Why is bridge quite so exciting? One of the reasons, surely, is that it involves a power struggle, with each player wanting to assert their supremacy; the very word ‘trump’ derives from ‘triumph’. Call me competitive — but my view is confirmed even more starkly in the writings of the Austrian psychoanalyst Alfred Adler (a
In the history of suppression of press freedom in the UK, now once again a fierce topic of debate, an honourable role was played by the chessplayer, writer, editor and irrepressible optimist James Mortimer. An officer in the US diplomatic corps, Mortimer was posted to Paris from 1855 to 1860, during which time he was
In Competition No. 2790 you were invited to take inspiration from Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language of 1755 and come up with some suitable Johnsonian definitions for modern times. Thanks to Michael Williamson from Australia, who suggested that I invite competitors to put themselves in the Good Doctor’s shoes and imagine
30 3 is a definition of one unclued light (which 34 follows) and also a cryptic indication of 16A. 34 is marked by the holder of the 16A with a 40. One unclued light is the name of the 40, and one is the name of the holder of the 16A. One of these lights
Extra words to be removed from clues were: ‘Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And, sorry I could not travel both’. The lines of verse appearing in the grid (highlighted for clarity only) were ‘I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference’ from the poem ‘The Road Less
White to play. This position is from Grischuk-Ivanchuk, London Candidates 2013. White’s next destroyed the black position. Can you see it? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 2 April or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat,
