Life
No. 310
Black to play. This is from Kantans-Malakhov, Latvian Railway Open, Riga 2014. Black has achieved a tremendous build-up on the…
Poet’s choice
In Competition No. 2843 you were given a list of poets’ surnames — motion, bridges, wilde, gray, cope, hood, burns…
2158: Late bloomers
The unclued lights (33 with I) are of a kind, all verifiable in Chambers under the appropriate headword. Across…
2155: Poor Billy’s left out
The unclued lights are SIBYLS (the title was an anagram of BILLY’S with L omitted). First prize Judith Bevis, Newport,…
An initiation into anxiety
Before I had children I don’t think I appreciated what anxiety was. I’d been anxious at various points in my…
Battle for Britain
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A sporting chance
The brotherhood of cricket, as we know, transcends race, creed, class and nationality. It can also be a big help…
Dear Mary
Q. We have just moved into a charming little hamlet in Warwickshire and were delighted to find a bottle of…
Relaxing with Marcus
In the ‘Chefs’ Last Supper’ in the National Portrait Gallery, Marcus Wareing is throwing a brie at Gordon Ramsay, who…
Multiverse
‘So there are lots of universes besides ours,’ the ancient atomists concluded, in the brief account by Peter Jones (Ancient…
Relaxing with Marcus
In the ‘Chefs’ Last Supper’ in the National Portrait Gallery, Marcus Wareing is throwing a brie at Gordon Ramsay, who…
A sporting chance
The brotherhood of cricket, as we know, transcends race, creed, class and nationality. It can also be a big help…
Taxing questions
We all have to adjust to reality, like the lady who entered a Barbados bar having already enjoyed several gin…
High Life
America and western Europe sure have their priorities right, blanketing our newspapers, magazines and the airwaves with newsworthy items that…
Low life
On eBay car auctions one often reads of all sorts of reasons for cars being sold: birth, death, marriage, divorce,…
Real life
The Volvo has turned into a monster. It always did have a mind of its own. Fellow owners warned me…
Long life
There was something poignant about the decision of L’Wren Scott, Mick Jagger’s American girlfriend, who committed suicide in New York…
Bridge
The news that two German doctors have been found guilty of cheating at the world bridge championships in Bali last…
Vishy regime
The Candidates tournament has been won by Vishy Anand who adopted the safety-first policy of winning two of his first…
No. 309
White to play. This position is from Mamedyarov-Aronian, Khanty-Mansisk 2014. White’s next was an ingenious way to demonstrate that his…
Putdownable
In Competition 2842 you were invited to compose the most off-putting book blurb that you could muster. There’s just space…
2157: Song X
Round the perimeter clockwise from 1 run six lights of a kind (7,9,10,9,9,8): if the grid were a 13/12, they…
to 2154: Clickety click
The MUSICAL (33) BARON (29) Lloyd-Webber’s BIRTHDAY (40) was on 22nd March; he was 66 (hence the title). His works…
Two books I almost wrote (and one I did)
There’s nothing quite so burdensome as having a book to write. Maybe it’s not so bad when it’s your first…
The Battle For Britain
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