Life
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.…
Solution to 2151: Sources
The three theme words are CHAMBERS (12A, 16A, 40A), OXFORD (colleges) (24A, 4D, 8D), and (works by Wilkie) COLLINS (9D,…
Defenders of a free press should throw in the towel
It looks as though Hacked Off has finally won its three-year battle for tighter regulation of the press. Why do…
Battle for Britain
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Whisper it, but could England win the next Rugby World Cup?
There are many eternal questions. Why do all aircraft, no matter how much your ticket cost, where you’ve come from,…
Dear Mary
Q. I am always making or receiving phone calls which get cut off. When I ring the person back their…
Lamb rump without the prince
Highgrove is the country house of the Prince of Wales. I write about Highgrove because, although it is not a…
Mandorla
‘Ask your telephone,’ said my husband satirically when I made an innocent enquiry on a point of fact. My telephone…
Lamb rump without the prince
Highgrove is the country house of the Prince of Wales. I write about Highgrove because, although it is not a…
Whisper it, but could England win the next Rugby World Cup?
There are many eternal questions. Why do all aircraft, no matter how much your ticket cost, where you’ve come from,…
A Cheltenham of contrasts
No sporting event anywhere compresses so much drama, emotion and character into a single venue as the Cheltenham Festival. It…
