Life
Dear Mary: My new boyfriend is too short. Can I make him wear shoe lifts?
Q. An acquaintance, whom I admire but don’t know well, sent me a ‘begging’ letter to donate to a charity…
Put your trust in Hungarian wine (yes, really)
The wines of Tokaji run like a golden thread through Hungarian history. There are references to their nectar-like quality in…
When is an aubergine not an ‘aubergine’?
In the warm weather, I had an al fresco hit with my mad-apple bruschette. Mad-apple shows the tangle to which…
It is a sin to die in the Land of the Depraved
New York Remember when the internet, Twitter, Facebook and other such useless gimmicks were supposed to usher in an era…
Brexit for eight-year-olds
A week ago I plucked my eight-year-old grandson Oscar from the bosom of his rumbustious young family and took him…
Do we really need an app for everything?
‘If this madness goes on, I will not be able to leave my house without downloading the app,’ I told…
Bridge
If I had to name my favourite bridge player… actually, I can’t, there are too many. But the young Danish…
Fischer redivivus
The Berlin qualifying tournament to determine the challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen has ended in victory for the American…
no. 502
White to play. This position is from Karjakin-Caruana, Berlin 2018. This game was Caruana’s only reverse in Berlin. Karjakin now…
Let’s talk about sex
In Competition No. 3044 you were invited to provide a lesson in the facts of life courtesy of a well-known…
2355: 13 16
13 1A 23 22 is an eight-word quotation by 34 in ODQ. Other unclued lights, including one of three words,…
to 2352: Upright Characters
‘THE WRITING ON THE WALL’ (Daniel 5.5) at 12/22/41 was ‘MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN’ at 23/16/26, according to Brewer, which…
How to get your child into the best state school: an insider’s tips
Monday was ‘national offer day’, which means that more than half a million parents across England were notified about which…
The Battle for Britain
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I love this Pep-mania, but don’t forget Klopp
Fittingly, it took a dire performance from a dismal and dreary United against the worst team in the Premier League…
Dear Mary: At a smart dinner party, is it wrong to ask for the wifi code?
Q. My husband and I are excited to have been invited to dinner by our most important neighbour. However our…
If it’s austere calm you want, Bentley’s Oyster Bar and Grill is for you
Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill is on Swallow Street, an alley between Piccadilly and Regent Street, which swallowed most of…
That Beano word ‘scoff’ was first coined in the mid-19th century
Scarcely a sober breath has been drawn in my house all week for celebrating the 90th anniversary of the completion…
Circe has been recast as the girl next door – it’s a sign of the times
When poor old battered Odysseus landed on Circe’s island having lost all his ships (except his flagship) when he tangled…
I’ve developed a fascination for anti-terrorist security officers
A pair of anti-terrorism officers watched us check through into the boarding lounge. They stood behind the easyJet woman and…
‘See it, Say it, Sort it’ makes me want to self-harm
‘How could you forget to get on the train?’ asked the keeper. ‘I can understand how you forgot to get…
I have to concentrate pretty hard on the Flat when the Grand National hasn’t even been run
William Haggas’s Addeybb heralded the opening of the Flat season by winning the Lincoln Handicap on 24 March but I…
Bridge
I’m not saying that I want ‘She played bridge for England’ on my tombstone — but then again… Last weekend,…
Class club
The annual Hamilton-Russell competition for London Clubs has been won by the Royal Automobile Club, with the Marylebone Cricket Club…
no. 501
White to play. This is from Bluebaum-Anand, Grenke 2018. Anand has been having a rough time in the elite Grenke…
