Life
Dear Mary
Q. Last night I went to dinner with people I had never met before. Because the host was a friend…
The third way
In Competition No. 3203, you were invited to supply an extract from the newly discovered Shakespeare play Charles III. I…
Puzzle No. 658
Mammadzada — M. Muzychuk, May 2021. In this messy position, Black’s next move prompted instant resignation. What did she play?…
Gender critical
Seeing my husband in his armchair snoozing, as his unacknowledged habit is, head back, mouth open, stertorous and blotchy, it…
Macaques and defence
January normally brings cheerful photos from the Gibraltar Chess Festival, where visiting chess-players get an impromptu snap with the Barbary…
Low life
A second week recovering in bed in this pleasant south-facing bedroom. If I sit up, my back resting against whitewashed…
Bridge
Immense excitement in the relatively tiny world of bridge — the English Bridge Union has announced that the Premier League…
Real life
While we were looking forward to Freedom Day, the National Health Service was busy planning something extra special to coincide…
High life
New York I haven’t felt such shirt-dripping, mind-clogging wet heat since Saigon back in 1971. The Bagel is a steam…
Kiwi Life
Of the various little stories about the rather wonderful Joni Mitchell in her early years, my favourite concerns Leonard Cohen.…
Kiwi Language
A friend of mine recently sent me a notice from a big law firm announcing the introduction of ‘Gender Affirmation…
to 2507: Knightly?
The unclued lights are characters and places associated with King Arthur. First prize Belinda Bridgen, London NW8 Runners-up John Samson,…
2510: Prom session
Twelve symmetrically disposed unclued entries comprise three distinct interlinked quartets. Across 1 Precise conjecture about coin-flip, oddly (8) 6…
The back-rank mate
Compared with Anastasia’s mate, or an epaulette mate, the humble back-rank mate is named without imagination or whimsy. It is…
Puzzle No. 657
Black to play. Vodopyanov–Kantsyn, 1974. Two bishops up, White appears to have everything covered. Which move allows Black to force…
Dartington, the utopian experiment
I spent last weekend in south Devon at Dartington, the former estate of Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst, and now a…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
‘Ça va, Monsieur Clarke?’ said a nurse when he noticed I was stirring. It was an effort to speak. ‘Thirsty,’…
The turf
We all know it takes courage to win races over jumps, along with athleticism, stamina and speed. But you need…
Dear Mary
Your problems solved
Ollie Robinson’s ritual humiliation
One of the more egregious innovations of Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution was something called the ‘struggle sessions’. This involved the…
Bridge
I would never say that bridge is just a game — for many of us, it’s a lifetime’s vocation. However,…
Real life
A saloon car pulled up opposite our fields and a man sat there looking at the horses with a bewildered…
Sliver
When people say a slither of cake, do they not remember that snakes slither? ‘Slither slide; sliver small piece,’ says…
Noble art
Noble Rot sits in Greek Street, Soho, on the site of the old Gay Hussar, which squatted here from 1953…
