His own best creation
Cary Grant was a hoax so sublime his creator struggled to escape him. He was a metaphor, too, for the…
End-of-Times panic
Two things it may be wise to know before picking up this relatively short and surprisingly cheerful brand spanking NEW…
Real life
Bring back the men having sex in the undergrowth. This was the thought that occurred to me and my friend…
Solution to 2485: Triplets
Each of the unclued lights includes the same letter three times in succession. First prize Tom Rollinson, Borehamwood, Herts Runners-up…
A puzzling dozen
This Christmas, government guidance says that board games are out and quizzes are in. Thus, 12 questions for Christmas. Answers…
Bridge
Goodbye 2020 and don’t come back. Worst part for bridge players? All the matches and tournaments have been moved online,…
The making of a composer
‘My dear young man: don’t take it too hard,’ Joseph II counsels a puppyish Mozart, the colour of his hair…
Avenging Amiel
If this book becomes a Netflix blockbuster, as it surely must, Barbara Amiel presents us with an opening image. She…
Girls behaving badly
Saying you don’t like Bananarama is like saying you don’t like summer or Marilyn Monroe — a sure sign of…
You, the protagonist
When the estimable Andy Miller, the host of the Backlisted podcast, recommended a new collection of short stories on Twitter,…
Christmas quiz – the answers
Out of the ordinary 1. Canada 2. Leighton Buzzard 3. Death Valley, California 4. Krakatoa 5. Malta 6. Angola 7.…
A Titan of science
This book, soaked like the Dutch Republic itself ‘in ink and paint’, is enchanting to the point of escapism. The…
Answers to Spot the literary character
Atticus Finch Scarlett O’Hara Sherlock Holmes Tintin Rebecca Robinson Crusoe Tristram Shandy Hercule Poirot Don Quixote Tiny Tim Emma Bovary…
Singular sonnet
In Competition No. 3179 you were invited to submit a Christmas hit single rewritten as a sonnet. This seasonal challenge…
The glories of geography
’Tis the season of complacency, when we sit in warmth and shiver vicariously with Mary and Joseph out in the…
Puzzle no. 634
White to play and mate in five moves. Composed by Kohtz & Kockelkorn, 1875. Be careful — four moves isn’t…
The triumph of independent thought
History used to be so much easier. There were the Wars of the Roses, then the Reformation, the Civil War,…
A puzzling dozen – answers
1. Alexander Grischuk 2. Stephen King 3. Iepe Rubingh 4. Shohreh Bayat 5. Ding Liren vs Magnus Carlsen 6. White…
When all else fails…
This is an Exquisite Corpse of a novel — or if you prefer another name for that particular game, Heads,…
The turf
Greville Starkey’s great victories as a jockey included the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Star Appeal at 119-1. In…
A bloodletting for the soul
Ever since my early youth I have loved, followed and respected a certain music genre that some people consider strange,…
Avoiding the punch at the Governor’s Christmas party
Tidings of comfort as the vaccination programme advances, but shortage of joy. That’s my summary of a season in which…
Ambassador, you are really spoiling us
In classical music circles, Christmas arrives with the overture to Handel’s Messiah. Or so they’ll tell you. In truth, festivities…
Liz Truss is right to take on the ‘equalities’ cartel
Yesterday the equalities minister, Liz Truss, gave a speech in which she attempted to lay-out a new direction for the…
The limits of trans tolerance
Andy Wightman is — or, as of this afternoon, was — the most independent-minded Green member of the Scottish parliament.…
