Life
Zac Crawley, a cricketing giant
Crowds, Covid and sport: could it get any crazier? I don’t mind about golf: no idiots yelling ‘Get in the…
The BBC’s future is hanging by a thread
Reading the speech Tony Hall gave to the Edinburgh Television Festival, I was struck by his upbeat, confident tone. The…
Dear Mary: How can I hide my lockdown weight gain?
Q. For professional reasons it is important that I am not fat. However I have put on more than a…
The art of being a mistress
Gstaad The jokes about keeping a mistress are old and I’ve yet to hear a truly funny one (‘The difference…
Trust the NHS to take the worst elements of the private sector
After driving around the hospital grounds in concentric circles until I was surely down a wormhole, I found the scanning…
The Battle for Britain | 29 August 2020
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Bridge | 29 August 2020
I have not played a single hand of bridge for about a month, neither have I kibitzed online. Ergo I…
My steak cooking lesson turned into a sitcom
Pandemic has brought many truths, the most minor of which is: I can’t cook steak. I thought I could. I…
2469: Breadth solution
The unclued lights were: 12 CORNI, anagram of Corin (As You Like It); 23 MANDIRA, Miranda (The Tempest); 27 LARDOON,…
Paradise Lost in four lines
In Competition No. 3163 you were invited to submit well-known poems encapsulated in four lines. Now that the internet has…
What a relief it is to be back among level-headed Kenyans
Kenya I stood under huge skies in the open country of our farm in northern Kenya and, after months of…
What’s the difference between ‘reticent’ and ‘reluctant’?
Anna Massey had no dramatic training before appearing on stage in 1955 aged 17 in The Reluctant Debutante by William…
No. 619
Nakamura–Carlsen, August 2020. Carlsen has just advanced 40…g6-g5+, laying a nasty trap. Only one move gives White a fighting chance…
2472: All-inclusive
An 11-word quotation (in ODQ) reads clockwise around the perimeter from square 1. Other unclued lights are names of a…
Carlsen vs Nakamura
Facing Magnus Carlsen, you have two problems. The first is obvious — he’s the best player in the world. The…
Kiwi Life
‘Trustworthy, accurate and reliable news stories are more important now than ever. Support our newsrooms by making a contribution.’How wonderfully…
Bad news from my oncologist didn’t spoil my joyous reunion with my grandson
The Moulinards had inhabited the old stone hilltop house for centuries, ekeing out a hard living among the sun-baked boulders.…
How to have a happy old age
Gstaad Birthdays at my age are for the birds, but always a good excuse for a party. Messages of…
Spare a thought for next year’s A-level students
Three years ago I was contacted by an official at the Department for Education to see if I was interested…
My ‘virus’ turned out to be arthritis
‘Hallo! You was callin’ us about appoint…MENT!’ said the lady at the scanning unit of my local hospital in broken…
Dear Mary: how do I confront a work colleague who has bad BO?
Q. My son is having his 30th birthday next weekend and has invited 50 friends to a garden party. We…
Soave, an original sin-free wine
‘The Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day’: surely one of the most beautiful images…
Why ‘The’ Queen should not be capitalised
I complained mildly seven years ago that the Court Circular, the official source for the doings of the British monarchy,…
Bridge | 22 August 2020
There are some experts — like my friend Sally Brock — who think Blackwood is an overrated convention, and that…
Why it pays for a jockey to follow the rules
Lester Piggott was famous for pinching other jockeys’ rides. He used his friendship with owner Ivan Allan to have Luca…
