No. 368
White to play. This position is from Vachier-Lagrave-Caruana, Norway Blitz 2015. How did White finish off at once? Answers to…
Off colour
In Competition No. 2903 you were invited to provide an extract from an article in an interiors magazine featuring some…
2217: Poem
Unclued lights (one hyphened) are words from a poem whose subject appears in the completed grid. A clued light is…
To 2214: What’s Up?
The theme word is CLIMBER. All unclued lights are therefore entered going upwards. There are three different types of climbers:…
In defence of Gove’s grammar
If I had people replying to letters over my signature, I’d give them a style book the size of a telephone directory
Your problems solved
Plus: Is it correct to stand for nine-year-old boys? And how best to dodge communal fun on a coach tour
Myths and legends
The original Ivy, the Mummy Ivy, the Iviest Ivy of them all — her children have eaten her
On the cusp
Nowadays everything’s on the cusp, from Idris Elba to supermarkets. Once upon a time, however, it was only planets
Constitutional smoking ceremony
The push for changing our Constitution to recognise explicitly the special status in Australia of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders…
Brown Study
Frankly, I cannot see anything wrong in paying people smugglers to go home; had I been in the government’s position…
Diary
The last Parliamentary fortnight before the winter recess begins with the focus on national security, amid claims that the Abbott…
Mission impossible
The plan to recognise Indigenous Australians within the Constitution will self destruct after this message...
Hearts and minds
The idea of an Indigenous representative body enshrined in the Constitution risks killing the Recognition campaign
Let Charles do the Recognising
Rather than a phony, legalistic preamble, let the Australian monarch recognise who was here first
Letters
Hidden Reids Sir: In his piece on Alan Reid Peter Coleman has asked if there are other hidden works on…
Bottom Drawer
Divorce as a protest to gay marriage is brave. But why not divorce now? Or better still, not at all.
Australian notes
I had occasion the other day to dig up a piece I had written 50 years ago for Geoffrey Dutton’s…
Culture Buff
This is a very operatic time in Sydney; the SSO has just done Tristan & Isolde, OA has opened it’s…
The Durable Postie
(For Karl) He doesn’t even bother to change out of his uniform, just goes straight to the pub after…
Verse Letter
In reply to Ann Baer, aged 101, of Richmond-on-Thames. Your handwriting, so perfect for its style And firmness, made…
Flanders
Usually, one of the first indications that you’ve entered a bilingual country is that the road signs are in two…
