Life
Bridge
I’ve just returned from two weeks playing in the European Open Championships in Montecatini in Italy, and I’m so whacked…
Sporting life
Can chess and bridge be considered sports? According to a European Court of Justice judgment earlier this month, bridge is…
no. 463
White to play. This position is from Caruana–Carlsen, Paris 2017. Can you spot White’s winning coup? Answers to me at…
The turf
Back on the political beat with CNN for the general election, I was reminded how politics is now dominated by…
Bridge
The past two weeks have seen hundreds of passionate bridge players head for Montecatini in Italy for the 8th European…
Great Tigran’s heir
Tigran Petrosian is the great chess hero of Armenia. World champion from 1963-1969, his best games exhibit a profundity which…
no. 462
White to play. This position is a variation from Kramnik-Giri, Stavanger 2017. How can White exploit the terrible position of…
Political clerihew
In Competition No. 3003 you were invited to supply clerihews about contemporary politicians. In an enormous and excellent entry, popular…
2315: Trunk call
Seven unclued entries are all examples of the other. Elsewhere, ignore an accent. Across 11 Ginger wine and rose…
to 2312: Bandleader
The thematic BEATLES ALBUM (38 32) is SERGEANT PEPPER (1A 6A). 1A defines 17, and can be divided into words…
Dear Mary
Q. I import a range of very high-quality food products from Europe into the UK. They are regarded as the…
Not my bag
Hip Chips is a specialist crisp restaurant in Old Compton Street, Soho; no, it is stupider than that. It is…
High life
A famous epigrammatic nugget of wisdom appears in The Leopard, Lampedusa’s great novel about a noble Sicilian family’s fortunes: ‘If…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
‘Yours?’ I said to the woman watching the mechanic poring over the latest-shape Renault Mégane for faults. (I was waiting…
Narrative
Laura Kuenssberg was right. Even my husband agreed, and he often throws soiled beermats from an unknown source (which he…
Real life
All had gone suspiciously quiet down our little track on the village green, and we had begun to think we…
Pakistan and the power of redemption
The Pakistan supporter was festooned in cream and green, and carried a chalkboard round his neck with the legend: ‘My…
Panic of the playwrights
Earlier this week the Guardian launched ‘Brexit Shorts’, a series of monologues written by Britain’s ‘leading playwrights’ about the aftermath…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
French supermarket cashiers won’t be hurried. Nor will their customers, many of whom seem caught out by a bill at…
Trooping the Colour
Language is a weapon to do down others. ‘He calls the knaves, Jacks, this boy!’ said Estella disdainfully of Pip…
Real life
And so, as it must, the pilgrimage to find a local GP surgery begins. This is a great British tradition,…
Nick’s a visionary – he deserves a second chance
I first met Nick Timothy in July 2015. He had just been appointed director of New Schools Network, the free…
Universities should offer one-year courses
In every respect bar one, those bloody Corbyn-supporting students have a much tougher time of it than I did, what…
