Life
To tip or not to tip
As I grow older, I find myself increasingly reluctant to travel, which is why it’s been a few years now…
To tip or not to tip
As I grow older, I find myself increasingly reluctant to travel, which is why it’s been a few years now…
Curry and Modafinil with Winston Churchill
The bar at the Special Forces club has the marvellous rule for newcomers that they should talk to the person…
Curry and Modafinil with Winston Churchill
The bar at the Special Forces club has the marvellous rule for newcomers that they should talk to the person…
Whipsmart: a new cliché that’s beginning to smart
A friend of my husband’s asked me to explain why the usually impeccable critic Francine Stock had recently used the…
Sabs don’t want to stop fox-hunting; they never did
Devotee of the old ways though I am, I can just about understand why a misguided animal lover might oppose…
The fine art of talking bunkum
At the last minute, a friend invited me to a ‘Distinguished Speakers Dinner’ at the Oxford and Cambridge Club earlier…
The fine art of talking bunkum
At the last minute, a friend invited me to a ‘Distinguished Speakers Dinner’ at the Oxford and Cambridge Club earlier…
Spontaneous recombustion: how vapers have re-invented pipe-smoking in electronic form
A fascinating newcomer on the British high street is the vape shop. These were perfectly described by my friend Paul…
What Ryszard Kapuscinski airbrushed out of his bestselling book
I once found myself on a lonely road in southern Ethiopia with the famous Polish author Ryszard Kapuscinski. We were…
Bridge
It’s not surprising that so many bridge players feel such a sentimental attachment to The Young Chelsea. The club was…
To 2230: Lot 46
The unclued lights are FRENCH DÉPARTEMENTS, with five of them placed in the grid at their correct administrative number: 2,…
2233: Clutching at straws!
The unclued lights, either individually or as a pair, are of a kind. Ignore one accent. Across 4 Read…
I went to Pedro’s Tex Mex Cantina to claim my racist sombrero
Pedro’s Tex-Mex Cantina is a fantastical shack near a ring road in Norwich. It was recently asked to stop handing…
Be warned: the mighty Air Force Blue blows away all before him
I was both delighted and unsurprised that Denis Healey made it to 98. One day in the 1970s I took…
I offered Zac Goldsmith £50 to stay 20 feet away from me
I once tried to bribe Zac Goldsmith with a £50 note, but he didn’t bite even back then. He was…
Thud and blunder
The Fidé World Cup, which finished last week in Baku, boasted over $1 million in overall prize money, with $100,000…
Puzzle no. 383
Black to play. This is from Karjakin-Svidler, Fidé World Cup, Baku 2015. The position occurred earlier in the third game…
Change of direction
In Competition No. 2919 you were invited to write a poem that begins with the first line or two lines…
Can politicians say ‘crusade’ again? David Cameron thinks so
One thing grabbed my attention from David Cameron’s speech, long ago in the middle of last week. ‘We need a…
Dear Mary: Another way to deal with a maddening blackhead
Q. Might I suggest an alternative solution to E.B. of London’s problem (3 October) about the person sporting a ‘maddening’…
I know who’s going to win the Rugby World Cup. I think
England did have some clear winners in their otherwise beached Rugby World Cup campaign in the unlikely form of Lawrence…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
My home Stoke Park has become a hotbed of sex and violence
When I’m not busy editing the Oldie magazine, I live near Towcester in south Northamptonshire where things are pretty unexciting.…
How I’d make a success of a nude-free Playboy
I can’t say that I’m surprised Playboy has decided to stop publishing pictures of naked women. On the contrary, I…
