Long life
After a carefree month at my wife’s house in Tuscany — the longest summer holiday I have spent there for…
Wild life
Laikipia The bull elephant had roamed our northern marches of the Laikipia plateau for decades. I always recognised him…
Bridge
If jealousy is measured in twinges my twinge-o-meter has gone viral. On my self-imposed sabbatical, otherwise known as a holiday,…
Dortmund
Britain’s top grandmaster Mickey Adams has won clear first prize in the tournament at Dortmund, ahead of former world champion…
No. 280
White to play. This position is from Williams-Brown, British Championship, Torquay 2013. What is the most direct route to victory…
New word order
In Competition 2811 you were invited to take an existing word and alter it by a) adding a letter; b)…
2127: Dire straits
Each of twelve clues contains a superfluous word. 9 of these words are unclued lights, which are of a kind. …
In the end, everybody pays
Character is destiny, according to Heraclitus, and that becomes increasingly clear as you get older and chart the ups and…
To 2124: Pack
Seven unclued lights are STUFFED ANIMALS (13 18) — i.e. deer, horse, anoa, cat, seal, tup and boar, filled with…
Teenage dreams
Were you still up, as they used to say about Portillo in the 1997 election, for Hedwall? It was well…
Dear Mary
Q. My boyfriend, an artist, is driving himself and others mad by his inability to keep track of his mobile.…
Hopefully
There was outrage last week when it was found that the Oxford English Dictionary had listed one sense of literally…
Tony’s time
Should he fail to win the forthcoming election, Tony Abbott would be forgiven for expressing his frustration by punching a…
Diary
It’s the Friday before the first weekend of the election campaign and one day to go before the launch of…
Australian Notes
It was a great night in the Paddo RSL. It was an open-to-all public meeting to hear and question candidates…
Brown study
Some readers have said I have been uncharacteristically quiet on Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme and want to know…
Notes from America
Back in Los Angeles after four months in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where I directed a three hour Bonnie & Clyde…
Fairfax under fire
What a spectacle. A Fairfax journalist flanked by a beaming James Packer, making no secret of his loathing for her…
A family affair
Martha Wainwright was keeping it in the family at the Union Chapel in Islington last week. Arcangelo, the singer-songwriter’s three-year-old…
Teenage dreams
Were you still up, as they used to say about Portillo in the 1997 election, for Hedwall? It was well…
Wild life
Laikipia The bull elephant had roamed our northern marches of the Laikipia plateau for decades. I always recognised him…
A family affair
Martha Wainwright was keeping it in the family at the Union Chapel in Islington last week. Arcangelo, the singer-songwriter’s three-year-old…
