Life
Long life
I’m going off Jeremy Corbyn. He seems more and more pleased with himself by the minute. But I understand why…
Low life
Toby goes to bed at 10 o’clock sharp every night otherwise he gets irritable. Toby sleeps on the bed always.…
Low life
Toby goes to bed at 10 o’clock sharp every night otherwise he gets irritable. Toby sleeps on the bed always.…
Taleban
Toxic virus or Taleban: it’s funny how the mild-mannered Liz Kendall has attracted for her Blairite associations the most violently…
Real life
Surely it can be no coincidence that the road by which one enters St George’s Hospital, Tooting, is called Effort…
Nuclear reaction
The 70th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has produced some predictable wailing and gnashing of teeth about the horrors of…
Nuclear reaction
The 70th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has produced some predictable wailing and gnashing of teeth about the horrors of…
Free markets and dumb luck
The greatest mistake made by conservatism was its overly close relationship with neo-classical economics. This was a marriage of convenience:…
Bridge
I hadn’t realised quite what a thriving bridge scene Manchester has until spending a weekend there recently. I went with…
What Greece needs is less Europe and more entrepreneurship
Nestled under the Acropolis, snug and safe among the ancient ruins of a long-ago grandeur, Plaka is the only remaining…
When the going gets tough there’s nothing like an hour of rollicking hymn singing
On Saturday my boy had a mini-stroke at home, aged only 26. ‘You’ll have to give up smoking and do…
Just call me Miss Whiplash
The vet bill has been sitting on my desk for three weeks. All vet bills are cruel and unusual but…
My deafness has become an impediment to domestic harmony
Most people, when asked if they would rather be deaf or blind, say they would rather be deaf. I would…
It was a send-off to remember for the Voice of racing, Peter O’Sullevan
Reviewing a biography of Arkle, Peter O’Sullevan wrote, ‘He had an obit to die for.’ So did The Voice himself.…
Bridge
Sweden’s flagship event is the brilliantly well organised Chairman’s Cup held in Orebro, attracting great players from all over Europe. …
1 Samuel 18:7
David Howell is on a roll. At the halfway stage of the British Championship he looks set to retain his…
No. 373
White to play. This is a variation from Williams-Howell, British Championship, Warwick 2015. Howell won this game but the puzzle…
Taking the Michael
In Competition No. 2909 you were invited to follow in the footsteps of Michael Gove, who has urged civil servants…
2223: Clerihew
29 6 (4 words) is 1 24 (3 words). 24 11 10 (4 words), but 6 11 36 (4 words).…
To 2220: Poem II
The Poem was ‘Kubla Khan’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 3A, 23, 42, 43, 3D, 4, 10 and 16 are words…
Even the Chinese can’t teach British teenagers
Watching a group of unruly children make mincemeat out of a well-meaning teacher has become a television staple and Are…
Battle for Britain
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The madness of the Beijing Winter Olympics
Jumping the shark isn’t yet an Olympic sport, but if it were the International Olympic Committee would be a shoo-in…
Dear Mary: I was at the dinner party when the text came disinviting me
Q. While renting in Rock last week, I ran into an acquaintance who invited me to join her large house…
A fake fishing village, and the nastiest thing I’ve eaten as a restaurant critic
Selfridges is skilled at making things that are not hideous (women) look hideous (women dressed as Bungle from Rainbow or…
