— Hot news on the leap-year proposal front. (New readers start here: two weeks ago I related the efforts of The Times crossword editors and myself to further the romantic ambitions of a lady towards her boyfriend via a “Will you marry me?” message hidden in one of the February 29 puzzles.)

Well - and this is almost better than Cilla Black on Blind Date - I can report success. The lady, who can now be revealed as Louise Savage, soon to be Mrs Simon Grace, writes: “I went ahead with your template idea, making the blank crossword into the inside page of a folded-over card, with the cover having cut-out squares so that it would reveal the message.”

It was, however, touch and go. “Hint is times2” said her card, in order to point her best beloved away from his normal fare, the cryptic puzzle. What she couldn't know was that on February 29 the times2 cover would carry a red warning triangle containing the words “Wed Alert!” and “Men! How to avoid getting engaged today”.

Still, her man got the (correct) message in the end, the answer was yes, and she's going to let me know when the big day is “so you can get some nice new shoes to match that hat”.

Smashing.

— My recent reference to books of times2 jumbo crosswords provoked Julie Jervis, of Gwynedd, to lodge a plea for books of the cryptic jumbos too.

We already do them, Ms Jervis: seven so far (all published by HarperCollins), with another out this June.

— An eloquent request from Michael Cole in Suffolk, on seeing our March 8 front-page picture caption: “My admiration for the bravery and flying skill of Flight Lieutenant Michelle Goodman, DFC, is boundless, but it was not a ‘colleague' she rescued under fire in Basra, but a comrade.

“Nearly 20 years after the disappearance of the Soviet Union, it is time to rescue this word and give comrade its proper application. Even senior officers these days have taken to calling their fellows ‘colleagues', as if they were a firm of solicitors. But there is no need for The Times to follow such a dismal lead.”

— Victor Arnold writes from Belfast: “I continue to read and enjoy much of The Times, and to be educated thereby. I note three recent examples of confusion between 'testament' and 'testimony': 'It is a testament to young people's resilience ... It is, perhaps, a testament to the top-heavy campaign that Mrs Clinton has run ... It was a testament to what could be achieved with an inner-city river.'”

Well, the great Fowler ignores the matter, but Eric Partridge's Usage and Abusage has this: “Testament, for testimony, is an occasional error caused by a misunderstanding of the two words; the former is a will, the latter ‘an attestation in support of a fact or statement' (OED). Either word, however, may mean ‘proof, evidence'.”

That muddies the waters somewhat, but on the whole it seems permissible to use it as we have.

— Howls of outrage - well, three - at last week's temporary displacement to Times Online of Questions Answered. Look, newspapers are not elastic; as I have written here before, the size of each day's issue is firmly fixed by the amount of advertising space sold in it.

When the Editor, in his infinite wisdom, then wishes The Register to carry, as it did on that day and on that page, three columns devoted to the Armed Forces Operational Awards, the section editor has some tough choices to make; something has to go. And since we know that you can please some of the people all of the time etc, there will always be a few unhappy customers, at least until their own particular favourite item is restored, and someone else's is displaced.

That's newspapers.

— Two readers, Andrew Dawson and the Rev John MacDonald Smith, posted early for Easter, provoked by the Magazine on March 1.

“What a pity that when it comes to Christianity the press never gets it right,” said the latter. “The week following March 16 is not, NOT, NOT Easter Week. It is Holy Week. Easter Week follows Easter Day.”

It's in the Style Guide, of course, and the chief revise editor sent out his annual reminder of the distinction this week, but that won't stop it recurring in the coming week. So may I offer our apologies in advance, and wish you all a very happy Holy Week.

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