Life
The Canadian Ed Miliband
I’ve been reading Fire and Ashes, Michael Ignatieff’s account of his disastrous foray into politics, in an attempt to understand…
Frankie’s back
Nothing has been lost since William Powell Frith painted his Derby Day panorama in 1858: today, instead of the carriages…
Take it from Taki — Hillary Clinton will be the next US president
The last week in Gotham was exceptional fun. I saw a Broadway play, Finding Neverland, compliments of the producer, my…
Call myself a Low life? You lot put me to shame
The entries are crawling in on their hands and knees for the ‘drunkest I’ve ever been’ competition to win a…
The great Sky bundle boondoggle
Foolishly, I have this wild notion that one day, if the stars align in my favour, I might be able…
Living next door to someone rich, and beside a motorway, makes you fat and your blood pressure soar
I wrote last week about a swarm of bees that had attached itself to a wall of my house, as…
Bridge
The Hacketts are probably the best known bridge-playing family in the world. They live in Manchester but travel constantly —…
Boris Good Enough
Boris Gulko, celebrated both as a grandmaster and a former Soviet dissident, has recently completed his great trilogy of instructional…
No. 365
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Jakovenko, Khanty-Mansiysk 2015. Black is winning -easily, but can you find the most accurate…
Sauce material
In Competition No. 2900 you were invited to write a short story that ends on a condiment of your choice.…
2214: What’s up?
The theme word is 29 down, which defines each of the other unclued lights (including one of two words) in…
To 2211: Toddler hero
‘THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH YIELDING PLACE TO NEW’, from Tennyson’s IDYLLS OF THE KING, suggests the outcome of ANAGRAMMATISM (2).…
If I were a cultural Marxist, I might be thinking about giving up
In his Memoirs, Kingsley Amis includes a story about meeting Roald Dahl at a party in the 1970s. Dahl advises…
Battle for Britain
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In praise of the ‘Don’t know’ voter
I am scraping the edges of my memory here, but I am fairly sure that opinion polls in my childhood…
Dear Mary: What to do when an old friend snubs you
Q. What should I say the next time I run into a woman with whom I was at art school…
The secret heart of London conservatism…
There is a dive near St James’s which could claim to be the epicentre of international reaction. It is also…
The rise and rise of the brain fade
‘Aa-aah,’ groaned my husband, ‘we fade to grey.’ He had never been much of a Young Romantic, even when Visage…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Boris Good Enough
Boris Gulko, celebrated both as a grandmaster and a former Soviet dissident, has recently completed his great trilogy of instructional…
No. 365
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Jakovenko, Khanty-Mansiysk 2015. Black is winning -easily, but can you find the most accurate…
Sauce material
In Competition No. 2900 you were invited to write a short story that ends on a condiment of your choice.…
Your problems solved
Q. What should I say the next time I run into a woman with whom I was at art school…
Claret and blues
There is a dive near St James’s which could claim to be the epicentre of international reaction. It is also…
High life
The last week in Gotham was exceptional fun. I saw a Broadway play, Finding Neverland, compliments of the producer, my…
