Life
Something wild – well, wild for Claridge's – in Gordon Ramsay's old cave
Fera is in Gordon Ramsay’s old cave at Claridge’s. His red and yellow room, like a ripped-off arm, has been…
Why would a Danish queen say 'basta'?
My husband heard me in the kitchen exclaim: ‘What would I do without you?’ He curiously imagined I was referring…
The pall of the wild
Fera is in Gordon Ramsay’s old cave at Claridge’s. His red and yellow room, like a ripped-off arm, has been…
A new England
A revealing handwritten letter emerged at the weekend from the England scrum half Danny Care, who wasn’t playing in the…
Epsom delights
Watching the contestants parade at Epsom for this year’s Oaks, I remembered the great D. Wayne Lukas’s pronouncement on selecting…
The EU is the greatest danger since Uncle Joe
Last week in the Bagel, and then London here I come. As I write, hundreds of thousands of Jews are…
Sharon took to the madness of Pamplona like a duck to water
Then there was the time I took Sharon to the Pamplona bull run. She looked very fetching in the traditional…
Estate agents just don't get it - I want a house, not a building site
‘What is this, please?’ I said to the estate agent, as he showed me into the building site he was…
I wouldn't have accepted Lord Rennard's apology – but then he shouldn't have made it
Shirley Williams has a point when she says that Lord Rennard’s alleged harassment of four female Lib Dem colleagues was…
Bridge
Have you ever been told by an expert that a bid you’ve made is foolish, badly judged or plain wrong?…
On the brink
The last great tournament to have been completed before the outbreak of war in 1914 was St Petersburg, which saw…
No. 317
Black to play. This position is from Mieses-Alekhine, Mannheim 1914. Can you spot Black’s subtle winning move in this endgame?…
Proverbial
In Competition No. 2850 you were invited to invent proverbs that sound profound but have no meaning. This was an…
2165: Not far off
According to a quotation (in ODQ) by a person whose surname is an unclued light, an area of five letters…
to 2162: Stand in
Superfluous letters in definitions form the phrase HOLD THE FORT. Thematically created entries at 5, 10, 17, 19 and 38 are defined…
I used to think I was a Nietzschean superman. Now I know I'm just a dad
In The Wolf of Wall Street, there’s a poignant shot towards the end in which we see an FBI agent…
Battle for Britain
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How user-friendly is your house?
Old Glaswegian joke: ‘Put your hat and coat on, lassie, I’m off to the pub.’ ‘That’s nice — are you…
Dear Mary: Is there a polite way to ask for the return of a handbag full of cash?
Q. A friend regularly hires a stall at a general neighbourhood market in order to sell surplus second-hand clothes and…
The soul of a lurcher and the secret of a capon
A county, a house, a dog — and a bottle. Somerset: men have delved and farmed and built here for…
Square meals didn't start in Nelson's navy – but you could get one in a gold-rush town
I never dare go with my husband to any restaurant that uses square plates or he will play up the…
Cutting the capon
A county, a house, a dog — and a bottle. Somerset: men have delved and farmed and built here for…
How user-friendly is your house?
Old Glaswegian joke: ‘Put your hat and coat on, lassie, I’m off to the pub.’ ‘That’s nice — are you…
Why don’t any of the sisterhood take up the banner of poor Noor Hussain’s wife?
New York Here’s a question for you loyal readers: if a hubby asks his wife to cook him a hearty…
Two narcissists trapped in one static caravan
I was two days alone in the caravan and no signal or reception of any sort. It was like a…
