agulhas, too) is hugely important to preserve.

But while there might be weapons and methamphetamine seized all over Cape Town, over on the Manx border, it seems that there have also been some heinous developments.

11 packets, you say? Unbrielievable. And not grate for the owner who was from continental Europe. And who tried to import meat as well: a deli-cate matter, but really a wurst käse scenario for him. Clearly, there was no whey they were letting it through. And when he asked for it back and was told “no, it’s nacho cheese anymore”. No wonder he went a bit emmental. He was lucky that they chose not to Prosciutto him.

But of course, there is a serious side to this. These products are illegal to import for a reason – to protect the island from also inadvertently importing Foot and Mouth Disease. And if confiscating 800g of cheese and 5kg of ham (what sort of charcuterie ratio is that, by the way?!?) stops the virus from getting in, it’s got to be worth it.

Not worried

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We should all be worried about just how much the internet and the things on the internet know about us.

Or should we?

No. Just relax, because the internet and the things on the internet clearly know next to nothing about us. Here are a few adverts and things that I was presented with just yesterday. Honestly, why are these companies wasting my time and their money by showing me stuff like… well… this?

Yeah. I’m the world biggest Manchester United fan. I never stop talking about them and my love for all things Old Traffordesque. Of course I’ll head out to a ManU bar to watch them play.
What an absolute waste of pixels.

Oh, and in answer to the question at the bottom there: no. lol.

Then there was this. No need.

I’m literally incredulous at this point. I have never shopped at Temu, I have never weighed 160kg (or even close, thank you very much), high waist really doesn’t complement my shape, and I clearly don’t understand the meaning of the word “elegant”.

I have so many questions.
What are they thinking? Is this a novelty item? Why would I be interested? And – although I really don’t want to ask this one – what actually is the fabric on the arse bit of these thundergrunties? It looks like the industrial-strength plastic they use to waterproof heavy loads on long-distance trucks.

Oh. Oh. Maybe it is. Right. [grimace]

Let’s move on: Garmin. GARMIN! Who (should) know EVERYTHING about me (including that I am nowhere near 160kg) given the data I supply them with. Garmin decides to show me this:

Wut? Are you absolutely nuts? Given that I don’t cycle and I don’t swim, this really is a stretch. For some reason, Garmin thinks that I might want to increase my average run distance by [several], then take up those two other activities and do them as well. I don’t like water or wheels.
Truth be told, I’m not even that keen on running.

Maybe Garmin is trying to kill me because I didn’t sign up for their $6 a month, AI-powered, kak package.

But hey, all of this has put my mind at rest.
Clearly, we think that Big Brother knows an awful lot more about us than it actually does.

It/He/The Collective know nothing.