Life
Heavy is the head
On International Chess Day, 20 July, Magnus Carlsen announced that he will not defend his world championship title next year.…
2566: Somewhere XII
Somewhere in 23D 30 July is important. Remaining unclued lights (including two pairs and a trio) give the place’s capital…
County lines
In Competition No. 3259, you were invited to submit a poem entitled ‘A(n) [insert county of your choice] Lad’. There…
I’ve seen the future of motor racing, and it’s quiet
Are petrolheads’ days numbered? I only ask because having just been introduced to the quiet, petrol-less world of Formula E,…
My Icelandic holiday with Kevin and Perry
I’m currently on holiday in Iceland. I say ‘holiday’, but I’m with my three teenage sons so it’s more like…
Solution to 2563: Areas for development
As suggested by 11 across, the other unclued lights were anagrams of capital cities: 23A Nairobi, 25A Nassau, 29A Lima,…
The Battle for Britain: Michael Heath
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Puzzle no. 713
White to play and mate in two. Composed by Henri Rinck, La Strategie, 1892. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. Everyone was divine at a very jolly lunch I attended in the Cotswolds with the exception of one person,…
Low life
In theory TikTok knows nothing about me. I have posted two videos: one of my grandsons kicking a football in…
High life
I now find resorts more fun out of season. Civilised tourists are as rare as an intelligent Hollywood movie, so…
Wild life
Laikipia You know things are bad when the zebras are thin. Even during most droughts, zebras are like matrons at…
Real life
‘That will be £7.50 please,’ said the girl in the bakery to the cyclist in black Lycra after he put…
Bridge
The bridge world is coming back to life with a bang. The World Championships were held (live) in March, the…
Aussie life
Sport has always played a big part in Australian life, but in the interests of diversity it would be wrong…
Language
No sooner had the words ‘blue murder’ appeared on the cover of this august journal than a Speccie reader was…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. I was billeted for a party in Norfolk with a couple previously unknown to me. They were more than…
Low life
Here come the global elites. They love it here. Their spiritual second home. The heat, the rosé, the food, the…
What’s in my frunk?
Hello, and welcome to episode one of What’s in My Frunk?, the first in an occasional Spectator series of news…
My brief career as a marijuana farmer
The latest heatwave reminded me of my brief career as a marijuana farmer. This wasn’t in the summer of 1976,…
Think pink
In the battle of ideas, it is sometimes necessary to make a tactical withdrawal. That is now the case over…
Culture wars
‘Come on, old girl,’ said my husband as though encouraging a cow stuck in a ditch, ‘you must know.’ It…
High life
Michael Beloff, QC and past president of Trinity College Oxford, has just had his memoir reviewed in The Spectator, and…
Real life
My phone buzzed and rang while I was doing the horses until I thought, fine, I’ll call the Defence Secretary…
Bridge
I was very sorry to learn of the death of the legendary American player and author Eddie Kantar – he…
