Life
Wild life
Rift Valley Many of my British tribe fled Kenya around independence in 1963 because they believed there was no future.…
Cambridge, meet your first professor of racing lore
Watching the contestants parade at Epsom for this year’s Oaks, I remembered the great D. Wayne Lukas’s pronouncement on selecting…
2166: Somewhere X
Somewhere next to 34 and 12, 33 is 25, the highest mountain is 1D (two words), and the principal 3…
to 2163: Muscle
The LITERAL QUINTET (13/22) was TERSE (37). 7A suggests ‘reest’, 40 steer, 5 stere, 6 ester, 19 trees and 26…
Like Murdoch, I'm an old man with an eye for beauty. But Wendi Deng? Seriously?
Gstaad A slight bump at 30,000 feet concentrates the mind, as the good Dr Johnson said about an appointment with…
A free gin, a cheeky joint: welcome back to the local
My first time back in the local for eight weeks. The manageress lifts the flap, comes around to my side…
Volvo 1; Melissa Kite: 0
‘And for my next trick,’ said the Volvo, as I parked at the supermarket and pulled the handle of the…
Young Italians flock to London – for just the same reasons it scares me
Although I live in the country in Northamptonshire, I go to London often — almost once a week — and…
Bridge
The final match in the second division of Young Chelsea’s London Super League was as exciting as it gets. Two…
Vlad the Impaler
As I write, the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik is leading in the Norway tournament in Stavanger. The line-up is…
No. 318
White to play. This is a variation from Karjakin-Grischuk, Norway 2014. What key move allows White to deal with the…
Paxmanic
In Competition No. 2851 you were invited to mark Jeremy Paxman’s departure from Newsnight by supplying an extract from an…
Yes, I compared Theresa May to an Israeli tank commander. Why is everyone so upset?
I expect all of us have said something we regret at one time or another, but not everyone does so…
Battle for Britain
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The real England team is playing for Stuart Lancaster
A revealing handwritten letter emerged at the weekend from the England scrum half Danny Care, who wasn’t playing in the…
Dear Mary: What’s the best way to turn down charity requests?
Q. I am the co-owner of a chocolate business which regularly receives requests for donations of goody bags and raffle…
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…
