When nice guys come first
With shorter days and leaves falling, I begin to itch for the more sporting, less obviously commercial world of jump…
Bridge
The World Championships, held in Wuhan, China, came to the end of a gruelling eight days of qualification (eight teams…
Double fianchetto
In my pantheon of heroes a particular place of honour is occupied by the hypermodern grandmaster Richard Réti, the first…
no. 573
White to play. This position is from Van Foreest-Bortnyk, St Louis 2019. How did White break through on the kingside…
Speeches as sonnets
In Competition No. 3117 you were invited to recast a famous political speech as a sonnet. Lots of you…
2427: In other words
The unclued lights are of a kind, all confirmed in Chambers or Oxford. A portmanteau word (7) defining this phenomenon…
to 2424: Poem V
The poem is La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats. ATONY (2), CORYZA (3), LOCKJAW (6), ENTERITIS (8) and…
Abolish private schools? Bring it on!
I cannot recall a week in which Britain’s private schools have received better PR. The Labour party has pledged to…
Why business is perfectly relaxed about Brexit
It’s difficult to go into the office nowadays, since most of my colleagues are so distraught by the prospect of…
Dear Mary: Is it OK for a couple to ask us to contribute to their savings as a wedding gift?
Q. Every three months or so my PA blossoms into a great beauty for a couple of weeks, then has…
There is always time for a bottle of Champagne
My friend Dominic decided that it was time to convoke a lunch. There were matters to discuss, including that perennial…
How did BBC’s Late Night Line-Up get its name?
The title of the television review and discussion programme Late Night Line-Up is a curious one. I’d be interested if…
Intolerant notes
Forcing people to fake respect for your choices is dangerous Pretty much everyone these days sees himself or herself as…
See You at the Toxteth
The Toxteth is a hotel on Glebe Point Road in Sydney. Cliff Hardy probably called it a pub. Hardy was…
Persian palimpsest
It was 1966. We were two young Australians, fresh out of Melbourne University. We decided to drive from India to…
Fabulous and forgotten
Frederick Kelly was a celebrated Australian sportsman who won the Diamond Challenge Sculls at the Henley Regatta three times and…
The story of Mrs O
Of the 27 original candidates who entered the race for Democratic Party nomination for the 2020 US presidential election, only…
Academies or madrassas
Whether our universities have ever lived up to their lofty ideals is difficult to say. What is clear is that…
Spanish diary
My choice of newspapers was limited. Given my little Spanish, the New York Times was always going to win out…
Revolt of the elites
It was a big week for the noisy Australians. Some 300,000 downed pens and nobly put aside the tedium of…
Doomed revolutions
Some revolutions such as the American War of Independence, succeed and result in the birth of great nations. Some, such…
Hit and run journalism
Having failed to reverse the 2016 election through impeachment or declaration of mental impairment, the American mainstream media are determined…
Labor’s weapon of mass confusion
By any rational measure, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s state visit to the United States should be judged a success. The…
Brown study
There is no doubt about the vigour and enthusiasm of the Morrison government in bringing about social reform. Only the…
