Solution to 2511: Changing places
The unclued lights form pairs of anagrams, one word in each pair being a place-name: 1A/6A, 1D/21, 6D/13, 11/38, 19/30…
Letters
Excess demand Sir: Liam Halligan (‘The house mafia’, 26 June) treats us to an exposé of the shoddy products of…
Portrait of the week
Home A lively game of hunt the issue followed the resignation of Matt Hancock as Secretary of State for Health…
Teach first
Aswitch of personnel at the Department of Health this week has brought a welcome change in the government’s tone. No…
Barometer
Isolated cases Large numbers of people are still being ordered to self-isolate in spite of having been vaccinated — 137,560…
2513: Golden anniversary
1A, on 23 17, 41 1D 8 in this 31 was 21D. This anniversary announcement consists of eleven words and…
Solution to 2510: Prom Session
Twelve symmetrically disposed unclued entries comprise three pairs of Spoonerisms (an anagram of the title): POURING RAIN/ROARING PAIN, FRYING PAN/PRYING…
Portrait of the Week
Home The government contemplated its promised Planning Bill, blamed for contributing to the astonishing victory for the Liberal Democrat Sarah…
Barometer
Royal waves Does any other country have a royal yacht? — The Queen of Denmark uses HDMY Dannebrog, a 260ft…
The wrong track
Under what circumstances can a government restrict the liberty of the people? An example was given last year: in a…
Letters
The good doctors Sir: Not all GPs are currently ‘Dr No’ (12 June). I phoned my surgery at 9.30 the…
Solution to 2509: Current description
The perimeter quote is from ‘Ode to the West Wind’. The remaining unclued lights were the east wind (24A), south…
to 2508: Grovels
The unclued lights (including the pair at 24/28) are CHEESES. First prize Rhidian Llewellyn, London SW14 Runners-up H. Sarson, Guernsey,…
Portrait of the Week
Home The lifting of coronavirus restrictions was delayed from 21 June until 19 July, probably. The motive was to avoid…
Where’s the beef?
If Britain had been unable to agree a trade deal with Australia, then Brexit really would have been pointless. The…
Letters
A new prescription Sir: It is maddening to see the British people being refused face-to-face GP appointments and subjected to…
Barometer
On this day Would 19 July make a suitable ‘freedom day’ (assuming Covid restrictions are lifted even then)? There is…
Letters
Trust us Sir: I refute Charles Moore’s assertions (‘Broken Trust’, 5 June) that the National Trust frowns on local expertise,…
to 2507: Knightly?
The unclued lights are characters and places associated with King Arthur. First prize Belinda Bridgen, London NW8 Runners-up John Samson,…
Portrait of the Week
Home The government pondered delaying the end of coronavirus restrictions on 21 June. But Chris Hopson, the chief executive of…
Meat of the matter
Britain has already seen two ‘Brexit days’ — when it formally left the EU on 31 January 2020 and the…
Barometer
Rare Lili Other than the new royal baby, is there anyone in the world formally called Lilibet? — There are…
Letters
Uncivil service Sir: The elephant in the room in the handling of the pandemic (‘A tragedy of errors’, 29 May)…
Open road
It seems all but impossible to convince government scientists of the wisdom of proceeding with the final lifting of Covid…
Portrait of the Week
Home Freelance scientists urged the government not to end coronavirus regulations on 21 June, for fear of a third wave.…
