Life
Battle for Britain
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Roy of the autobiographers
It has become a weary cliché to say that a book’s publication is eagerly awaited, but when an event is…
Dear Mary: Is there anything that can stop companies throwing away my CV?
Q. I graduated this year (I got a first) and have written more than 70 letters to potential employers. Those…
Rextail: a restaurant for billionaire children
Rextail is a restaurant for billionaire children, such as Richie Rich. Its owner, Arcady Novikov, has already opened a restaurant…
The rhetorical power of ‘never’, from Ian Paisley to King Lear
He won’t be remembered as Lord Bannside, but Ian Paisley will be remembered for shouting: ‘Never, never, never, never.’ The…
My little plutocrat
Rextail is a restaurant for billionaire children, such as Richie Rich. Its owner, Arcady Novikov, has already opened a restaurant…
They don’t make footballers like Roy Race any more
It has become a weary cliché to say that a book’s publication is eagerly awaited, but when an event is…
Money, money, money
While Mrs Oakley was patrolling the aisles in Waitrose one day recently, I slipped off into my local betting shop.…
The Olympic spirit may be dead in Ibiza, but at least the hookers are world-class
Ibiza This island is the Spanish equivalent of the Greek sex rock of Mykonos, except its waters are murkier, its…
The bump in the night that changed my mind about pygmies
Music of the Forest on Radio 4 last week was a profile of the anthropologist Colin Turnbull, 1924–1994, who achieved…
Maybe I should become a Slovakian health tourist
‘Let me get this straight,’ I said, looking my Slovakian friend in the eye. ‘You are going to go back…
What my chickens need is a dog
Of the nine chickens I used to keep here in Northamptonshire only one survived the summer, and it was the…
Bridge
Unlike poker, there’s not much money to be made from bridge tournaments (consider yourself lucky if you win £40 in…
Sinking the field
Fabiano Caruana has dominated the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis in a way that almost defies belief. The Italo-American grandmaster,…
No. 331
White to play. This is from Caruana–Nakamura, Sinquefield Cup, St Louis 2014. Caruana could have registered an even greater performance…
Hidden benefits
In Competition No. 2864 you were invited to submit an imaginary feature from a newspaper’s health pages extolling the benefits…
2179: Cos
The unclued lights are of a specific kind. Additionally each is a legitimate inflected headword in Chambers. Elsewhere, ignore one…
to 2176: ,
The unclued lights are BUTTERFLIES (as is the ‘comma’ in the title). The pairs are 7/34A, 13/24, 33/6 and 35/25.…
When the Welsh go it alone, blame me
Oh dear. I think I may have inadvertently contributed to the dissolution of Great Britain. I’m not claiming sole responsibility.…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Why is nationalism OK when prefixed by the word ‘Scottish’ but not ‘British?’
My second favourite religious joke is an old Jewish joke (which I read in the Harvard Review, so I assume…
Dear Mary: Is it rude to answer my child's call when I'm already on the phone?
Q. My problem is that an older friend, with whom I enjoy lengthy telephone chats, becomes furious when my call…
The Society of Odd Bottles and the Sisterhood of the Black Pudding
The Honourable Society of Odd Bottles has been mentioned in this column before. I can report that the membership is…
Knee-jerkers vs knee-tremblers
A little joke by Paddy, Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, turned upon something to be shunned. Conservative ministers, he said, had…
Three sisterhoods
The Honourable Society of Odd Bottles has been mentioned in this column before. I can report that the membership is…
