Life
High life
New York I went downtown to Katz’s the other day and had a pastrami sandwich that made me want…
Low life
The tourist information office of the small French country town looked closed. Peering between the posters on the window glass,…
Low life
The tourist information office of the small French country town looked closed. Peering between the posters on the window glass,…
Shakespeare’s pronunciation
Sir John Harington told a story in 1596 about a lady at court asking her gentlewoman to inquire which Mr…
Real life
Buffy Sainte-Marie said it best. ‘The lights of town are at my back, my heart is full of stars./ And…
Middle-class warriors
Tuesday’s protest against Key Stage 1 Sats was moronic on so many levels that it’s hard to know where to…
Middle-class warriors
Tuesday’s protest against Key Stage 1 Sats was moronic on so many levels that it’s hard to know where to…
Tea and honesty
We recently moved -offices from Canary Wharf to Blackfriars bridge. When you move after a long time in one place,…
Bridge
I’ve been practising bidding online with my friend Guy Hart in preparation for the Spring Fours in Stratford (we’ll know…
My dream dinner party (think Talleyrand, not Kardashian)
I read this in an American newspaper (it was written by a woman who used to edit my copy for…
My old columns are a form of purgatory
I drank Bombay gin and Fever-Tree tonic on the half-empty easyJet flight to Gatwick. I was even offered ice cubes.…
The gloves are off with the Brothers Turnthetapoff upstairs
The gloves are off in my battle with the two brothers who live in the flat upstairs. They have just…
The difference between praying in church and praying at a racecourse
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…
Evolution
World champion Magnus Carlsen takes much inspiration from the games of the former champion Emanuel Lasker. Lasker and Carlsen share…
No. 406
White to play. This is a position from Bjornsson-Sigurdsson, Iceland Team Championship 2016. How did White make the most of…
Exit strategy
In Competition No. 2945 you were invited to suggest remarks guaranteed to get rid of a guest who is outstaying…
2258: Perimetrical jigsaw
Clues are listed in alphabetical order of their solutions. An 11-word quotation runs around the perimeter from the top left-hand…
To 2255: In the pink
Oscar WILDE (35) described hunting as THE UNSPEAKABLE IN FULL PURSUIT OF THE UNEATABLE (1A, 14, 30, 42), and the…
What would happen if Rupert Murdoch owned the BBC?
A new book published today by the Institute of Economic Affairs called In Focus: The Case for Privatising the BBC…
Battle for Britain
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Leicester City are the most brutally efficient winners since 1970s Leeds
It’s always good to see a great con trick in action. Take Boris Johnson: not really the lovable quick-witted scamp…
Dear Mary: How can I angle for a wedding invitation?
Q. How does one go about getting invited to a wedding? Two friends of mine from university, who I have…
The most beautiful restaurant in London – from the outside
Batman owned the Criterion in The Dark Knight, but could he do anything about British Telecom? Savini at Criterion, an…
A puzzle for President Obama: is it really that British to queue?
The language that President Barack Obama used was evidence of skulduggery, Nigel Farage declared. ‘The UK is gonna be in…
