Life
The anarchy of a breakfast buffet
The Portuguese guest wanted an egg, but she didn’t want it to look like an egg. She came down to…
Is Angela Rayner ‘humble’?
Just before the earth opened up, Sir Keir Starmer said of his deputy: ‘Angela came from a very humble background,…
Nick Ferrari’s big fat Provençale wedding
It was the morning after the night before and I was picking glass out of my leg by a pool,…
How America could save free speech in Britain
The only holiday the Youngs had this summer was a week in Norfolk for the Hunstanton tennis tournament. I’m too…
Spectator Competition: Throuple
Comp. 3416 invited you to marry romantasy (the romance-fantasy fusion now dominating fiction sales) with a third genre. Narnia, gritty…
Aussie life
Further evidence that global warming is good for mammals emerged in South Australia last week, when marine biologists confirmed that…
Language
‘Said Hanrahan’ is a phrase from a bush ballad, usually uttered to identify a prophet of doom, gloom and utter…
What does ‘hallmark’ have to do with cards?
‘Do you know how many people Hallmark cards employs?’ asked my husband. I didn’t, and nor would he, had he…
Why YouTube Premium beats the BBC
YouTube has now overtaken ITV to become Britain’s second most watched media service, beaten only narrowly by the BBC. Hardly…
Dear Mary: How can I find out who else is coming to a house party?
Q. I have accepted an invitation to a five-day house party in Scotland. I know it is a breach of…
Is God a Thatcherite?
Autumn: surely one of the most beautiful words in the language. All the other seasons are expressive, almost even onomatopoeic,…
Spectator Competition: Seeing the light
For Competition 3415 you were invited to submit a lost poem by a well-known poet which makes us see him…
Confessions of a yo-yo fat-jabber
I’m feeling quite smug at the moment. Every year I vow to get in shape in the summer, which means…
Whatever happened to chicken à la king?
As sure as eggs is eggs, what was once comfort food will be reinvented as fine dining. Lancashire hotpots will…
Welcome to the Republic of Dyslexia
Kenya It used to be that the black sheep from prominent British families were sent out to Kenya and told…
