Life
No. 287
White to play. This is from Euwe-Alekhine, Zurich 1934. It looks as if Alekhine may have won Euwe’s knight due…
Literary merger
In Competition 2818 you were asked to merge two literary classics and provide a synopsis of the new title. You…
2134: Mere letters
Each unclued across light can be paired with a down one (one hyphened). Each member of a pair is an…
To 2131: present
Redundant words were: IRAQI (1A), ADO (5A), AENEAS (39A), EPEE (5D), AREA (25D). In line with 16/17, remaining unclued lights…
Have I gone to the wrong party?
I’m still weighing up whether to run for Parliament, but after this week’s reshuffle I’ve concluded I’m in the wrong…
Dave
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What’s really annoying you?
‘Sorry, I’d love to go the pub this evening, but I have to go out. It’s my wife’s wedding anniversary.’…
Dear Mary
Q. Is it acceptable to deal with time-critical online business while attending church? Some matters just won’t wait — Glastonbury tickets…
Treasures from a lost domaine
René Engel must have been a wonderful man. He studied wine-making before fighting in the trenches during the first world…
Hard-working
In his New Year message for 1940, Joseph Goebbels complained that the ‘warmongering cliques in London’ hated the German people…
Treasures from a lost domaine
René Engel must have been a wonderful man. He studied wine-making before fighting in the trenches during the first world…
Great expectations
At the degenerative stage of a dinner party recently I heard related with perfect timing the tale of the gent…
What’s really annoying you?
‘Sorry, I’d love to go the pub this evening, but I have to go out. It’s my wife’s wedding anniversary.’…
High life
New York The trouble with driving into the city is nostalgia. Manhattan Island looms into view and it still has…
Low life
I went to a Tibetan yoga all-day workshop. Tibetan yoga is very simple. It would be hilariously so if it…
Real life
Natural horsemanship has a lot to answer for. After a cross country event the other day, I rode back to…
Long life
There is at last good news to report on the poultry front. In the past, when I have mentioned my…
Bridge
I defy anyone, even Tolstoy were he still alive and were he to abandon War and Peace for a bridge…
Through glasses darkly
Grandmasters Pal Benko and Viktor Korchnoi have worn dark glasses to counter perceived hypnotic influence during games. In the recent…
No. 286
White to play. This position is from Alekhine-Bogolyubov, World Championship (Game 4), Germany 1934. The black king has been driven…
Proverbial wisdom?
In Competition 2817 you were asked to provide a poem, in the manner of Harry Graham’s Perverted Proverbs, questioning the…
2133: FM
All except four clues contain a superfluous word each. Initial letters of these words spell the titles of four 29D…
To 2130: Elusive
Extra letters in clues give the assertion by HOUSMAN (31) that ‘I could no more define poetry than a terrier…
Miliband’s empty outrage
I’m writing this from the Conservative party conference in Manchester, but it’s Ed Miliband I want to discuss. In particular,…
Dave
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