Life
to 2144: Leonids
The work was ‘THE TAMING OF THE (1D) Shrew’. ‘Shrew’ is suggested by 15, 27 and 33. The ‘Shrew’ of…
More lessons from Sweden
This Saturday night I’ll be staying in to watch the final two episodes of The Bridge, the Scandinavian detective series…
The battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
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…
Dear Mary
Q. At a private screening of a documentary about the artist David Bomberg, a woman sitting near me in the…
Burns Night bottles
Give us this day our daily bread: those are also words of great culinary significance. Even if the ‘bread’ takes…
Out
I managed to grab the TLS last week before my husband stuffed it in his overcoat pocket and lost it…
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
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
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…
