Puzzles & games

Bridge

Bridge | 16 April 2015

When I was growing up, the loudest, most explosive arguments erupted when my parents played bridge together. Not surprisingly, when my father offered to teach me I made my excuses and ran. Jasmine Bakhshi is in the lucky position of having David for a father. Not only is David on the England Open team that

Chess

Hit for six

The Hamilton Russell trophy for London clubs has been dominated in the past by the RAC. This year, though, they were knocked for six in the final decisive match by the MCC. The full scores (out of a possible 14) were as follows: 1st Marylebone Cricket Club, 14; Joint 2nd Oxford & Cambridge Club and Royal Automobile

Competition

On the record

In Competition No. 2893 you were invited to suggest suitable Desert Island Discs for a historical figure, living or dead. Your choice of castaways was somewhat narrow — Richard III, Henry VIII, Tony Blair and Jeremy Clarkson popped up again and again. This meant a fair amount of repetition: King Richard was the most popular

Crossword

2207: An unusual angle

In six answers the wordplay ignores an item. These items (two of them identical) are not listed as specific 27 of 22 in Chambers, unlike the other unclued entries.   Across   1    Extra thin pins cleaned up with this? (5) 6    One that’ll teach you a measure of warmth (8) 12   

Crossword solution

To 2204: Security

Five perimeter entries, and 29 and 30, are types of BODYGUARD. First prize Amanda Spielman, London SW4 Runners-up Dr S.M. Sheerin, Princes Risborough, Bucks; Vincent Clark, Frant, East Sussex

Puzzles

No. 358

White to play. This is from Lee-Zakharov, Vrnjacka Banja 1963. Black has just captured on c3 and now 1 Qxc3 runs into 1 … Qxf1 mate. However, White can do rather better than that. Can you see how? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 21 April or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. The winner