Life
Bridge
You’ve probably read about the English Bridge Union’s attempt to get bridge reclassified as a sport rather than a game…
Magnus force
As the World Championship qualifier (aka Candidates tournament) approaches its final rounds in Khanty-Mansisk, it is worth emphasising the Everest which…
No. 307
White to play. This is a possible variation from Mamedyarov-Topalov, Khanty-Mansisk Candidates 2014. The black king is rather exposed in…
De haut en bas
In Competition 2840 you were invited to provide an extract from the autobiography of a modern-day celebrity, ghostwritten by a…
2155: Poor Billy’s left out
The unclued lights (two must be paired) are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer. Across 10 Details from Britain…
to 2152: T20
Each letter of each solution and each unclued light has to be represented in the grid by its numerical position…
Keeping up appearances
Shortly after I started working at Vanity Fair in the mid-1990s, I suggested to my boss Graydon Carter that I…
Battle for Britain
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The diamond-ring theory of housing bubbles
Google ‘the bread market’ and you get 135,000 hits, mostly from specialist food industry websites. Google ‘the property market’, however,…
Dear Mary
Q. I have three spare bedrooms in London and I welcome friends to come and stay. Unfortunately, some of these…
New ways to open a bottle
Chefs have a problem. Think of much of the best food you have ever eaten. Caviar, English native oysters, sashimi,…
Flip
What kind of scientists do school inspectors not need to be? ‘Inspectors don’t need to be rocket scientists.’ For what…
New ways to open a bottle
Chefs have a problem. Think of much of the best food you have ever eaten. Caviar, English native oysters, sashimi,…
Wild life
Laikipia When I first knew Michael Cunningham-Reid he was such a strict teetotaller that he would not eat trifle for…
The diamond-ring theory of housing bubbles
Google ‘the bread market’ and you get 135,000 hits, mostly from specialist food industry websites. Google ‘the property market’, however,…
High life
On 1 July 1961, a beautiful 17-year-old girl appeared on the cover of Paris Match, then in its heyday: ‘C’est…
Low life
My brother’s three Borders are called Roxy, Ruby and Taz. My one ambition in life is to own a terrier…
Real life
‘Question 2. In which year did the Berlin Wall come down?’ shouted the quizmaster. And then he repeated this with…
Long life
My house in south Northamptonshire looks out over parkland on which Henry VIII used to hunt deer with Anne Boleyn.…
A Cheltenham of contrasts
No sporting event anywhere compresses so much drama, emotion and character into a single venue as the Cheltenham Festival. It…
Bridge
A number of young Israelis are taking the International bridge world by storm. All in their twenties, their achievements so…
True Blue
The Oxford v. Cambridge Varsity Match held at the Royal Automobile Club two weeks ago ended in a draw. This…
No. 306
Black to play. This position is from Miles-Hodgson, Zaragoza 1993. Black has a powerful build-up on the kingside. How did…
Art of darkness
In Competition 2839 you were invited to submit a poem about the darker side of spring. There were references in…
2154: Clickety click
This puzzle marks the 40 of a 33 29. 16A, 24 and 1D (four words) are three of his works.…
