Life
Blessed are the goalscorers
‘I am grateful to the gaffer for the opportunity and to God for letting me score,’ said Daniel Sturridge after…
A new home for Old Labour
On the eve of last year’s general election result, many pundits predicted the demise of Britain’s two-party system. The likeliest…
A new home for Old Labour
On the eve of last year’s general election result, many pundits predicted the demise of Britain’s two-party system. The likeliest…
The Battle for Britain
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Memorable Mamedyarov
Local hero Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan by virtue of three consecutive victories at the…
No. 214
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Mamedyarov, Gashimov Memorial Play-off 2016. Black played 1 … Kg8 here, missing a clever…
Lovelier than a tree
In Competition No. 2953 you were invited to supply a sonnet that has the name of a tree hidden in…
Your problems solved
Q. A friend’s daughter is marrying soon. She and her husband-to-be, both art-lovers, have dispensed with a wedding list, instead…
West End churls
Cafe Monico, as if named by an illiterate playboy, is on Shaftesbury Avenue between The Curious Incident of the Dog…
High life
I always thought the Freuds a pretty sordid bunch, and after the latest revelations it seems I wasn’t far off.…
Long life
One of my first outings while recovering from a little stroke has been to the New London Theatre in Drury…
Long life
One of my first outings while recovering from a little stroke has been to the New London Theatre in Drury…
Low life
Before dashing out of the door and driving to Nice airport, I gave my eyebrows a quick trim with the…
Low life
Before dashing out of the door and driving to Nice airport, I gave my eyebrows a quick trim with the…
Eight hard words
I was humiliated in trying to make out the meaning of eight hard words. See how you do: claustration, edulcoration,…
Real life
The cottage in Surrey has fallen through, for the time being at least. Maybe I am going to be a…
On the money
Forced to depart Ascot earlier than usual to fulfil a cruise lecture booking on the fjords, I hadn’t reckoned with…
On the money
Forced to depart Ascot earlier than usual to fulfil a cruise lecture booking on the fjords, I hadn’t reckoned with…
Bridge
The 53rd European Teams Championship started last week in Budapest, 37 countries competing in an 11-day complete round robin. The…
The cultural hodgepodge that is Europe
If Geert Hofstede’s name is familiar to you, it might be from pop-science articles explaining a spate of Korean airliner…
2265: Pouring
The unclued Across lights (two of two words) are of a kind, as are the unclued Down ones, all verifiable…
No. 413
White to play. This is from Korchnoi-Karpov, Candidates Final, Moscow 1974. White’s next move destroyed the black position and led…
Who’s sabotaging my Leave campaign?
I’ve never been a great believer in karma. After all, in the absence of some kind of cosmic enforcer of…
Gossip from the top table
In the 1970s, when there were many fewer restaurants in London, Locket’s was much the best place to eat around…
Nonsensical
In Competition No. 2952 you were invited to submit nonsense verse of up to 16 lines on the subject of…
