Dublin diversion
The Short Fiction of Flann O'Brien is, not surprisingly, full of beerswillers and liquorslobbers
Georgian romp
The characters in Katharine Grant's Sedition, full of glittering meanness and incomprehensible cruelty, are an immense draw
Jaipur Notebook
Plus: Af-Pak rap, Caravaggio vs Goodfellas, Egyptian threesome fantasies, CIA agents can't smell the roses
Murder, motive and moustachery
Was Agatha Christie just a formulaic writer? Black Coffee, her first play with the Belgian sleuth, shows we mustn't underestimate her
Codes of conduct
The late conductor trained as a generalist like Karajan, but could also have specialised in Early and contemporary music
The voices of Firestone
Have you discovered the Voice of Firestone video clips online? Many happy hours await, and then there are the VHS recordings....
Lies, damned lies
Alex Gibney's film huffs and puffs and pedals like mad, but never gets over the finish line
Lear for masochists
Sprawling, baffling and unwieldy, the play punishes everyone who gets involved with it: actors, directors and play-goers
Scratching the surface
There are excellent examples of Craxton's work in this exhibition — just don't think this is the best he can do
The Third way
Plus: Searching for Swazi soul; sleeping where Hitler slept; Germaine Greer meets a rare bird
High life
What's a talented director like Martin Scorsese doing glamourising the lifestyle of a crook who stole from the working poor?
Low life
Bo was a terrier who believed her calling was in badger-digging. I introduced her to bunny-bashing instead
Real life
Drip, drip, drip, goes water from my upstairs neighbours' flat through my ceiling. At first, I was calmness itself...
Long life
Apparently, my brain is not slowing down but just taking time to sift through data. I wish there were a Delete button, though
Bridge
I always find it impossible to sleep when I’ve played poorly, and last night just one sleeping pill was never…
Gates’ exit
In Virgil’s Aeneid the hero Aeneas escapes from Hades via one of two gates, one made of ivory and the…
no. 299
Black to play. This position is from Aronian-Van Wely, Wijk aan Zee 2014. Having already clinched first prize, Aronian’s only…
Burns Night address
In Competition 2832 you were invited to compose an address to an item of food. The assignment was inspired by…
2147: Amazing performance
Each of the 22 across solutions, in clue order, contributes one unchecked letter to a two-word phrase (13,9) in Chambers…
to 2144: Leonids
The work was ‘THE TAMING OF THE (1D) Shrew’. ‘Shrew’ is suggested by 15, 27 and 33. The ‘Shrew’ of…
