{"title":"Sandy Balfour","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the captivating works of Sandy Balfour, where insightful narratives meet compelling storytelling. Perfect for readers seeking thought-provoking journeys, explore Balfour's collection and discover your next great read.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"pretty-girl-in-crimson-rose-book-sandy-balfour-9781843540366","title":"Pretty Girl In Crimson Rose","description":"Half a million people a day do it in the Telegraph. The Times claims almost as many, and the Guardian 300,000. Most people remember their first time, and everyone has a favourite. You can do it in bed, standing up, or on a train. You can do it alone, with a loved one or in groups. The Queen does it in the bath. It is not illegal, immoral or fattening. In fact it tops the Home Office list of approved entertainments for prison inmates.  Crosswords are a very British obsession.Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose (8) is a personal reminiscence and a guide to solving crossword puzzles. But it is much, much more than a 'how-to' book. Each chapter is starts with a clue, and uses anecdote, history and autobiography to solve it, in the process describing something of what it means to love England.In the process, we encounter The Best Crossword Clue Ever, The Most Beautiful Clue in the World ('Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose' (8) )) and the eccentric personalities behind such legendary compilers as the Guardian's Araucaria and The Times'Ximenes.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49508317659409,"sku":"GOR001729024","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49549716750609,"sku":"GOR003025314","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53132212928785,"sku":"GOR011131335","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1843540363.jpg?v=1751423890"},{"product_id":"pretty-girl-in-crimson-rose-book-sandy-balfour-9781843540892","title":"Pretty Girl In Crimson Rose","description":"Half a million people a day do it in the Telegraph. The Times claims almost as many, and the Guardian 300,000. Most people remember their first time, and everyone has a favourite. You can do it in bed, standing up, or on a train. You can do it alone, with a loved one or in groups. The Queen does it in the bath. It is not illegal, immoral or fattening. In fact it tops the Home Office list of approved entertainments for prison inmates. Crosswords are a very British obsession.  Crosswords are a very British obsession. Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose is a personal reminiscence and a guide to solving crossword puzzles. But it is much, much more than a 'how-to' book. Each chapter is starts with a clue, and uses anecdote, history and autobiography to solve it, in the process describing something of what it means to love England. In the process, we encounter The Best Crossword Clue Ever, The Most Beautiful Clue in the World 'Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose' and the eccentric personalities behind such legendary compilers as the Guardian's Araucaria and The Times'Ximenes.  Reviews for Pretty Girl In Crimson Rose  'An extraordinary memoir... a positive page turner... A mesh of journeys and destinations, politics and romance, it touches what is beyond words.' Sophie Ratcliffe, The Times  'You don't have to be a crossword nut to appreciate Sandy Balfour's tremendously beguiling Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose (8).' John Walsh, Independent  'A little gem of a memoir... The book adds up to more than a sum of its parts and lingers in the memory long after the final page' Val Gilbert, Sunday Telegraph  'Charming, knowledgeable and gripping' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian  'A touching tribute to his partner... you close it feeling you have encountered a modest man of humour, compassion and common sense, who wears his wisdom lightly' Economist  'A real charmer... this reviewer's verdict on Balfour's book: Touching success when foils clash at Elsinore (1,8,3) - A PALPABLE HIT' Kevin Jackson, Spectator  'A book to make writers curse themselves for not having thought of the idea first, but to make readers hug themselves that Sandy Balfour did. A delight' Alan Coren'Sandy Balfour's memoir Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose (8) is like a great crossword clue - I couldn't put it down until I'd worked it out.' Clive James","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49520010264849,"sku":"GOR000854838","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49733548736785,"sku":"NGR9781843540892","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50392634425617,"sku":"CIN1843540894G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51336590590225,"sku":"GOR001203944","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53559811047697,"sku":"GOR004103349","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1843540894.jpg?v=1751420245"},{"product_id":"vulnerable-in-hearts-book-sandy-balfour-9781843543657","title":"Vulnerable in Hearts","description":"Sandy Balfour's father and the game of Contract Bridge were both conceived in 1925. Vulnerable in Hearts spans the eight decades of Tom Balfour's life and the same period in the epic story of Bridge's spread around the world. Sandy Balfour's poignant and beguiling book traces both journeys to explore the relationships between a game and an empire (and the rules that supported it); and a father and a son. Part memoir, part history, part entertainment, Vulnerable in Hearts is a meditation on how we communicate; why we play games; and the ways in which we love.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49557887516945,"sku":"GOR002717973","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49645019627793,"sku":"GOR005661959","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51472046784785,"sku":"GOR011768719","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1843543656.jpg?v=1750962972"},{"product_id":"vulnerable-in-hearts-book-sandy-balfour-9781843543664","title":"Vulnerable in Hearts","description":"Part memoir, part history, part entertainment, Vulnerable in Hearts is a meditation on how we communicate; why we play games; and the ways in which we love.  Sandy Balfour's father and the game of contract bridge were both conceived in 1925. Vulnerable in Hearts spans the eight decades of Tom Balfour's life and the same period in the epic story of bridge's spread around the world. Sandy Balfour's poignant and beguiling book traces both journeys to explore the relationships between a game and an empire (and the rules that supported it); and a father and a son.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49568979419409,"sku":"GOR001759113","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49633433616657,"sku":"GOR012661667","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50887882342673,"sku":"GOR004484741","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1843543664.jpg?v=1751313149"},{"product_id":"clue-to-our-lives-book-sandy-balfour-9780852651063","title":"A Clue to Our Lives","description":"Starting with the first \"Guardian\" crossword in 1929, this book contains a selection of puzzles from the last 80 years of the \"Guardian\" newspaper including reader correspondence plus fascinating coverage of the setters themselves. This is a new book from the author of \"Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose\". This is a cryptic social history that reveals how world events have been reflected in the clues of the \"Guardian\" cryptic crossword since 1929. The result is both a humorous and affectionate telling of the twin stories of the paper and its puzzles, its setters and its solvers, its tempora and its mores.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49586659164433,"sku":"GOR001432345","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50817624801553,"sku":"GOR001502911","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52153152078097,"sku":"GOR011952501","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52821383184657,"sku":"GOR014629219","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0852651066.jpg?v=1751044807"},{"product_id":"what-i-love-about-cricket-book-sandy-balfour-9780091927318","title":"What I Love About Cricket","description":"The author and the skateboarding Boy Wonder are from different universes, but when a broken ankle scupper's the boy's holiday plans he reticently agrees to accompany the author to Lord's. After a rain-interrupted start to their relationship things begin to click and slowly but surely cricket creeps into their shared summer.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49591366942993,"sku":"GOR001188602","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49652165640465,"sku":"GOR003405341","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0091927315.jpg?v=1751425546"},{"product_id":"pretty-girl-in-crimson-rose-8-book-sandy-balfour-9781585421985","title":"Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose (8)","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49601774584081,"sku":"GOR004772694","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50383490875665,"sku":"CIN1585421987VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50393024135441,"sku":"CIN1585421987G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1585421987.jpg?v=1751310141"},{"product_id":"i-say-nothing-3-book-sandy-balfour-9781843545170","title":"I Say Nothing (3)","description":"This delightful book explores the world of the cryptic crossword clue, a place where nothing is quite as it seems. From reflections on his children's musical tastes (might ABBA be an Old Testament citation?) to veiled digs at Labour's foreign policy ('What could be subtler during search for weapon!' 7, 4), each of Sandy Balfour's perfectly proportioned essays is a joyful investigation of these devilishly difficult puzzles and the life they punctuate.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49634863087889,"sku":"GOR001746728","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1843545179.jpg?v=1751442978"},{"product_id":"vulnerable-in-hearts-book-sandy-balfour-9780374285722","title":"Vulnerable in Hearts","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50269033955601,"sku":"CIN0374285721VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51747155378449,"sku":"CIN0374285721G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0374285721.jpg?v=1751196901"},{"product_id":"nursing-america-book-sandy-balfour-9781585422814","title":"Nursing America","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53434649641233,"sku":"CIN1585422819G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781585422814.jpg?v=1776535279"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-sandy-balfour.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}