Life
Make life easier and all else will follow
You can try to change people’s minds, but this is difficult. You can bribe people to change their behaviour, but…
Diary stories
In Competition No. 3016 you were invited to submit an extract from the diary of the spouse of a high-profile…
Dear Mary
Q. Last year my husband and I stayed with a much-loved, but slightly airy-fairy friend in her house in Tuscany.…
All’s fair in love and Waugh
I was reminded of Wild West films from boyhood. Then, the beleaguered garrison scanned the horizon; would the US cavalry…
High life
As everyone who stands up when a lady enters the room knows, the once sacrosanct rules of civility throughout the…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
I got off the plane at Changi still pleasantly sedated by Xanax, passed through the ‘nothing to declare’ channel, and…
Bridge
I’m writing this from Stuart Wheeler’s beautiful villa in Tangier, in the hills just above the bay, where for a…
Bronstein’s legacy
Last week I focused on the games and somewhat tragic career of the ingenious David Bronstein. Before his time the…
no. 475
White to play. This position is from Jobava-Nepomniachtchi, FIDE World Cup, Tbilisi 2017. Can you spot White’s winning coup? Answers…
2328: Second coming
6A and 42 (whose unchecked letters give IDEA) combine to suggest the title of a novel. Remaining unclued lights give…
to 2325: Hard task
The theme was PIGS. First prize J. E. Green, St Albans, HertfordshireRunners-up Michael Moran, Penrith, Cumbria; John M. Brown, Rolleston…
Watching the clock
In Competition No. 3015 you were invited to submit a poem about Big Ben’s bongs. The decision to remove…
Dear Mary
Q. My partner and I recently had two close friends — one a Peer, the other a former Member of the…
Gorblimey trousers
Piles of black plastic rubbish sacks lie in the streets of Birmingham because, since the end of June, the dustmen…
Real life
Stefano and his boys got to work with gusto and within a few days the upstairs of my house started…
Bridge
This summer was the longest I have gone without playing bridge since I began about 20 years ago. Not one…
Study in obsession
Genna Sosonko is a writer and grandmaster who straddles two great chess cultures, Holland and the USSR, his chosen and native…
No. 474
Black to play. This position is from Carlsen-Bu, Fidé World Cup, Tbilisi 2017. Can you spot Black’s winning coup? Answers…
2327: Exhibition
Five unclued lights are titles of works by a person whose name is formed by two unclued lights. Three clues…
2324: In the frame
11, 42 and perimeter entries are titles of COMPUTER-ANIMATED FILMS. First prize B. Midgley, Ettington, Stratford-upon-AvonRunners-up Arabella Grandage, Bradenham, Bucks;…
High life
I’m in Venice for the film festival that just ended and, as an American humorist once wired his paper: ‘Streets…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
The army patrols at Nice airport go around three abreast, steely-eyed, fingers on the trigger. They walk slowly and scrutinise…
Why did you do it, Roy?
Poor old Roy Hodgson, why did he take on Crystal Palace? He was having lunch at a Côte in a…
