Barometer
Game, set, chat Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open after being fined $15,000 for failing to…
to 2506: Summer’s voice
The unclued lights are ferns: RUSTY-BACK (26/5A), WALL RUE (48/7A), MAIDENHAIR (1D/11), OSMUNDA (18), BIRD’S-NEST (20/45) and POLYPODY (24). PTERIDOMANIA…
A tragedy of errors
It is hard to deny the importance of the issues raised this week by Dominic Cummings. His decision to identify…
Barometer
Marrying in office It was announced Boris Johnson will marry his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, next year. This will be only…
Portrait of the Week
Home The BBC was engulfed in doubts after a report by Lord Dyson blamed Martin Bashir for deceiving the late…
Letters
Taking care Sir: I agree completely with Leo McKinstry that care for parents should be paid out of their estate…
to 2505: Endgame
The unclued lights are the final headwords for B, D, E, F, S, T, U, W, as listed in Chambers.…
Cummings, Covid and groupthink – a cautionary tale
It is hard to deny the importance of the issues raised this week by Dominic Cummings. His decision to identify…
Solution to 2504: Collectors’ Items
Unclued lights are nuts, as suggested in the perimetrical rhyme. First prize Adrian George, Barton under Needwood, Staffs Runners-up Willie…
Barometer
Call to arms Is hugging important to health? A study by Carnegie Mellon University and published in the journal Psychological…
Letters
The Union in peril Sir: Fraser Nelson (‘The great pretender’, 15 May) writes that it has never been easier to…
Variants and variables
The scare over the Indian variant of coronavirus this week is a taste of what to expect over the next…
Portrait of the week
Home The government made noises about having to delay the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on 21 June in some parts…
Letters
China has peaked Sir: Niall Ferguson makes some good points about the nature of Xi Jinping’s imperial aspirations but misses…
Portrait of the week
Home A new complexion of British politics was revealed by the capture of Hartlepool by Jill Mortimer for the Conservatives…
Welcome signs
While the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has no formal role in devising the bloc’s immigration policy, his…
Barometer
At Redwall Abbey Does fiction provide any guide as to the ultimate fate of Labour’s Red Wall? — Redwall Abbey…
to 2503: Applery
The traditional county towns were Chester (misprinted as CHEATER: 27), Durham (DERHAM: 21), Derby (DERRY: 32), Lewes (LENES: 36), Reading…
Barometer
Flat spin Which prime minister spent the most on their Downing Street flat, according to figures reported over the years?…
Letters
Christian approach Sir: Dr Michael Nazir-Ali’s criticism of our report ‘From Lament to Action’ (‘Bad faith’, 1 May) was wide…
Portrait of the week
Home ‘I think we have got a good chance of being able to dispense with the one-metre-plus from 21 June,’…
Data, not dates
A slogan can come back to haunt you. For Boris Johnson, the words ‘data not dates’ sounded powerful at a…
to 2502: Nay-sayers?
The unclued lights are HORSES. First prize Bob Toland, Ramsey, Cambs Runners-up Gareth Davies, Langstone, Gwent; Catherine Knox, London SW4…
Portrait of the week
Home By the beginning of the week, 12,071,810 people had received both doses of coronavirus vaccine, and the proportion of…
Letters
Levelling up Sir: In making the case for social mobility, Lee Cain unwittingly endorses the classism he hopes to fight…
