Life
Low life
Two stylists work at this deeply rural French ladies’ hairdresser. Christelle is a gorgeous 17-year-old point-of-lay pullet, so lithe and…
Quarter
‘No quarter given,’ yelled my husband as he stabbed at a cushion with his stick, spoiling the cavalier effect a…
Come on you blues. Or, er, reds
Here’s an election-winning idea for Dave: forget about Aston Villa (or West Ham) and become a full-on Bournemouth fan. They…
Reuniondues
A couple of weeks ago I returned to my old Oxford college for a ‘gaudy’ — posh, Oxford-speak for a…
Reuniondues
A couple of weeks ago I returned to my old Oxford college for a ‘gaudy’ — posh, Oxford-speak for a…
The real McCoy
At Sandown Park last Saturday an era ended. Twenty thousand of us turned up to cheer on Tony McCoy as…
2209: Safe-blowers
The unclued lights (two of two words) are to be linked with one of the clued lights in translation. All…
Neither London nor New York will be livable in ten years’ time
A recent column in the FT made me mad as hell. The writer, Simon Kuper, calls Vienna a backwater, which…
What’s On in South Devon gave me three choices: functioning psychotic preacher, bingo or a poetry evening
I’m such a constitutional lightweight lately that I’ve started looking on the website What’s On in South Devon for things…
Maybe it is time to hang up my fighting boots
As a wise person once said (or if they didn’t, they should have), there is only one thing worse than…
The birth of a royal baby is hardly an exciting event
There are already people camping outside St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, to await the birth shortly of another royal baby, the…
I am grateful to my surgeon for saving one of my limbs when a mob of Samburu tribesmen attacked me
Laikipia When I was a boy in Devon we had an orchard. On a string of autumns, as the fruit…
Bridge
Congratulations to the Welsh women’s team, who staged one of the most spectacular comebacks I’ve ever seen at last weekend’s…
So there
Hikaru Nakamura has won the US Championship in convincing style with 8/11, ahead of Ray Robson and Wesley So. Things…
No. 359
Black to play. This position is a variation from Troff-Nakamura, US Championship 2015. How can Black conclude his kingside attack…
Verses on horses
In Competition No. 2894 you were invited to submit a paean to a famous racehorse. Thanks to David Pearn, who…
2208: Mort
Two words form the name of a fictional 28, described by his creator as a ‘22A/31/26’. Remaining across unclued lights…
To 2205: In shape
Unclued lights were set out in the form of two squares in the grid (shown here in red). The theme…
Fatherhood is killing me
Not a day passes when I don’t look on my father’s record with shock and awe. I’m not talking about…
Battle for Britain
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Sod hard-working families: let’s have a four-day week
Whenever I hear the phrase ‘hard-working families’ a little voice in my head asks ‘what about the lazier, chilled-out families?…
Dear Mary: How to give a dinner party and still get an early night
Q. I socialise in Shropshire every weekend and regularly give dinners which end at 2 a.m., but it’s a different matter…
The greatest wine I’ve ever drunk
The supermarket chains are not always blameworthy. Their missionary efforts have helped to ensure that wine drinking in Britain is…
Does the English language need a Norwegian lesson?
‘Ten Norwegian phrases that don’t exist in English but should,’ said the headline. So I had a little look, as…
Battle for Britain
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