Life
Jockeys suffer online abuse just like footballers
At least England’s defeat in the European Cup final has spared us the sight of Boris Johnson, who can scent…
In praise of Patmos
Patmos I’m in Patmos with four grandchildren, two children, and a wife. I know, I know, it sounds very lower–middle-class…
Spectator competition winners: W.S. Gilbert’s guide to wedded bliss
In Competition No. 3208, you were invited to submit a recipe for marital bliss on behalf of an author of…
I enjoy making a nuisance of myself for a good cause
The scaffolding pole across the public footpath led to a farcical conversation with the local council. I had been walking…
Aussie Life
When I switched on my TV last Sunday I was not at all surprised to see a three-star Australian general…
Aussie Language
‘Gain of function’ is a chilling new expression—well, new to most of us—that has entered our language as a result…
Lock-picking
In his autobiographical book Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman! the late American physicist Richard Feynman described how he amused himself…
2515: Paragon
Unclued lights (including three of two words and two pairs) suggest various versions of a name given by a pair…
No. 662
White to play and mate in two. Composed by Sam Loyd, Sunny South, 1885. Nearly all Black’s legal moves can…
Spectator competition winners: Donald Trump writes a political thriller
In Competition No. 3207, you were invited to supply an extract from a thriller, written by a well-known politician, that…
The Battle for Britain | 17 July 2021
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Football’s never coming home
I failed a moral test last weekend. A friend offered me a free ticket to the Euro 2020 final and…
Dear Mary: How do I avoid hugging at a funeral?
Q. I have been double-vaccinated but am especially at risk and, since I know of at least four double-vaccinated people…
2512: Impertinence - solution
CHERRY, NETTLE, SMOKE, PLUM-PUDDING, BEES, EGG, SUNBEAM and WIND are the perimetric answers to riddles posed by NUTKIN in The…
The CV trick that guarantees you an interview
Sometimes the opposite of a good idea is, as Niels Bohr said, another good idea. But the converse is also…
The ding-dong over being ‘pinged’
‘Ping, ping, ping went the bell,’ sang my husband, making his eyes wide and jigging in his best imitation of…
Bridge | 17 July 2021
If someone had told me in February 2020 that virtually the whole world would be going into lockdown for well…
Walking the Somme
Where the 36th (Ulster) Division attacked at 7.30 a.m. on the first morning of the Battle of the Somme in…
We have incurred the wrath of the shoot boys
Since telling the shoot we won’t let them use the land we rent, we have been beset by a series…
The wine that made me change my mind about rosé
Some time ago, I wrote that rosé should only be drunk south of Lyon, but one could start on the…
A brief history of harlots
I write this as a follow-up to last week’s essay on muzzling after making whoopee. I’m on my way to…
Kiwi Life
One of my goals over the coming months is to watch an entire rugby game for the first time in…
Aussie Language
We are told that sexual assault and sexual harassment happen because men don’t understand consent. NSW has a law before…
The 4,000 spectators at Sandown Park weren’t short-changed
When only four horses were declared to contest this year’s Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park, there were the usual…
Help! I’m restaurant-phobic
Vernon fancies this new age elfin-faced French woman who owns and runs a restaurant. She’s hard-working, she’s a reader, and…
