Life
Low life
Since Christmas I’ve been sending off these columns with the anxious thought that perhaps I’m overdoing the dying bit and…
High life
Gstaad OK, sports fans, it’s time to spill the beans. Some time last year, I wrote about rich man’s kick-boxing,…
Aussie life
I was visiting my son in California when I first heard about ChatGPT, the real-time writing app which has gotten…
Language
Here are two words that I would like to see become the watchwords of where Australia is going in the…
Solution to 2590: Have a go
The seven unclued lights are BIRDs (36) minus one letter: (S)WAN (14), (G)ROUSE (18), P(H)EASANT (22), TE(A)L (40), S(W)ALLOW (7),…
2593: Capital Development
Six unclued lights (one of two words) are of a kind. The remaining three must be filled to display what…
Subject matters
In Competition No. 3287, you were invited to supply a review of a film, novel, poem or play in the…
A belated Christmas tipple
Life is returning to normal. Clinics, pills et al are receding into the distance. There was never anything remotely approaching…
I am not a robot
Much of the magic of Curb Your Enthusiasm comes from the show being plotted but not scripted. The direction of…
I’m holding the fort
I’m currently sitting on top of a brownie point mountain. Caroline has departed for a two-week tennis freebie in Barbados,…
Real life
When we put the house on the market, my environmentally conscious neighbours disappeared on a holiday so long I asked…
Aussie life
Of the five Australians who have won the Booker Prize, which one is on the NSW HSC English set text…
Language
I’ve been tracking the way the word ‘racism’ has changed in recent times. Both the word and the concept of…






























