Life
Dear Mary
Last week I went for an interview with the Irish Guards. My father and his father were both in this…
Meat and greet
Zelman Meats — catchphrase ‘great meat’ — is sustenance for a hard Brexit — a harder Brexit, if you will.…
High life
New York If only my wordsmith friend Jeremy Clarke had been with me. What fun he’d have had with…
Long life
Do you remember Liberace? Yes, of course you do. Who could forget him? The Wisconsin-born son of a poor Italian…
Long life
Do you remember Liberace? Yes, of course you do. Who could forget him? The Wisconsin-born son of a poor Italian…
Low life
Six months ago I bought a garden chair on eBay. When I went to the address to pick it up,…
Low life
Six months ago I bought a garden chair on eBay. When I went to the address to pick it up,…
Coulrophobia
There’s something suspicious about the name for a fear of clowns which was on the shortlist of words of the…
Real life
A few weeks after switching my iPhone to the EE network, I noticed a funny thing. It hadn’t rung. I…
Abandon dope, all ye who enter here
The World Anti-Doping Agency has just called on Russia to confront its wrongdoing and generally shape up. Well, good luck…
My ticket to a £150 rip-off
Last week, my 13-year-old daughter Sasha and her friend Tess were taken by her god-father, Sean, to see Catfish and…
My ticket to a £150 rip-off
Last week, my 13-year-old daughter Sasha and her friend Tess were taken by her god-father, Sean, to see Catfish and…
The turf
Talking to Paul Nicholls earlier this season, I was shaken to hear the ultra-competitive champion trainer say that he wouldn’t…
The turf
Talking to Paul Nicholls earlier this season, I was shaken to hear the ultra-competitive champion trainer say that he wouldn’t…
Bridge
When I first started playing bridge, in the late Nineties, the Young Chelsea marathon was a continuous 24-hour tournament and…
I quit
In Competition No. 2974 you were invited to submit a resignation letter from God. Despite mankind’s attempts to kill…
2287: Quarry
In eight clues, cryptic indications omit reference to parts of answers; these parts must be highlighted, to reveal a word…
Dear Mary
Q. Following a lavish house party I received a flood of effusive thank-you letters, the bulk of which praised the…
Long life
I started watching The Crown, the £100-million television series on the early years of the Queen’s reign, on Netflix but…
Low life
The day after the American people applied a very welcome touch on the brakes to the Enlightenment juggernaut, I went…
Cortana
At the Queen’s Coronation, the Duke of Northumberland carried the Sword of Mercy called Cortana. I mention this for three…
A new path to the top of the teaching tree
A few months ago I joined forces with Sir Anthony Seldon, the vice-chancellor of Buckingham University, to run an idea…
How the left wastes its energy
There are only three infallible rules in advertising. Be distinctive. Make a lot of noise. And try to feature a…
Bridge
Have you ever felt that none of your partners are on the same wavelength as you? Despite regularly partnering the…
Chigorin revived
The early games of the World Championship in New York between Magnus Carlsen and Sergei Karjakin did little to contribute…
