Life
I’ve always enjoyed myself on Wayfair – but this time I’ve had enough
One thing Lorraine Kelly does not say in the Wayfair advert is: ‘What if I fancy getting my money back…
Why do race-goers have to subsidise the post-sport entertainment?
Before this year’s Shergar Cup meeting all I had seen of Australian flat jockey Mark Zahra was a memorably painful…
Zugger zugged
The German expression zugzwang means ‘compulsion to move’ and is most often seen in the endgame. Consider the following position…
no. 567
White to play. This position is from Alekhine-Nimzowitsch, San Remo 1930. Can you spot the quiet move that puts black…
Spanish eyes
In Competition No. 3111 you were invited to submit William Topaz McGonagall’s poetic response to Magaluf. The Tayside Tragedian…
2421: Tina
‘40/37/1A’, as he has been called, was born in 28 (two words) and died in 30/36. He was a reluctant…
to 2418: Sweet
Unclued lights are all sweet wines. WESTERNISED, an anagram of DESSERT WINE, was to be highlighted.  First prize Erin Barrack,…
By taking on grouse-shooting, Labour is risking rural jobs
The Glorious Twelfth this year, signalling the start of the grouse-shooting season, was overshadowed by a Labour party press release…
The Battle for Britain
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Looking for a new idea? Try borrowing an old one
Recently I suggested a new approach to commuter-train overcrowding. It simply involved reformulating the problem by accepting that not all…
Dear Mary: How can I politely turn down friends’ sponsorship requests?
Q. I want my guests to feel welcome when they stay with us and certainly don’t want to nag them.…
Like Team Boris, I’m staying in London this summer
Foolish me. I could have been writing this by the shore of Lake Trasimene, with only one problem: how to…
What to call an inferior politician?
‘What about poetaster, then?’ asked my husband accusingly, looking up from his whisky and the Spectator, in which I’d ruminated…
Standing on the Acropolis brings out the Greek in me
Athens I am struggling up the slippery marble steps of the Acropolis with the Geldofs and the Bismarcks. We gaze…
Do I have cancer in my left eye?
My luck had to run out one of these fine days. Everybody’s does sooner or later. I’ve had a fantastic…
The travellers could teach the locals a thing or two about being responsible citizens
The travellers were blamed for fly-tipping when all that was left on the common after they went back up north…
Bridge
‘Table presence’ is a funny old expression. It sounds as though it refers to a player’s magnetic appeal or domineering…
Adams Avalanche
Mickey Adams won the British Championship, which finished last week in Torquay, for the seventh time. Leading scores (out of…
no. 566
White to play. This position is a variation from Adams-Pigott, Torquay 2019. How can White crash through to gain a…
Redoing the hokey-cokey
In Competition No. 3110 you were invited to provide a version of the hokey-cokey filtered through the pen of a…
2420: Crafty
Four unclued lights are thematic and are defined by two others. They are found in The 21 and 2 (also the…
to 2417: Six nations
The unclued lights are LAND OF (25A): MILK AND HONEY (11A), CAKES (12A), HOPE AND GLORY (39A), ENCHANTMENT (7D), MY…
Donald Trump isn’t to blame for America’s mass shootings
The BBC’s flagship news and current affairs programme wasn’t in any doubt about who to blame for America’s latest bout…
The Battle for Britain
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Any true English cricket lover has to acknowledge that Steve Smith is a great hero
During the World Cup (remember that?), Virat Kohli, the very model of a modern major cricketer, appealed to Indian fans…
