Heroes of the siege
Sometimes the struggle for a single small strongpoint can tip the whole balance of a greater battle. One thinks of…
Holiday from reality
In just over a week, Britain will have a new prime minister. No one can say that the 160,000 or…
Wall Street madness
‘I don’t trust fiction,’ the famous author told me, both of us several glasses to the good. ‘It contains too…
Last words
Facing up to the prospect of one’s own mortality is always jarring; but when you’ve spent your life trying, and…
Bridge
Do we need complicated bidding systems to reach the best contracts? The Portland Club (men only) operates a no conventions…
Puzzle no. 717
White to play. Gormally–Claridge-Hansen, British Championships 2022 Black’s last move, Ra8-a7,was a fatal mistake. Which move won the game for…
High life
Gstaad As the great Yogi Berra explained: ‘It’s déjà vu all over again.’ The great one also contributed the following…
Saved from slim pickings
With the major companies largely on their summer breaks, the Edinburgh International Festival struggles to programme a high standard of…
Real life
‘If you think about it, Frankie Dettori is to blame,’ said the builder boyfriend, because when things are really bad…
Low life
Finally rain. None for months, then a violent tropical storm lasting two days. It marked the end of high summer…
Wild life
Kenya After two years of no rain, all colour has drained from the landscape on the farm so that by…
Gothic glories
There can be no clearer illustration of the central role that great cathedrals continue to play in a nation’s life…
The cars that ate Birmingham
During my gap year in 1981, I worked on the 24th floor of Birmingham’s Alpha Tower for the Regional Manpower…
Never let it go
Who doesn’t love Eurovision? All that razzmatazz. The ghastly frocks and gloopy pop songs, the false bonhomie and bare-faced bias…
Struggling
‘Quicksand!’ yelled my husband, flailing his arms wildly. Since he was sitting in his armchair, his dramatic representation of a…
The script is the star
Southwark Playhouse has a reputation for small musicals with big ambitions. Tasting Notes is set in a wine bar run…
Hot cakes
Cakeism is offering the voters everything they desire, knowing you will never give it to them because you live in…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. How can I find out, without making things awkward, whether one of my close male friends fancies one of…
2570: Short story
The unclued entries comprise two authors and a work of fiction, attributed by one author to the other. Each author…
Turf wars
For the past few days I’ve been frantically watering my lawn in anticipation of the London hosepipe ban. True, there…
Man of vision
‘Our generation owes an apology to the shades of Harold Wilson,’ the polling guru Peter Kellner once told me. Had…
Never mind the Bank’s mandate, clear out its board of directors
Liz Truss says she intends to review the Bank of England’s mandate, which has been fixed as a 2 per…
Communing with the dead
Grief leads us down some strange roads. Few, though, can be as peculiar as those charted by Paul Stanbridge in…
Nazi on the run
Who would have thought that someone would write a novel about Josef Mengele, the Auschwitz doctor and infamous experimenter on…
