Life
Low life
Every morning for the past two years, on waking, I’ve reached out for the white plastic tub on the bedside…
Low life
Every morning for the past two years, on waking, I’ve reached out for the white plastic tub on the bedside…
Critique
I lost my husband on the way from Malabar. He is easily lost. We had been talking about the verb…
Real life
At least two insurances are going to have to go, as I grapple with fear of penury, I have decided.…
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…
The vision of Steve Jobs
Last week I went to a screening of Steve Jobs, the new biopic about the co-founder of Apple directed by…
The vision of Steve Jobs
Last week I went to a screening of Steve Jobs, the new biopic about the co-founder of Apple directed by…
Fair minded
One of Alan Bennett’s characters once lamented, ‘We tried to set up a small anarchist community …but people wouldn’t obey…
Fair minded
One of Alan Bennett’s characters once lamented, ‘We tried to set up a small anarchist community …but people wouldn’t obey…
Bridge
The 42nd Bermuda Bowl has kicked off in Chennai, and after several weeks of cheat-busting Boye Brogeland (‘The Sheriff’) has…
2230: Lot 46
The unclued lights, five of which are correctly numbered, are of a kind. Ignore one accent. Chambers does not include…
To 2227: Word building
The word pyramid runs from CAN at 7A, then 35, 36, 30, 5, 2, 21D, 19 to CONSIDERATE at 1A.…
High life
Gstaad Jeremy Clarke has wiped me out again, for a change. His accounts of the high jinks on board the…
Low life
I was looking after Oscar, my five-and-a-half-year-old grandson, for the day. We’d played football in the garden, then we’d come…
Real life
After pulling out of my flat sale and U-turning on the idea of moving to the Cotswolds, it took me…
Long life
It’s hard to turn on the television nowadays without being shown a robot. It might be looking like a grasshopper…
Wild life
Laikipia A lion has just mauled and partially eaten a warrior who tried to throw a spear in my…
Bridge
This has been the most shocking saga in the entire history of bridge. In the face of overwhelming evidence that…
Coincidence
My grandmaster colleague James Plaskett has two passions, the pursuit of the mythical giant octopus (ongoing) and a fascination with…
No. 380
Black to play. This position is from Abramciuc–Nevednichy, Chisinau 2014. How can Black simplify down to a winning endgame? Answers…
Rebranded classics
In Competition No. 2916 you were invited to recast a well-known scene from literature to reflect the fact that its…
Corbyn sets off on the wrong track
Amid all the excitement about David Cameron this week, I fear that Jeremy Corbyn’s first major policy announcement may have…
Battle for Britain
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From A to B, differently
Afamily member is thinking of moving and asked for commuting advice. Well, first add 25 per cent to any journey…
Dear Mary
Q. I am an impoverished artist living in a famously cheap European city, largely for reasons of economy. I love…
