Life
Queen’s gambit
International master Andrew Martin is the head of the English Chess Federation Academy. He is well qualified for this post,…
Real life
‘What do you think it means?’ I asked the builder boyfriend as we stood in front of the sign. A…
High life
I was going through my paces in Hyde Park, sweating out the booze, raising the heartbeat with short wind sprints,…
The keys to the kingdom await
Give them all peerages as far as I’m concerned: if you can pick up a gong for bunging a few…
The trouble with diversity training
Is diversity training snake oil? According to its proponents, women and minorities are not competing with white men on a…
The turf
Having spent three quarters of my life covering politics and the other quarter following racing, I am often asked what…
Bridge
The European Open Pairs, the final event in Montecatini, was a long and arduous five-day slog, three of those days…
Brought to book
In Competition No. 3005 you were invited to take your inspiration from Anthony Lane’s terrific ‘The Book of Jeremy Corbyn’,…
2317-370
The subtraction reveals the link between the unclued lights which saw light then. Three unclued lights consist of two words,…
to 2314: 4÷4=8
One of the unclued 4-letter lights is placed in the very middle of another to form each of the four…
Dear Mary
Q. ‘Alfred’ is a friend of 30 years’ standing who has just married for the first time. Alfred retains all…
Cold foam and spindly legs
Bibendum is a hushed restaurant on the first floor of the Michelin House on the Fulham Road. (Bibendum is the…
High life
A funny thing happened on my way to lunch last week. I opened the Daily Mail and read a few…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
Up on the fifth floor the wind was like thunder. Wild gusts shook the window glass so violently I thought…
Clichés
The most tired cliché in English, suggests Orin Hargraves, the American philologist, is at the end of the day. I’ve…
Real life
Last night, I had dinner at the M25 services. I don’t mean I stopped for a break mid-journey. I mean…
no. 464
Black to play. This is a position from Carlsen–Vachier–Lagrave, Paris blitz 2017. Carlsen was winning this game but has just…
Judgment of Paris
This year’s Grand Chess Tour started in Paris, continues in Leuven (Belgium) and will go on to St Louis and…
What Alice did next
In Competition No. 3004 you were invited to submit an extract from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Trumpland. As I was…
2316: Divine alteration
Seven clues contain a redundant word, each defining one unclued light. These seven unclued lights all undergo partial 1 across…
to 2313: Goldfish
Extra letters in clues gave SAM GOLDWYN, to whom are attributed I’LL GIVE YOU (5) A DEFINITE (8) MAYBE (1A),…
Dear Mary
Q. We have friends to stay each year in Scotland and it’s always a pleasure. Guests know there is signal…
A toast to the new Scottish dawn
‘Stands Scotland where it did?’ As the bottles circulated, we were able to answer Macduff’s question in much more optimistic…
High life
A major Greek ship owner, whose political knowledge matches his wealth and business acumen, explained to me what the Qatar…
