Silent strongman Sergey Shoigu is the real force behind Russia’s military aggression
The mysterious defence minister is now favourite to succeed Vladimir Putin as president
Strange young things
Young activists fight like vipers to get close to power . . . and it’s all a huge myth
The real victims of climate change
In trying to protect ‘our grandchildren’ from climate change, politicians are hurting the poor. They shouldn’t
Send in the street pastors
They are invaluable back-up to the police, calming things down with kind words — and chips
Could I have prevented a Kray murder?
Even if I could, I don’t regret remaining silent. Prison reform means accepting some failures
The Corbyn crack-up
Labour is all at sea. Chaos and panic reign. Will its leader be able to take the strain?
Coffee with Annie
I am thinking about you Annie now that you are no longer a few miles of motorway and a couple…
Low life
The only way to write on a typewriter is with your trousers on fire — and very refreshing it is
Bridge
If you don’t play bridge, you really should avoid gatherings of bridge players — you’ll find us excruciatingly dull. I’ve…
London Classic
The annual London Classic, inspired and organised by the indefatigable Malcolm Pein, is now underway at London’s Olympia. The website…
Chess Puzzle
White to play. This position is from Edward Lasker-Thomas, London 1912. This is one of the most famous combinations ever…
Railway rhythms
In Competition No. 2926 you were invited to submit a poem about HS2. The idea for this challenge came to…
2240: Various sources
In each of eight clues, one letter has been cut from the definition part; the cut letters spell a word…
To 2237: Experimental
The publication is 11A. Other unclued lights are all anagrams (‘new’ versions) of scientists: 14A SEABORG; 22A EINSTEIN; 23A PASTEUR;…
The politics of envy has failed
Except under non-leftie Tony Blair, the party has not won a decisive election victory for nearly 50 years
The other side to the division of labour: the concentration of attention
How Adam Smith’s theory fosters specialist talent
Dear Mary: How to stop someone from giving my tiny children expensive clothes that they never wear?
Plus: Snubbing and parking
An overflow of bookshelves, a huge kitchen, a cellar, music, dogs, hens, donkeys children . . . all the ingredients for civilised life
Trenchering in western England, where one local vicar, a notorious naturist, has taken to wearing a green collar
Mind your language . . . on commit
The ‘committing’ that women are said to find so hard to extract from men has popped up in the past 30 years
