Life
My existential crisis was straight out the terrible twos’ playbook
Early on St Valentines Day I walked down to the car park where the raindrops were knocking off the young…
The young trainer Sam Drinkwater is one to watch
Certain sections of the media love to run a knocking story and when champion trainer Paul Nicholls’s horses failed to…
Insurance is like a toxic love affair
‘Do you have any questions?’ said the man at the insurance company after an hour of me trying to take…
Contemplating loss
Contemplating a lost position is a bit like having sauce down your shirt. It is annoying in itself, but worse,…
The perils of a sex party
Gstaad I cross-country ski the old-fashioned way, not skating but on machine-made narrow tracks. It is known to be the…
Bridge | 19 February 2022
A couple of weeks ago, just as I’d begun to think that if I hadn’t got Covid by now I…
The Battle for Britain | 19 February 2022
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2540: Recycling components - solution
Unclued lights (PLAY, WITH, HOLD, DOWN) comprise components for the unclued cyclic sequence PLAY WITH, WITHHOLD, HOLD DOWN and DOWNPLAY.…
Aussie Life
You’ve possibly heard of a ghastly woman called Patrisse Cullors. Her chief claim to fame is that she founded that…
Aussie Language
I have coined a potentially useful new expression: comatose bias. We are told that one of the great problems in…
The battle of the sexes
One tradition at the annual Gibraltar Masters is a high-spirited skittles match played in the evening between teams of men…
Pass on Piggy’s, head to Hide: central London breakfasts reviewed
The centre could not hold, at least for Piggy’s. The drama of being the only greasy spoon in the West…
Mason Greenwood and football’s obsession with prodigies
Well, there’s a surprise: Nike have cancelled their sponsorship of the Manchester United and England footballer Mason Greenwood, who is…
When did ‘pikey’ become offensive?
A policeman sent a colleague who was house-sitting for him a WhatsApp message: ‘Keep the pikeys out.’ He was sacked…
2542: Wider II
Nine unclued lights (all real words) are the names of 35A with one letter misprinted. The correct letters match those…
The Battle for Britain | 12 February 2022
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I’m stuck in Surrey, get me outta here!
After most of Islington moved to Wales, it was foolish of me to think about following. But the need to…
Bridge | 12 February 2022
You may not have heard of Sue Johnson but she could be the fairy godmother bridge needs right now. Not…
2539: Wider - solution
The six unclued lights and PLAYWRIGHTS (35/26) are FETCHER/Fletcher (13), CHILLER/Schiller (22), WESTER/Webster (34), MEANDER/Menander (38), PRIESTLY/Priestley (6) and COTEAU/Cocteau…
Spectator competition winners: Gulliver’s Day Out and other literary prequels
In Competition No. 3235, you were invited to invent a prequel to a well-known work of literature and supply an…
No. 689
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Touw Hian Bwee, Schakend Nederland 1976. The first move allows…
The day Boris tried to bribe me
It’s not every day that a future prime minister offers you a bribe, but that’s what happened to me 38…
Dear Mary: How can we avoid making friends on our cruise?
Q. My partner’s work involves him seeing and talking to people all day, every day. I booked us on to…
The crazy, corrupt world of the Beijing Olympics
Gstaad OK sport fans, have you been enjoying the concentration camp Olympics? I’m sure the Uighurs in the Chinese gulag…
The healing power of medieval austerity
Eighty yards west of the high terrace where I’ve sat for three weeks recuperating is a hospice built for Napoleon’s…
