Life
Names
We reached peak Charlie in 2012, when 5,571 baby boys were given the name. There were only 4,642 last year.…
Real life
On the basis that I might need a new boiler soon, I thought I had better sell the London flat…
French cowardice knows no bounds
Boy, am I glad I’m not a Frenchman. Last week’s dramatic incident on board a Paris-bound train, in which a…
French cowardice knows no bounds
Boy, am I glad I’m not a Frenchman. Last week’s dramatic incident on board a Paris-bound train, in which a…
Two industries in need of regulation
I had a water meter installed in my flat a few months ago. I looked at it just now and…
Man’s greed and gain
Laikipia An elephant can break through an electric fence by pulling out the posts, pushing younger, more stupid animals into…
Bridge
I hope Zia Mahmood will forgive me. It’s not often I come across a contract that he has failed to…
Outdoor piano bars can be dangerous things — especially when one is under the influence
These are the languid, sensuous days of summer, and I’ve had another birthday, which is the bad news. But it’s…
Watching the Persid meteor shower with Professor Brian Cox – lucky me!
‘How many people have you slept with in your life, roughly?’ she asked. We were lying in bed in the…
From ponies to Jeremy Corbyn: Balham’s startingly posh militant left
If anyone wants to know why the Labour party is about to elect Jeremy Corbyn as its leader then they…
Who needs a chicken labelled ‘cook before eating’?
I was saying the other week that my new hearing aids had come with a warning not to swallow their…
You don’t need a nose-tapping tipster to maximise your winnings
Master golfer Gary Player had the perfect retort when a 19th-hole pundit on his fourth G&T declared, ‘It’s all down…
Bridge
I have great respect for top French bridge players but I think it’s fair to say they don’t go in…
Viking trail
The Australian grandmaster David Smerdon has written a truly exciting book about some of the byways in the Centre Counter…
No. 375
Black to play. This position is from Kosmo-Smerdon, Goa 2002. Can you spot Black’s beautiful winning move? Answers to me…
Triple thrill
In Competition No. 2911 you were invited to submit a thriller in three text messages. This one seemed straightforward enough…
2225: Category
Four unclued lights (two of which consist of two words each) belong in the same category; one unclued light defines…
To 2222: Exquisite
TOO-TOO is a HOMOPHONE (38) of TUTU (defined by 1A and 8, and the surname of 17, the former 11…
It's fun at France's answer to Butlins – but there's a catch
I’m currently at a French campsite in the Languedoc, having been persuaded by my wife that it would be a…
Battle for Britain
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Alastair Cook's victory for character, calm – and cunning
The roar of the Premier League is beginning to drown out everything else in sport (there’s even Friday night football…
Dear Mary: Is there a tactful way to tell a dear cousin she needs a lump removed from her face?
Q. How can you tactfully tell someone that the large skin tag or blob they have grown in the centre…
Boastful, narcissistic, overpriced: welcome to Jamie’s Italian
Jamie’s Italian is squeezed into the Devonshire Arms on Denman Street, Soho, borne on the duplicitous winds of TV shows…
‘Asexual’ used to mean something even creepier than ‘Edward Heath’
There was a time when my husband, who often addresses the television, would habitually react to Edward Heath’s appearance on…
Battle for Britain
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