Life
Bridge
Wednesday night is league night. Sacrosanct. I’ve missed only one in seven years and that was when my daughter was…
Yawn
In Competition No. 2891 you were invited to think of the most boring lecture topic possible and submit an extract…
2205: In shape
The unclued lights (including one of three words, one of two words, and one hyphened) form two thematic groups in…
To 2202: Problem XI
Seven unclued lights are ANAGRAMS (23) of numbers. 2 (7A) + 11 (17) + 10 (40) + 16 (5) +…
Lefty myths about inequality
As a Tory, I’ve been thinking a lot about inequality recently. Has it really increased in the past five years?…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Rory McIlroy and the grandest prize in golf
The grand slam in golf is a feat almost impossible to imagine now. It meant winning all four golfing majors…
Dear Mary: How I can I avoid being invited to any more country house weekends?
Q. Someone I was at university with but hadn’t seen much of over the ten years since invited me to…
From Russia with love
In the James Bond film From Russia with Love there is an evil mastermind named Kronsteen. The character is in…
No. 356
White to play. This position is a variation from Bronstein-Zilberstein, Tbilisi 1973. Bronstein has just given up a piece on…
A cemetery with cocktails: La Coupole and the spirit of the brasserie
La Coupole, Montparnasse, is the grandest and most famous of the old pre-war Parisian brasseries; that is, if you have…
The new Fowler still won’t grasp the nettle on ‘they’
I’ve been having a lovely time splashing about in the new Fowler. It has been revised by Jeremy Butterfield, an…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
From Russia with love
In the James Bond film From Russia with Love there is an evil mastermind named Kronsteen. The character is in…
No. 356
White to play. This position is a variation from Bronstein-Zilberstein, Tbilisi 1973. Bronstein has just given up a piece on…
Yawn
In Competition No. 2891 you were invited to think of the most boring lecture topic possible and submit an extract…
Your problems solved
Q. Someone I was at university with but hadn’t seen much of over the ten years since invited me to…
A cemetery with cocktails
La Coupole, Montparnasse, is the grandest and most famous of the old pre-war Parisian brasseries; that is, if you have…
High life
End of season is always bittersweet, the melting snows a bit like autumn leaves. But the days are longer and…
They
I’ve been having a lovely time splashing about in the new Fowler. It has been revised by Jeremy Butterfield, an…
Can McIlroy become the magnificent seventh?
The grand slam in golf is a feat almost impossible to imagine now. It meant winning all four golfing majors…
Lefty myths about inequality
As a Tory, I’ve been thinking a lot about inequality recently. Has it really increased in the past five years?…
Lefty myths about inequality
As a Tory, I’ve been thinking a lot about inequality recently. Has it really increased in the past five years?…
The price of success
After listening to a violinist’s justification of his playing, Dr Samuel Johnson responded tartly: ‘Difficult do you call it, Sir?…
Make no mistake: the Top Gear brouhaha is cultural warfare
It’s a famous quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one that Elton John should ponder (when he’s not out shopping, that…
