iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Henri @henriwords.com · 26/09/2026

Saluti dall'Italia 🇮🇹

Three shadows - man, dog, woman - on a coastal path in Italy

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Henri @henriwords.com · 25/09/2026

His MyC pseudonym makes me think of this meme 😆 (btw it’s an excellent puzzle, I tested it)

Two-pane cartoon:
1. Man full of pent-up anger folding arms tightly
2. Man throwing arms in air shouting “I GUESS”

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Henri @henriwords.com · 24/09/2026

Facebook Memories (aka Social Media Radio 2) just reminded me of my favourite typo:

A takeaway menu with an unfortunate typo:

BENGAL CITY

Take Away
Menu
BENGAL CITY
65 Great Titchfield Street
London WIP 7FL
Telephone: 020 7636 5618
10% Discocunt for Orders over £10.00

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Henri @henriwords.com · 20/09/2026

Tangentially related, I occasionally challenge myself to find the letters A-Z (hard mode: in order) in a single walk…

A grid of 26 square black-and-white photos each depicting a letter of the alphabet in order, formed of things found in public

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Henri @henriwords.com · 13/09/2026

Your occasional reminder not to get definitions 1 and 5 confused:

dildo /dil'dõ/
noun (p/ dil'dos or dil'does)
1. An object serving as an erect penis substitute, esp used as a sex toy (also dil' doe)
2. A word used in refrains of songs (obsolete)
3. A weak or effeminate man (obsolete)
4. A cylindrical curl
5. A West Indian spiny cactus (Lemaireocereus hystrix)

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Henri @henriwords.com · 11/09/2026

For boring logistical reasons I have only just got my mitts on issue 4 of Unch but my goodness it is a beauty 😍 big thanks to the Unch Bunch and especially designer extraordinaire @dnatkinson.bsky.social

A Bedlington Terrier called Henry laying in a red dog bed with a copy of Unch crossword magazine issue 4

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Henri @henriwords.com · 07/09/2026

I’m also very giddy about the fact that it is an actual printed thing in a newspaper made of atoms, not just 0s and 1s inside a computer 🤯

A crop of the Times Quick Cryptic crossword for Monday 7th September 2026, puzzle No. 3400 by Jaspa (that’s ME!)

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Henri @henriwords.com · 07/09/2026

Beyond delighted to make my #cryptic #crossword setting debut in the Times Quick Cryptic as Jaspa today! Hope you enjoy it ☺️ #AchievementUnlocked

THE TIMES
Monday, 07 September 2026
Times Quick Cryptic No 3400 by Jaspa

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Henri @henriwords.com · 29/08/2026

What looks like a mistake in today’s Guardian Prize Crossword is actually rather clever/cheeky…

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Henri @henriwords.com · 26/08/2026

A big thank you to anyone who liked, reposted, solved, commented on or in any way appreciated this crossword. Dolly was an absolute force of nature who positively changed the world in ways very few individuals can claim. The puzzle was but a tiny tribute to a giant… ❤️ Be More Dolly! ❤️

IF YOU SEE SOMEONE WITHOUT A SMILE, GIVE THEM ONE OF YOURS

-DOLLY PARTON

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Henri @henriwords.com · 24/08/2026

No cheating, post your lock screen (I am not bored of these “no cheating” challenges. Yet)

ABBA in vertical formation, top to bottom: Bjorn, Benny, Anni-Frid, Agnetha (OK so that’s BBAA but whatever).

They are halo-lit against a pitch-black background. Agnetha is staring at you.

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Henri @henriwords.com · 24/08/2026

No cheating. Post the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.

Luma Tower in Arles, France, framed by an almost cloudless blue sky

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Henri @henriwords.com · 20/08/2026

I should NOT have started with @adamlp.bsky.social, his mind is just too, too ‘special’ 🙃

Cropped photo of a crossword puzzle with a margin note “ffs ALP!”

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Henri @henriwords.com · 20/08/2026

Long train journey + enough elapsed time for me to have forgotten all the answers from having done the solutions website = time to tackle Unch Issue 2 😃 Belated comments on puzzles may follow…

A copy of Unch crossword magazine Issue 2 (January 2026) on a blue train table. And a pen.

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Henri @henriwords.com · 19/08/2026

In today’s FT crossword by IO… I feel seen, @enigmatistelgar.bsky.social, but OK 😜

A clue from today’s Financial Times crossword by IO:

6
Henri edited tortuous clue, what Morse needed to think about entering (8-7)

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Henri @henriwords.com · 19/08/2026

As a bonus it reminded me of this classic piece of documentary television:

Philomena Cunk standing in the right testicle of the Cerne Abbas Giant, with the subtitle “As a result, this site at Cerne Abbas became the second crudest hill in British history, after Benny.”

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Henri @henriwords.com · 17/08/2026

Aaah your Oona looks a lot like our last Cavalier (Jasper) who we sadly had to say goodbye to a few months ago. Such a lovely breed 🐶🥰

A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel looking happy

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Henri @henriwords.com · 14/08/2026

The French alert system options are interesting… how does the ‘Kidnapping’ work exactly? 🤔

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Henri @henriwords.com · 11/08/2026

Amusingly, you’re absolutely right! 🎩

Screenshot from DeepL translation app:

Verbicruciste [French]

Crossword Puzzle Maker [English]

Screenshot from DeepL translation app:

Cruciverbiste [French]

Crossword enthusiast [English]

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Henri @henriwords.com · 11/08/2026

Today I learned the French word for a crossword setter and it pleases me enormously

Some French text introducing a crossword puzzle, with the word « verbicruciste » highlighted

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Henri @henriwords.com · 09/08/2026

Celebrating 10 years of my all-time best/worst autocorrect:

Facebook screenshot:

On this day
10 years ago
Rob Townsend
9 August 2016

Narrowly avoided an autocorrect incident - noticed just before I hit the post button that 'umming and aahing' had become 'bumming and aching'

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Henri @henriwords.com · 30/07/2026

The ratio of Page Views vs Completed Solves on this puzzle is hilarious 🤣

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Henri @henriwords.com · 26/07/2026

Always makes me think of this:

A rail replacement bus with its front display reading CHOO CHOO, I’M A TRAIN!

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Henri @henriwords.com · 26/07/2026

It just occurred to me that I’ve been setting crosswords for four years now (it was actually earlier this month but I’ve only just thought to check). I dug out the original inspiration: an interview between @alanconnor.bsky.social and @mycrossword.co.uk … and was amused to read my own comment 😆

mr_rob_t
4 Jul 2022 20.58
Guardian Pick

What a site! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Now I really want to have a go at setting one...

mr_rob_t→ mr_rob_t
It's harder than it looks, isn't it?

(and I thought it looked really quite hard in the first place)

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Henri @henriwords.com · 25/07/2026

QUIZ! Clearing out a late relative’s loft, we found a coaster set based on a 1982 ad campaign for sandwich paste (“Top of the Pots”) taking off pop acts of the time. Can you (a) guess who they’re supposed to be and (b) for a million bonus points, guess the pastiche artist names given in the ads? 😁

Promotional drinks coaster from a 1982 TV ad campaign for Shippams Sandwich Paste

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Henri @henriwords.com · 22/07/2026

Oh lordy, I’ve been such a plonker…

Nicholas Lyndhurst as Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses

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Henri @henriwords.com · 08/07/2026

It’s not often a Chancellor of the Exchequer makes me laugh quite so much 😆

Screenshot from The Guardian:

Reeves to approve Farage's resignation, saying 'if he wants to spend summer arguing with a bin, I won't stop him'

UK politics live
Chancellor set to ignore Ed Davey's request to block Reform leader's resignation until standards inquiry concludes

And photos of Count Binface and Nigel Farage

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Henri @henriwords.com · 02/07/2026

This optical illusion has proper twisted my melon 🤯 The tabletops are the same size and shape 🤯 (video proof in reply)

A drawing of two tables, one (apparently) long and thin and the other (apparently) almost square

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Henri @henriwords.com · 28/06/2026

On the occasion of Mel Brooks’ 100th birthday, please enjoy this crossword I started but never got around to finishing

An unfinished crossword with entries: SILENT, MOVIE, PRODUCERS, BLAZING, SADDLES, YOUNG, FRANKENSTEIN, SPACE BALLS, MEL and BROOKS

030

Henri @henriwords.com · 17/06/2026

Today I learned that Harry Enfield is mentioned in Chambers Dictionary 🤯

A screenshot from Chambers Dictionary:

loadsamoney
loadsa-/lod-za-/ (slang)
combining form
Representing loads of, chiefly in (and originating as a back-formation from) load'samoney, (a person loaded with) wealth accumulated as a result of the economic boom of the 1980s
ORIGIN: Loadsamoney, grotesque character invented by comedian Harry Enfield

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Henri @henriwords.com · 16/06/2026

Hey #cryptic #crossword people [and in particular those familiar with / reasonably competent at the barred thematic format]… I seek a volunteer to test solve my proposed next HenriWords subscriber puzzle Here’s a picture of it, in case that helps 😆 DM me if you’re interested 📥

A barred crossword puzzle grid, currently empty apart from clue numbers in 39 squares

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Henri @henriwords.com · 14/06/2026

Excellent! I also love little zines 😁 a few years ago I made a monthly TinyZine™ of photos I’d taken that month 😁 I should do that again…

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Henri @henriwords.com · 10/06/2026

We don't usually see each other's headers. Here's mine. Quote post with yours.

A crop of a still from Jean-Luc Godard’s “Vivre Sa Vie" (1962) with Anna Karina, with the English subtitle “You only have to take an interest in things, see their beauty.”

010

Henri @henriwords.com · 03/06/2026

Facebook Memories (aka Social Media Radio 2) tells me that 14 years ago today I saw a young English couple playing Travel Scrabble™ between courses in a restaurant in Nice Full details in ALT text I guess you could say they were… (wait for it) enjoying “a night on the tiles”? 😆 *satisfied sigh*

It is a warm early summer evening in 2012 on Cours Saleya in the old town in Nice, France. A young couple dines at an outdoor restaurant, although the man is mostly out of shot. They are playing Travel Scrabble™ while they wait for their main courses to arrive. It is the woman’s turn. She holds the tile-holder (is there an official term for that? I don’t know) in her left hand and pensively peruses the letters. Her right index finger rests at the side of her chin in a classic ‘hmmmm…’ gesture. I do not know who won the game.

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Henri @henriwords.com · 21/05/2026

OK let’s see who got the smallest payout, I’ll go next (I think it’s about 13p)

Eyeem Mobile GmbH has sent you $0.17 USD.

020