Life
Bridge
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same… Well, Kipling obviously never…
Will Iman give me a second chance before I die?
The death of David Bowie — how is it that Stephen Glover always gets it right about our over-reaction and…
The secret life of Sir John Major
Putting old or contaminated petrol in a car needn’t be catastrophic, but in the Golf’s case it was. With 37,000…
Next time I go to India, I want imperialism 2.0
When in India, I always appal my highly educated tour guides. They despair of me, as they drag me round…
Mark Twain was right: it is our redeeming petty vices that make life worth living
Here I go again. I have stopped smoking. Until recently I had been smoking about 40 cigarettes a day, but…
The small wonders of horse racing
Cheltenham, Ascot and Sandown Park are wonderful but without the little tracks racing would be lost. It was perishing cold…
Bridge
The New Year got off to a great start with TGR’s annual auction pairs, the best run tournament I have…
Pauline conversion
Paul Keres, the Estonian grandmaster and many times world championship contender, was born a hundred years ago this month. His…
No. 392
White to play. This position is from Keres-Spassky, Gothenburg 1955. Can you spot White’s crushing blow? Answers to me at…
Going mental
In Competition No. 2931 you were invited to submit a psychiatric report on a well-known figure in literature. Shakespearean characters…
2244: Faithful
The unclued lights, one of two words, are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer. Across 1 After…
To 2241: Customary
The unclued lights (1A, 1D, 6A/33, 13, 18, 32 and 38/24) are seven of the ‘Twelve Curious CUSTOMS Worth Reviving’,…
Jeremy Corbyn and the hard left are wilfully blind to the evils of Islamist Nazis
Many people watching Jeremy Corbyn’s interview on Marr last Sunday will have been shocked by his remarks about the need…
Battle for Britain
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There are three sides to success at Oxford United
In the middle of Oxford is a socking great cinema: once the Ritz, it’s now an Odeon multiplex. Back in…
Dear Mary: Our granddaughters are giving money away to a cause we do not support. Should we cut off their funding?
Q. We have two granddaughters working hard and happily at university. It is our pleasure to give them some cash…
Bring back the old Brass Rail, Selfridges!
The last time I reviewed a restaurant in Selfridges, a PR man rang up to ask what he could do…
Mind your language: Box set
There is no chance whatsoever of box set being replaced by the more correct form boxed set. So stop seething…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Pauline conversion
Paul Keres, the Estonian grandmaster and many times world championship contender, was born a hundred years ago this month. His…
No. 392
White to play. This position is from Keres-Spassky, Gothenburg 1955. Can you spot White’s crushing blow? Answers to me at…
Going mental
In Competition No. 2931 you were invited to submit a psychiatric report on a well-known figure in literature. Shakespearean characters…
Dear Mary
Q. We have two granddaughters working hard and happily at university. It is our pleasure to give them some cash…
Brass tacks
The last time I reviewed a restaurant in Selfridges, a PR man rang up to ask what he could do…
High life
The death of David Bowie — how is it that Stephen Glover always gets it right about our over-reaction and…
