Life
The art of negotiating with French nurses
‘Ça va, Monsieur Clarke?’ said a nurse when he noticed I was stirring. It was an effort to speak. ‘Thirsty,’…
The Derby was a game of musical saddles
We all know it takes courage to win races over jumps, along with athleticism, stamina and speed. But you need…
Dear Mary: How can we avoid getting stuck with a useless cleaner?
Your problems solved
Ollie Robinson’s ritual humiliation
One of the more egregious innovations of Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution was something called the ‘struggle sessions’. This involved the…
Bridge | 12 June 2021
I would never say that bridge is just a game — for many of us, it’s a lifetime’s vocation. However,…
The truth about Surrey’s obsession with horse masks
A saloon car pulled up opposite our fields and a man sat there looking at the horses with a bewildered…
The difference between ‘sliver’ and ‘slither’ is a piece of cake
When people say a slither of cake, do they not remember that snakes slither? ‘Slither slide; sliver small piece,’ says…
A careful parody: Noble Rot Soho reviewed
Noble Rot sits in Greek Street, Soho, on the site of the old Gay Hussar, which squatted here from 1953…
P.G. Wodehouse’s Aunts Among the Chickens
In Competition No. 3202, you were invited to replace the word ‘love’ in a well-known book title of your choice…
In praise of chastity
New York It’s party time in the Bagel, or at least private party time. Yours truly is an extra man…
Aussie Life
The cold snap enveloping much of NSW at time of writing won’t help regional communities battling the mouse plague, such…
Aussie Language
A campaign is needed against the word ‘partner’—so I have started one. It was launched on Peta Credlin’s program on…
The rise of the pluto-meritocracy
Meritocracy, a word coined by my father, gets a bad press these days. Two recent books — The Meritocracy Trap…
Taking charge: it’s time to buy an electric car
As a wise colleague once said: ‘Yesterday is a great time to buy a computer, because you have already enjoyed…
Dear Mary: How do we tell our friend that her hairstyle doesn’t suit her?
Q. At a lunch party, I was getting on so well with someone I had not met before. She knew…
The Battle for Britain | 5 June 2021
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Are we overusing ‘overhaul’?
Last week, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer were overhauling their stores. Football clubs were madly overhauling teams and we…
Hybrid chess
Chess was played by cable in the 19th century because… well, why not? And because everything old is new again,…
2506: Summer’s voice - solution
The unclued lights are ferns: RUSTY-BACK (26/5A), WALL RUE (48/7A), MAIDENHAIR (1D/11), OSMUNDA (18), BIRD’S-NEST (20/45) and POLYPODY (24). PTERIDOMANIA…
Henry James sells Heinz baked beans
In Competition No. 3201, a contest inspired by Salman ‘naughty but nice’ Rushdie, you were invited to submit advertising copy…
Thirty years ago, I saw the rebels take Addis Ababa
Kenya The evening before the assault on Addis Ababa, my guide Girmay and I ventured into a complex stuffed with…
2509: Current description
A six-word ‘current description’ (in ODQ) and the name of the author (three words) run clockwise round the perimeter starting…
No. 656
Black to play. Vocaturo–Gokerkan, May 2021. After a long defence, White’s last move 101 Nf1-e3 was a decisive error. Which…
Bridge | 5 June 2021
It’s hard to think of anything more expensive at the bridge table than doubling the opponents and then watching them…
The curse of surgical stockings
The porter rolled me off the trolley and on to the bed, wished me a good day and departed. My…
