Life
Aussie Language
A new study by researchers at the University of Western Australia shows that the most trusted accent in Australia is…
The Battle for Britain | 9 October 2021
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Who let the dog out?
Caroline and I are just back from a weekend break in Scotland and, nice though it was, I hadn’t realised…
What exactly is the ‘festive season’?
‘Here you are, darling,’ I said to my husband. ‘These lines might have been written for you: “Drinke, quaffe, be…
I’d pick the Vero Beach retirement home for old ladies over Annabel’s
Around 20 or so years ago I had a point for match point on a perfect grass court at Fort…
The downfall of the French middle class
The chesty Corsican taxi driver was giving me his earnest appraisal of the way things were headed in France politically.…
The case for dodging cracks in the pavement
It is interesting to consider what would have happened if the Covid virus had emerged in 1921. Or 1821. Or…
No. 674
White to play. Mamedyarov–Artemiev, MeltwaterChampions Final 2021. Black’s last move, was Ra8-a4, attacking the pawn on g4. But it allowed…
Bridge | 9 October 2021
One of my favourite Bridge proverbs is ‘Play the card you’re known to hold’. It doesn’t mean we should blithely…
2527: The main dilemma
Three unclued lights together form an eight-word question from a well-known song. The song’s protagonist suggests the other five unclued…
2524: Spelean II - solution
The quotation is ‘I DO WISH THOU WERT A [dog] THAT I MIGHT LOVE THEE SOMETHING’. The honest servant is…
Clerihews on scientists
In Competition No. 3219, you were invited to supply clerihews on well-known scientists, past and present. The subject of the…
Chess sets
Since tennis matches are decided in sets, they are sometimes won by the player who has won fewer games. For…
Dear Mary: Should I pay to charge my electric car at a friend’s house?
Q. An acquaintance suggested organising a celebratory dinner in honour of some mutual friends. He asked my husband and me,…
In defence of panic buying
The filling station on the road out of the village was like a scene from Mad Max. People were all…
Is this Greece’s finest wine since Homer strummed his lyre?
We were in deepest Dorset, l’Angleterre profonde. The weather was also typically English: inundations followed by counter-attacks from the Indian…
Kiwi Life
A crisis by design It is increasingly sad, so many New Zealanders saying they would leave – if they could…
Kiwi Language
A tech company claims that anti-vax and anti-lockdown rallies have been ‘astroturfed’. Which means? Well, ‘AstroTurf’ was the world’s first…
In praise of bots
British Gas finally agreed to service my boiler, for no reason I could make out other than the boiler wasn’t…
I miss life before Big Tech
Do any of you remember the time when everything took place on the terraces and in outdoor cafés? Before everyone…
Bridge | 02 October 2021
Online bridge has been a lifeline for many players these past 18 months. But not everyone wanted to try it.…
The making of a racehorse trainer
My best fun, through ten years reporting European politics for CNN, was bumping around the Continent with sparky young producers…
The Manx Liberty Masters
I sat on the plane to the Isle of Man, leafing through a copy of Nigel Short’s new book, Winning.…
Spectator competitions winners: W.S. Gilbert makes a ham sandwich
In Competition No. 3218, you were invited to supply a recipe as it might have been written by the author…
2526: Everybody out!
The unclued lights (individually or as two pairs), one of three words and three of two words, can be preceded…
