Life
Criminally good food: The Yard at Great Scotland Yard reviewed
The Yard is a defiantly themed restaurant in Hyatt’s new Great Scotland Yard Hotel, an Edwardian red-brick block which once…
The Streatham stabbing is being investigated at pace. But what does that mean?
In Arnold Bennett’s Tales of the Five Towns, a young dog called Ellis Carter takes a girl for a drive…
The golden age of nightclubs
I find myself detached from mainstream culture. It started with the demise of nightclubs like Annabel’s and the arrival of…
Is gluttony no longer a sin?
I’ve no interest in food. None. But for the three other journalists on our press trip, eating was a consuming…
The builder boyfriend has fallen off the roof – and still he won’t see a doctor
The builder boyfriend fell off a roof. He didn’t tell me until he could no longer leave unexplained why he…
The saviours of racing
I was once at a racing dinner in York where a distinguished clergyman in attendance was invited to say grace.…
Bridge
As hosts of this year’s Lady Milne Trophy — the women’s home international series — England get to field two…
Meeting an idol
We had never met, but David Paravyan, from Russia, has been something of a personal idol since August 2018. My…
no. 590
Black to move, Paravyan vs McShane, Isle of Man 2019. Here I intended 49…Bxd1. What had Paravyan planned after that…
Cat call
In Competition No. 3134 you were invited to submit a poem featuring one of T.S. Eliot’s practical cats getting to…
2443: Middle of the road
The unclued lights are of a kind. Chambers does not include 17D. Across 4 New cabinet door which bears…
to 2440: Dizzy tiny blonde
The unclued lights (paired at 5/8, 24/3, 30D/30A and 42/35, and the singleton at 37) are titles of series of…
Labour won’t win voters back by denigrating Britain’s past
They never learn, do they? Lisa Nandy, the dark horse candidate in the Labour leadership race, has demanded the word…
The Battle for Britain
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The real reason I am against HS2
Some years ago, two British supermarket chains needed to place a large order for replacement trollies. They had to decide…
Dear Mary: As an actor, how do I cope with strangers who think they know me?
Q. I have hired a private room in a restaurant in order to give dinner to a large number of…
How gin escaped from Gin Lane
In the mid-18th century, London was awash with gin. Socially-conscious members of the bourgeoisie believed that this was the root…
Is Billie Eilish really in shock over James Bond?
Billie Eilish, who has just won five Grammys, is also singing the theme song for the next Bond film. ‘James…
My fellow dinner guests made me feel like a combination of Messalina and Lady Macbeth
I was walking up St James’s and happy to be in London. For a change I was not rushing but…
The horror of Heathrow
There are no stairs or escalators to take you up to Terminal 4 from the underground Heathrow Express platform. Beyond…
Dogging on our doorstep
Some might say it was a typical over-reaction on my part to erect hidden cameras at the horses’ field. First…
Bridge
Have I mentioned that I played for England in the Camrose? And not for the first time either. Sadly this…
Women’s World Championship
Looking at the first 12 games of the 2018 Carlsen-Caruana World Championship, which all ended in draws, I saw a statistical…
no. 589
Black to move. Javakhishvili–Adams, Gibraltar 2020. Adams has a few plausible moves here, including Rf1, Rf3+ and Rxf7, but only…
Competition: Food glorious food
In Competition No. 3133 you were invited to provide a passage about food written in the style of a well-known…
