Life
What I learnt trying to buy lunch for an anti-Tory protestor
The mood at the Conservative party conference this week was a little subdued, and no wonder. As those who watched…
Battle for Britain
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Black death
Joseph Henry Blackburne was the leading British tournament player towards the end of the 19th century. It could be said…
Puzzle no. 382
White to play. This is from Blackburne-Schwarz, Berlin 1881. What is the best way to deal with the knight check?…
Threesome
In Competition No. 2918 you were invited to submit a poem composed entirely of three-letter words. ‘This is the most…
Dear Mary: How can girls avoid freezing in cold marquees?
Q. What do you do when you are so cold at a party that you cannot enjoy it? At a…
Manchester has marvellous wines, and it’s not finished yet
It will seem an ungrateful comment after the lunch which I am about to describe, but Manchester has some way…
Blood, sand and tragedy in Papa Hemingway and Ava Gardner country
Let’s take it from the top: Seville is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The capital of Andalusia,…
Oh, how I will miss the plastic bag!
It has taken years, but finally England has joined the rest of the United Kingdom and other countries around the…
Oh, how I will miss the plastic bag!
It has taken years, but finally England has joined the rest of the United Kingdom and other countries around the…
Happiness is a chainsaw and a maul in the rain and the mud
It rained all day long last Friday in Provence, and it rained all night, and on Saturday morning it was…
Happiness is a chainsaw and a maul in the rain and the mud
It rained all day long last Friday in Provence, and it rained all night, and on Saturday morning it was…
The weird truth about the word ‘normal’
‘Is Nicky Morgan too “normal” to be the next prime minister?’ asked someone in the Daily Telegraph. That would make…
I rode my own racehorse and was changed for ever
‘The last owner who tried to ride his own horse got tanked,’ said the trainer, looking up at me as…
What I learnt trying to buy lunch for an anti-Tory protestor
The mood at the Conservative party conference this week was a little subdued, and no wonder. As those who watched…
What I learnt trying to buy lunch for an anti-Tory protestor
The mood at the Conservative party conference this week was a little subdued, and no wonder. As those who watched…
We let programmers run our lives. So how’s their moral code?
A few years ago, in the week before Christmas when supermarket sales are at their highest, staff at one branch…
Bridge
There’s no doubt about it: I’m an addict. A BBO addict. Since the Bermuda Bowl began, nearly a fortnight ago,…
Hurrah! Demi Moore is Pugs club’s new Mistress of Chamber
If cheating is the cancer of sport, losing has to be its halitosis. I stunk out the joint in Amsterdam…
My nights with Hollywood film stars may be far behind me
At least two insurances are going to have to go, as I grapple with fear of penury, I have decided.…
The rewards for breaking rules of horse-racing have to stop
One of Alan Bennett’s characters once lamented, ‘We tried to set up a small anarchist community …but people wouldn’t obey…
2231: On the side
Unclued lights (three of two words; ignore one apostrophe) may be grouped to form a related triad. Across …
To 2228: Unfair
GRASSHOPPERS (9) of ZURICH (30) is a team that plays football — not cricket, as indicated by corrections of misprints…
Steve Jobs was a genius, but was he a monster too?
Last week I went to a screening of Steve Jobs, the new biopic about the co-founder of Apple directed by…
Give Robshaw a break
Pity poor Chris Robshaw. England’s sturdy captain might have a knockout girlfriend and exceptional skills on the cappuccino machine, but…
