Bridge
Last weekend saw the qualifying matches for the Tollemache Cup, the inter-county championships for teams of eight. I didn’t play…
The best short story collections — from childish gabbling to jaded nihilism
Short stories from Ali Smith, Nicholas Shakespeare, Lucia Berlin and David Gates, chosen by Ysenda Maxtone Graham
Chess Maecenas
Last week saw the death of the city financier Jim Slater. He was famous in chess circles for joining Henry…
You can’t forget what Will Self says – even if you wish you could
Plus: how to make a point without saying a word
How hard should we fight Black Friday?
A meditation on the latest imported festival in the calendar of late capitalism
Treasure
Walking down the sands to investigate what they might find, shells or stones, flotsam pieces abandoned by tides, two figures…
No. 389
Black to play. This position is from Basman-Keene, Slater Tournament, Southend 1968. How can Black quickly gain a decisive advantage?…
Jack the Ripper unmasked again
Bruce Robinson argues passionately (and a little madly) for his new candidate for the Ripper: a popular musician called Michael Maybrick
The Winter’s Tale
In Competition No. 2925 you were invited to submit a short story entitled ‘The Winter’s Tale’. There were lots of…
Dartmoor
I’ll willingly admit that the moors of south-west England are not my natural territory. Mention the word ‘Dartmoor’ and my…
2239: ITOIX
The unclued lights (all of two or three words, some hyphened and all confirmed in Chambers) can be arranged into…
To 2236: Alphabetical jigsaw
First prize Mrs M. Purdie, Ceres, Cupar, Fife Runners-up Nick Hussey, Overton, Hampshire; K. Parekh, Wayne, Illinois Got something to…
Mr Spielberg, you cannot be serious
I’m no fan of Spielberg’s ‘serious’ films — his schlockier work had the best approach to the bad guys
The Davis Cup will be one final flourish for Andy’s Barmy Army
Murray may be a one-man band but a British victory in Ghent is all-but assured
Dear Mary: How can I protect my sick husband from his friends?
Plus: how to applaud while drinking champagne, and rock-star etiquette
Sexy Fish: not so much a restaurant as a museum of London’s rich
Richard Caring, Asian fusion’s very own Bond villain, has created his most ludicrous place yet
The rise of the man bun, the Mancan and man boobs
Just at the moment, in the gender-role wars, ‘man’ is attached to more and more things
Yellow label
The United Nations’ corporate hatred of the nation of Israel and the Jewish people is clear from the ever-growing list…
Brown study
The way some political leaders and the media responded to the terrorist outrages in Paris was fascinating. First, I was…
Migration diary
Two days after the Paris attacks I arrive in Vienna for a United Nations meeting on human trafficking. Every one…
Consider this …
Hug a Muslim today If the Federal government fails to insist that Christian Syrians alone make up Australia’s…
Sir Ian Botham is a hero – and a fool
It was saddening to realise that the god of my childhood still thinks like a child