Life
Riders and diners
Not quite nil humanum a me alienum, but I have always been interested in other people’s trades and worlds. That…
High life
My, my, the rich are under attack everywhere, and I thank God the Panama Papers didn’t include the name of…
Long life
As we prepare in Britain for our momentous referendum in June, Italy has just had one. It happened last Sunday…
Long life
As we prepare in Britain for our momentous referendum in June, Italy has just had one. It happened last Sunday…
Low life
What consolation in life can Arthur and I find after that defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the…
Low life
What consolation in life can Arthur and I find after that defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the…
Sex worker
‘Of course,’ said my husband in his worst smirky way, as though waiting for an appreciative chuckle, ‘as soon as…
Real life
The cottage of my dreams (or possibly worst nightmares) proved rather difficult to purchase, not least because the agent selling…
Long may we 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…
Long may we 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…
How to do 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…
Wild life
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.…
My drunken heckling of General Petraeus landed me in a spot of bother
New York Harvey Keitel, the actor, rang up to invite me to a Marine shindig where General Petraeus would be…
Why gender fluidity will never take off in France
On Monday morning I was in a blind panic. The deadline for posted manuscript entries to the Daily Mail First…
I am the Basil Fawlty of Airbnb
I am becoming the Basil Fawlty of Airbnb. Almost everything that tormented Basil has tormented me since I started taking…
A forgotten hospital that was the British Empire’s gift to our Russian allies
The Royal College of Nursing (founded in 1916 with 34 members, but now with 440,000) is busy celebrating its centenary;…
The Grand National a predictable affair? Not a bit of it
With great victories in Flat racing you witness hats-in-the-air exultation. You see the pride of trainers who nurtured the winner…
Bridge
Can there be a game more humiliating than Bridge? Last weekend the boys and I went to Warsaw to play…
666
The year 2016 is the anniversary of a number of significant events in the chess world. In 1946 Alexander Alekhine…
Puzzle no. 404
Black to play. This is a position from Carbone–Slipak, Mar del Plata 2016. How can Black conclude? Answers to me…
Mismatch
In Competition No. 2943 you were invited to submit a review of a well-known work of literature that has been…
2256: 11 x 11
The unclued lights (three of two words), individually or paired, are of a kind, with 1 Down as a plural.…
To 2253: Your starter for ten
FIRST, the ‘starter’ solution at 10 Down, can be linked with the other unclued lights, with it also appearing twice…
I confess it all... I’ve been dodging tax since the age of eight
As someone who still entertains hope of becoming a member of Parliament one day, I’d better come clean about my…
