Life
Bridge
There’s no point in soft-soaping it: however long you’ve been playing bridge, however well you think you play, if you’ve…
Iron nerves
The game that clinched Magnus Carlsen’s victory in the Gashimov Memorial came, fittingly, in a last-round cliffhanger against his closest…
No. 315
White to play. This position is from Wojtaszek-Safarli, Gashimov ‘B’ Group 2014. The white pieces are very active and the…
Scottish question
In Competition No. 2848 you were invited to submit a poem commenting on Scottish independence in the style of William…
2163: Muscle
Six unclued lights (one hyphened) suggest words each differently formed from the same 13 22, which appears as a clued…
to 2160: 18 down
The unclued lights are all CHARACTERS (18D) in Plato’s dialogues, all but SOCRATES (1A) appearing in titles. In six cells,…
Americans can’t hack it
I was interested to read a story by Michael Wolff in USA Today saying that Graydon Carter may be about…
Battle for Britain
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When brave is better than good
Oskar Morgenstern grew up in Vienna, John von Neumann in Budapest. Clearly the same Austro-Hungarian intellectual spirit which gave rise…
Dear Mary
Q. My dear English husband has never mastered the knack of timing his interventions in conversation. He hesitates politely, and…
Port and daughters
Port, or Hermitage? This does not refer to personal consumption. I was trying to remember Meredith’s Egoist, in which one…
Basta
My chickens do not usually come home to roost so rapidly. Only a fortnight ago I wrote that ‘some people use…
Port and daughters
Port, or Hermitage? This does not refer to personal consumption. I was trying to remember Meredith’s Egoist, in which one…
When brave is better than good
Oskar Morgenstern grew up in Vienna, John von Neumann in Budapest. Clearly the same Austro-Hungarian intellectual spirit which gave rise…
Wild life
In bed Safety measures — I’ve never been good at them, so inevitably I inhaled and got soaked by the…
High life
Like the late Christopher Hitchens who only discovered his Jewish roots once he had moved to New York in the…
Low life
I couldn’t find the house so I called the number again. Instead of the man I’d spoken to previously, this…
Real life
Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly fight any more battles, a pink planning notice is pinned to the lamp…
Long life
One curious fact about Sir George Christie, who died last week, aged 79, was that he always cut his own…
Twelve to Follow
In sport, winning is everything. Come second and only your parents and the dog remember. Most readers will have forgotten…
Bridge
The Schapiro Spring Foursomes, held in early May in Stratford-upon-Avon, is one of the great tournaments and this time it…
In training
In my column of 26 April I suggested that the new world champion Magnus Carlsen was in need of some…
No. 314
White to play. This is a variation from Caruana-Radjabov, Gashimov Memorial, Shamkir 2014. The advanced White c-pawn gives him an…
Double celebration
In Competition No. 2847 you were invited to submit a poem celebrating a famous duo. You wheeled out a colourful…
2162: Stand in
In each of eleven clues the definition part contains a superfluous letter. These letters, in clue order, spell a three-word…
