No. 279
White to play. This is from Hebden-Arkell, British Championship, Torquay 2013. White is a pawn ahead in this endgame but…
Light touch
In Competition 2810 you were invited to write a light-hearted poem about a serious subject. I suggested you take a…
2126: Word building
The unclued lights can be arranged into a chain of anagrams of 3 to 11 letters in length, with the…
To 2123: Go on then!
The unclued lights are characters from The Goon Show. The paired solutions are 22/20, 32/35 and 37/9. First prize Phillip…
Let me dream on
I’m currently in Cornwall with my family and whenever I spend a lot of time with my children I’m constantly…
A touch of class
Usually it is annoying when you have to board an aeroplane via a shuttle bus rather than an airbridge. The…
Dear Mary
Q. To ask for money in lieu of a wedding present (Dear Mary, 3 August) is ghastly, but an established…
Flowers of Stellenbosch
One aspect of the old South Africa’s racial policies cannot be faulted. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,…
Bongo
Alexandra Shulman was on Desert Island Discs this summer and one choice was ‘Bongo Bong’. Its words tell a simple…
Tongue-tied election
One of the more enduring images of this election campaign will be the toe-curling performance of Liberal candidate Jayme Diaz…
Australian Notes
Tony Abbott won the first debate marginally on both style and issues. Neither leader was faintly inspirational let alone charismatic.…
Born to rule
Depending on how you look at it, the Chinese Communist Party is either the last non-ridiculous bastion of Marxism, an…
Please get rid of this dreadful technology
Far from making the game fairer and more interesting, the Decision Review System is poisoning cricket
Diary
Holy hellfire: the Law of Unintended Consequences struck me out of right field for the first full week of the…
All aboard!
Brother, can you spare me a train? Or maybe just a Pullman carriage or two? There are so many brilliant…
Love-making in Water
Seals — well, they rhyme with steel — can stand the cold. And they can even dive and mate at…
Love-making in Water
Seals — well, they rhyme with steel — can stand the cold. And they can even dive and mate at…
Flowers of Stellenbosch
One aspect of the old South Africa’s racial policies cannot be faulted. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,…
Veterans’ day
As part of the after-dinner entertainment on a cruise ship recently, I encountered a couple of comedians. One claimed he…
A touch of class
Usually it is annoying when you have to board an aeroplane via a shuttle bus rather than an airbridge. The…
All aboard!
Brother, can you spare me a train? Or maybe just a Pullman carriage or two? There are so many brilliant…
