Life
Coincidence
My grandmaster colleague James Plaskett has two passions, the pursuit of the mythical giant octopus (ongoing) and a fascination with…
No. 380
Black to play. This position is from Abramciuc–Nevednichy, Chisinau 2014. How can Black simplify down to a winning endgame? Answers…
Rebranded classics
In Competition No. 2916 you were invited to recast a well-known scene from literature to reflect the fact that its…
Dear Mary
Q. I am an impoverished artist living in a famously cheap European city, largely for reasons of economy. I love…
Club mischief
When it comes to nightclubs, many have written, but none has surpassed the Perroquet in Debra Dowa. Le tout Debra…
High life
Gstaad Jeremy Clarke has wiped me out again, for a change. His accounts of the high jinks on board the…
Long life
It’s hard to turn on the television nowadays without being shown a robot. It might be looking like a grasshopper…
Long life
It’s hard to turn on the television nowadays without being shown a robot. It might be looking like a grasshopper…
Low life
I was looking after Oscar, my five-and-a-half-year-old grandson, for the day. We’d played football in the garden, then we’d come…
Low life
I was looking after Oscar, my five-and-a-half-year-old grandson, for the day. We’d played football in the garden, then we’d come…
Fuckebythenavele
A great discovery has been made by Dr Paul Booth, a fellow of Keele University. It is a 14th-century example…
Real life
After pulling out of my flat sale and U-turning on the idea of moving to the Cotswolds, it took me…
Corbyn sets off on the wrong track
Amid all the excitement about David Cameron this week, I fear that Jeremy Corbyn’s first major policy announcement may have…
Corbyn sets off on the wrong track
Amid all the excitement about David Cameron this week, I fear that Jeremy Corbyn’s first major policy announcement may have…
From A to B, differently
Afamily member is thinking of moving and asked for commuting advice. Well, first add 25 per cent to any journey…
Wild life
Laikipia A lion has just mauled and partially eaten a warrior who tried to throw a spear in my…
Bridge
This has been the most shocking saga in the entire history of bridge. In the face of overwhelming evidence that…
It's scary what it takes to be (and stay) a jockey
It’s a tough old business, this racing. Hayley Turner is the best woman rider we’ve ever seen in this country.…
2229: Gnome
The third letters of extra words in two dozen clues spell out a 35 (in ODQ 7&8), associated with the…
To 2226: Whitehouse
X was Ingrid Bergman, winner of a TERN (21) of OSCARs (8), who was born on 29th August 1915 and…
Was Maria a virgin, a prude or a woman who liked to torture?
Gstaad Last week I dreamt of a girl I met in the summer of 1953, in Greece. I had never…
Modafinil, ladies and gentlemen. Recommended.
The staples of my daily alcohol consumption on the cruise were champagne, gin, red wine and Polish vodka. One morning…
Have my bones fallen to bits like the Oxford professor said they would?
‘Are you afraid of falling over?’ asked the bored young radiologist, as he started filling out the forms. I had…
Sexism and racism in outer space
How do you address extraterrestrials in outer space? The main problem with this is that there may not be any…
Bridge
The cheating scandal rages on. The latest to be accused is the world’s number one-ranked pair, Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio…