Life
How to make economists fight like ferrets in a sack
One of the funniest passages of writing I have read in the past few years appears within the pages of…
Mary solves your problems: A secret school scrapbook discovered by the housemaster
Q. At my son’s school the boys keep a clandestine leatherbound book known as ‘The Bible’, a sort of Rogues…
How Christmas lunch became Christmas dinner
It was a culinary triumph. My hosts do not spend much time in the UK, and are determined to entertain…
The phrase that is almost universally misused
Writing about Meghan Markle and the Duchess of Cambridge in the Sunday Times, India Knight wrote: ‘I can’t help but…
Taki: The forgotten heroes of Christmas
It’s that time of year again. Yippee! And get your wallets out. Scrooges are no longer tolerated at Christmas, although…
Jeremy Clark: Was this a cruise ship — or Colditz?
We ascended the gangplank and were smartly directed to the ship’s library, where the seated purser swiped my debit card…
Melissa Kite: Hell is a porcelain kitchen tile
If only I knew whether I would have a kitchen, I could order a turkey. But despite having an almost…
Aidan Hartley: A plague of ravenous zebras
Laikipia, Kenya The zebra lacks a rumen and eats at least twice as much as a cow. On our…
Robin Oakley: Let’s hear it for the girls
It has been a good year for the girls. The filly Enable was the horse of the year, winning not…
Bridge
Know thy opponents — experts make a point of it. When you’re at the bridge table, it’s just as important…
Grand prix
The London Classic is over and full reports in this column will follow in the new year. Meanwhile, we now know…
no. 486
White to play. This position is from Aronian-Giri, Palma de Mallorca 2017. Aronian now finished off a fine attack with…
Season’s greetings
In Competition No. 3028 you were invited to submit lines for a Christmas card courtesy of well-known poets. Poets moved…
The joy of Japanese puzzles
Ever since I first visited Japan a decade ago, I have been fascinated by its approach to maths. The Japanese…
to 2337: millefeuille
Links with NAPOLEON were his battles WAGRAM (10) MARENGO (14) JENA (36); card games BACCARAT (1A) PATIENCE (26) BRAG (30A);…
A beastly business
Three unclued lights form a nine-word quotation from a thematic work. Remaining unclued lights, including one hyphened, are five trios…
Christmas quiz
Weird world In 2017: 1. Police discovered thousands of what kind of plant growing in a disused nuclear bunker…
After many centuries, the triumph of ‘hi’ is complete
A book that changed my way of looking at the world was The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren. It showed…
It’s all shootin’, fishin’ and trufflin’ when lads and dads go out to play
Earlier this year I wrote a defence of driven shooting and ended by saying I hoped my children would have…
Less women’s sport might sometimes be more
The credit sequence for the tennis flick Battle of the Sexes has this very British warning: ‘Contains occasional scenes of…
The Battle for Britain
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It’s survived universal suffrage and two world wars: restaurant Rules reviewed
Rules looks as if it voted for Brexit, and now finds itself inside an eternal Christmas Eve, where it is…
Design everything for the disabled and you can’t go wrong
About 30 years ago, BT introduced a telephone handset with enormous keys. It was intended for people with serious visual…
Found in a friend’s cellar — the wines of a lifetime
In longevity, great wine can march with human life. Creating (better still, maintaining) a fine cellar really is a compact…
Dear Mary solves problems for Vince Cable, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Lord Archer and Ruth Davidson
From Sir Vince Cable MP Q. I have an unfulfilled ambition to win a national title for ballroom dancing in…
