Life
No. 572
White to play. This is from Nguyen-Alekseenko, Khanty-Mansiysk 2019. White’s queen and rook are both attacked. How does he maintain…
Moggisms
In Competition No. 3116 you were invited to submit an extract from a government memo whose language would meet with…
2426: Her love
The unclued lights (including one of three words, two of two words, and a pair) are names for or are…
to 2423: Redheads
The unclued lights were all leaders of the USSR. First prize Wendy Atkin, Sleaford, LincsRunners-up Robert Burgon, North Berwick, East…
David Cameron is more authentic than Boris Johnson
I don’t recall exactly when I first met David Cameron, but it must have been in Oxford in 1985 shortly…
The Battle for Britain
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Farewell, Garry Richardson. We’ll miss you
A day of sporting shocks this Sunday past. As if the news of Tracey Horrobin’s bewitching performance with the ball…
Dear Mary: Can I ask my vegan friend to buy eggs and bacon when I stay with her?
Q. The other day a dear friend rang from her car with all the time in the world to burn…
It’s so easy to go mad in Oxford: Chiang Mai Kitchen reviewed
Oxford is a pile of medieval buildings filled with maniacs, and is therefore one of the most interesting places on…
The link between politics, moisturiser and your air conditioning unit
I asked my husband if I should spend £59 on 20 millilitres of Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Intense Reset…
Remembering Tim Hoare – a man like no other
He was a Falstaff in his drinking and in his celebration of life, but his greatness lay in his friendships.…
The woman laid out in the coffin in front of us wasn’t Mum
The receptionist with brown lipstick showed my son and me into a faultless waiting room, whose centrepiece was a big…
Pet health insurance is a scam
‘The reason vets are so expensive now,’ explained the vet in her snazzy green uniform, ‘is because we can do…
Excessive gambling is dangerous – a flutter on the horses is not
Sorry is allegedly the hardest word to say — so Carolyn Harris, chair of the all-party parliamentary group studying gambling-related…
Bridge
Not many male bridge players over a certain age (ten) would call themselves feminists. I won’t repeat what the partner…
Benko’s endgame
The Hungarian/American grandmaster Pal Benko has died at the age of 91. Among his numerous distinguished achievements was his double qualification…
No. 571
White to play. This position is from Benko-Jeney, Budapest 1950. Benko has just sacrificed rook for knight. What is his…
Fabulous
In Competition No. 3115 you were invited to submit a fable for the 21st century, complete with moral. James Michie,…
2425: Herein
The unclued lights (two individually, both of two words, one an abbreviation, and five pairs) are of a kind. One…
to 2422: 40 furlongs
The unclued Across lights are words abbreviated by F which includes ‘40’ and the unclued Down lights are abbreviated by f…
How John Bercow saved me from Short Man Syndrome
I think my colleagues on the pro-Brexit side of the aisle have been a little unkind in their response to…
The Battle for Britain
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Business is the only area of human activity where you get paid to change your mind
In 1891, a 29-year-old man moved from Philadelphia to Chicago intending to start a business. With $32 to his name,…
Dear Mary: How do we explain being in Jeffrey Epstein’s little black book?
Q. We often have friends coming to stay before (and after) we all head off for Glyndebourne, a 20-minute drive…
Claret, dogs and nothing to grouse about
What do you get if you cross a dyslexic, an insomniac and an agnostic? Someone who wakes up at 4…
