Life
What makes players popular?
What a treat to be Sergio Garcia. Not only have you just won your first major and trousered a small…
Why Parcs life is not for me
Against my better judgment, I agreed to go to Center Parcs for an Easter weekend break. We chose the one…
The turf
Every Grand National reminds me of a hero of my youth: Beltrán Alfonso Osorio y Díez de Rivera, the 18th…
Bridge
Bridge 24 was set up seven years ago by four Polish internationals who wanted to bring the glory days of…
Presidential panic
This month, watch out for unidentified fleeing presidents. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of Fidé, the World Chess Federation, and a self-confessed…
no. 452
White to play. This position is from Euwe-Fischer, New York 1957. White has two winning moves in this position. Can…
Dear John
In Competition No. 2992 you were invited to submit a Dear John letter, in prose or verse, in the style…
Dear Mary
Q. My aunt lives in a small market town with narrow roads and limited parking. A neighbour opposite acquired a…
Bridge
We all know how important it is to stop and think when defending a hand. There’s just one problem with…
Stakhanovite
Before leaving the topic of the 50th anniversary of the 1967 tournament to mark the half-century of the Russian revolution,…
no. 451
White to play. This position is a variation from Portisch-Petrosian, Moscow 1967. Can you spot White’s winning coup? Answers to…
Answering back
In Competition No. 2991 you were invited to submit ‘The Rime of the Wedding Guest’. There were, naturally, lots…
2304: Hexagon
The same 26 appears six times in 1D. Remaining unclued lights exemplify its different meanings. The 26 will appear diagonally…
to 2301: Age of extremes
Unclued lights (in red) are the characteristics of ‘the period’, from the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities.…
Dear Mary
A friend of a friend hosted an engagement party in a London hotel. Invitations had gone out six weeks beforehand,…
A toast to unsung heroes
We were talking about war, the desert and God. In the early Seventies, one of our number, Christopher James, had…
High life
New York I’d gladly exchange waistlines with him if he’d teach me to cut a phrase the way he…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
My brother and I were taking a short cut through an alleyway and saw a copper coming towards us through…
An historic
Everybody’s saying it, even though the latest research declares that only 6 per cent of the population is given to…
Real life
‘Information,’ came the reply. ‘We want information.’ The voice echoed in my head. Oh no. Oh please God, no. A…
Meritocracy isn’t fair
I’ve just made a programme for Radio 4 about the populist revolts that swept Britain and America last year. Were…
All hail the new taxi-card revolution
From October last year, it was compulsory for all London black cabs to accept payment by card. London cabbies aren’t…
Wild life
Laikipia, Kenya For weeks the farm has been in the eye of a storm, with violence swirling all around…
2303: Great 32
The puzzle marks the centenary of the death of a person whose name is formed by two unclued lights. Five…
