Life
How we ended up ‘cisgender’
‘That’s not how you spell “system”,’ said my husband triumphantly, pointing with his whisky glass at a placard inveighing against…
Real life
A letter has arrived summoning me to parents’ evening to discuss Cydney’s progress. Yes, I am aware that Cydney is…
Nature beats nurture nearly every time
I’ve been doing some thinking recently about the findings of behavioural geneticists and their implications for education policy. For instance,…
Nature beats nurture nearly every time
I’ve been doing some thinking recently about the findings of behavioural geneticists and their implications for education policy. For instance,…
Hayek was right: you can’t understand society without evolution
In December the controversial satellite TV channel ReallyTV launches its Christmas season with a flagship reality show called From Homs to…
Bridge
Congratulations to my old pal Lou Hobhouse, who has just been appointed the new editor of the English Bridge Union…
2235: Vile stuff
1/44 (eight words in total) is part of a question (in ODQ) minus a word exemplified by the other unclued…
To 2232: Ups and downs
The thematic phrase is ‘The Waves’, shown in a wave pattern in the grid. It is the title of a…
Battle for Britain
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Doctor Hou
Hou Yifan has won what must be considered one of the strongest, if not the strongest, all-women chess tournaments ever…
No. 385
White to play. This position is from Koneru-Zhukova, Monaco 2015. How did White quickly exploit the constricted position of the…
Fictihew
In Competition No. 2921 you were invited to write a clerihew about a fictional character. The clerihew is a comic…
Dear Mary: How can we make our dinner guests go?
Q. Many of our best and oldest friends have done so well they have stopped work. Meanwhile my husband still…
The Pit of hipsterdom
Penny is an all-day café in the former Pit Bar in the basement of the Old Vic, a famous and…
High life
To Cleveland, Ohio, where middle America’s middle class begins its great Midwest sprawl. I’ve always wanted to visit Cleveland because…
Long life
The Metropolitan Club in Washington is so close to the White House that President Obama chose to walk there for…
Long life
The Metropolitan Club in Washington is so close to the White House that President Obama chose to walk there for…
Low life
The fag end of October. Dark evenings. My smelly old Barbour. Chopping and splitting wood. Uncanny stillnesses. Psychedelic maple trees.…
Low life
The fag end of October. Dark evenings. My smelly old Barbour. Chopping and splitting wood. Uncanny stillnesses. Psychedelic maple trees.…
Fulsome
It’s funny that two much misused words end in —some: fulsome and noisome. Noisome is the less often used at…
Real life
‘This is a two Voltarol day,’ I thought, as I popped another pill and settled into the bath after Darcy’s…
Joubert’s the man to sort out Syria
Not since Walter Palmer, a cudddly Minnesota dentist, put down his drill and vanished off the face of the earth…
Club class won’t fly any more
I’m getting a lot of abuse on Twitter for saying that having been a member of the Bullingdon is more…
Club class won’t fly any more
I’m getting a lot of abuse on Twitter for saying that having been a member of the Bullingdon is more…
Jumping for joy
Thank God for jump racing. The Flat has its glitz and speed and glamour, and we could not help but…
