Real life
What is the point of living in a free country if you cannot do dangerous things every now and again?…
Long life
I have been puzzling about why the United States authorities ever thought that Bradley Manning, who was jailed last week…
The turf
Driving to Newmarket through a biblical-style deluge that had sheep, cattle and horses queuing in twos in case Noah had…
Bridge
The Ukip treasurer Stuart Wheeler’s recent comments about women being less good than men at bridge (and chess, and poker)…
Hedgehog fund
The Hedgehog is a respected chess formation, usually adopted as Black, where the defender crouches behind a wall of pawns…
Puzzle no. 281
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Adams, Dortmund 2013. Despite play being in an endgame Adams sacrificed a piece. His…
Bookish
In Competition No. 2812 you were invited to provide a poem celebrating bookshops. Space is tight, which leaves room only…
2128: Carbon copy
This puzzle marks a 42/27 by 11 in 17/19. Five other unclued lights (one twice hyphened) together suggest another form…
Solution to 2125: Nil desperandum
The part quotation was ‘BUT WESTWARD, LOOK, THE LAND’ (1/5/28) from Say not the struggle naught availeth by Arthur Hugh Clough.…
Sorry, Rayhan Uddin, but your comprehensive didn’t teach you how to think
An acquaintance of mine called Daisy Christodoulou has just published a book called Seven Myths about Education. It’s a merciless…
The Battle for Britain – 31 August 2013
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Meet the real scourge of the English countryside
I’m off to Balcombe this weekend. In fact I might even carry a placard and paint my face with a…
Dear Mary
Q. Is there a polite way of halting a wannabe novelist from reading his oeuvre aloud to an unwilling audience?…
A dinner fit for a prime minister
It is impossible to think about any Italian region without wondering ‘What if?’ Sardinia lacks the glamour, grandeur and menace…
Vikings
‘What’s he saying now?’ asked my husband in a provoking manner when an actor read out a bit of the…
Welcome to our app
Some take ‘selfies’ of their shaving cuts. Others set up fatuous Facebook pages pleading to be ‘liked’. Many more propel…
Brown Study
The other day I went to an unusual but worthwhile election event. The international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright had…
Australian Notes
The Labor party has no hope of winning the election unless something extraordinary happens in the next few days. Is…
Diary
Australians worry too much. You don’t dress warmly enough, especially on chilly airplanes. Your coffee isn’t as great as you…
The cult of Labor
Whereas the Libs allow diversity of opinion, the ALP acts like a peculiar, monistic outfit
The Spectator correctly predicted that Australia would regain the Ashes
Australia have regained the Ashes, much to the dismay of the British side. But did the Spectator predict this might happen…
Don’t listen to this foreigner
The British anti-Murdoch Labour MP has no right to interfere in Australia’s election on Labor’s behalf
Home viewing
Venice may be the oldest film festival in the world but it is still breaking new ground. This week film-lovers…
