Peter Rhodes on a fiendish quiz, a pricey snack and why the hostages could be held for years

If you earn the minimum wage and didn't get a rise this week under the Living Wage Foundation scheme, you're still on £10.42 an hour. To put this in perspective, my bill at an English Heritage cafe this week for a hot chocolate, a brownie and a tiny slice of apple pie was £9.65. In other words it takes almost an hour of minimum - wage hard work to pay for one small snack. Some heritage.

I mentioned recently that I had never ordered a burger in McDonald's. This so inflamed one reader that he/she declared: “I know a few others who have never eaten a burger at McDonald's, they are all right-wing snobs.” Maybe. But at least they're not angry.

The vast web of tunnels excavated by Hamas beneath Gaza reminds me of the Tunnels of Cu Chi, the most claustrophobic place I've ever been. Hiding in 200 miles of tunnels near Saigon, Viet Cong guerillas caused havoc among US troops. Cu Chi was a formidable base but the US eventually destroyed it simply by carpet-bombing. There's no doubt that Israel's “bunker-buster” bombs could do the same in Gaza in a few hours, were it not for the hostages. Which is why Israel, after its first rage, must now be contemplating a stalemate with those poor hostages held for months, or even years.

I'm convinced that the chief purpose of Victoria Coren Mitchell's quiz, Only Connect (BB2) is to make one feel stupid in one's own home. Now in its 19th series it has reached the fiendish stage where winning can hang on a single chapter from a book you've never read by an author you've never heard of. If this is general knowledge, I'm Bamber Gascoigne.

Oh, pish and tush to those of you who questioned my tale of a couple at Birmingham Airport who, being first timers, kept their suitcases with them until they reached the aircraft. I should have explained that this happened some time ago. The Dragon Rapide was simply packed.