Life
2568: Next door have gone
The unclued lights, two of two words, and including four pairs using two of the unclued lights twice, are of…
Solution to 2565: 3 X 2
The unclued lights are words (or one phrase) which contain three pairs (3 x 2, in the title) of double…
Another supremo comes in to bat
Well alleluia, English cricket doesn’t seem able to put a foot wrong these days. After hitting three cherries with Rob…
Hosepipe ban
‘Got any ’ose?’ asked my husband, falling into his Two Ronnies ‘Four Candles’ routine, in which he likes to play…
Puzzle no. 715
White to play. Navara – Batsuren, Chennai Olympiad 2022. In this strange position Czech grandmaster David Navara found an elegant…
A personal best
In 2014, Nuno Mendes, a chef from Lisbon by way of Wolfgang Puck’s kitchens and his own Viajante in Bethnal…
Watch this space
In Competition No. 3261, you were invited to submit a poem about the James Webb Space Telescope. The first dazzling…
India’s young stars
At the Chennai Olympiad, the Indian team began as second seeds, even with former World Champion Vishy Anand absent from…
The Battle for Britain: Michael Heath
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The (occasional) joy of being a QPR fan
I made my way to Loftus Road on Saturday for QPR’s first home fixture of the season. We’ve got a…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. My 74-year-old husband was having drinks in the garden of some young clients when he bit down on an…
Aussie Life
I read in the Australian last week that the Queensland parliament is considering criminalising stealthing. And no, that’s not a…
Language
A Speccie reader has alerted me to the use of an odd word ‘alum’ to refer to the graduates of…
Real life
Everything is well and truly burned to a crisp, and we are piling through hundreds of pounds of hay a…
Low life
I’m staying for a week in an 1850s house in the Surrey hills that looks-wise might have been built for…
The turf
‘You’re being unfaithful,’ says the punter’s wife brandishing a note found in her husband’s suit pocket: ‘Dorothea 07440 521321.’ ‘No,…
Wine-poached peaches
I’ve never been very good at leaving things be. I tend to gild the lily. I may plan to do…
Puzzle No. 714
Black to play. Smirnov – Duda, Chennai Olympiad 2022. With his next move, Duda forced a decisive gain of material.…
Solution to 2564: Sea monster
The unclued lights 11 SOLITARY, 8 POOR, 38 NASTY, 36 BRUTISH and 35 SHORT are descriptions of 1 THE LIFE…
High life
Patmos Judging by the news, the world is finally coming apart: Chinese lab escapee Covid is still going strong, monkeypox…
2567: Stop!
The unclued lights (including two pairs, one of which is three words, and one single light of three words) are…
Hidden agenda
In Competition No. 3260, a challenge suggested by a reader, you were invited to reveal the existence of a hitherto…
Bridge
In the modern game, being green versus red (non-vul v. vul) is a licence to bid on tram tickets: passing…
A lucky escape
I chatted to a spectator after one of my games at the Sparkassen Chess Trophy in Dortmund. ‘A close shave…
Did the earth move for you?
I’m writing this on the plane back from Iceland, a fact that fills me with relief. Not because I didn’t…
