Little Hawk,

My favourite cryptic crossword clue is: "She, too great for words, can never get pregnant". The answer is "ineffable".

Is this what you meant when you said: "My condolences to all who have suffered miserably in the search for the ineffable rewards of romance!"

I guess disastrous dates usually are ineffable, in both senses of the word.

This is my favourite encounter when I briefly tried the dating agency method of meeting men, about a decade ago. The man was totally unmatched to my preferences, but was very nice, soft spoken, seemed genuine. I was making conversation, and because I worked in the library at the time I asked him if he read much.

He stopped dead in his tracks, looked into the distance for a considerably long pause, and then his face brightened up, like a light had been switched on. He said: "I read a book once! It was a motoring magazine!"

We went on with the date for form's sake, but I let him down as gently as possible when I told him I didn't think that we had a lot in common.

Helen