Life
Puzzle No. 654
White to play. Cochrane–Bonnerjee, 1852. Out of eight discovered checks with the knight on e6, Cochrane found the only one…
I spy
In Competition No. 3199, you were invited to supply a poem in which an inanimate object comments on its owner’s…
Solution to 2504: Collectors’ Items
Unclued lights are nuts, as suggested in the perimetrical rhyme. First prize Adrian George, Barton under Needwood, Staffs Runners-up Willie…
2508: Knightly?
The unclued lights (one of four words) are legendary. Across 9 Broadcast live in Torbay possibly to no avail (10)…
The Battle for Britain
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Indian variant
Modern chess includes a panoply of ‘Indian’ openings, which share a common root in the starting moves 1 d4 Nf6…
Real life
More threatening letters from the NHS demanding I let them jab me up with two Covid vaccinations. Or as the…
Bridge
We all know the importance of making a viable plan before we play. If a contract is poor and seems…
High life
New York Already on your idiot box via Netflix is a mini-series about a man who also used one name,…
Low life
On the Saturday morning of the Ascension Day bank holiday, I swung down the stairs and ladder to the little…
Reading between the lines
Scarcely a day passes without a major British institution announcing it is ‘decolonising’ itself. Most recently it was the turn…
A novel approach
The last Saturday of lockdown — inshallah — and we were discussing literature. Specifically, when does a detective story become…
Dear Mary
Q. We have been invited to a virtual wedding. Is it correct form to send a present?— P.F., Barrow Street,…
Level
‘I must level with you, level with the British public, many more families are going to lose loved ones.’ That…
Aussie Life
A recent jaunt through the NSW South Coast town of Bermagui sparked a friendly family rivalry over whose forebears had…
Aussie Language
There is an organisation called ‘Dying with Dignity’. In their most recent newsletter they say, ‘The NSW Parliament looks set…
Dear Mary
Q. I’ve recently been approached by a very good friend who — with genuinely admirable candour and tact — pointed…
Fork in the road
You cannot have cars and dining tables in the same dreamscape: it doesn’t work, unless you think carbon monoxide is…
Its and it’s
An item on the BBC news site didn’t mean what it said: ‘The latest move is part of a wider…
Foreign clash of the English titans
Thank heavens the Champions League final is being played in Portugal, now Turkey’s off the menu (sorry). It will certainly…
I’ve paid the price for the supplementary voting system
Some 114,201 ballots were rejected in the first round of the London mayoral election, approximately 5 per cent of the…
The Battle for Britain
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The turf
Combing through race recordings to try to find some fun horses for Spectator readers this summer, I have been struck…
Bridge
I’m not surprised so many scientific studies have shown that bridge staves off dementia: the game provides a constant workout…
What’s it worth?
The rule of thumb for weighing up piece exchanges says that pawns are worth one, knights and bishops three, rooks…
