On the bias
The Gift is three plays in one. It opens in a blindingly white Victorian parlour where a posh lady, Sarah,…
Apex carnivore
Beethoven wears a feather boa and pink shades. He wrangles an electric guitar. A red lightning flash streaks across that…
And did those feet
Writers like walking. When people ask us why, we say it’s what writers do. ‘Just popping out to buy a…
Women of the cloth
My step-grandmother Connie was an inspired needlewoman. For ten years, as a volunteer for the charity Fine Cell Work, she…
Mettle detector
SAS: Who Dares Wins (Channel 4, Sundays) is literally the only programme left on terrestrial TV that I can bear…
Material world
You might have thought Madonna was not a singer but a professional footballer judging by the talk before she took…
Space invaders
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite won the Bafta for best foreign film and is up for six Oscars and it is an…
High life
I find myself detached from mainstream culture. It started with the demise of nightclubs like Annabel’s and the arrival of…
Low life
I’ve no interest in food. None. But for the three other journalists on our press trip, eating was a consuming…
Real life
The builder boyfriend fell off a roof. He didn’t tell me until he could no longer leave unexplained why he…
The turf
I was once at a racing dinner in York where a distinguished clergyman in attendance was invited to say grace.…
Bridge
As hosts of this year’s Lady Milne Trophy — the women’s home international series — England get to field two…
Meeting an idol
We had never met, but David Paravyan, from Russia, has been something of a personal idol since August 2018. My…
no. 590
Black to move, Paravyan vs McShane, Isle of Man 2019. Here I intended 49…Bxd1. What had Paravyan planned after that…
Cat call
In Competition No. 3134 you were invited to submit a poem featuring one of T.S. Eliot’s practical cats getting to…
2443: Middle of the road
The unclued lights are of a kind. Chambers does not include 17D. Across 4 New cabinet door which bears…
to 2440: Dizzy tiny blonde
The unclued lights (paired at 5/8, 24/3, 30D/30A and 42/35, and the singleton at 37) are titles of series of…
Empire state of mind
They never learn, do they? Lisa Nandy, the dark horse candidate in the Labour leadership race, has demanded the word…
Central reservations
Some years ago, two British supermarket chains needed to place a large order for replacement trollies. They had to decide…
Dear Mary
Q. I have hired a private room in a restaurant in order to give dinner to a large number of…
Getting into the spirit
In the mid-18th century, London was awash with gin. Socially-conscious members of the bourgeoisie believed that this was the root…
In shock
Billie Eilish, who has just won five Grammys, is also singing the theme song for the next Bond film. ‘James…
We all need a Nigel or two
Australia’s lacklustre politicians could take a leaf from the hero of Brexit
