Life
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…
Dave
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Rory Sutherland: How to improve journey times without HS2
I am still waiting for someone to refute my argument that it would be possible to reduce the journey time…
Dear Mary: How do I empty a chamberpot without my hosts noticing?
Q. One of our daughter’s godmothers has given very generous presents but never with any regularity. She was unable to…
House sherry
The Speaker was in trouble. I do not refer to Michael Martin or John Bercow, the two worst Speakers in…
Collagen
I saw an advertisement for Active Gold Collagen, and I realised I didn’t know what collagen means. My husband just…
House sherry
The Speaker was in trouble. I do not refer to Michael Martin or John Bercow, the two worst Speakers in…
The day of fallers
On a grey October morning, along a Berkshire lane leading up to the Ridgeway amid fields stuffed with pheasant, 30…
How to reduce journey times without HS2
I am still waiting for someone to refute my argument that it would be possible to reduce the journey time…
Taki: Ugly people build ugly things — look at New York and London
New York Hot money from China, India, Russia and Singapore is pouring into London; hotter money from the same countries…
Jeremy Clarke’s date with a plank fancier
We’d being trying to meet for lunch for weeks, but always something had got in the way and either she…
Melissa Kite’s fraught relationship with printers
Blind panic grips me at the thought that all over Britain there are people sitting in cosy home offices operating…
A dog mess or two is not too high a price to pay for an owner’s happiness
A month ago I was reporting complacently that peace and calm had returned to Stoke Park after a series of…
Bridge
I love Bernard Teltscher. In fact, I proposed to him recently, but he politely declined, saying I was too old…
Tendonitis
Magnus Carlsen has risen to achieve the highest ever chess rating. He ascended to 2872 on the rankings, which compares…
No. 290
White to play. This position is a variation from Carlsen-Anand, Monaco 2011. White is a piece down here but has…
Georgic
In Competition 2821 you were invited to supply a poem that provides instruction or useful information. This challenge was, of…
2137: Speculation
Each of two associated words is suggested by four unclued lights (one of two words). Elsewhere, ignore an accent. …
To 2134: Mere letters
The pairs of anagrams were of countries and their capitals: Dominica & Roseau (2 & 11); Latvia & Riga (20…
