Life
To 2197: Missing
The unclued lights are some of the words highlighted in Chambers 2011 which were unfortunately omitted from the 2014 edition…
If you think Britain’s corrupt now, watch what happens if we ban second jobs for MPs
Last year, I had an exchange with Hugo Rifkind on Twitter in which I bet him dinner at Clarke’s that…
Battle for Britain
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Want more diversity? Hire groups, not individuals
If I were to give you a budget to choose your perfect house, you would quickly have a clear idea…
Dear Mary: How can I lie about my age and still use my Senior Railcard?
Q. I was not brought up in England and don’t appear in Who’s Who. This means that there is no…
France, England and the tragedy of DSK
When we consider poets who perished before their day, thoughts turn to the Romantics or the war victims: Burns, Keats,…
‘Robust’, busted
‘Heart of Oak are our ships, Jolly Tars are our men,’ shouted my husband unconvincingly. He has taken to doing…
A divided inheritance
When we consider poets who perished before their day, thoughts turn to the Romantics or the war victims: Burns, Keats,…
Going the wrong way one step at a time
If I were to give you a budget to choose your perfect house, you would quickly have a clear idea…
The future was looking bleak for a poor little Greek Boy who had turned 30, but then I met Arnaud de Borchgrave
I hate to start with a cliché, but Count Arnaud de Borchgrave d’Altena, who died in Washington DC last week,…
This shower head should come with a health warning
This hotel is brand new. One half is a university students’ hostel, the other an apartment hotel. Car parking is…
Confessions of an insurance junkie
Never add up your insurance premiums. I just did and the annual cost of all of them came to more…
The elderly are society’s new baddies
The gulf in understanding between the old and the young has widened with the news that the young are beginning…
Why Mark and Sara Bradstock have only 12 horses is a mystery to me
Some mysteries will never be solved, like why planes and boats disappear in the Bermuda Triangle, cats always land on…
Bridge
Couples that play together stay together is not a mantra you hear too often in the bridge world. Indeed most…
Carlsen’s special brew
Magnus Carlsen has added another trophy to his cabinet by taking the honours at the Grenke tournament in Baden Baden,…
No. 350
White to play. This is from Anand v Kramnik, Zurich Rapidplay 2015. White has two ways to win this position,…
As you liken it
In Competition No. 2885 you were invited to write a sonnet beginning ‘Shall I compare thee to a [trisyllable of…
2199: TV Comedy
Fourteen solutions begin with the same letter as their clues. These letters in order are the initial letters of the…
To 2196: Diverse
The quotation around the perimeter is from 25 — varieties of French cheese are highlighted. First prize Hugh Aplin,…
I don’t know why I’m against tax avoidance (and I bet you don’t either)
On the face of it, the moral case against tax avoidance seems pretty straightforward. If you’re a UK taxpayer and…
Battle for Britain
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The Cricket World Cup needs minnows
Graeme Swann arrived late for the last cricket World Cup. His wife had given birth before the tournament and he…
Dear Mary: How can I stop my elderly host making the bed?
Q. I have regularly stayed with a hospitable friend in London but now hesitate to invite myself. She is seventy-something…
Rowleys is Did Mummy Love Me Really? food – and it’s perfect
I think Rowley’s is the perfect restaurant; but I am really a gay man. Rowley’s is at 113 Jermyn Street…
