The battle for the future of Flat racing
The master plan in acquiring our flatcoat retriever puppy Damson was that as folk no longer with full-time jobs we…
Bridge
The new year is a daunting prospect in terms of the sheer amount of bridge taking place. Rather like buses,…
A question of motivation
‘Every day is different’, people like to say about their jobs. For the world’s best chess players, that’s only partly…
No. 586
Carlsen–Nakamura, December 2019. In the decisive playoff game, Carlsen played 1 Nxf7+ and won quickly. But there was a mate…
Trochaics
In Competition No. 3130 you were invited to add to Sam Leith’s lines about Boris Johnson, written in the metre…
2439: More nuts
‘10/17’ give the first three words of a statement (in ODQ) made by a famous 48/21. His works include 1A/23D…
to 2437: Sketchy
The unclued lights are PAINTING terms. First prize Martina Fabian, Bourne End, BucksRunners-up Phillip Wickens, Faygate, West Sussex; A.H. Harker,…
I’ve found the perfect family film (eventually)
As a member of Bafta, I get sent about 75 ‘screeners’ during the awards season, which is always a treat…
Something is badly wrong with the housing market – so why aren’t we talking about it?
In 1991, 67 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds owned their own home. In 2016, that figure had fallen to…
Dear Mary: How can I hang out with smokers at parties without freezing?
Q. As a young woman I tend not to wear that much to social events in the evening, but I…
My recipe to cure a hangover
Journalists exaggerate, often reaching for superlatives to chronicle mildly interesting events. Even so, there are times when it is necessary…
What is a ‘tergiversation’?
Last year, someone at US dictionary Merriam-Webster noticed that lots of people were looking up the word tergiversation online. It…
The doctor won’t see you now
The ‘cancel culture’ is becoming more pronounced among doctors, highlighting the leftist drift of the profession. The latest worrying example…
Culpable negligence? Or criminal?
What were the most important issues facing our politicians as we moved into spring? If we pause for a moment…
Bushfire of the vanities
‘You are literally evil. Dante has a level for you… Now I know that you’re the type who would laugh…
Lachlan Macquarie
One of the Scots who made extraordinary contributions to Australia was Lachlan Macquarie. Grantley Kieza has published several biographies including…
Whipping boy
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had a nerve taking a break at the end of last year and leaving the Left…
Business/Robbery etc
A brave new decade for Australian free enterprise under a business-friendly Coalition government? If only! Already there are concerns about…
Thank God for tide gauges
Between 1764 and 1767 William Hutchison, a mariner who was then Harbour Master at Liverpool in England, carefully recorded the…
Evacuee notes
Along with thousands of others my wife and I are currently bushfire evacuees. In my case at least this is…
Boris’s great moral victory
Had Jeremy Corbyn become Prime Minister then nothing would have been learned from the sacrifice and defeat of Hitler and…
Disaster’s long march through the institutions
Derelict thinking throughout central and local body government and indeed all our management (including academic) areas, is now recognised as…
Brown study
As Chairman of the Board at Thyme magazine, I am thrilled to welcome you to this year’s award of Sneer…
Death of a terrorist
The death of Iran’s terrorist- in-chief, Qassem Soleimani, brought a swift end to a dangerous adversary but there is no…
