Life
Real life
Some call me paranoid, but I don’t think one can be suspicious enough when it comes to the activities of…
Long life
I am embarrassed not by people using ‘non-U’ expressions but by people who still care about such things
Bridge
Holiday over – and I hopped on the plane home dribbling with excitement. I was going straight to Young Chelsea…
Anon anon sir
Nowadays it is standard, when publishing a chess game, to give the names of both players. This was not always…
No. 282
White to play. This is from Johnson-Anon, internet game 2013. Black’s problem is that his king is marooned in the…
Poetic pitch
In Competition 2813 you were invited to submit an application in verse, from the poet of your choice, for the…
2129: Dumpynose
The unclued lights, individually (each of two words), or paired, are of a specific kind, verifiable in Brewer 17th Edition…
To 2126: Word Building
The chain of anagrams is as follows: 40, 8, 18, 25, 22, 23, 21D, 19, 1A First prize Robert…
I’m thinking of going into politics
The Hammersmith Conservative Association will shortly be looking for a candidate to run against the sitting Labour MP in 2015…
Battle for Britain – 7th September 2013
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A phoenix from the Ashes
Those of us who watched the last day of the final Ashes Test of the present series enjoyed a rare…
Dear Mary
Q. In response to correspondence re. wedding gifts: there is no need for a couple to have a list at…
Jimmy and the chocolate factory
One Aldwych, an Edwardian grand hotel near Waterloo Bridge, is serving a Jimmy Savile tribute tea. It is not explicitly…
Self-whipping
Isabel Hardman of this parish explained after last week’s government defeat that a deluded theory among the party leadership had…
Jimmy and the chocolate factory
One Aldwych, an Edwardian grand hotel near Waterloo Bridge, is serving a Jimmy Savile tribute tea. It is not explicitly…
A phoenix from the Ashes
Those of us who watched the last day of the final Ashes Test of the present series enjoyed a rare…
High life
Gstaad I’ve met Stephen Fry twice in my life, both times long ago. The first time at a dinner given…
Low life
This time last year the postman delivered a picture postcard depicting a village square in Provence. The photograph on the…
Real life
What is the point of living in a free country if you cannot do dangerous things every now and again?…
Long life
I have been puzzling about why the United States authorities ever thought that Bradley Manning, who was jailed last week…
The turf
Driving to Newmarket through a biblical-style deluge that had sheep, cattle and horses queuing in twos in case Noah had…
Bridge
The Ukip treasurer Stuart Wheeler’s recent comments about women being less good than men at bridge (and chess, and poker)…
Hedgehog fund
The Hedgehog is a respected chess formation, usually adopted as Black, where the defender crouches behind a wall of pawns…
Puzzle no. 281
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Adams, Dortmund 2013. Despite play being in an endgame Adams sacrificed a piece. His…
Bookish
In Competition No. 2812 you were invited to provide a poem celebrating bookshops. Space is tight, which leaves room only…
