City Style

Tailoring, sneakers and the smart-casual line nobody explains properly.

A Sunday Roast Beef Dinner Timed for One Oven

Low oven for the beef, hot oven for the potatoes, gravy from the pan in between. Get the schedule right and the rest falls into place.

GuideMeal PlansNina CastellanOct 5, 20266 min

Feeding Six on a Budget Starts With Tomorrow's Lunch

Dinner isn't what breaks a big family's grocery budget. Lunch and snacks are. This full week is built so every supper pays for the next day.

Ask BRO

Build me a revision plan that I will actually stick to

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GuideFoodNina CastellanOct 5, 20266 min

Your pie crust is tough because you were stingy with the water

Flaky, tender pie crust comes down to cold butter, enough water and less handling. Here's why dough cracks and how to fix it at the counter.

Delicious.com — Nine thousand recipes and a plan for tonight

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Dads6 min read

Give your kid one tomato plant and keep your hands off it

The plant teaches patience. You just have to stop rescuing it. A season-long plan with buckets, radishes and one warm tomato.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideBRO SeniorsCal BrennanOct 5, 20266 min

Grow vegetables at counter height and leave your knees out of it

A patio garden that never asks you to kneel, lift a full pot, or haul a watering can. Start with the height, and the rest gets easy.

GuideFoodWes DunbarOct 5, 20266 min

Bake your first sandwich loaf by the dough, not the clock

A soft, sliceable sandwich loaf takes flour, yeast and a free afternoon. The trick is knowing when the dough is ready, whatever the recipe says.

Names.com — The name is the first thing you sell

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GuideGarden & YardWes DunbarOct 5, 20267 min

Build the Chicken Coop for the Raccoon, Not the Hen

A small backyard flock is a great idea. Just check your city code, wire the coop against what's hungry, and do the honest egg math first.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next two weeks.

StorySportsMarcus ValeOct 4, 20266 min

Thanksgiving Football Began With College Kids and a Radio Man

Yale and Princeton started it in 1876. A Detroit radio owner made it permanent. Your town's high school still does it best.

GuideMilitary & VetsMarcus ValeOct 4, 20266 min

Read the Medal of Honor citation before you watch the movie

World War II's Medal of Honor citations are free to read and written in flat Army prose. That plainness is exactly why they hit so hard.

Ask BRO

What should I wear to this?

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GuideGarden & YardWes DunbarOct 5, 20266 min

Buy the Skinny Fruit Tree and Pick Off the First Apples

The bare-root stick beats the big potted tree with fruit on it. Here's how to choose, space and raise fruit trees through the first three years.

GermProof.com — An invisible germ barrier on your skin for hours

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StoryHistoryWes DunbarOct 4, 20267 min

Before Paul Bunyan Was an Ad, He Was a Few Thousand Real Men

The north woods camps ran on pine, pancakes and nerve. They built the Midwest, nearly burned it down, and left a lesson in how to clean up after yourself.

Poll

What was your first ever job?

GuideMilitary & VetsMarcus ValeOct 4, 20267 min

The World War I Heroes Worth Teaching Your Kids by Name

York, Johnson and the Hello Girls are the place to start. The World War I story your kids need most is probably sitting in your family's paperwork.

GuideGarden & YardSam OrtizOct 5, 20266 min

A Kid's Garden Needs a Win by Week Four

Tomatoes and pumpkins lose kids by July. Radishes, bush beans and one giant sunflower keep them coming back out the door.

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StoryHistoryDean ShawOct 4, 20267 min

The Wright Brothers Flew for Five Years Before the World Believed It

Kitty Hawk was the easy part. The hard part was the cow pasture, the newspapers that yawned, and the years they chose not to fly at all.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.

GuideTradesDean ShawOct 3, 20266 min

Read a tape measure in one glance, sixteenths and all

Stop counting little lines from the inch mark. Read off the landmarks, call it like the crew does, and quit wasting lumber.

GuideGarden & YardNina CastellanOct 5, 20266 min

Water-Bath Canning Lives or Dies on the Acid

Jam, pickles and tomatoes are the safe starting point for home canning, but only if you get the acid right. Grandma's method won't cover it.

Ask BRO

Pressure-test my business idea

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StoryHistoryMarcus ValeOct 4, 20266 min

The Railway Canada Couldn't Afford and Built Anyway

A young country promised a train to the Pacific, nearly went broke keeping its word, and finished five years early. Not everyone was thanked.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

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Home7 min read

Caulk a tub and a window so nobody can tell you did it

A pro-looking caulk line has almost nothing to do with a steady hand. It comes down to what you do before the gun ever comes out.

Poll

When did you last ask for a raise?

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