Boarding a BCN bound flight yesterday, the Purser clocked eyes on the novel I was carrying and jokingly pointed out to me that "The Da Vinci Code" is no longer de rigueur - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is now the book to be seen with. Couldn't argue with that - my 400th edition paperback copy of TDVC has been languishing on the book shelf for over a year now.

Anyway, he popped back later for a chat, just as I was finishing the Telegraph Quick Crossword (I know, I'm such a lightweight ) I started in the lounge and asked me if I was into Sudoku puzzles. I had to confess I wasn't familiar with them. He returned with a copy of the Guardian and got me started on one. I have to say they're not easy - complete mangled up the first attempt but during the three and a half hour journey back to EDI I got pretty close to finishing the Telegraph one. Using a pencil with eraser top helped

Anyway, I've still to figure out why I've been wilting in the wilderness all this time but now that I've been introduced to this phenomena I've noticed they're everywhere.