Life
No. 548
Black to play. This position is from Arnason-Keene, London 1981. This position also arose from a Modern Defence. How did…
A bad lot
In Competition No. 2999 you were invited to supply a poem which takes as its first line W.S. Gilbert’s ‘A policeman’s…
2311: Keith II
The unclued lights, (two of two words), are of a kind. Chambers does not give the solution at 12 Across.…
Solution to 2308: Landmark
Solution to 2308: Landmark This puzzle was Doc’s 600th to be published in this series. The unclued lights are two-word…
Dear Mary
Q. Re getting away from bores at drinks parties (Dear Mary, 20 May). I take issue with the idea that…
Food
Pollen Street Social lives in a Georgian house on Pollen Street, Mayfair, a narrow curve between Hanover Street and Maddox…
High Life
New York Although both guilt and innocence fascinate me, I’m not so sure that there is such a thing…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
‘Jeremy, I want you to sit here next to me — unless you’re frightened of me?’ We were briefly introduced…
Goof
Susie Dent has been trying to make us love Americanisms on Radio 4. Now Miss Dent knows far more about…
Real life
After spending the day unblocking the gutters and drains in the pouring rain, he wasn’t in the mood for a…
Metal fatigue in the golden generation
Not a bad week for Roger Federer then: first pootling along being cool and rich in a morning suit at…
Fraternity, solidarity and the spirit of 1945
My father worked as a fire warden during the Blitz, trying to contain the damage done by the Luftwaffe, and…
The turf
Most racehorse trainers, those at least who didn’t have a legacy from Aunt Agatha to lubricate their way into the…
Bridge
Long after my own team had been knocked out of this year’s Spring Fours in Stratford-on-Avon (the most prestigious and…
Trumpeting success
Regular readers will recall my column of 15 April in which I speculated on the future of the eccentric Fidé…
no. 457
White to play. This is from Euwe-Fischer, New York 1957. How did Euwe capitalise on the threatening position of his…
Lost in translation
In Competition No. 2998 you were invited to submit a set of instructions for an everyday device that have been…
Constitutional Amendment
Unclued lights are six characters from 45 and its author. Five of these undergo 45 in one way before entry;…
2307: Obit IV
On 18 March 2017 the great ROCK’N’ROLLER (3) Chuck Berry died. Round the perimeter run the titles of four of…
Dear Mary
Q. My mother always told me that only boring people are bored. However she never got stuck at a drinks…
French fancies
‘That sweet enemy, France.’ It takes a poet to summarise centuries of military and diplomatic history. On a prosaic level,…
High life
At a chic dinner party last week, a Trump insider gossiped about an American president having had an affair with…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
Chez Frank is a popular local boar-hunters’ bar, tobacconist and general store at a lonely crossroads in the forest. It…
