Life
Bridge | 30 December 2021
When bridge moved from actual tables to virtual tables last March, it quickly became clear that cheating was ruining the…
2488: Clueless - solution
Unclued lights were games played in I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue: SOUND CHARADES, SWANEE KAZOO, CHEDDAR GORGE, PICK UP…
Spectator competition winners: adverbial short stories
In Competition No. 3183 you were invited to submit a short story entitled ‘My Year of Living [insert adverb of…
No. 638
Kokkoris–Kavalek, Athens 1968. Kavalek’s next move initiated a beautiful forced mating sequence. What did he play? Answers should be emailed…
The joy of my new British passport
‘Anything you want?’ says Catriona on her way out of the house to go to the shop. I’m standing at…
Surrey county council has abolished night time
An everlasting lightbulb brighter than the Dog Star was installed in the street lamp outside my house one morning as…
How Argentina conquered Malbec
When Napoleon III proclaimed himself Emperor of France in 1852, he unwittingly kickstarted quality wine production in Chile and Argentina.…
Kiwi Life
When I dice a chilled cucumber along with a couple of tomatoes, toss them together in a bowl with a…
Aussie Lingo
Have we flogged the word ‘spirit’ to death? Or, rather have politicians, emptied it of all meaning and turned it…
No. 637
White to play. Howell — Adams, Caplin Hastings Online 2021. Adams’s last move, 35…Ba4-b3, gave Howell the chance for a…
The small world of Polari
In discussing the German low-life cant called Rotwelsch, Mark Glanville (Books, 9 January) referred in passing to Polari, ‘the language…
Spectator competition winners: Edward Lear and Pam Ayres write dirges
In Competition No. 3182 you were invited to rewrite a famous piece of light verse with a dirge-like, hieratic tone…
Piccadilly Circus, delivered: the Wolseley’s home dining reviewed
The Corbin & King dining and home entertaining box includes dishes from the Delaunay, the Wolseley and Brasserie Zédel ‘delivered…
Christmas 2020 crossword solution
The winners The first prize of £100, three prizes of £25 and six further prizes of Word Perfect by Susie…
Dear Mary: How do we thank a friend when we’ve forgotten what they sent us?
Q. Following the birth of our child we were deluged with cards, gifts and money from kind family and friends.…
The Battle for Britain | 23 January 2021
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Sailing’s coming home: the stunning Ben Ainslie comeback
Alan Bond was a rogue and a rich man, in every way your typical Aussie larrikin. In 1983 he bankrolled…
Farewell to my dear friend Richard, the very best of us
I heard the shocking news last week that one of my oldest friends — Richard Edwards — had died suddenly…
My unlikely friendship with Sir David Barclay
Gstaad This might surprise a few people, but I was very friendly with our late co-proprietor Sir David Barclay, a…
2490: Arrangement
The unclued lights are all words of a kind arranged into anagrams (all are confirmed in Chambers: one is a…
History at Hastings
The Hastings International Chess Congress hasn’t skipped a year since the second world war, so I was delighted to learn…
Bridge | 23 January 2021
When lockdown began, all those months ago, I remember chatting to a few of England’s top players about the shift…
My message to the log police
Here, as in Britain, everyone is a log expert. The woodman leaves a heap at the bottom of the drive…
What’s a squashed dog between neighbours?
Not long after he took on a smallholding for his cobs, the builder boyfriend found a couple walking through his…
In defence of gambling
Doing good doesn’t always work out as expected. A regular entering his local pub takes pity on an old lady…
