Life
Dear Mary: How much should I pay my cleaner during the lockdown?
Q. Mary, what percentage of cleaners’ normal wages should we pay them when they can’t come in for the foreseeable…
Dissent over coronavirus research isn’t dangerous – but stifling debate is
One of the paradoxes of the coronavirus crisis is that the need for public scrutiny of government policy has never…
This pandemic is showing us for who we really are
The spaniel curled up in her basket with one of my shoes, one of his socks and a packet of…
No. 598
A variation from the game above. Although White is a pawn down, he can rustle up decisive counterplay with one…
Had the entire village population been wiped out since last week?
With my signed and dated laissez-passer in my pocket, I trotted down to the village to see if I could…
Covid-19 shows us that virtue trumps freedom
Look at it this way: we’re all doing Desert Island Discs nowadays, and unless you’ve got the bug, it’s a…
2448: Issues solution
The novels are A Modern Utopia (anagram of AORTAE IMPOUND 17/5), The Time Machine (HEATHEN/MIMETIC 22/27), Tono-Bungay (BATON/YOUNG 29/31) and…
Half measures
Would you slice a book in two? I learned of this peculiar practice in January, and I can’t fault its…
I am socially isolating in a cave in France
This Provençal village clusters around the base of a cliff 300 feet high and a kilometre wide surmounted by two…
2447: No small matter solution
BIG, the solution at 21D, can be associated with the ten unclued lights. First prize Elizabeth Shorter, St Austell, CornwallRunners-up…
The trick that will let you have a conference call from your home phone
For the past 12 years, Roger Alton and I have shared this half page like Box and Cox: he writes…
The Battle for Britain | 28 March 2020
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Dear Mary: Can my marriage survive my husband working from home?
Q. Our son and his girlfriend have announced their engagement and we are delighted with his choice. Our problem is…
Songs to wash your hands by
In Competition No. 3141, you were invited to submit a song we cansing instead of ‘Happy Birthday’ during hand-washing. Congratulations…
How I fought the urge to panic-buy – and won
‘Get me Heygates on the phone! I need that order of pony nuts now, damn it!’ It was like a…
How Oxford taught the no-platformers a lesson
Three weeks ago Amber Rudd travelled to Christ Church, Oxford, to speak to students about her experiences of being a…
Bridge | 28 March 2020
It was impossible to imagine, when I filed my column a fortnight ago, that I would be writing this one…
No. 597
A puzzle used in the solving championship, composed by Vittorio de Barbieri in 1918. White must give mate in two…
How ‘barley’ cropped up
‘Why can’t you write about something wholesome?’ asked my husband, in a flanking move. He was in a bad mood…
Dining in the time of pandemic: takeaways reviewed
I love eating while watching bad films like Battleship, so I love takeaway food from local restaurants. I am not…
How tennis went socialist
Desperately boring times but very healthy ones. No parties, no girls, not too much boozing, lots of smoking and reading…
2450: Titled Men
The unclued lights consist of one author, two titles and four characters; ignore one accent. The titles (three words and…
The slow puzzle movement
I could list all manner of things I don’t try, because I know I won’t like them, like skydiving and…
Will quarantine for travellers become normal again?
It wasn’t a coincidence that the US government chose Ellis Island as an immigration station. The crucial word is ‘island’.…
If we can’t go to the Veneto, we’ll drink to it
We live in a world where yesterday’s inconceivable becomes today’s commonplace, but even so. I never thought that the day…
