Life
Last of the lunchtime wine
This is a tale of two lunches, sort of. The first was a classically English affair. We started with native…
Have airport designers noticed that laptops exist?
It’s taken years to work this out, but there is a subtle art to designing an airport lounge. 1) Install…
Once upon a time, when a poor farmer came to the big city he put on his only suit
The leaves are falling non-stop, like names dropped in Hollywood, and it has suddenly turned colder than the look I…
The criteria for admittance to a Maldivian cemetery
Moofushi, Maldives We clambered aboard a dhoni, the sturdy wooden boat that the Maldivians use for getting about the…
Finally! My opportunity to say, ‘Monsieur, with zis Rocher you are really spoiling us!’
The ambassador’s receptions are noted in society for their host’s exquisite taste that captivates guests. You know that, I know…
Westminster Abbey was a fitting setting in which to celebrate the life of Winston Churchill’s last child
The Times has given way to the Daily Telegraph as the bastion of the established order, for— with the one…
Silviniaco answered his critics emphatically at Haydock
‘I’m going for Al Ferof,’ said a suit in front of me in the Totepool queue at Ascot on Saturday…
Bridge
Last weekend saw the start of the Tollemache qualifier, the inter-county teams of eight championship. Thirty-five teams competed in four…
Extinct tigers
The Tiger of Madras has gone the way of the sabre-toothed tiger. Viswanathan Anand, world champion from 2007 to 2013,…
No. 342
White to play. This position is a variation from move 37 of today’s game. How does White win? Answers to…
Verse Viagra
In Competition No. 2875 you were invited to submit a poem about an unlikely aphrodisiac. Thanks are due to that…
2190: Petra
‘1D/19’ (six words in total) is a work by 18/13. Remaining unclued lights form two pairs suggested by 13. …
To 2187: River and islands
The theme word is PHOENIX (38A). 6A, 12A and 26A are legendary birds; 15A, 28A and 4D are state capitals;…
If you want an argument against state-school-only Oxbridge colleges, just look at me
I read with some interest the proposal for Oxford and Cambridge to set up state-school-only colleges in the Guardian this…
Battle for Britain
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What football can tell you about Jim Murphy (and what Jim Murphy can tell you about football)
The author of a rather brilliant little book about football could just hold the key to Labour’s otherwise negligible prospects…
Dear Mary: Do I really have to take my shoes off indoors?
Q. There has been a marked increase in the number of people who have pristine flooring and are so keen…
The hotels trying to turn Cornwall into Kensington
Mousehole is a charming name; it is almost a charming place. It is a fishing village on Mount’s Bay, Cornwall,…
Why ‘respect’ is the last thing we should want from politicians
‘Respect!’ cried my husband, drop-kicking a cushion with a picture of the Queen Mother holding a pint of beer on…
Cornish and pasty
Mousehole is a charming name; it is almost a charming place. It is a fishing village on Mount’s Bay, Cornwall,…
Tackling Jim Murphy
The author of a rather brilliant little book about football could just hold the key to Labour’s otherwise negligible prospects…
The resurrection man
‘I’m going for Al Ferof,’ said a suit in front of me in the Totepool queue at Ascot on Saturday…
Snobbery, sneering and secret sniggers: the sad truth about the so-called 'special relationship'
To the grand Herrera house on the upper east side of Manhattan for lunch in honour of Lord and Lady…
‘Are you going out tonight, Frasier? If you are, don’t leave without me’
An hour earlier I had stepped off a plane from Dublin and I was three-quarters deaf in one ear. I…
If the tofu munchers had their way, horses would sleep on mattresses in bespoke tents like a Glastonbury VIP area
Before I go any further, I would like to make clear that no animals were harmed in the making of…
