Life
How I won €160 by mistake
My French friend André speaks perfect English and is the kindest of men. After reading last week about my futile…
The lunacy of customer service in the time of Covid
‘Please be aware there is now a Covid surcharge,’ I told the builder boyfriend one morning, as we discussed the…
No. 625
Black to play. Khodashneli — Willow, European Online Youth Championship U18, September 2020. White has just advanced 40 g3-g4, and…
2478: Namesakes
Clockwise round the grid from 3 run three song titles (totalling 13 words) with 3D/16 (five words in all) giving…
Keats and Covid: poems about autumn
In Competition No. 3169 you were invited to submit a poem about autumn in which the last letter of each…
2475: Poem VI - solution
The poem was The Brook by Alfred Tennyson. The words were HERN (8A), LINGER (20), BRIMMING (32A), FLOW (40), TROUT…
A trout in the milk?
I can’t tell you why the Armenian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian was found guilty of cheating last month, because I don’t…
The Battle for Britain | 10 October 2020
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Boris Johnson’s human shield
At a Conservative party conference fringe event last Sunday, Lord Bethell, a health minister, was asked where he thought Britain…
The best food Italy can offer: Giannino Mayfair reviewed
Pity the gilded restaurants of Mayfair, if you can: they are dying. Some have reopened; they ache on like men…
Dear Mary: How can my celebrity husband still be recognised in a face mask?
Q. I am running out of suitable responses to a friend who now has the slightest possible connection to one…
Let’s talk about sex: the brilliance of ‘bonk’
I take it personally that a word I practically saw being born is now unrecognised by people almost old enough…
Football is better without the crowds
The Liverpool defence might have decided in a rare show of togetherness to demonstrate what the word ‘appalling’ means, and…
Aussie Life
It is the season of hyperbole. Conservative columnists are finding parallels for Dan Andrews’ pandemic policy in Mao’s Great Leap…
Kiwi Life
It’s true what they say about ill winds. The coronavirus pandemic was a perverse blessing for New Zealand Prime Minister…
2474: Love Me Do solution
In George Orwell’s 1984 WINSTON SMITH (31/3) worked for the MINISTRY of TRUTH (43/21). The MINISTRY of LOVE (43/34) got…
Real live chess
It is nigh on seven months since I sat opposite a flesh and blood opponent, so I expected to feel…
Famous writers on the art of saying no
In Competition No. 3168 you were invited to compose a response on the part of a well-known writer to an…
No. 624
White to play. A variation from L’Ami–Caruana, Bundesliga 2020. Caruana avoided this position, where White can force a quick mate.…
2477: Rendezvous
The unclued entries, all across, are unconnected words from Chambers. Each requires a letter added to render them thematic, and…
Why I’m moving to England
Gstaad It is not exactly a stop all the clocks occasion, let alone cut off the telephone, but I’ve finally…
French gambling is a mystery to me
Feeling oddly confident, clairvoyant even, I entered a bar to place a bet on Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.…
In praise of fly-tipping
The pile of fly-tipping was dumped in the night as usual, right against the five bar gate. I arrived to…
The trainer who sings opera to her racehorses
Wetumpka Racing? When your yard is running at a handsome strike rate of 40 per cent wins to runs you…
Bridge | 3 October 2020
The Alt Invitational is a prestigious online teams tournament held every fortnight or so, packed with world-class players. It’s not…
