Life
To 2177: Amaze
Songs by KATE BUSH include WUTHERING HEIGHTS, HAMMER HORROR, HOUNDS OF LOVE and CLOUDBUSTING in the perimeter, and (defined by…
Caught in Alex Salmond’s tractor beam
It was just after the Tory party conference last year that I met Alex Salmond. Not alone, obviously, but as…
Battle for Britain
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They don’t make footballers like Roy Race any more
It has become a weary cliché to say that a book’s publication is eagerly awaited, but when an event is…
Dear Mary
Q. I graduated this year (I got a first) and have written more than 70 letters to potential employers. Those…
My little plutocrat
Rextail is a restaurant for billionaire children, such as Richie Rich. Its owner, Arcady Novikov, has already opened a restaurant…
Never
He won’t be remembered as Lord Bannside, but Ian Paisley will be remembered for shouting: ‘Never, never, never, never.’ The…
My little plutocrat
Rextail is a restaurant for billionaire children, such as Richie Rich. Its owner, Arcady Novikov, has already opened a restaurant…
They don’t make footballers like Roy Race any more
It has become a weary cliché to say that a book’s publication is eagerly awaited, but when an event is…
Money, money, money
While Mrs Oakley was patrolling the aisles in Waitrose one day recently, I slipped off into my local betting shop.…
High life
Ibiza This island is the Spanish equivalent of the Greek sex rock of Mykonos, except its waters are murkier, its…
Low life
Music of the Forest on Radio 4 last week was a profile of the anthropologist Colin Turnbull, 1924–1994, who achieved…
Real life
‘Let me get this straight,’ I said, looking my Slovakian friend in the eye. ‘You are going to go back…
Long life
Of the nine chickens I used to keep here in Northamptonshire only one survived the summer, and it was the…
Bridge
Unlike poker, there’s not much money to be made from bridge tournaments (consider yourself lucky if you win £40 in…
Sinking the field
Fabiano Caruana has dominated the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis in a way that almost defies belief. The Italo-American grandmaster,…
No. 331
White to play. This is from Caruana–Nakamura, Sinquefield Cup, St Louis 2014. Caruana could have registered an even greater performance…
Hidden benefits
In Competition No. 2864 you were invited to submit an imaginary feature from a newspaper’s health pages extolling the benefits…
2179: Cos
The unclued lights are of a specific kind. Additionally each is a legitimate inflected headword in Chambers. Elsewhere, ignore one…
to 2176: ,
The unclued lights are BUTTERFLIES (as is the ‘comma’ in the title). The pairs are 7/34A, 13/24, 33/6 and 35/25.…
If the Welsh secede next, blame me
Oh dear. I think I may have inadvertently contributed to the dissolution of Great Britain. I’m not claiming sole responsibility.…
Battle for Britain
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The pound sterling doesn’t buy happiness
My second favourite religious joke is an old Jewish joke (which I read in the Harvard Review, so I assume…
Dear Mary
Q. My problem is that an older friend, with whom I enjoy lengthy telephone chats, becomes furious when my call…
Three sisterhoods
The Honourable Society of Odd Bottles has been mentioned in this column before. I can report that the membership is…
