Life
Dear Mary
Q. My boyfriend, an artist, is driving himself and others mad by his inability to keep track of his mobile.…
Hopefully
There was outrage last week when it was found that the Oxford English Dictionary had listed one sense of literally…
Teenage dreams
Were you still up, as they used to say about Portillo in the 1997 election, for Hedwall? It was well…
Wild life
Laikipia The bull elephant had roamed our northern marches of the Laikipia plateau for decades. I always recognised him…
High life
On board the Weatherbird off the Peloponnese The old girl groans and creaks as we tack time and again, the…
Low life
Hotel Trepaner, St Raphael, French Riviera: I have read all ten reviews on this site. The overall rating (given by…
Real life
If you are bullied at school, you see, you never stop feeling bullied, no matter how old you are. It…
Long life
The Italian shop assistant accused by Oprah Winfrey of showing racial prejudice towards her in a shop in Zurich has…
Veterans’ day
As part of the after-dinner entertainment on a cruise ship recently, I encountered a couple of comedians. One claimed he…
Bridge
I’m on the train back from the Brighton Congress, where I’ve been playing in the Swiss Pairs, and I’m still…
Fawltless
David Howell turned in a sparkling performance in the 100th British Chess Championship in Torquay, which finished last week. In…
No. 279
White to play. This is from Hebden-Arkell, British Championship, Torquay 2013. White is a pawn ahead in this endgame but…
Light touch
In Competition 2810 you were invited to write a light-hearted poem about a serious subject. I suggested you take a…
2126: Word building
The unclued lights can be arranged into a chain of anagrams of 3 to 11 letters in length, with the…
To 2123: Go on then!
The unclued lights are characters from The Goon Show. The paired solutions are 22/20, 32/35 and 37/9. First prize Phillip…
Let me dream on
I’m currently in Cornwall with my family and whenever I spend a lot of time with my children I’m constantly…
Dave
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A touch of class
Usually it is annoying when you have to board an aeroplane via a shuttle bus rather than an airbridge. The…
Dear Mary
Q. To ask for money in lieu of a wedding present (Dear Mary, 3 August) is ghastly, but an established…
Flowers of Stellenbosch
One aspect of the old South Africa’s racial policies cannot be faulted. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,…
Bongo
Alexandra Shulman was on Desert Island Discs this summer and one choice was ‘Bongo Bong’. Its words tell a simple…
Flowers of Stellenbosch
One aspect of the old South Africa’s racial policies cannot be faulted. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,…
Veterans’ day
As part of the after-dinner entertainment on a cruise ship recently, I encountered a couple of comedians. One claimed he…
A touch of class
Usually it is annoying when you have to board an aeroplane via a shuttle bus rather than an airbridge. The…
High life
Porto Heli I am standing on the deck of a 100ft schooner that was built in Normandy in 1931 by…
