High life
Gstaad Juliette Gréco’s recent death in her nineties brought back some melodramatic memories. In 1957 Gréco was one of France’s…
The transatlantic mask divide
Should we wear our masks? The question has been on my mind as I have been battered that way and…
Low life
My French friend André speaks perfect English and is the kindest of men. After reading last week about my futile…
Sins of the fathers, music of the sons
When Kwame Kwei-Armah took over the Young Vic he strapped a ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign over the front of the…
Boris’s second wind
The centrepiece of Boris Johnson’s speech to Tory party conference this year was his Damascene conversion to the merits of…
Real life
‘Please be aware there is now a Covid surcharge,’ I told the builder boyfriend one morning, as we discussed the…
Whistling past the graveyard
Dr John called James Booker ‘the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced’. Booker died…
Porn again
A woman is eating a pie in her car as it gets an automatic wash. Careful to keep the pie…
Partridge on the menu
In the week Jenni Murray left Woman’s Hour, I was listening to Alan Partridge on his new podcast, From the…
Puzzle no. 625
Black to play. Khodashneli — Willow, European Online Youth Championship U18, September 2020. White has just advanced 40 g3-g4, and…
2478: Namesakes
Clockwise round the grid from 3 run three song titles (totalling 13 words) with 3D/16 (five words in all) giving…
In my end is my beginning
In Competition No. 3169 you were invited to submit a poem about autumn in which the last letter of each…
Solution to 2475: Poem VI
The poem was The Brook by Alfred Tennyson. The words were HERN (8A), LINGER (20), BRIMMING (32A), FLOW (40), TROUT…
Saints and sinners
Saint Maud is a first feature from writer-director Rose Glass and it’s being billed as a horror film. But it’s…
Between heaven and Charing Cross
After Stalingrad, Hitler desperately needed an encouraging novelty. Wernher von Braun, Germany’s leading rocketeer in the second world war, expertly…
A trout in the milk?
I can’t tell you why the Armenian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian was found guilty of cheating last month, because I don’t…
Barometer
Vice squad Donald Trump catching Covid-19 has concentrated minds on what happens if a US president dies in office. Normally,…
Are you reading this, Rishi?
Curious thing, writer’s block. If you believe it exists. Terry Pratchett didn’t. ‘There’s no such thing,’ he said. ‘It was…
Boris Johnson’s human shield
At a Conservative party conference fringe event last Sunday, Lord Bethell, a health minister, was asked where he thought Britain…
Punch and Judy
They’re one of the country’s most famous married couples. You just need to spot his colourful jester outfit and the…
