How many restaurants have actually gone bust?
It is cricket The use of a baseball expression, backstop, for possible arrangements over the Irish border could upset some…
Giving thanks
From ‘Thanks be to God’, 16 November 1918: The thought that filled the mind of the nation on Monday, and…
Tony Abbott is wholly misplaced about WTO Brexit
Hubris and nemesis Sir: Douglas Murray’s assessment of Angela Merkel’s decision to stand down as German Chancellor (‘Europe’s empty throne’,…
Books of the year – part one
Andrew Motion Short stories seem to fare better in the US than the UK, and among this year’s rich crop,…
to 2381: Step changes
The word ladder connecting UNITED and STATES goes: UNITES (1D), URITES (18), WRITES (7D), WHITES (34), WHILES (30A), WHALES (7A),…
The NHS must reform – or it will become obsolete
Since the Budget, economists have pointed out that Britain is turning into a health service with a government attached. The…
Portrait of the week: Hammond ‘ends austerity’, Angela Merkel resigns and Leicester City’s owner killed in helicopter crash
Home Austerity was ‘finally coming to an end’, Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said in the Budget. He…
Does using social media affect children’s mental health?
On the wagon A ‘caravan’ of several thousand Central American migrants was reported to be travelling through Mexico towards the…
Letters: American vitriol, chess politics, Desert Island Discs, rude horse names
Political vitriol Sir: Vitriol and incivility seem to be everywhere in politics just now. In the last issue (27 October)…
to 2380: Dedover
The unclued Across lights are US state capitals and the unclued Down ones are the states. The title refers to…
What is the point of Philip Hammond?
What is the point of Philip Hammond? Most chancellors have an agenda, but it’s hard to discern any purpose or…
Portrait of the Week: the Brexit march, Nick Clegg’s new job and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, found herself in another crisis over Brexit. Backbenchers whispered that 48 letters were being…
Letters: The Irish problem (again), Desert Island narcissists, and the smoking French
Irish problem Sir: What James Forsyth calls ‘the EU plan’ to keep Northern Ireland in the customs union after Brexit…
to 2379: Shocking
The word is ‘pink’. Definitions of the eight headwords are: CARNATION (9), STAB (43), CHAFFINCH (22D), SMALL SAILING SHIP (41/1A/13),…
Modern family: how Meghan and Harry helped firm up the monarchy
Whether it was intended so or not, the decision by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to choose Australia as…
Portrait of the week: Crisis talks and pizza in Andrea Leadsom’s office
Home Brexit was in crisis as the European Council (of heads of state or government) met. Theresa May, the Prime…
Mazes; royal babies; carbon data; FTSE falls
Twists and turns Jeremy Hunt, taking a group of EU foreign ministers around the maze at Chevening House in Kent,…
Letters: the Irish and Brexit; the Archbishop’s witness; meat not wheat
Ireland’s day of reckoning Sir: John Waters is more right than he knows when he talks about the Irish attitude…
to 2378: Boundary
LIMES (22), a term for a boundary of the ROMAN EMPIRE (7 30), is a DEFINITION (19) of five items…
Director’s cut: why do our taxes pay for loss-making films?
‘The role of government is not to pick favourites and subsidise them or protect them.’ So says the government’s industrial…
Portrait of the Week: EU mandarins are suspiciously cheerful about Brexit
Home EU officials were suspiciously cheerful over the prospects of Brexit negotiations running up to the next summit on 18…
Who hires the most stretch limos?
Global warnings How much time do we have to save the world from catastrophic climate change? 5 years (according to…
to 2377: Service book
The twelve unclued lights can be arranged into the sequence yielding phrases from ‘First’ to ‘Twelfth’. First 21, Second 24,…
Theresa May’s speech was good – but she still lacks an agenda
Over the next few weeks, we can expect breathless reporting about the Brexit deal and its dynamics: the state of…
Portrait of the Week: Boris mocks May and Hammond mocks Boris
Home Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, played a well-nourished Banquo’s Ghost at the Conservative party conference, where Theresa May,…
