Life
Square meal
The Portrait Restaurant lives at the top of the National Portrait Gallery, London. It is fiercely modern, but likeable. You…
Quarter
‘No quarter given,’ yelled my husband as he stabbed at a cushion with his stick, spoiling the cavalier effect a…
Battle for Britain
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Nigel’s controversy
British chess grandmaster Nigel Short has form when it comes to provocative statements. When competing in a tournament in France…
No. 360
Black to play. This is from Short-Polgar, Madrid 1995. Judit Polgar is the strongest female -player ever, with an overwhelming…
Eating poetry
In Competition No. 2895 you were invited to submit a poem describing a meal with a well-known poet. Sylvia Fairley…
Dear Mary
Q. Six months ago I invited some old friends to be my guests at a reunion dinner. We all love…
Square meal
The Portrait Restaurant lives at the top of the National Portrait Gallery, London. It is fiercely modern, but likeable. You…
High life
Talk about how the mighty have fallen. Time magazine was for the better part of the 20th century the model…
Low life
Two stylists work at this deeply rural French ladies’ hairdresser. Christelle is a gorgeous 17-year-old point-of-lay pullet, so lithe and…
Quarter
‘No quarter given,’ yelled my husband as he stabbed at a cushion with his stick, spoiling the cavalier effect a…
Come on you blues. Or, er, reds
Here’s an election-winning idea for Dave: forget about Aston Villa (or West Ham) and become a full-on Bournemouth fan. They…
Reuniondues
A couple of weeks ago I returned to my old Oxford college for a ‘gaudy’ — posh, Oxford-speak for a…
Reuniondues
A couple of weeks ago I returned to my old Oxford college for a ‘gaudy’ — posh, Oxford-speak for a…
The real McCoy
At Sandown Park last Saturday an era ended. Twenty thousand of us turned up to cheer on Tony McCoy as…
2209: Safe-blowers
The unclued lights (two of two words) are to be linked with one of the clued lights in translation. All…
High life
A recent column in the FT made me mad as hell. The writer, Simon Kuper, calls Vienna a backwater, which…
Low life
I’m such a constitutional lightweight lately that I’ve started looking on the website What’s On in South Devon for things…
Real life
As a wise person once said (or if they didn’t, they should have), there is only one thing worse than…
Long life
There are already people camping outside St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, to await the birth shortly of another royal baby, the…
Wild life
Laikipia When I was a boy in Devon we had an orchard. On a string of autumns, as the fruit…
Bridge
Congratulations to the Welsh women’s team, who staged one of the most spectacular comebacks I’ve ever seen at last weekend’s…
So there
Hikaru Nakamura has won the US Championship in convincing style with 8/11, ahead of Ray Robson and Wesley So. Things…
No. 359
Black to play. This position is a variation from Troff-Nakamura, US Championship 2015. How can Black conclude his kingside attack…
Verses on horses
In Competition No. 2894 you were invited to submit a paean to a famous racehorse. Thanks to David Pearn, who…
