Life
The ex factor
In Competition No. 3080 you were invited to supply an elegy on a piece of obsolete technology. Thanks to Paul…
2390: Tea shop
Unclued lights, all confirmed in Chambers or Collins, are three sets of four words of a kind, each set relating…
to 2388: Sea rocket
The quotation was ‘IN MY BEGINNING IS MY END’ (12/15) from East Coker (an anagram of the title), second poem…
The unending war against masculinity and men
For the first time in its history, the American Psychological Association (APA) has issued guidelines for mental health professionals working…
Battle for Britain
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If ever a man deserved his gong, it’s Sir Alastair Cook
Here’s a date for the diary: if you’re in south London on 11 April, head for the Oval. It’s going…
Dear Mary: How do I get an answer from my elusive publisher?
Q. What is the current etiquette regarding chasing an opinion from a publisher to whom, by agreement and via a…
This is a restaurant for affluent halfwits: Bob Bob Ricard reviewed
In January, you could go to Bob Bob Ricard in Soho. I do not know why it is called Bob…
Illeism: the weird habit of talking about oneself in the third person
Someone has been putting about reports that Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, refers to himself in the third person as…
In praise of pomposity
Gstaad My annual end-of-year party in the Bagel was a bust. Too many people brought their friends and I ended…
From Baroness Trumpington to bad sex: my Christmas party week
The Airbnb accommodation at Paddington, chez Mohammed, was a fourth-floor room measuring about nine feet by five. As well as…
A festive rapprochement with the ex-builder boyfriend
1 January. Rooms left in house to decorate: 1 (only the attic, therefore doesn’t count).Walls plastered by self with no…
Racing in 2018 gave us plenty to celebrate
I don’t know who coined the old racing saying ‘The only person who remembers who came second is the guy…
Bridge
HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! I have made a resolution to make some bridge resolutions. Here they are: 1.…
Game of the year
The time has come again when I award the accolade of most spectacular game of the year. It adds lustre if…
no. 535
Black to play. This is a variation from today’s game Aronian-Kramnik, Berlin 2018. How can Black briskly conclude his kingside…
Out with the auld
In Competition No. 3079 you were invited to supply a new anthem to welcome 2019, starting with the first line…
2389: All change
The unclued lights can be paired in some way or other. One is of two words. Across 1 Distrain…
2387: On the Spot
The HISPANIOLA was the ship that brought the other unclued answers to TREASURE ISLAND in the novel by R L…
The great awokening
Is the social justice movement that’s sweeping British and American universities a secular religion? The core beliefs of the members…
The Battle for Britain
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Identity is just as important as wealth. Why don’t economists get that?
It has become commonplace for news reports to refer to almost any civic unrest, or even unusual patterns of voting,…
Dear Mary: is it ever acceptable to use a dental brush at the dinner table?
Q. Whenever I go to the theatre or cinema with any man of 60-plus, he falls asleep, even when the…
Barolo, the only comfort in a world full of chaos
It appeared to be an uneven contest. A few friends were meeting for a festive wine-tasting, to compare and contrast…
Word of the week: Moral hazard
‘Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads,’ said my husband, tossing an imaginary coin. The same improbability was amusing when Rosencrantz won the…
