Life

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Watching my grandchildren schussing down a mountain is what makes me happy now

9 March 2019 9:00 am

Gstaad   As everyone knows, the definition of serendipity is searching for a needle in a haystack, and instead finding…

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I hadn’t had a drink in six weeks but that was seven hours, three pubs and a club ago…

9 March 2019 9:00 am

Standing in a messy kitchen at the tendril tip of a county line at three o’clock in the morning, Trev…

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My life is like that new Netflix series Russian Doll – a series of recurring crises

9 March 2019 9:00 am

Russian Doll is a brilliant new Netflix drama in which a woman relives the same night over and over again.…

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For now, here in Laikipia we have the only population of black panthers in the world

9 March 2019 9:00 am

Laikipia   A female black panther was recently photographed at our neighbours’ place. Exactly like Kipling’s Bagheera, she was ‘inky…

Susanna Gross

9 March 2019 9:00 am

Geir Helgemo is the most revered bridge player in the world — and that isn’t about to change just because…

Bunratty

9 March 2019 9:00 am

The Bunratty tournament in Ireland is one of the highlights of the chess year and always attracts an impressive field.…

no. 544

9 March 2019 9:00 am

White to play. This position is from Hebden-Williams, Bunratty 2019. How did White finish in fine style? Answers to me…

Political noir

9 March 2019 9:00 am

In Competition No. 3088 you were invited to submit a short story in the style of hard-boiled crime fiction set…

2398: All steamed up

9 March 2019 9:00 am

The unclued lights (five of two words, two pairs and a singleton) are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer.  …

2395: Concise Crossword

9 March 2019 9:00 am

The seven concise clues lead to: heALth centre (3,31), HEARTbreak (9), midrIFf (26), last of alL (40), out of afRIca…

Gone are the days when the middle class could afford to go skiing

9 March 2019 9:00 am

It won’t be news to readers of The Spectator that one of the long-term effects of globalisation is the hollowing…

The Battle for Britain

9 March 2019 9:00 am

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Meet Chris Gayle, the coolest man in sport

9 March 2019 9:00 am

It can’t be a coincidence that two of the coolest sportsmen on the planet are from the same place, Jamaica.…

Dear Mary: what should we do about a possible thief in our school dormitory?

9 March 2019 9:00 am

Q. I run a very small mail-order company from home. Recently I received an exceptionally rude email from a disgruntled…

(Ambroise Tézenas)

Pale pomp and £100 Beijing duck: Imperial Treasure reviewed

9 March 2019 9:00 am

Imperial Treasure is a restaurant in the part of St James’s where Leopold von Hoesch, the German ambassador to George…

‘One fell swoop’ has become a cliche, but where does it come from?

9 March 2019 9:00 am

The Sun, reviewing a new laptop from Huawei, mentioned a combined fingerprint sensor and on-switch that lets users ‘power up and…

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I’ve contributed greatly to animal welfare, via the casino

2 March 2019 9:00 am

A rare British species, a womanising ex-foreign secretary, kissed and told about his brief affair with a yellow-eyed temptress last…

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My life as nurse, chief cook and bottle washer for my mother

2 March 2019 9:00 am

My fifth week confined to barracks as nurse, chief cook and bottle washer. I drive to the supermarket about twice…

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Farmers get treated like terror suspects by the RSPCA

2 March 2019 9:00 am

‘What do you mean, you have no ID?’ I asked the farmer, starting to feel dizzy with the mind-boggling convolution…

Trainer Neil Mulholland at Exeter Racecourse.Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images

Why we need to support middle-ranking trainers

2 March 2019 9:00 am

Owner Phil Simmonds from Rochdale was 17 when he first went racing, joining a friend’s stag party at Haydock Park.…

Bridge

2 March 2019 9:00 am

The winter ‘season’ of terrific bridge competitions came to a close last weekend with the Lederer Trophy held at the…

Playing the blues

2 March 2019 9:00 am

This Saturday (2 March) sees the annual varsity match between the teams of Oxford and Cambridge. Oxford are strengthened this…

no. 543

2 March 2019 9:00 am

Black to play. This position is from Wagner–-Eckersley-Waites, Varsity Match, London 2008. How did Black make effective use of the…

Haikick

2 March 2019 9:00 am

In Competition No. 3087 you were invited to submit haikicks. We already have short-form hybrids such as the clerihaiku (here’s…

2397: Obit V

2 March 2019 9:00 am

We recently lost a fine 13, whose legacy includes 10 (two words) and 9 (two words), and four other unclued…