Life
2456: So American solution
Unclued lights are marches by John Philip SOUSA, as hinted by the title: 4/1A, 14/12, 20D, 33A/17, 37/29/26, and 41…
No. 606
Tamas Fodor — Michael Adams, Hull 2018. White to play. One from the puzzles section of Smerdon’s book, which I…
The Battle for Britain | 30 May 2020
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Bridge | 30 May 2020
One of the drawbacks of online bridge is the lack of après-bridge fun — those spontaneous drinking sessions where we…
All I want to do is de-worm my horse
We arrived at the country store with only three minutes to closing time so our chances of scoring horse wormer…
Racing needs us as much as we need it
Horseracing in Britain, which was suspended by coronavirus on 18 March, is due, as I write, to resume on Monday…
We have a communist bar and a fascist bar. If only I could remember which is which
When I first came to this village, I was told that one of the bars was a ‘communist’ bar and…
The link between spick and span, spanking and spoon
I Hoovered on Saturday (or vacuumed as they say in newspapers eager to avoid using a trademark) while my husband…
Liberal fears are contagious
It has become a commonplace among social psychologists that one of the characteristics that unites conservatives is our sensitivity to…
Bridge | 23 May 2020
Well, what can I say? I have been nowhere. Seen no one. Done nothing. Unless you count watching damaging amounts…
2458: Bardicarum
The unclued Across lights are of a kind, as are the associated Down ones. Across 1 Friendship revealed by American…
Rules for a deconfinement dinner party
The most visible local landmark is a solitary two-headed Jurassic mountain called Le Bessillon, six miles long and 800 metres…
Dear Mary: What Zoom background will impress my boss?
Q. My goddaughter was getting married in July but due to Covid-19 this has been postponed. I had already chosen…
No. 605
White mates in two moves against any defence (composed by Walter Pulitzer). Steinitz admitted he could not crack this within…
The horror of socially distanced restaurants
What does a critic do when her genre collapses? Mostly I panic. I speak to restaurateurs who believe that without…
What no one tells you about owning a horse
When people ask me what I did during lockdown, I would like to give an inspiring answer, apart from growing…
The Battle for Britain | 23 May 2020
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Did the behavioural scientists have a point?
For all the abuse heaped on the Behavioural Insights Team early in the crisis, let’s not forget that the only…
2455: Shadow boxing solution
The unclued lights are the four Labour MPs who stood for election as Labour’s leader to succeed Jeremy Corbyn: 11,…
‘Around the House in 80 Days’ and other titles for lockdown
In Competition No. 3149 you were invited to tweak an existing book or poem title for lockdown and provide an…
Steinitz Memorial
I like a memorial tournament. It’s true that the champions they celebrate may be less skilled than their modern counterparts.…
Switzerland is now an enemy of the rich
Gstaad The staff are back and all is well, as they used to say long ago in faraway places. The…
No. 604
Aronian–Vidit, Online Nations Cup, May 2020. Vidit has just captured axb3 en passant. Aronian’s next move revealed a powerful concept.…
Envy is the greatest blight of all
Gstaad Hippocrates is known as the father of Western medicine and he discovered and named a disease known as ‘micropoulaki’…
My first post-lockdown party
France is divided into a red zone and a green zone. We’re green. Green for go. From this morning we…
