Life
Dear Mary
Q. I travel internationally two or three times per month for work, often with one or two colleagues. While the…
The great white Burgundy disaster
We agreed that it was the gravest crisis facing mankind. It has led to dashed hopes, widespread grief and a…
Roll
If Manchester University is to be believed, last year saw a creeping advance of effete southern language into the gritty…
The great white Burgundy disaster
We agreed that it was the gravest crisis facing mankind. It has led to dashed hopes, widespread grief and a…
Luddites in the kitchen
I enjoy reading reviews of kitchen gadgetry. Clever new kitchen products are often under-appreciated. Many rituals around food preparation are…
High Life
This Christmas our thoughts need to be with our fellow Christians who are being threatened in the Bible lands. No…
Low Life
Christmas shopping in Waterstones, I came across a memory card game called We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. I snatched…
Real Life
A very cross letter arrives from someone who wants to tell me I’m a ‘silly woman’. ‘You are a silly…
Long Life
This is the season of goodwill when one should think about people less fortunate than oneself and wish them better…
Wild Life
Laikipia In the cattle rustlers’ camp, I know as I write this that the warriors are sharpening their blades, staring…
Hennessy Day highlights
You don’t realise how much your pleasures mean until you are denied them. It was wonderful to get back on…
Bridge
Autumn 2013 has been the single worst season of my bridge career. Actually, do I have a bridge career? Doesn’t…
Christmas Quiz
Set by Christopher Howse
The Christmas Quiz answers
Says who? 1. David Cameron. 2. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby. 3. Nick Clegg. 4. Prince…
London classics II
This year’s London Classic tournament is still in progress and features Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, reigning British champion Gawain Jones,…
Christmas Issue
White to play. This position is from King-Howell, Staunton Memorial, London 2003. Can you spot White’s fine finish to the…
Dear Santa
In Competition 2827 you were invited to submit a Christmas list, in verse, in the style of the poet of…
Cold Comfort
Five Christmas carols (5, 6, 5, 3 and 4 words respectively) have been re-arranged, and re-titled at 23/38 (4 words),…
To 2140: Essex Man
The hero is Father Brown, appearing in column 3. ‘The Innocence (22) / Wisdom (15) / Secret (6D) / Scandal…
Why it’s tough to be middle class
Until the late 1960s, the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson ran something called a ‘copy test’. It was a series…
The hopes and fears of all the years
When I first suggested to my closest male friends that we have a boys’ Christmas lunch, it didn’t occur to…
Dave
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One of the best years on record
British sport used to be dead. You only have to look down the list of past winners of the Sports…
Winter horrorland
Winter Wonderland is a Christmas-themed playground that lands on the sorry part of Hyde Park in November; the part that…
The fall of France
Our sweet enemy, France, is not always that sweet. It is tempting to respond to France’s current degringolade with cynicism…
