Life
2500: 50 x 50
The solution grid includes the letter L fifty times (L x 50 = 2500). Coincidentally, Doc and his wife, Jean,…
Aussie life
In a recent edition of The Drum on the ABC, host Ellen Fanning addressed the issue of Aboriginal deaths in…
Aussie language
The Root is an African American online magazine that breaks astonishing news. While the rest of the world is worried…
Puzzle no. 649
White to play. Van Wely–Shimanov, March 2021. White has several tempting options here, but one move is much stronger than…
2502: Nay-sayers?
The unclued lights (two of two words) are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer. Across 4 High-handed relation in…
The Battle for Britain
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A certifiable plan
As I’ve written before, the thing I’ve missed the most in the past 12 months is going to see QPR…
Tutti frutti
In Competition No. 3194, a nod to Keats and Tony Harrison, you were invited to write a poem about a…
High life
New York Ha, ha! What London turned down, the Bagel accepted with alacrity, namely the poor little Greek boy. And…
Bridge
I sometimes get far too intense when I’m playing bridge online. Holed up in my study at home, wearing noise-cancelling…
Dear Mary
Q. Our neighbours have a tennis court which, under the property’s previous owner, we enjoyed playing men’s fours on. The…
ACAB
A favourite piece of graffiti to spray on the Cenotaph or the plinth of Churchill’s nearby statue is ACAB. It…
A strange and beautiful language
So wickets are out and outs are in for the new Hundred competition. But why? The language of sport is…
Back to the future
The west end of London is still pale and necrotic, but there are points of light. Hatchards the bookseller is…
The turf
Sporting heroes in our modern world have an extra burden to carry. Within seconds of their triumph, with the adrenaline…
Real life
When the time came for the nurse to ring me to take my blood pressure, the phone simply didn’t ring.…
Low life
For EU nationals living in Britain and wanting to legally remain after Brexit, a letter or an email was enough…
European Online Club Cup
Since the start of the pandemic, opportunities for serious competition between players ranked outside the world’s top 20 have been…
to 2499: Entitled trio
The theme was C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 38A (of Scotland), 43A and 22D were all…
Aussie Life
Australia’s iconic hippie playground is in the news. This time it is not about real estate booms or Hollywood celebrity…
Language barriers
I haven’t yet read the report published by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. But, looking at the recommendations,…
Dear Mary
Q. I have just been invited to a wedding where the groom will be the only person I know. Much…
Rhymes royal
In Competition No. 3193 you were invited to submit clerihews (two couplets, AABB, metrically clunky, humorous in tone) on members…
2501: Delightful
7 Down has wordplay to only half its grid entry. The undefined part is the first word of a 9-word…
to 2498: Cross country
The unclued lights consist of the names of two countries overlapping by two or three letters: eg 25D ‘JAPANAMA’ gives…
