Bridge
Some bridge hands are so sad that they make you want to cry. At least, that’s how my friend Lou…
Olympiad
The Tromsø Olympiad finishes on Thursday 14 August, too late for any definitive conclusions to be drawn here as to…
no. 327
White to play. This is from Kasimdzhanov–Kramnik, Tromsø Olympiad 2014. How did White blast through? Answers to me at The…
Pet sounds
In Competition No. 2860 you were invited to submit a short ode on the death of a pet in unusual…
2175: Elated grunt
Across unclued lights combine with down ones to form anagrams of the titles (one of two words) of four works…
Solution to 2172: Para
Gerry Goffin, popular LYRICIST (40), died on 19 June 2014. He wrote the perimetric songs IT MIGHT AS WELL RAIN…
The high price of public service
It’s one thing to make these sacrifices if the public hold you in high esteem – quite another if they think you’re a crook
How oneupmanship ruins things for everyone
You can’t just have people round for a pie and booze now; you have to mess about with ramekins. Thanks for nothing, Delia
Escape to Burgundy
The medics were pumping me full of antibiotics. I was determined to co-operate. But there’s no rule against reading…
Back to Iraq
It’s twelve years and eleven months since a single graphic image punched us in the guts with such force. Then,…
Tony Abbott – the new David Cameron?
In ditching reforms to 18C, Tony Abbott has pandered to the Left whilst alienating the Right
Ethiopian Diary
My partner Billy and I are in Gondar, in north-eastern Ethiopia, a few bone-jarring hours’ drive from the Sudanese border.…
Drowning in a sea of factional self-interests
Tony Abbott and Mike Baird must urgently grasp the lifeline John Howard has thrown them
Australian Notes
The Quadrant dinner in Sydney was held in ‘a semi-secure, undisclosed location.’ Or so Roger Kimball, tongue-in-cheek, blogged back to…
Culture buff
Popes come and popes go but generally not after only 33 days; which is what happened to Albino Luciani, elected…
Labor must not turn its back on Israel
The ALP has a long history of support for Israel. As it should.
Australian Letters
Debating Israel Sir: I want to respond to Alan Gold’s article ‘Betraying Israel for the Muslim Vote’ in the August…
Space invaders
Jeff Koons’s ‘Bear and Policeman’ has been used to advertise the Hayward Gallery’s latest show The Human Factor (until 7…
Roll out the barrel
‘He was a wise man who invented beer,’ said Plato, although I imagine he had changed his mind by the…
