Mother courage
Philomena is based on the true story of an Irish woman searching for the son stolen from her by the…
Tales of the unexpected
Plus: If the term Red Wedding means nothing to you yet, DO NOT READ the end of this piece
High life
New York Hot money from China, India, Russia and Singapore is pouring into London; hotter money from the same countries…
Low life
We’d being trying to meet for lunch for weeks, but always something had got in the way and either she…
Real life
Blind panic grips me at the thought that all over Britain there are people sitting in cosy home offices operating…
Long life
A month ago I was reporting complacently that peace and calm had returned to Stoke Park after a series of…
Bridge
I love Bernard Teltscher. In fact, I proposed to him recently, but he politely declined, saying I was too old…
Tendonitis
Magnus Carlsen has risen to achieve the highest ever chess rating. He ascended to 2872 on the rankings, which compares…
No. 290
White to play. This position is a variation from Carlsen-Anand, Monaco 2011. White is a piece down here but has…
Georgic
In Competition 2821 you were invited to supply a poem that provides instruction or useful information. This challenge was, of…
2137: Speculation
Each of two associated words is suggested by four unclued lights (one of two words). Elsewhere, ignore an accent. …
To 2134: Mere letters
The pairs of anagrams were of countries and their capitals: Dominica & Roseau (2 & 11); Latvia & Riga (20…
Waiting for Waitrose
I was surrounded by naked women when the issue of planning permission gripped me
The best of times, the worst of times
The comic book Asterix in Switzerland is full of joys, not least the many jokes about Swiss obsessions with tidiness…
Heston’s brown Dinner
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, a brown cavern in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, Knightsbridge, has won a second Michelin star. These…
Labor’s penance
And so the sins of the forefathers shall be visited upon the sons, or so it must feel like to…
Diary
It’s 1.45 a.m. and I can’t sleep: jet lag. We returned early yesterday morning from the UK — my first…
Australian Notes
Good to see the names of another 11 writers added to the Circular Quay Writers’ Walk in Sydney. But can…
Put the expenses ‘scandal’ in perspective
Our politicians are not ripping off taxpayers anywhere near as much as the news media suggest
