Life
Burns Night bottles
Give us this day our daily bread: those are also words of great culinary significance. Even if the ‘bread’ takes…
24 hours in a Qatari jail cell
This column nearly didn’t appear. Another 24 hours and I would have trumped the late Jeffrey Bernard with the single…
High life
OK, folks. We’ve had enough of Hollande and his rather silly antics, although I do understand the man. Ever younger…
Low life
When the ticket collector asked to see my ticket, I took the opportunity to ask what time my connection left…
Real life
Don’t do it. Do not, whatever you do, even think about doing it. I was happy not doing it. And…
Long life
I have never supported the death penalty. Maybe I was influenced when I was six or seven years old by…
Man with a plan
Can you be both restless and content? Standing last week with Graeme McPherson on the viewing platform over his sharply…
Bridge
2014 has started with a bang! The second weekend of January saw TGR’s fifth Auction Pairs in which 71 pairs…
Nimzo style
As promised, this week a victory by chess aficionado Dominic Lawson, former editor of The Spectator. Dominic’s distinguished opponent was…
No. 298
Black to play. This is from Wojtszek-Jobava, Wijk aan Zee 2014. This week’s puzzle is a fine finish from the…
2146: 4 ÷ 4 = 8
The unclued four-letter words can be paired in a particular way to form the remaining unclued lights (one of two…
to 2143: Revising geography
The unclued lights are all geographical locations – paired as anagrams: 13/9, 23/28. 30/17, 34/6 and 42/33. (33 Down is…
The class that’s too snobbish to speak its name
Last week, YouGov conducted a poll in which people were asked to judge how middle class the party leaders are.…
Battle for Britain
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Winter warmers
James Cook’s third voyage as an English captain ended in disaster, stabbed to death and disembowelled by a pack of…
Dear Mary
Q. I have a tattoo the length of my forearm and am worried it will alienate my new boyfriend’s parents…
Dining with relics
Langan’s Brasserie announces its presence with a long, pink neon line of Langanses, tootling prettily along its façade, which is…
Challenging
‘Pistols at dawn,’ said my husband, flapping a pair of Marigold rubber gloves from the other side of the kitchen. ‘I don’t…
Dining with relics
Langan’s Brasserie announces its presence with a long, pink neon line of Langanses, tootling prettily along its façade, which is…
Winter warmers
James Cook’s third voyage as an English captain ended in disaster, stabbed to death and disembowelled by a pack of…
Man with a plan
Can you be both restless and content? Standing last week with Graeme McPherson on the viewing platform over his sharply…
Essence of…
In Competition 2832 you were invited to compose what might be a quintessential opening paragraph from the pen of either…
High life
Al Goldstein, who died recently and made the front page of the New York Times, was among the world’s most…
Low life
Until a fortnight ago there was a healthy, graceful, 70ft-specimen of Eucalyptus dalrympleana — or mountain gum — in the…
Real life
‘How often do you de-frag this?’ said the Good Geek in the phone shop. I had gone in finally to…
