Life
Extinct tigers
The Tiger of Madras has gone the way of the sabre-toothed tiger. Viswanathan Anand, world champion from 2007 to 2013,…
No. 342
White to play. This position is a variation from move 37 of today’s game. How does White win? Answers to…
Verse Viagra
In Competition No. 2875 you were invited to submit a poem about an unlikely aphrodisiac. Thanks are due to that…
2190: Petra
‘1D/19’ (six words in total) is a work by 18/13. Remaining unclued lights form two pairs suggested by 13. …
To 2187: River and islands
The theme word is PHOENIX (38A). 6A, 12A and 26A are legendary birds; 15A, 28A and 4D are state capitals;…
Want an argument against positive discrimination? Just look at me
I read with some interest the proposal for Oxford and Cambridge to set up state-school-only colleges in the Guardian this…
Battle for Britain
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Tackling Jim Murphy
The author of a rather brilliant little book about football could just hold the key to Labour’s otherwise negligible prospects…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. There has been a marked increase in the number of people who have pristine flooring and are so keen…
Cornish and pasty
Mousehole is a charming name; it is almost a charming place. It is a fishing village on Mount’s Bay, Cornwall,…
Respect
‘Respect!’ cried my husband, drop-kicking a cushion with a picture of the Queen Mother holding a pint of beer on…
Cornish and pasty
Mousehole is a charming name; it is almost a charming place. It is a fishing village on Mount’s Bay, Cornwall,…
Tackling Jim Murphy
The author of a rather brilliant little book about football could just hold the key to Labour’s otherwise negligible prospects…
The resurrection man
‘I’m going for Al Ferof,’ said a suit in front of me in the Totepool queue at Ascot on Saturday…
High life
To the grand Herrera house on the upper east side of Manhattan for lunch in honour of Lord and Lady…
Real life
Before I go any further, I would like to make clear that no animals were harmed in the making of…
Long life
I thought that this week I might write about memory loss, but couldn’t remember if I’d written about it last…
Wild life
Kenya It’s a long time since I thought of Thaddee, our Kigali stringer when I was covering Rwanda for Reuters.…
Bridge
It’s one of the burning political issues of the day: why don’t more MPs play bridge? Two weeks ago, the…
Comedy of errors
For reasons unknown, the world championship in Sochi between Carlsen and Anand is turning into a catalogue of disastrous blunders…
No: 341
Black to play. This is from Korchnoi-Karpov, World Championship (Game 17), Baguio 1978. Can you spot Black’s winning coup? Answers…
Problem child
In Competition No. 2874 you were invited to submit a scene written by a well-known children’s author of the past…
2189: Offering
One unclued light is the name of a 15A activity requiring the 4A of three things. Answers to clues in…
2186: From the off
Unclued lights (11/1D, 12/35, 15, 18/1D and 22/17) are fences of the Grand National course, together with two famous winners…


























