Q. What is the best seating plan when you have a supper party where you are hoping to matchmake two of the single guests? If you put them next to each other, everyone will stare to see how they are getting on. Or is it better, when you move everyone next door, to have coffee and then say ‘Who hasn’t talked to who?’, and put them together then?
-— A.E., Pewsey
A. It is risky to wait till after supper. Smug marrieds may want to head to bed all too soon and if the crowd thins too much, the singletons may not have enough time to bond before they feel pressured to leave as well. However, just as in speed-dating, physical proximity, rather than conversation, will be the key determinant of whether or not they fancy each other.
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