Life
Low life
Before we left for Sunday lunch at the Les Deux Garçons restaurant, Aix-en-Provence, I checked the reviews on Tripadvisor. I’m…
Leap in the dark
‘They all laughed at Christopher Columbus,’ sang my husband flatly, ‘when he said the world was round.’ I wasn’t going…
Real life
Darcy trod on a screw. Five little words which, if Darcy was anything other than a thoroughbred horse, might signify…
Two big hitters leave the crease
Two great men have just bowed out from their chosen trades and it is bloody sad. The New Zealand cricket…
What would my socialist dad think of me now?
On Tuesday night I went to a birthday party for my father at the House of Commons. Hosted by the…
What would my socialist dad think of me now?
On Tuesday night I went to a birthday party for my father at the House of Commons. Hosted by the…
Nice guys do finish first
Richard Johnson, possibly the nicest man to occupy a saddle and certainly the most modest, once said of his Irish…
Nice guys do finish first
Richard Johnson, possibly the nicest man to occupy a saddle and certainly the most modest, once said of his Irish…
Bridge
So many tournaments — so little space. Last week saw two of the very best London has to offer: Terry…
Here’s how I would deal with the dorks who spread lies online
One reason I do not tweet, text, use Facebook or Instagram, and only wield a mobile when a landline is…
The upside of cancer
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer with metastases in April 2013. It was a bit of a shock, but when…
My tyre-fitter tried to recruit me as a jihadi bride
The last time I bought a set of tyres in south London I came away not quite knowing whether I…
Donald Trump makes me feel very European
There are still four months to go before the vote, but I already feel quite exhausted by the Europe referendum…
Bridge
Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking, and canvassing opinion, about what to lead from AKxxx (or…
Gnomic
Zurich has been the scene for the latest clash between the titans of chess. Over a mere four days in…
No. 397
Black to play. This position is from Shirov-Nakamura, Zurich 2016. Black is winning easily but now finished with a fine…
Country music
In Competition No. 2936 you were invited to propose lyrics for a new British national anthem. Tom Shakespeare recently suggested…
2249: Transformation
The transformation is 10A (three words), which suggests the other unclued lights, including one of two words and one hyphened.…
Solution to 2246: Where’s Maggie?
The play was Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. The characters were BRICK (1A), DOCTOR BAUGH (7/5),…
I'm voting 'leave' to go back to the 1970s. What's wrong with that?
I don’t remember the last European referendum being nearly as dramatic as the current one. In 1975, we were being…
Battle for Britain
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The 5 per cent of people who decide everything (and how to be one of them)
What happens when 95 per cent of people like something, but 5 per cent of people prefer something else? You might think…
Dear Mary: new neighbours want me to provide a ready-made social scene
Q. Former colleagues, with whom I got on very well in the context of the office, are buying a house…
The torturer named for a beautiful shrine
As you came from the Holy land Of Walsingham Met you not with my true love By the way as…
Britain to have ‘special status’ in the EU? Careful what you wish for…
‘Special status?’ said my husband. ‘You mean like executioners, butchers and undertakers in Japan?’ I hadn’t suggested that, but had…
