Life
Travellers’ tales
In Competition No. 3208 you were invited to submit a short story whose first or last line is: ‘“Is there…
2614: Monkey business
Unclued lights (one of three words and one of two words, singly or paired) form three groups. Group 1 is three…
2611: On-board entertainment
Unclued lights were world CHESS champions. Current champion DING was to be highlighted. First prize Gail Petrie, Brean, Somerset Runners-up…
Aussie life
If British women’s rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen goes ahead with the defamation suit she is reportedly considering taking out against…
Language
Is the word ‘bonzer’ no longer part of the living Australian language? Bernard Salt thinks not, writing in the Weekend…
The Italian job
In Competition No. 3207 you were invited to submit a verse obituary of Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian former prime minister…
Tuscan favours
Some subjects invite an eternal recurrence. One such is Tuscany. The other day, I wrote about that glorious region: its…
Below average
This week, writing in the Daily Mail, Matt Ridley produced a devastating takedown of the government’s 2030 ban on the…
What about Caitlin Moran?
I first met Caitlin Moran at Julie Burchill’s flat in Bloomsbury. This was in the early 1990s and she was…
The turf
I should have listened to George Duffield. Sandown Park’s Eclipse Stakes, the first time the Classic generation of three-year-olds take…
Real life
‘You certainly gave us a run for our money,’ said the village elder, serving us with what appeared to be…
High life
A poor little Greek boy writing about cricket etiquette is like Harry Sussex lecturing on discretion, but never mind. As…
Aussie life
It used to be joked that Australia risked becoming the fifty-first state of America. But having enjoyed a family holiday…
Language
We all know what ‘dictation’ means – speaking words aloud for someone to write down. Once every office had its…
If you thought Lord’s was rowdy…
Shouldn’t we all just calm down a bit after Lord’s? Once prime ministers decide to intervene, you know things have…
