Life
No. 653
White to play, Jones–Dominguez, New in Chess Classic, April 2021. Gawain Jones was hoping that his rook and pawn would…
Now we are rich
In Competition No. 3198, you were invited to supply an extract from a children’s book that is designed to explain…
High life
New York Orthodox Easter Sunday came late in May this year, and I spent it at an old friend’s Fifth…
Low life
Sally (la Sal, the Salster) is part whippet, part Labrador and part dormouse. She is 16 years old, stone deaf,…
2506: Summer’s voice
Ten unclued lights (including four pairs) are of a kind. Ignore two hyphens and an apostrophe. What could have induced…
to 2503: Applery
The traditional county towns were Chester (misprinted as CHEATER: 27), Durham (DERHAM: 21), Derby (DERRY: 32), Lewes (LENES: 36), Reading…
Real life
An angry text exchange between me and a former Tory councillor after she lost her seat has got me thinking.…
Aussie Life
As a child I had a version of OCD called Just Right syndrome. This doesn’t mean I lived entirely on…
Aussie Language
Brauer College in Warrnambool, Victoria made the news for having required all the boys at an assembly to ‘stand up…
The Battle for Britain
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Bridge
The Lady Milne is the annual Women’s Championship between the home countries (and Ireland) and is most often a two-horse…
In memoriam
In Competition No. 3197, you were invited to supply a poem to mark the death of Prince Philip. I wondered…
Dear Mary
Q. I am placed in a social dilemma due to a proposed visit on the last weekend of June by…
Real life
‘You’re meant to be having your dental appointment now!’ barked the receptionist, bringing my lie-in to an abrupt end. Very…
Time to dust off my old records
In the introduction to an anthology of his jazz record reviews, the poet Philip Larkin imagines his readers. They’re not…
Shame on you!
As his tweed jacket flapped open to one side of his stomach, my husband stood up unsteadily and arched his…
Return to Alsace
Freedom approaches. Should we be humming ‘Va, Pensiero’ or ‘O Welche Lust’ — perhaps both. Thinking of Fidelioreminds me of…
The tech trap
Back in late 2019 I met someone from Zoom who was visiting London. The company, then as now, offered free…
Low life
The only thing left for me now is to embrace humility and take up basket weaving. In our dog and…
High life
New York With the Karamazovian hangover now only a weekly occurrence, the healthy life rules supreme. Well, most of the…
Puzzle no. 652
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Revd Ernest Clement Mortimer, The Problemist, 1942. Answers should be…
Dead brain cells
As round 14 of the Candidates tournament unfolded, I had the feeling of watching an anti-climactic post-exam bender. Ian Nepomniachtchi…
Wild life
Laikipia Until I promised to slaughter a fat-tailed sheep with a goat thrown in for a feast, the farm cowhands…
2505: Endgame
The unclued lights (one hyphened) are of a kind, confirmed in Chambers. Elsewhere, ignore one accent. Across 1 I…
to 2502: Nay-sayers?
The unclued lights are HORSES. First prize Bob Toland, Ramsey, Cambs Runners-up Gareth Davies, Langstone, Gwent; Catherine Knox, London SW4…
