Life
The generosity of French doctors
My last NHS scan showed a shadow on a rib. The scan report couldn’t decide between a new cancer metastasis…
2477: Rendezvous - solution
The unclued lights take an extra letter to make BRAMBLING (1A), BUDGIE (12A), STARLING (14A), REDSTART (23A), BRANCHER (27A), TURACO…
I’m now considered a freak in New York
New York It’s nice to finally be in the Bagel, a place where the cows have two legs and no…
I removed my mask and all hell broke loose
The girl in the posh soap shop put her right arm out, palm flat in my face, and shouted: ‘Stand…
Bridge | 24 October 2020
When (if) the world returns to normal and live bridge tournaments resume, there are two things I will miss after…
Back to Exmoor, scene of prep-school rides on rough ponies
Exmoor I am heading to Exmoor for the first time since I was last there in 1977 — and as…
Sweet surrender
It’s over. Magnus Carlsen’s undefeated streak in classical chess has finally come to an end, after 125 games. It is…
No. 627
Black to play. Sjugirov–Paravyan, Russian Higher League, October 2020. A piece for a pawn down, Black’s follow up was subtle…
2480: Warning
Solvers should heed a warning when deducing ten symmetrically placed unclued lights (two of three words and one of two…
Economies of scale
In Competition No. 3171, a challenge suggested by a kind reader, you were invited to submit a requiem in verse…
Why are the devolved nations so ungrateful?
One of the things I hadn’t anticipated about the pandemic is that it would turn me into an English nationalist.…
The Battle for Britain | 24 October 2020
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Thanks for nothing, Jordan Pickford
You might hate the Premier League for its determination to suck all the money out of football, but at least…
Dear Mary: Can I still socialise with my virus-denying friends?
Q. An old friend offered to treat me to a birthday lunch, provided I choose and book the restaurant myself.…
This replica is better than the original: The Ivy Oxford Brasserie reviewed
Oxford is not an easy city to homogenise; but that doesn’t mean you can’t try. I found a vast shopping…
The truth about Adrenochrome
QAnon, the conspiracy theorist’s conspiracy theory, teaches that President Donald Trump is in secret warfare with a worldwide network of…
Aussie Life & Language
Simon Collins I have been wondering what whale tastes like. There must be quite a few Australians who know. After…
New York is a paradise for criminals
New York New York, New York, once a wonderful town/ The people are crap and the mayor’s a clown/ The…
Has my tech guy moved to Africa to escape from me?
‘I can’t put it off any longer. She’s dying and I don’t think I can ignore the inevitable. We’ve got…
From half a shelf to a library: my life in books
‘Yes, I will have a coffee,’ said the van driver. He’d driven down to the south of France from Devon.…
Dear Mary: We’ve had to downsize our wedding – can we still ask everyone for presents?
Q. A year ago we sent out 150 save-the-date notices for our wedding this December. We are still going ahead,…
Why can’t we talk about the Great Barrington Declaration?
You probably haven’t heard of the Great Barrington Declaration. This is a petition started by three scientists on 4 October…
Perry Worsthorne: a man incapable of dullness
I had known Perry Worsthorne for several years before I went to work for him in 1986 (horrifying how time…
Are you guilty of ‘genteelism’?
‘Everyone’s been very kind to my husband and I,’ said someone behind me in a (spaced) queue. That is the…
Why we should consider testing Covid on prisoners
The Covid problem lies as much in the delayed action of the virus as in the virus itself. Since symptoms…
