Life
Low life
Not long after Catriona and I first met, her husband painted my head and shoulders portrait in oils as I…
Bridge
It’s not often that bridge makes headlines, but last week something extraordinary happened. At the online European Qualifier for the…
Real life
We began searching for the farm of our dreams in Wales as we planned our escape from Surrey. The problem…
The Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Gove has got his groove back
I was pleased to see pictures of Michael Gove at a nightclub in Aberdeen last weekend. According to press reports,…
Busted flush
Forgive the personal question, but how long does it take you to, you know, go to the gents, ladies, non-binary?…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. We have had some rather rich Argentines to stay. No one was able to come in to help before…
Fit for a king
A French creole restaurant rises in the sullen ruins of London. It is called Louie, for French king or trumpeter,…
Problematic
‘This crossword is problematic!’ exclaimed my husband, tossing aside the folded newspaper marked with a ring where his whisky glass…
Best-laid plans
A popular conceit among chess authors, particularly dead ones, is to describe a fine game as the execution of a…
Face time
In Competition No. 3214, you were invited to choose a well-known painted portrait and let the subject speak for itself,…
Solution to 2519: Not so up-to-date
The unclued lights can all be preceded by OLD which is the clued solution at 49 Across. ‘Crocks’ at 5…
Puzzle no. 669
White to play. Swiercz–Xiong, Sinquefield Cup 2021. 1 Kxb2 allows a perpetual check. But forcing an exchange of queens would…
2522: A trifle
The unclued lights (one hyphened) have nothing in common. Across 4Author Henry’s daughter perhaps (not a son) making a…
Aussie Life
We now know that Boris Johnson’s initial reluctance to impose Covid containment regulations was prompted by a confidential January 2020…
Aussie Language
TV host Paul Murray spoke on Sky News Australia about the role the word ‘misinformation’ is currently playing in the…
Puzzle No. 668
Black to play. Geller–Sveshnikov, USSR Ch 1978. Geller’s last move, 34 Rb1-e1 looked clever, since Black cannot safely capture the…
The Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Art nouveau
In Competition No. 3213 you were invited to submit a villanelle whose first line is: ‘The art of [insert gerund…
2521: Leading question
Unclued lights can be arranged so that, preceded by ‘What is’, they form a question whose answer solvers must shade.…
It’s fun up north
Given how difficult it is to arrange an overseas holiday, I thought I’d take Charlie and Freddie, my two youngest,…
Remembering Evgeny Sveshnikov
There be dragons! What we now call the Sveshnikov variation of the Sicilian defence was, in the 1970s, largely uncharted…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. What is the best seating plan when you have a supper party where you are hoping to matchmake two…
In turbulent times, sherry
I sometimes wander through Trafalgar Square in the small hours when the traffic has abated and children are no longer…
Ownership
Language is used in a weird way in the victimhood war, where those who see themselves without agency bravely speak…
