Shaw thing
Plus: another threadbare drama from Nick Payne, this time about two gobby grans going gaga, at the Donmar Warehouse
The power of song
Plus: the Roman Empire holds the key to modern Europe and what it means to be European
Something to crow about
Plus: the latest instalment of the Hollow Crown cycle on BBC2 points to what Shakespeare would be up to if alive today – he'd be writing Game of Thrones
Real life
Without the spaniel, she’d still be sitting on the train, panting like it’s fireworks night, her head between her legs,
Bridge
It’s the beginning of May and I have a feeling I am about to write the same opening sentence as…
Magna cum laude
World champion Magnus Carlsen has taken first prize in the Norway tournament at Stavanger which finished last month. Carlsen had…
No. 408
White to play. This position is a variation from So-Kasparov, St Louis 2016. What is White’s quickest kill? Answers to…
Olden but golden
In Competition No. 2947 you were asked to submit a poem in praise of old age. Old age gets a…
2260: B & B
One clue lacks a definition part; its answer is a film title. One unclued light (three words) is the title…
2257: A spree
SHAKESPEARE — indicating the action required to create 9, 11, 32, 18 plus 24, and the puzzle’s title — is the name…
These heartless Europhile snobs
If we don’t cut loose from the EU, nearly everywhere will end up as desperate as Clacton-on-Sea
Dear Mary
And advice on enforcing a birthday-party dress code, and tracking down a phantom pond slasher
Soho in Somerset
Babington House is a mirror of Somerset that Somerset itself does not recognise or want
Sadiq Khan’s virtues
The new mayor of London says he’ll be ‘transparent, honest and accessible’. Such terms have an odd way of sliding
Off the radar
The gap between Australia’s and New Zealand’s defence capabilities is an embarrassment
Roberto Alagna as Pinkerton at the Met 2016
Born in France of Sicilian parents, Roberto Alagna has been one of the opera world’s outstanding tenors for nearly 25…
