Life
When Google can't help you
‘Ask your telephone,’ said my husband satirically when I made an innocent enquiry on a point of fact. My telephone…
Lamb rump without the prince
Highgrove is the country house of the Prince of Wales. I write about Highgrove because, although it is not a…
Whisper it, but could England win the next Rugby World Cup?
There are many eternal questions. Why do all aircraft, no matter how much your ticket cost, where you’ve come from,…
A Cheltenham of contrasts
No sporting event anywhere compresses so much drama, emotion and character into a single venue as the Cheltenham Festival. It…
The end of snow? Not in Gstaad
Gstaad The American newspaper that prints only news it sees fit to poison good things recently announced ‘The end of…
A night on a hospital ward with Paddy Leigh Fermor
The catheter stung exquisitely when I lay down. So I stood up. All night I stood by my hospital bed,…
Help! My gay best friend is cheating on me
My gay best friend is cheating on me with another woman. I saw him with her the other day and…
I want to age like the Three Tenors
In February each year the Oldie magazine gives ‘Oldie of the Year Awards’ to people who show unusual vigour and…
Bridge
The Night of the Stars charity bridge event, held in West London a couple of weeks ago, was every bit…
War fever
It is a little known fact that Emanuel Lasker, the German world chess champion, who reigned from 1894 to 1921,…
No. 305
White to play. This position is from Teichmann-NN, Simultaneous Display, Berlin 1914. Can you spot White’s fine finish? Answers to…
Fifty-something
In Competition 2838 you were invited to submit a short story entitled Fifty Shades of whatever you chose. It was…
2153: Selling
Each of thirteen clues contains one misprinted letter in the definition part. Corrections of misprints spell a phrase involving a…
Solution to 2150: Content
‘To fill the hour — that is happiness’ (given by initial letters of superfluous words in clues, and 3 4A)…
Death brings out everyone’s inner Mary Whitehouse
Shortly after Bob Crow’s death was announced on Tuesday, Nigel Farage sent the following tweet: ‘Sad at the death of…
Battle for Britain
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The plan with three brains
A good human chess player with a good computer trounces the best human or computer playing alone
Dear Mary: Is there any way to wriggle out of a phone invitation?
Q. Is there a tactful way to keep one social offer on hold while waiting to see if you have…
The tragedy of Armenia (and its brandy)
It is impossible not to sympathise with Armenia. It has spent much of its history between the hammer and the…
How 'de-escalate' escalated
‘What we want to see,’ David Cameron said last week, ‘is a de-escalation.’ Or, as the Tanaiste of Ireland put…
The spirit of Armenia
It is impossible not to sympathise with Armenia. It has spent much of its history between the hammer and the…
Three minds are better than one
This month Daniel Kahneman turned 80. Long revered among experts in the decision sciences, his work reached much wider public…
What 12 Years a Slave gets wrong – and The Book Thief gets right
Damn, damn, damn! It has to be me, and all these years I’ve been thinking it was Hollywood. By the…
I’m hoping and praying for a continuation of potency
I’ve had a medical procedure that is ‘likely’ to leave me impotent. A nurse is coming around dishing out Tramadol,…
David Cameron is sending me begging letters
A letter arrives from David Cameron, asking me to vote by post in the European elections. Presumably he means vote…
