Dark night of the soul
Plus: the Met ends its series of live broadcasts with a feeble La Cenerentola
Thinking games
Plus: some dazzlingly good entertainment from the Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company at the Linbury Studio
Dark tales
Plus: A group of 11 year olds gather for dinner for Channel 4 and talk alcoholism and anomie
Royal mail
This fascinating glimpse into the Royal family archives might have been a little more generous
Low life
She took my hand and asked if I'd like to take some amphetamine sulphate. I said it would be a pleasant reminder of my golden adolescence
Long life
Politicians only apologise for things for which they can't be held responsible. It's the same even in this case
Bridge
Have you ever been told by an expert that a bid you’ve made is foolish, badly judged or plain wrong?…
On the brink
The last great tournament to have been completed before the outbreak of war in 1914 was St Petersburg, which saw…
No. 317
Black to play. This position is from Mieses-Alekhine, Mannheim 1914. Can you spot Black’s subtle winning move in this endgame?…
Proverbial
In Competition No. 2850 you were invited to invent proverbs that sound profound but have no meaning. This was an…
2165: Not far off
According to a quotation (in ODQ) by a person whose surname is an unclued light, an area of five letters…
to 2162: Stand in
Superfluous letters in definitions form the phrase HOLD THE FORT. Thematically created entries at 5, 10, 17, 19 and 38 are defined…
How user-friendly is your house?
Most homes have surprisingly bad ‘interface design’. The new generation of thermostats is starting to change that
Cutting the capon
Some animals show definite signs of soul. That's no reason not to have the best possible dinner
Brown Study
I agree with Lucy Turnbull about Malcolm’s dinner with Clive Palmer. Her father Tom Hughes used to be in politics…
Little Scotlanders
If Scotland votes for independence on 18 September, it will be the end of Great Britain. And thanks to Pommie cynicism, selfishness and comic incompetence, it could happen
Turnbull lives on
However much conservatives detest him, the former Liberal leader remains a formidable contender for prime minister
