Life
Eat, drink and be worried
We were surpassing Sydney Smith. His idea of heaven was pâté de foie gras to the sound of trumpets. Our…
High life
New York Back in the Big Bagel once again preparing for the greatest debate ever, one that will decide the…
Long life
In olden days, before the internet arrived, shopping was quite simple. You’d go into a shop and buy something, and…
Long life
In olden days, before the internet arrived, shopping was quite simple. You’d go into a shop and buy something, and…
Low life
The first and only time I went to a meeting of Sex Addicts Anonymous, this chap stood up and gave…
Low life
The first and only time I went to a meeting of Sex Addicts Anonymous, this chap stood up and gave…
Critique
‘Americans,’ said my husband in much the same tone that Betsey Trotwood said ‘Donkeys’. It was his way of explaining…
Real life
After a year dealing with estate agents I can only say: a plague on all their houses, except the one…
A good read… but I don’t buy the plot
I’m writing this from the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham where the mood is buoyant, to put it mildly. Everyone…
A good read… but I don’t buy the plot
I’m writing this from the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham where the mood is buoyant, to put it mildly. Everyone…
Let there be light, and at better times of day
We already drive on the left, give road distances in miles and drink pints. So one good feature of Brexit…
Bridge
It often strikes me that learning to bid is just like mastering a language. As you take on new conventions…
Low life
I stood in front of the mirror in the £61-a-night hotel room in Paddington, buttoned my polyester dinner jacket and…
2280: Acorns
The unclued lights are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer. Ignore one apostrophe. Across 1 Top for one dining…
Bridge
TGR’s rubber bridge club is a bit like the set of your favourite soap. You have the regulars, of varying…
Eddie Howe for England
The name of Jozef Venglos won’t mean much to most of us apart from a few Aston Villa completists with…
No. 428
Black to play. This position is a variation from Gelfand-Mamedyarov, Tal Memorial Blitz 2016. Black has various strong moves but…
I know an anti-Tory pact won’t work
I appeared on Radio 4 with Shirley Williams recently and as we were leaving I asked her if she thought…
Pens, sex and potatoes
I hoped that Bronte would be filled with Victorian writers licking ink off their fingers and bitching about Mrs Gaskell…
High life
Although my birthday was in August, I chose the rather melancholy autumnal moment of September to celebrate it — mourn…
Real life
‘If you ask me,’ said the builder boyfriend, watching me hobble down the street as we set off for an…
The turf
There are few more compulsive reads in racing than the Kingsley Klarion, the in-house journal of Mark Johnston’s Middleham racing…
Rigan wizard
Mikhail Tal, the Wizard from Riga, was one of the most devastating tacticians in the history of chess. His rise…
If
In Competition No. 2967 you were invited to submit an article written by the author of your choice under the…
2277: Royalty
The theme word is KING and the pairs are 4/41, 14/1A, 19/27, 34/16 and 38/24. First prize C.V. Clark, London…
