Life
High life
The wind is maddening and constant, and gets stronger as the sun falls below the horizon. The streets are lined…
Long life
I’m going off Jeremy Corbyn. He seems more and more pleased with himself by the minute. But I understand why…
Long life
I’m going off Jeremy Corbyn. He seems more and more pleased with himself by the minute. But I understand why…
Low life
Toby goes to bed at 10 o’clock sharp every night otherwise he gets irritable. Toby sleeps on the bed always.…
Low life
Toby goes to bed at 10 o’clock sharp every night otherwise he gets irritable. Toby sleeps on the bed always.…
Taleban
Toxic virus or Taleban: it’s funny how the mild-mannered Liz Kendall has attracted for her Blairite associations the most violently…
Real life
Surely it can be no coincidence that the road by which one enters St George’s Hospital, Tooting, is called Effort…
Nuclear reaction
The 70th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has produced some predictable wailing and gnashing of teeth about the horrors of…
Nuclear reaction
The 70th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has produced some predictable wailing and gnashing of teeth about the horrors of…
Free markets and dumb luck
The greatest mistake made by conservatism was its overly close relationship with neo-classical economics. This was a marriage of convenience:…
Bridge
I hadn’t realised quite what a thriving bridge scene Manchester has until spending a weekend there recently. I went with…
High life
Nestled under the Acropolis, snug and safe among the ancient ruins of a long-ago grandeur, Plaka is the only remaining…
Low life
On Saturday my boy had a mini-stroke at home, aged only 26. ‘You’ll have to give up smoking and do…
Real life
The vet bill has been sitting on my desk for three weeks. All vet bills are cruel and unusual but…
Long life
Most people, when asked if they would rather be deaf or blind, say they would rather be deaf. I would…
Racing loses its Voice
Reviewing a biography of Arkle, Peter O’Sullevan wrote, ‘He had an obit to die for.’ So did The Voice himself.…
Bridge
Sweden’s flagship event is the brilliantly well organised Chairman’s Cup held in Orebro, attracting great players from all over Europe. …
1 Samuel 18:7
David Howell is on a roll. At the halfway stage of the British Championship he looks set to retain his…
No. 373
White to play. This is a variation from Williams-Howell, British Championship, Warwick 2015. Howell won this game but the puzzle…
Taking the Michael
In Competition No. 2909 you were invited to follow in the footsteps of Michael Gove, who has urged civil servants…
2223: Clerihew
29 6 (4 words) is 1 24 (3 words). 24 11 10 (4 words), but 6 11 36 (4 words).…
To 2220: Poem II
The Poem was ‘Kubla Khan’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 3A, 23, 42, 43, 3D, 4, 10 and 16 are words…
Even the Chinese can’t teach Kevin the Teenager
Watching a group of unruly children make mincemeat out of a well-meaning teacher has become a television staple and Are…
Battle for Britain
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Champions of absurdity
Jumping the shark isn’t yet an Olympic sport, but if it were the International Olympic Committee would be a shoo-in…
