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…
A moment of truth
Sometimes, Westminster unwittingly makes quite a good case for Scottish independence. Britain’s Covid emergency has ended, but the damage of…
to 2501: Delightful
The ‘Transport of Delight’, in the song by Flanders and Swann, was that ‘big six-wheeler, scarlet-painted, diesel-engined, London Transport, ninety-seven…
Out in the open
Over the past week, the country has started to spring back to life. Trains and buses are no longer running…
Letters
Zero possibility Sir: Katy Balls is right to conclude that the government is ‘not being upfront’ on the bill for…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced the hunt was on for two effective pills to treat Covid, to be…
Barometer
Falling from grace Six Premier League football clubs had announced their intention to join a European Super League, from which…
2500: 50 x 50
The solution grid includes the letter L fifty times (L x 50 = 2500). Coincidentally, Doc and his wife, Jean,…
Royal standard
Fourteen prime ministers; 18 general elections; seven changes of government. Even in a stable country like Britain it is remarkable…
Portrait of the week
Home The Duke of Edinburgh, who was married to the Queen for 73 years, died at Windsor Castle, aged 99.…
Barometer
D of E awards A few of the late Duke of Edinburgh’s lesser-known titles and honours: — Royal Chief of the Order…
Letters
Taking liberties Sir: I feel that Matthew Parris is absolutely wrong about liberty (‘The libertarian case for vaccine passports’, 10…
to 2499: Entitled trio
The theme was C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 38A (of Scotland), 43A and 22D were all…
Letters
A leap of faith Sir: I live not far from the ‘London Temple’ of the Church of Jesus Christ of…
On the cards
‘The government would love to put issues such as these beyond the bounds of debate by creating an air of…
Portrait of the week
Home The government sketched a scheme for a coronavirus passport, or ‘Covid status certification’, to be tried out at the…
to 2498: Cross country
The unclued lights consist of the names of two countries overlapping by two or three letters: eg 25D ‘JAPANAMA’ gives…
