Letters
Covid questions Sir: I worry that Matt Ridley and others are trying to frighten us about Covid-19 (‘Like nothing we’ve…
On liberty
For days, the Prime Minister had been resisting the kind of measures which have placed many other countries into lockdown,…
Portrait of the week
Coronavirus Sunday dawned with 233 people in the United Kingdom dead thus far from the coronavirus Covid-19 (a week earlier…
Portrait of the Week
Coronavirus The government asked all people over 70 to cease from social contact for at least 12 weeks in order…
Barometer
Taking off Who came up with the concept of ‘helicopter money’? — The term is derived from an essay in…
A common cure
For the Chancellor to produce an emergency bailout package just six days after delivering his Budget is an extraordinary state…
Letters
British science Sir: Dr Fink is right that the UK bats well above its weight through curiosity-driven research (‘Back to…
to 2446: Spring time
The omitted letters reveal SATURDAY THE TWENTY-NINTH OF FEBRUARY TWENTY TWENTY. First prize Lewis Osborne, Newton Mearns, Glasgow Runners-up G.H.…
Portrait of the week
Home At the beginning of the week 319 people in the United Kingdom had been found to be suffering from…
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…
