Life
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…
Battle for Britain
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Well done Danny, but Jordan will come back
Well here’s a thing: we’ve just had the first English bloke to win the Masters. Sure, an Englishman has won…
Dear Mary on thongs vs big pants and stilettos on wooden floors
Q. I have a daily problem with knickers. I am size eight so not obese, but I find the sort…
The Parliament Hill Café is awful. I’m sorry they saved it
The Parliament Hill Café is a drab glass box at the bottom of Hampstead Heath, near the farmers’ market and…
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the shifting meaning of ‘illegitimate’
‘The Archbishop of Canterbury has discovered he is the illegitimate son of Sir Winston Churchill’s last private secretary,’ Charles Moore…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
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…
Dear Mary
Q. I have a daily problem with knickers. I am size eight so not obese, but I find the sort…
The bitter taste of victory
The Parliament Hill Café is a drab glass box at the bottom of Hampstead Heath, near the farmers’ market and…
