Letters
Musical inspiration Sir: The interview with Antonio Pappano was splendid for those of us who admire him in Australia but…
The debt virus
It’s always tempting for governments to respond to economic trouble with a debt-fuelled spending splurge, but it’s a notoriously blunt…
Solution to 2445: in other words II
41/1A/10 is MISQUOTATION. 1D/24/33, 15, 34, and 38/16D are examples of common misquotations. First prize Dianne Parker, Dover, KentRunners-up Vincent…
The great Tory Budget giveaway
It’s always tempting for governments to respond to economic trouble with a debt-fuelled spending splurge, but it’s a notoriously blunt…
Civil unrest
Thirteen years ago, when John Reid became Home Secretary, he declared the ministry he presided over ‘not fit for purpose’.…
Portrait of the week
Home After a Cobra emergency meeting about the coronavirus Covid-19, when the number of cases in the United Kingdom had…
Letters
We need career detectives Sir: Your lead article (Trial and error, 29 February) rightly condemns Tom Watson for pressurising police…
Barometer
Heathrow’s nine runways When was a third runway for Heathrow first proposed? Heathrow was always planned to have multiple runways.…
Solution to 2444: Ones in the country
The unclued answers are all words inChambers, having their origin in Indonesia (clued by wordplay in the title). First prize…
In his own sweet way
On 8 November 1954, Dave Brubeck’s portrait appeared on the cover of Time magazine, accompanied by the words ‘The Joints…
Portrait of the Week
Home The government told Britons returning from 11 quarantined towns in northern Italy to isolate themselves, for fear of spreading…
Barometer
What a hole The World Health Organisation added processed meats to its list of ‘known’ carcinogens. A few of the…
Letters
Devolved or decentralised? Sir: Paul Collier (‘Northern lights’, 22 February) conflates what devolution has come to mean, in UK terms, with…
to 2443: Middle of the road
Each unclued light is a genus name of a TREE (i.e. ‘middle of the road’ = (s)TREE(t)). Cornus was also allowed…
Trial and error
A cornerstone of any -functioning democracy is the separation of police and the courts on one hand, and government and…
Britain is booming – despite Brexit
After the vote for Brexit, it was often said that our departure from the EU was most likely to harm…
Despite Brexit
After the vote for Brexit, it was often said that our departure from the EU was most likely to harm…
Portrait of the week
Home The Budget, still scheduled for 11 March, had to be rewritten after Rishi Sunak was made Chancellor of the…
Barometer
Breeding controversy A Downing Street aide, believed to have been recruited as a result of Dominic Cummings’s advert for ‘weirdos…
Letters
No defence Sir: Jon Stone (Letters, 15 February) recalls the horrors and miseries of being subjected to bombing from the…
2442: Don’t nod solution
ROTAVATOR (4A), NAURUAN (12), DEED (25), DEIFIED (36), MALAYALAM (39), REIFIER (4D), TERRET (15D), and REPAPER (18) are palindromes as…
Borrowed time
The nature of the Johnson government is still not clear, but has become more so with the announcement this week…
Portrait of the Week
Home The Department of Health classified the novel coronavirus (named by the World Health Organization Covid-19) as a ‘serious and imminent…
Barometer
Going viral A few of the businesses which chose ‘Corona’ as a brand name and now have a bit of…
Letters
A green and poor land? Sir: Your editorial (8 February) is a timely warning about what the government’s headlong drive…
