Life
Farewell to Fergie
Writing a Turf column before the Cheltenham Festival, as the Spectator schedule requires, which you are reading only after the…
Farewell to Fergie
Writing a Turf column before the Cheltenham Festival, as the Spectator schedule requires, which you are reading only after the…
Bridge
The past couple of weeks have been the first since the New Year that we haven’t played a tournament of…
High life
Athens I am walking around downtown Athens watching as thousands of migrants field pitches from smugglers offering alternative routes…
Low life
Nice airport was more or less deserted. Two-and-a-half hours early for the easyJet flight to Gatwick, I had a leisurely…
Real life
‘Racing is 99.9 per cent disappointment,’ said the trainer philosophically, as I sat in the yard sipping coffee, waiting for…
Long life
I used to enjoy the ghost stories of M.R. James, but I’ve never actually seen a ghost or even believed…
Bridge
Unless you’re an expert, it often pays to keep quiet at the bridge table — something I really ought to…
Bunratty
The tournament at Bunratty is Ireland’s premier chess competition and has been for several years. This year’s event, to which…
No. 399
Black to play. This position is from Skulte-Pein, Bunratty 2016. Black’s queen is attacked. His next move didn’t force immediate…
Gray matter
In Competition No. 2938, to mark the tercentenary of Thomas Gray’s birth, you were invited to submit an ‘Elegy on…
2251: Animal track
In eight clues, cryptic indications omit reference to parts of answers; these parts must be highlighted, to reveal the title…
To 2248: In the stars
The starred words in the clues are EYE, RAIL, SAGE, SNAP, TRAP, HIDE, NUTS, GUN, EE. They combine with nine…
A new taste of Twitter nastiness
Whenever I hear a leftie complain about being abused on Twitter, I think: ‘You should try being me.’ A case…
Battle for Britain
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What’s the point of the driverless car?
A first last week: a Google driverless car in autonomous mode was partly at fault in a collision, interestingly one…
Your problems solved
Q. My niece, who came to stay with me in the country for the weekend, arrived without cash and asked…
A thirst for Justice
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, a great common lawyer, was an adornment to the American Supreme Court. His wisdom is still…
Swastika
There is a nice row of swastikas at head height in Burlington Gardens, behind the Royal Academy. They are carved…
Battle for Britain
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Bunratty
The tournament at Bunratty is Ireland’s premier chess competition and has been for several years. This year’s event, to which…
No. 399
Black to play. This position is from Skulte-Pein, Bunratty 2016. Black’s queen is attacked. His next move didn’t force immediate…
Gray matter
In Competition No. 2938, to mark the tercentenary of Thomas Gray’s birth, you were invited to submit an ‘Elegy on…
Your problems solved
Q. My niece, who came to stay with me in the country for the weekend, arrived without cash and asked…
A thirst for Justice
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, a great common lawyer, was an adornment to the American Supreme Court. His wisdom is still…
