This year’s Schapiro Spring Foursomes, England’s best tournament by a mile, wasn’t held in the usual Stratford-upon-Avon venue but in the rather grim Warwick Hilton. Adding energy and enthusiasm were four or five junior teams. Don’t imagine they are treated with kid gloves, though. A well-known figure on the circuit was playing against the Under
Matthew Sadler was the star of the evening on the night of the Royal Automobile Club annual dinner which I mentioned in this column on 14 April. It is traditional that a grandmaster takes on the assembled forces of the RAC, who this year won the Hamilton Russell Trophy. On this occasion it was Matthew
In Competition No. 3047 you were invited to supply an imaginary testimonial for a high-profile figure that is superficially positive but contains hidden warnings to a potential employer. This was an exercise in the artful deployment of ambiguity, as displayed in Robert J. Thornton’s L.I.A.R. The Lexicon of Intentionally Ambiguous Recommendations, a handbook for
Unclued lights are words from a poem, its author and a relevant location. Elsewhere, ignore two accents. Across 7 Music like reggae from Saskatchewan (3) 11 Carriage policeman pulled over beside hedge (6) 13 Judge meets drug addict who’s declining (7) 15 Ionian cardinal crossing Iowa (5) 16 Strong pickle’s sound (5) 17 Seminary
13 1A 23 22 is from SHELLEY’S ‘Ode to a Skylark’. Other unclued lights had ‘a poet hidden in the light’: OVID in 6A; LARKIN in 16; ELIOT in 17; TATE in 42; AUDEN in 43. Two poets’ names in the puzzle’s real title, ‘A Poet Skylarking’, needed highlighting. First prize Wilf Lewsey, East
White to play. This is from Sadler-Speelman, 4NCL 2017. White is two pawns down in this endgame but all Black’s pieces are stuck on the back rank. White needs one accurate move to finish the game. Can you see it? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 15 May or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk.
