Life
Real life
The doctor eyed me suspiciously as I walked into her consulting room. ‘Ye-es?’ she said, nervously, eyeing me up and…
The Kiwi tourists are a living lesson
A rather desultory Test series is taking place in the Caribbean where Australia are marmalising the West Indies, with a…
The Canadian Ed Miliband
I’ve been reading Fire and Ashes, Michael Ignatieff’s account of his disastrous foray into politics, in an attempt to understand…
The Canadian Ed Miliband
I’ve been reading Fire and Ashes, Michael Ignatieff’s account of his disastrous foray into politics, in an attempt to understand…
Frankie’s back
Nothing has been lost since William Powell Frith painted his Derby Day panorama in 1858: today, instead of the carriages…
High life
The last week in Gotham was exceptional fun. I saw a Broadway play, Finding Neverland, compliments of the producer, my…
Low life
The entries are crawling in on their hands and knees for the ‘drunkest I’ve ever been’ competition to win a…
Real life
Foolishly, I have this wild notion that one day, if the stars align in my favour, I might be able…
Long life
I wrote last week about a swarm of bees that had attached itself to a wall of my house, as…
Bridge
The Hacketts are probably the best known bridge-playing family in the world. They live in Manchester but travel constantly —…
Boris Good Enough
Boris Gulko, celebrated both as a grandmaster and a former Soviet dissident, has recently completed his great trilogy of instructional…
No. 365
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Jakovenko, Khanty-Mansiysk 2015. Black is winning -easily, but can you find the most accurate…
Sauce material
In Competition No. 2900 you were invited to write a short story that ends on a condiment of your choice.…
2214: What’s up?
The theme word is 29 down, which defines each of the other unclued lights (including one of two words) in…
To 2211: Toddler hero
‘THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH YIELDING PLACE TO NEW’, from Tennyson’s IDYLLS OF THE KING, suggests the outcome of ANAGRAMMATISM (2).…
Are the cultural Marxists in retreat, or lying low?
In his Memoirs, Kingsley Amis includes a story about meeting Roald Dahl at a party in the 1970s. Dahl advises…
Battle for Britain
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In praise of the ‘Don’t know’ voter
I am scraping the edges of my memory here, but I am fairly sure that opinion polls in my childhood…
Your problems solved
Q. What should I say the next time I run into a woman with whom I was at art school…
Claret and blues
There is a dive near St James’s which could claim to be the epicentre of international reaction. It is also…
Brain fade
‘Aa-aah,’ groaned my husband, ‘we fade to grey.’ He had never been much of a Young Romantic, even when Visage…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Boris Good Enough
Boris Gulko, celebrated both as a grandmaster and a former Soviet dissident, has recently completed his great trilogy of instructional…
No. 365
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Jakovenko, Khanty-Mansiysk 2015. Black is winning -easily, but can you find the most accurate…
Sauce material
In Competition No. 2900 you were invited to write a short story that ends on a condiment of your choice.…
