Life
2523: Monstrous regiment
The unclued Across lights are of a kind when preceded by one word, as are the unclued Down lights (one…
Puzzle no. 670
White to play. Harvey–Roberson, Northumbria Masters 2021. Black’s last move, 37…Kf7-e7 looked plausible, but walked into a clever tactic. What…
French connection: how to make cherry clafoutis
My daydreams at the moment follow a predictable theme. I am on holiday somewhere balmy, with a carafe of cold…
Titles bonanza
At the beginning of August, seeing his outstanding performance at the Fide World Cup in Sochi, I wrote that Ravi…
Aussie Life
As a child in Budapest, I heard my grandfather tell the family around the Sunday lunch table to beware the…
Aussie Language
You’ve often come across the charge that ABC news and current affairs programs are being made by ‘activists’ rather than…
My literary heroes have led me astray
Gstaad Good manners aside, what I miss nowadays is a new, intelligent, finely acted movie. Never have I seen…
The importance of second chances
A Sandown Saturday proved the perfect send-off for 12 raceless days on the otherwise wonderful Isle of Mull. A Frankie…
Was I the picture of evil incarnate?
Not long after Catriona and I first met, her husband painted my head and shoulders portrait in oils as I…
Bridge | 4 September 2021
It’s not often that bridge makes headlines, but last week something extraordinary happened. At the online European Qualifier for the…
You need to be a millionaire to move to Wales
We began searching for the farm of our dreams in Wales as we planned our escape from Surrey. The problem…
The Battle for Britain | 04 September 2021
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Why Gove’s night on the dance floor is good news
I was pleased to see pictures of Michael Gove at a nightclub in Aberdeen last weekend. According to press reports,…
The absurdity of tennis players’ toilet breaks
Forgive the personal question, but how long does it take you to, you know, go to the gents, ladies, non-binary?…
Dear Mary: How do we get our friends to pay for the carpet they ruined?
Q. We have had some rather rich Argentines to stay. No one was able to come in to help before…
Scarface’s lair with nibbles: Louie reviewed
A French creole restaurant rises in the sullen ruins of London. It is called Louie, for French king or trumpeter,…
How Shakespeare became ‘problematic’
‘This crossword is problematic!’ exclaimed my husband, tossing aside the folded newspaper marked with a ring where his whisky glass…
Best-laid plans
A popular conceit among chess authors, particularly dead ones, is to describe a fine game as the execution of a…
Spectator competition winners: the Mona Lisa has her say
In Competition No. 3214, you were invited to choose a well-known painted portrait and let the subject speak for itself,…
2519: Not so up-to-date - solution
The unclued lights can all be preceded by OLD which is the clued solution at 49 Across. ‘Crocks’ at 5…
Puzzle no. 669
White to play. Swiercz–Xiong, Sinquefield Cup 2021. 1 Kxb2 allows a perpetual check. But forcing an exchange of queens would…
2522: A trifle
The unclued lights (one hyphened) have nothing in common. Across 4Author Henry’s daughter perhaps (not a son) making a…
Aussie Life
We now know that Boris Johnson’s initial reluctance to impose Covid containment regulations was prompted by a confidential January 2020…
Aussie Language
TV host Paul Murray spoke on Sky News Australia about the role the word ‘misinformation’ is currently playing in the…
No. 668
Black to play. Geller–Sveshnikov, USSR Ch 1978. Geller’s last move, 34 Rb1-e1 looked clever, since Black cannot safely capture the…
