Life

I nearly went lost my mind in southern Spain on the trail of Gerald Brenan

15 November 2014 9:00 am

Another writer I once liked very much is Gerald Brenan. Brenan served with distinction in the first world war and…

The impossibility of ordering the right-sized salad

15 November 2014 9:00 am

People don’t listen. It’s a relatively new thing. People used to listen, to varying degrees. You had your good listeners…

A trip to Berlin with John Smith before the wall came down

15 November 2014 9:00 am

Last Sunday night 8,000 illuminated balloons, tethered along eight miles of Berlin’s former inner-city border between East and West Germany,…

Robin Oakley's Twelve to Follow for 2015 (this year's came out ahead)

15 November 2014 9:00 am

November has never been my favourite month, not since the time when as a Rugby-playing student my face was rearranged…

Bridge

15 November 2014 9:00 am

It’s always good to know where you draw the line and my line, drawn in thick black ink, was going…

Force Majeure

15 November 2014 9:00 am

The common feature of the first two games of the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen in…

No. 340

15 November 2014 9:00 am

Black to play. This position is a variation from Anand-Carlsen; World Championship, Sochi (Game 1) 2014. Can you spot Black’s…

Concrete poem

15 November 2014 9:00 am

In Competition No. 2873 you were invited to submit a poem in praise or dispraise of a well-known building. It…

2188: Pieces of eight

15 November 2014 9:00 am

Each unclued light is somehow related to a clued one. Elsewhere, ignore an acute accent.   Across   4   …

To 2185: Over the sea

15 November 2014 9:00 am

The unclued are locations on SKYE, ‘The Misty Isle’ (solutions at 15 and 31). ISLE does double duty in 15/31…

The man feminists seemed to think was worse than the Taleban

15 November 2014 9:00 am

Feature writers aren’t often acclaimed for their courage, but Neil Lyndon deserves a bronze plaque in St Bride’s. Twenty-two years…

Battle for Britain

15 November 2014 9:00 am

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International cricket must return to Pakistan (and my team went first)

15 November 2014 9:00 am

In a tiny courtyard just off the teeming alleys of Lahore’s old town, a young Pakistani boy in a gleaming…

Dear Mary: How to talk to friends whose book you haven’t read

15 November 2014 9:00 am

Q. What is the correct thing to say to a writer friend whose book you haven’t read? I buy most…

A buffet in an Egyptian tomb

15 November 2014 9:00 am

Atlantico is a vast buffet inside the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort Spa and Casino in Gran Canaria. The Lopesan Costa…

Why must every ‘accident’ be an ‘incident’?

15 November 2014 9:00 am

I had thought that the saying ‘Accidents will happen in the best regulated families’ was a vulgar reference to children…

Station to station

13 November 2014 3:00 pm

Atlantico is a vast buffet inside the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort Spa and Casino in Gran Canaria. The Lopesan Costa…

Cricket must return to Pakistan

13 November 2014 3:00 pm

In a tiny courtyard just off the teeming alleys of Lahore’s old town, a young Pakistani boy in a gleaming…

The turf

13 November 2014 3:00 pm

November has never been my favourite month, not since the time when as a Rugby-playing student my face was rearranged…

The difficult art of finding the right yacht

8 November 2014 9:00 am

To Newport, Rhode Island, the smallest state in the Union but one of the most beautiful. Driving north-east from the…

Bidding a fond, and drunken, farewell to the awe-inspiring Mark Amory

8 November 2014 9:00 am

Rubbing shoulders with political suits on the pavement outside the Westminster Arms, I drank two pints of Spitfire. Pump primed,…

My spaniel Cydney has covered herself in glory and disgrace

8 November 2014 9:00 am

Just before Cydney ran off and disgraced me on the first day of the shooting season, she covered herself in…

Two ways to disgrace a president

8 November 2014 9:00 am

On 21 October Ben Bradlee, the famous ex-editor of the Washington Post, died, aged 93. The day before that, on…

Bridge

8 November 2014 9:00 am

To get good results at bridge, it’s not enough to play well — your opponents need to play badly; and…

Sochi Challenge

8 November 2014 9:00 am

On Saturday 8 November the first game will be played in the three-week long rematch between defending world champion Magnus…