Life
High life
I read this in an American newspaper (it was written by a woman who used to edit my copy for…
Low life
I drank Bombay gin and Fever-Tree tonic on the half-empty easyJet flight to Gatwick. I was even offered ice cubes.…
Low life
I drank Bombay gin and Fever-Tree tonic on the half-empty easyJet flight to Gatwick. I was even offered ice cubes.…
Queue
The language that President Barack Obama used was evidence of skulduggery, Nigel Farage declared. ‘The UK is gonna be in…
Real life
The gloves are off in my battle with the two brothers who live in the flat upstairs. They have just…
A triumph for brutality
It’s always good to see a great con trick in action. Take Boris Johnson: not really the lovable quick-witted scamp…
What if Murdoch owned the Beeb?
A new book published today by the Institute of Economic Affairs called In Focus: The Case for Privatising the BBC…
What if Murdoch owned the Beeb?
A new book published today by the Institute of Economic Affairs called In Focus: The Case for Privatising the BBC…
Sandown thrills
The difference between praying in church and praying at the racecourse, a gnarled old punter once said, is that at…
Sandown thrills
The difference between praying in church and praying at the racecourse, a gnarled old punter once said, is that at…
Bridge
The day before the London Marathon, Young Chelsea BC held its spring half-marathon. Eighty-seven boards were played over 12 hours…
Why my name didn’t appear in the Panama Papers
My, my, the rich are under attack everywhere, and I thank God the Panama Papers didn’t include the name of…
My life in West Ham matches
What consolation in life can Arthur and I find after that defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the…
The cottage of my dreams was proving a nightmare to buy
The cottage of my dreams (or possibly worst nightmares) proved rather difficult to purchase, not least because the agent selling…
A lesson from Italy on the futility of referendums
As we prepare in Britain for our momentous referendum in June, Italy has just had one. It happened last Sunday…
How do we save the elephant? It’s simple: eat them
Laikipia I sip my Tusker beer on the veranda, staring at the elephant. He’s not the elephant in the…
Bridge
Bridge is such an unforgiving game; you can’t afford to take your eye off the ball for a single moment.…
The Godfather
It is often asked how chess became so popular in the USSR. My answer is that most areas of creative…
No. 405
White to play. This position is from Vallejo-Wynn, Bangkok 2016. White has sacrificed a rook and a bishop. He now…
Much ado about nothing?
In Competition No. 2944 you were invited to imagine what characters from Shakespeare’s plays would have made of this year’s…
2257: A spree
An excerpt from a poem (-eleven words, one hyphened, in ODQ) reads clockwise in the perimeter from the top left…
To 2254: Ecofriendly
To create entries at 5, 9, 20, 29D and 41, answers to clues in italics become TREE-HUGGERS (15), embracing sallow,…
Long may we Brits laugh at our absurd demagogues
In Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke warned that ‘pure democracy’ was as dangerous as absolute monarchy. ‘Of…
Battle for Britain
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The secret to doing better at darts – and life
I have always been intrigued by the scoring systems for different sports, and the degree to which they contribute to…
