Life
2386: Outside what we know
Three unclued lights featured the remaining ones, two of two words, the others paired. Two of them do double duty.…
to 2383: Flagged
The unclued lights are presenters of BLUE PETER: individually at 39; pairs are 3/2, 7/22, 15A/15D, 15A/17, 25/14, and 32/31,…
My wife has gone back to work – and I’ve turned into a SADDO
When I proposed to Caroline back in 2000, she was a trainee solicitor and I was a freelance journalist. In…
The Battle for Britain
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Trump may have a point about fake news
In recent years, much scrutiny has been paid to the workings of social media algorithms. Driven by escalating competition for…
Dear Mary: How can I turn my arrogant son into a snowflake?
Q. I am organising my 30th birthday party weekend at a large country house kindly lent to me by friends…
The paradox of Burgundy
I was trying to remember what I once knew about the theology of the Reformation and especially the various factions’…
Word of the week: ‘cakeism’
Latest despatches from the Dictionary Wars bring news of Oxford’s words of the year, a counterblast to last week’s words…
I love life – and girls – too much to act my age
New York A little Austrian count was born to my daughter last week in Salzburg, early in the morning of…
France’s second world war shame
The monument to this French village’s war dead is a plain white stone block with the head of a grizzled…
Education, spiritual guidance and a good cappuccino: the new face of the NHS
Left at the Dementia Café, right at the Sleep Office, past the Spiritual Care Centre… This was my journey through…
Bridge
It’s no surprise that so many bridge players are computer programmers or systems analysts; it’s an ideal game for those…
Paradise mislaid
World champion Magnus Carlsen missed several chances to win with black in the first game of his title defence, currently…
no. 532
Black to play. This is a variation from Carlsen–Caruana (Game 2), London 2018. White has forked the black bishop and…
We’re scamming
In Competition No. 3074 you were invited to submit a scam letter ghostwritten by a well-known author, living or dead.…
2385: R and R
The theme is two historic people who were contemporaries. Unclued lights give their forenames, places of birth and death and…
to 2382: A pointed remark
The quotation is 10/11/39. Remaining unclued lights are all daggers. First prize G. Snailham, WindsorRunners-up Lynne Gilchrist, Willoughby, New South…
Free speech is officially dead in British universities
When I first read about plans for a new academic periodical called The Journal of Controversial Ideas, I got the…
The Battle for Britain
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The All Blacks: world-class time-wasters
Marvellous team, the All Blacks, of course. But they certainly know how to waste some time. Here are some things…
Dear Mary: How do I stop rabbits eating Mum’s graveside flowers?
Q. A difficult couple of our acquaintance always object to other guests at dinner and can be very rude to…
It’s a Jewish homage to the Wolseley, and that is no bad thing: Tish reviewed
Tish is a new grand café in Belsize Park, north London, but kosher. There are not really enough Jews to…
Collins dictionary has got ‘gammon’ all wrong
In the annual dictionary wars to nominate words of the year, in the hope of attracting publicity, Collins has made…
Trump has driven the American media mad
New York An old-fashioned party is a gathering of friends invited by the host or hostess, who foots the bill.…
The perils of smoking three-year-old Glaswegian skunk
Three years ago we were given a bag of skunk, Catriona and I, provenance Glasgow. It was one gigantic dried…
