Life
Sandown thrills
The difference between praying in church and praying at the racecourse, a gnarled old punter once said, is that at…
Sandown thrills
The difference between praying in church and praying at the racecourse, a gnarled old punter once said, is that at…
Bridge
The day before the London Marathon, Young Chelsea BC held its spring half-marathon. Eighty-seven boards were played over 12 hours…
Why my name didn’t appear in the Panama Papers
My, my, the rich are under attack everywhere, and I thank God the Panama Papers didn’t include the name of…
My life in West Ham matches
What consolation in life can Arthur and I find after that defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the…
The cottage of my dreams was proving a nightmare to buy
The cottage of my dreams (or possibly worst nightmares) proved rather difficult to purchase, not least because the agent selling…
A lesson from Italy on the futility of referendums
As we prepare in Britain for our momentous referendum in June, Italy has just had one. It happened last Sunday…
How do we save the elephant? It’s simple: eat them
Laikipia I sip my Tusker beer on the veranda, staring at the elephant. He’s not the elephant in the…
Bridge
Bridge is such an unforgiving game; you can’t afford to take your eye off the ball for a single moment.…
The Godfather
It is often asked how chess became so popular in the USSR. My answer is that most areas of creative…
No. 405
White to play. This position is from Vallejo-Wynn, Bangkok 2016. White has sacrificed a rook and a bishop. He now…
Much ado about nothing?
In Competition No. 2944 you were invited to imagine what characters from Shakespeare’s plays would have made of this year’s…
2257: A spree
An excerpt from a poem (-eleven words, one hyphened, in ODQ) reads clockwise in the perimeter from the top left…
To 2254: Ecofriendly
To create entries at 5, 9, 20, 29D and 41, answers to clues in italics become TREE-HUGGERS (15), embracing sallow,…
Long may we Brits laugh at our absurd demagogues
In Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke warned that ‘pure democracy’ was as dangerous as absolute monarchy. ‘Of…
Battle for Britain
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The secret to doing better at darts – and life
I have always been intrigued by the scoring systems for different sports, and the degree to which they contribute to…
Dear Mary: how can my friend make her husband wear his hearing aids?
Q. A friend of mine’s husband is in his nineties. They are a delightful couple but the husband has started…
Dinner with a Grand National winner
Not quite nil humanum a me alienum, but I have always been interested in other people’s trades and worlds. That…
Sorry, but saying ‘sex worker’ won’t lift the stigma
‘Of course,’ said my husband in his worst smirky way, as though waiting for an appreciative chuckle, ‘as soon as…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
The Godfather
It is often asked how chess became so popular in the USSR. My answer is that most areas of creative…
No. 405
White to play. This position is from Vallejo-Wynn, Bangkok 2016. White has sacrificed a rook and a bishop. He now…
Much ado about nothing?
In Competition No. 2944 you were invited to imagine what characters from Shakespeare’s plays would have made of this year’s…
Your problems solved
Q. A friend of mine’s husband is in his nineties. They are a delightful couple but the husband has started…
