Life
No. 424
White to play. This is from Palucha-Skettos, Bhubaneswar 2016. Here White destroyed the black position with a typical tactical thrust.…
North and South
In Competition No. 2963 you were invited to submit a poem about the North or the South or one comparing…
Dear Mary
Q. We have a heavenly house in Corfu where we go as often as possible. The best thing about it…
Real legs and fake people
The Soho Hotel is an actors’ hotel. They come for press junkets and interviews that reveal nothing because there is…
High life
Just about this time of year, 42 years ago, Dunhill’s of London, the famed tobacconist, had a bold idea. Its…
Long life
Americans want a president with the steadiest possible finger on the nuclear button, which is why they worry about the…
Long life
Americans want a president with the steadiest possible finger on the nuclear button, which is why they worry about the…
Low life
A new footpath from the village down to the beach opened earlier this year to a great fanfare. It was…
Low life
A new footpath from the village down to the beach opened earlier this year to a great fanfare. It was…
Taxi
Old Quentin Letts was on the wireless the other day asking ‘What’s the point of the London black cab?’ Between…
Real life
‘Oh no, I can’t bear it,’ said the builder boyfriend when I told him I wanted to look at one…
Club cricketers: Zimbabwe needs you
Make sure you tell everybody about Zimbabwe,’ said the lady at our block of flats in suburban Harare as we…
France began breeding jihadis in 1989
E .D. Hirsch Jr., the American educationalist and author of Cultural Literacy, has a new book out that may throw…
France began breeding jihadis in 1989
E .D. Hirsch Jr., the American educationalist and author of Cultural Literacy, has a new book out that may throw…
Old-fashioned values
Bookmaking’s image has changed. Alongside the arrival of the betting exchanges, the evolution of the big names like Hills, Coral,…
Old-fashioned values
Bookmaking’s image has changed. Alongside the arrival of the betting exchanges, the evolution of the big names like Hills, Coral,…
Bridge
By the time you read this, I will have (hopefully) played my first hand of bridge in five weeks. No…
The yawn supremacy
The BBC has published a list of the 100 best films of the 21st century, compiled after consulting academics, cinema…
no. 423
Black to play. This is from Vachier-Lagrave–Anand, Sinquefield Cup, St Louis 2016. White has played to win a pawn but…
Long life
The 6th Duke of Westminster, who died this month, was living support of the claim that wealth doesn’t make you…
2275: Frame of reference
Seven words read clockwise round the perimeter, in alphabetical order. Each of eighteen clues contains a misprinted letter in the…
Dear Mary
Q. We have been invited to stay with a generous friend in Greece. Now we hear from other (slightly…
Wild life
Kenya When the late Tom Cholmondeley walked into his cell after being accused of murder in Kenya’s Rift Valley, etched…
So it St Louis
From the humble status of wild-card entry at St Louis last year, the US Grandmaster, Wesley So (formerly of the…
Body talk
In Competition No. 2962 you were invited to supply a poem about a body part of an author of your…
