Life
No. 292
White to play. This position is from Anand-Ding Liren, Alekhine Memorial, Paris 2013. White’s next destroyed the already compromised black…
Pet project
In Competition 2823 you were invited to submit a school essay or poem written at the age of eight by…
2139: Separated
Nine unclued lights can be separated into three groups; each group consists of three definitions of one of three words…
To 2136: Howdunit
Six of the unclued entries contained the Cluedo character surnames; the remaining unclued entries were therefore a murder weapon and…
Toby Young: Tristram Hunt, the Spectator's 'Newcomer of the Year'?
I love The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year Awards. On the face of it, they’re a great advertisement for just…
Dave
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If Carberry doesn't open for England, the world should split asunder
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Dear Mary: How can I be ready when Cupid strikes?
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Boulestin has nothing to do with Marcel Boulestin — but could entice Mary Berry
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Dot Wordsworth: Is M&S really 'Magic & Sparkle'?
‘Believe in Magic & Sparkle,’ says the Marks & Spencer television Christmas advertisement. The phrase is meant to suggest the…
French revival
Boulestin is a pretty restaurant on St James’s Street, between the posh fag shop (Davidoff) and the old palace, which…
All change at the top
In sport, as in life, you just don’t know where you stand any more. Look at the Premier League: no…
Wild life
As I write this, my hands are seared and bruised from holding a hot iron after branding our cattle. We…
Taki: RIP John Jay, my brave friend who refused to take part in vulture capitalism
I suppose the secret of death is to choose not to expire the same day as famous people. I read…
Jeremy Clarke: Can't we even manage a proper hurricane?
In the Spar shop I overheard someone talking anxiously to the woman on the till about an approaching ‘hurricane’. I…
Melissa Kite: aliens have landed in Warwickshire — I’ve seen their spaceship
Like the heroine in Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers, I stood in front of it with my mouth open in awe.…
Alexander Chancellor: Do you think you should read this piece for free?
I was in Nottingham last Sunday to address university students about journalism. The occasion was a one-day ‘media conference’ organised…
How the slowest horse won — and caused the biggest upset in Grand National history
On a grey October morning, along a Berkshire lane leading up to the Ridgeway amid fields stuffed with pheasant, 30…
Bridge
Bridge is a great leveller: at some point, it makes fools of us all. As a result, it’s probably best…
Next generation
Magnus Carlsen’s world title challenge to Vishy Anand commences on Saturday 9 November and continues to the end of this month.…
No. 291
White to play. This position is from Karpov v. Korchnoi, Merano 1981. White’s next destroyed the black position. What did…
Shakespeare does Dallas
In Competition 2822 you were invited to submit an extract from a scene from a contemporary soap opera (television or…
2138: Hundred centimes
The unclued lights, across and down respectively, are of a kind, all verifiable in Chambers. Across 4 Single…
To 2135: Strange
The unclued lights are CONDUCTORS (SARGENT is an anagram of the title STRANGE). First prize Roderick Rhodes, Goldsborough, North…
Fighting dirty
Why is local politics so much dirtier than national politics? Is it because the players are fighting over relatively trivial…
