Life
The turf
How Father Sean Breen would have loved this year’s Cheltenham Festival. The late parish priest at Ballymore Eustace, who owned…
to 2497: Scramble
Six of the unclued lights are RAF stations of WW2. First prize Kathleen Durber, Stoke-on-Trent Runners-up Alison Gillam, Knotty Green,…
High life
Chelsea/Gstaad Oh, to be in England! But let’s start at the beginning. I challenge any reader to claim they are…
2500: 50 x 50
Each solution contains one letter at least once, always omitted in the cryptic wordplay of each clue. This letter and…
Aussie Life
I’m back from Sydney and just coming out of my drunken stupor – a 12-hour bender at a resuscitated Qantas…
Aussie Language
The word ‘independent’ has been part of the English language since 1612. So how can anyone be confused about its…
It’s a dog eat dog world
I was walking with our one-year-old cavapoochon on the way back from the baker’s in Acton on Sunday morning when…
Dear Mary
Q. A dear friend of long-standing has a propensity to make friends of our friends — people she has first…
Low life
Applying for a French bank account is like trying for a permit to open a Christian bookshop in North Korea.…
Real life
The rope riders came down the driveway slowly, their horses veering this way and that, side to side, forwards a…
The Battle for Britain
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Vibrant
‘Think yourself lucky,’ said my husband when I told him about poor John Stuart Mill’s mother, who had nine children…
Haute cuisine for the homeless
A year of lockdowns has certainly passed slowly. But there are topics for thought. One disappointment has been the Church…
to 2496: Depart Paddington
The play was The Winter’s Tale by Shakespeare. The perimetric dramatis personae are MAMILLIUS, LEONTES, FLORIZEL, DORCAS, MOPSA, HERMIONE and…
High life
Gstaad I have never experienced such a long, continuous blizzard, and I’ve been coming here for 63 years. The ski…
2499: Entitled trio
The unclued lights, including three proper nouns (two of two words), consist of three groups of three words of a…
Cancel culture
In Competition No. 3191 you were invited to submit a Shakespearean soliloquy reflecting on the news that the Bard has…
Puzzle no. 646
Black to play… and lose! Aronian–Van Foreest, March 2021. Van Foreest’s next move didn’t blunder his queen but was nonetheless…
Bridge
The Young Chelsea Knock Out is a terrific tournament, and the best thing about it is that the winners get…
Everybody must get stoned
Have you ever played the Frankenstein-Dracula variation? The Monkey’s Bum? The Nescafé Frappé Attack? These are all real chess openings,…
The power of the Oxford brand
I am writing with a mild pain in one arm, having received my first dose of the Oxford vaccine yesterday…
Aussie Life
I didn’t plan to watch it. I just happened to switch on my TV as it was starting. And the…
Aussie Language
Is there a linguistic solution to the misuse of the word ‘racism’? Under so-called Critical Race Theory almost everything is…
Real life
‘Welcome to Victims First. Please leave your name and number and we will return your call. Beeeeeeeeeeeep!’ I had rung…
The Battle for Britain
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