Life

North-south divide

7 January 2016 3:00 pm

The well-bred Sea Pigeon, who had finished seventh in the Derby when trained at Beckhampton by Jeremy Tree, was later…

Bridge

7 January 2016 3:00 pm

Call me nuts but on 29 December I left lovely, sunny, delicious France for the fairly unlovely Royal National Hotel…

2016 will be a vintage year for tech billionaires and jihadis

2 January 2016 9:00 am

This is going to be one hell of a year, hell being the operative word. It will be the year…

My 2015 pharmacopoeia: ecstasy, decapepyl, abiraterone, tamsulosin, cocaine...

2 January 2016 9:00 am

For me, last year started with an appalling whitey outside a pub after swallowing a second ecstasy tablet because I…

The left-wing lunacy of Tooting Honey Toilets

2 January 2016 9:00 am

‘Sadly, the world is filled with apathy,’ said my friend, as we looked at our sad little list of conscripts…

Mark Zuckerberg should be applauded — whatever his motive

2 January 2016 9:00 am

The Egyptian driver of a London minicab said almost nothing during our journey but dropped me off at my destination…

Bridge

2 January 2016 9:00 am

This might be the most beautiful hand I’ve ever seen. I came across it while reading one of the old…

Banking on chess

2 January 2016 9:00 am

As the new year begins, I pay a final tribute to the city financier Jim Slater, who did so much to…

Chess puzzle

2 January 2016 9:00 am

Black to play. This position is from Wright-Keene, Slater Tournament, Southend 1968. Black’s next move destroyed the white kingside and…

No thanks

2 January 2016 9:00 am

In Competition No. 2928 you were invited to submit a thank-you letter for a particularly unenjoyable Christmas visit to relatives…

2241: Customary

2 January 2016 9:00 am

The unclued lights, (two of two words), individually or as two pairs, are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer 19th…

To 2239: ITOIX

2 January 2016 9:00 am

The unclued lights include the words ONE to NINE which had to be entered as figures 1 to 9 in…

The plot to save Goldsmith’s Close Allotments

2 January 2016 9:00 am

Since turning 50 I have become a gardening enthusiast. It started with tomatoes, then spread to raspberries and last year…

Battle for Britain

2 January 2016 9:00 am

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There are things we don’t mind paying for – and things we do

2 January 2016 9:00 am

Here’s a challenge for film buffs: can anyone remember, from the entire canon of cinema and television, a single scene…

Dear Mary: On a troublesome festive invitation

2 January 2016 9:00 am

I have been alone in the country this festive season as my adult children and most of my friends are…

The Field Marshal, the restaurateur and the wine family

2 January 2016 9:00 am

As the bottles flowed, the talk ranged, to a serious vineyard, an awesome Field Marshal and a delightful restauranteur. For…

Is your quotation secretly Nazi?

2 January 2016 9:00 am

I couldn’t help laughing when I found that an Australian senator, Cory Bernardi, had deleted all his tweets from Twitter,…

Battle for Britain

31 December 2015 3:00 pm

Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.

Banking on chess

31 December 2015 3:00 pm

As the new year begins, I pay a final tribute to the city financier Jim Slater, who did so much to…

Chess puzzle

31 December 2015 3:00 pm

Black to play. This position is from Wright-Keene, Slater Tournament, Southend 1968. Black’s next move destroyed the white kingside and…

No thanks

31 December 2015 3:00 pm

In Competition No. 2928 you were invited to submit a thank-you letter for a particularly unenjoyable Christmas visit to relatives…

Dear Mary

31 December 2015 3:00 pm

I have been alone in the country this festive season as my adult children and most of my friends are…

Commanding vintages

31 December 2015 3:00 pm

As the bottles flowed, the talk ranged, to a serious vineyard, an awesome Field Marshal and a delightful restauranteur. For…

High life

31 December 2015 3:00 pm

This is going to be one hell of a year, hell being the operative word. It will be the year…