Life
Non-existent phrases
‘Ten Norwegian phrases that don’t exist in English but should,’ said the headline. So I had a little look, as…
The hazards of being a good sport
Not a day passes when I don’t look on my father’s record with shock and awe. I’m not talking about…
The hazards of being a good sport
Not a day passes when I don’t look on my father’s record with shock and awe. I’m not talking about…
Let’s rethink the working week
Whenever I hear the phrase ‘hard-working families’ a little voice in my head asks ‘what about the lazier, chilled-out families?…
Wild life
Laikipia When I was a boy in Devon we had an orchard. On a string of autumns, as the fruit…
High life
New York ‘Gimme a BLT on rye and hold da mayo’ is a great Noo Yawk sound. So is boid…
Low life
To say that Oscar was warmly welcomed as he stepped through the massive oak door into a chilly House of…
Real life
By and large, I’m not really sure the world is ready for me to join the steering committee of a…
Long life
No sooner had I written last week’s column about the sad disappearance of the two tortoises in my care than…
Turtle
As if a turtle you have laid your eggs in a bowl of sand. Unlike the turtle you sit next…
No fairy tale ending
It all depends how you like your fairy tales. OK, so we would have loved the retiring Tony ‘AP’ McCoy,…
Bridge
When I was growing up, the loudest, most explosive arguments erupted when my parents played bridge together. Not surprisingly, when…
Hit for six
The Hamilton Russell trophy for London clubs has been dominated in the past by the RAC. This year, though, they were…
No. 358
White to play. This is from Lee-Zakharov, Vrnjacka Banja 1963. Black has just captured on c3 and now 1 Qxc3…
On the record
In Competition No. 2893 you were invited to suggest suitable Desert Island Discs for a historical figure, living or dead.…
2207: An unusual angle
In six answers the wordplay ignores an item. These items (two of them identical) are not listed as specific 27…
To 2204: Security
Five perimeter entries, and 29 and 30, are types of BODYGUARD. First prize Amanda Spielman, London SW4 Runners-up Dr S.M.…
The extraordinary Green manifesto
I’m disappointed that Ed Balls’s suggestion that the Office of Budget Responsibility should audit the parties’ manifestos was never taken…
Battle for Britain
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Cricket’s glorious dead
He’s a tall man, Kevin Pietersen, and he casts a long shadow. It loomed large over the Long Room at…
Dear Mary
Q. I have moved from London to the centre of a historic market town, now becoming famous as a foodie…
Sharing Caring
The Ivy Chelsea Garden is a restaurant inside an Edwardian house disguised as a Tudor house on the King’s Road;…
Passion
‘I long for spontaneous passion but I will never get it with my husband because I think he has Asperger…
Turtle
As if a turtle you have laid your eggs in a bowl of sand. Unlike the turtle you sit next…
Battle for Britain
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