Without motive
The National Theatre's production is sumptuous, but George MacDonald's heroine has no purpose or motive
Mine of information
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air is an art show largely without art (at Manchester Art Gallery until 19…
Bridge
It’s difficult for non-players to imagine the extent to which bridge hands can torment us. I’ve spent hours this week…
The 16th?
Magnus Carlsen is seeking to become the 16th world chess champion in a line that includes such giants as Bobby…
No. 289
Black to play. This is a variation from Svidler-Nepomniatchi, Novgorod 2013. Svidler avoided this position, despite the fact that White…
Postscript
In Competition 2820 you were invited to supply a postscript to any well-known novel. This challenge was suggested by…
2136: Howdunit
Six of the unclued entries (one of three words, three of two words and one hyphened; all in Chambers apart…
To 2133: FM
Initial letters of superfluous words in clues give titles of ALBUMS (29D) by FLEETWOOD MAC (39). 8A, 25, 33 and…
Family matters
My wife and I reverted to more traditional gender roles when little Ludo was in hospital
The romance of fall
The fall: one of the few instances where American English is superior to English English. ‘Autumn’ has a comfortable charm,…
Mind your language
‘Bare? Extra? What does it all mean?’ asked my husband, sounding like George Smiley in the middle of a particularly…
Grim reading
Left-wing dogma is destroying the literary skills of an entire generation. Such is the depressing conclusion of a recent report…
