Life
My mare has had a ‘misalliance’ with a pint-sized stallion
My favourite vet came to see Darcy and immediately put his finger on the problem. Dusk was falling when he…
My unforgettable night with a musical genius
Nostalgia barged in like gangbusters. What brought it on was a brief article about the most charming and enchanting of…
Bridge | 3 September 2022
The beautiful city of Wroclaw in Poland is currently teeming with bridge players, all of them there for the 16th…
Aussie life
Anthony Albanese’s republican sympathies were a matter of public record when a Voice to Parliament wasn’t even a whisper in…
Woke language
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) once said: ‘The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.’ And if the woke…
Bridge | 27 August 2022
Do we need complicated bidding systems to reach the best contracts? The Portland Club (men only) operates a no conventions…
No. 717
White to play. Gormally–Claridge-Hansen, British Championships 2022 Black’s last move, Ra8-a7,was a fatal mistake. Which move won the game for…
It’s back to the 1970s
Gstaad As the great Yogi Berra explained: ‘It’s déjà vu all over again.’ The great one also contributed the following…
I can trace all our problems back to Frankie Dettori
‘If you think about it, Frankie Dettori is to blame,’ said the builder boyfriend, because when things are really bad…
The intense heat is gone and so are the grandsons
Finally rain. None for months, then a violent tropical storm lasting two days. It marked the end of high summer…
Waiting for the rain that never comes – and for the elections to be over
Kenya After two years of no rain, all colour has drained from the landscape on the farm so that by…
Why everyone is ‘struggling’
‘Quicksand!’ yelled my husband, flailing his arms wildly. Since he was sitting in his armchair, his dramatic representation of a…
Among the best puddings I’ve ever eaten: Richoux reviewed
Cakeism is offering the voters everything they desire, knowing you will never give it to them because you live in…
The Battle for Britain | 27 August 2022
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Dear Mary: How can I find out whether old friends fancy each other?
Q. How can I find out, without making things awkward, whether one of my close male friends fancies one of…
2570: Short story
The unclued entries comprise two authors and a work of fiction, attributed by one author to the other. Each author…
Confessions of a lawn obsessive
For the past few days I’ve been frantically watering my lawn in anticipation of the London hosepipe ban. True, there…
I fancy Emma Raducanu’s chances at Flushing Meadows
British tennis fans famously only acknowledge the sport exists for a couple of weeks in the middle of summer in…
2567: Stop! - solution
The unclued lights (including the pairs at 2/14 and 12/36) are names of organ stops which Brewer calls ‘music in…
Spectator competition winners: cosy crime with a topical twist
In Competition No. 3263, you were invited to submit a short story, written in the style of a cosy mystery…
A week in Torquay
Hats off to Harry Grieve, who took clear first place at the Chessable British Championships which concluded in Torquay last…
Aussie life
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is one of those documents, like the ‘Bringing them Home’ report that everybody has…
Language
When radicals want to upend society they often cloak their intentions under kind-sounding words. So, if the plan is to…
Aussie life
‘Why can’t a woman be more like a man? complains Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, a musical whose title…
Language
British journalist Richard Godwin has alerted me to what may be the trendiest word of the moment: ‘namecore’. This is…
