Life
2423: Redheads
Eight unclued lights are of a kind. Across 1 Place to take off sari, pants and slip (8) 8 …
to 2420: Crafty
1, 4, 23 and 30 are livery companies (33/22). They are found in The 21 and 2 (the singular of…
Must try harder: education is still a vote loser for the Tories
The reluctance of the Conservative party to take credit for the success of its education reforms is a source of…
The Battle for Britain
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Why no one ever moves back to London
In last week’s Spectator, Martin Vander Weyer replied to a couple with a baby who had sought his advice on…
Dear Mary: What do you do when your hostess licks your spoon?
Q. I have happily overcome many moments of diplomatic and social challenge, but was stumped by the case of the…
Reasons to be cheerful: gardens, Ben Stokes and cold wine
‘The Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.’ Is there a more charming passage in…
Is a cow always a cow?
I’ve noticed a tendency among townies like me to call all cattle cows (which they feel they must mention in…
My jailhouse diet
Gstaad It’s written in the Declaration of Independence, so it must be true: the pursuit of happiness is an…
How Captain Mainwaring lightened my mother’s dying days
On Saturday evening I showered, shaved and, prompted by a strange impulse, put on my going-out clothes. Then I cycled…
A mysterious case of fly-tipping immunity
When is fly-tipping not fly-tipping? I think I can explain, now the pile of rubble has finally moved from the…
The astonishing resilience of my beach paradise
Malindi I could measure my whole life in the summers I’ve spent on the beach in front of our…
Bridge
Terence Reese’s concentration at the bridge table was legendary. Most people know the story of how Boris Schapiro once wagered…
No garlands
At St Louis, world champion Magnus Carlsen met with unexpected setbacks in both the rapid and blitz sections. In both…
no. 568
White to play. This is from Aronian-Mamedyarov, St Louis 2019. We are only just out of the opening but White…
The Brexiteers
In Competition No. 3112 you were invited to submit an extract from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Brexiteers. The title…
2422: 40 furlongs
The unclued Across lights are of a kind, as are the unclued Down ones, all verifiable in Chambers. Across…
to 2419: Figures in place
The unclued lights are English place names which include a number in their spelling. These words appeared as figures in the…
I’m back on the ‘public humiliation diet’ – thanks to my kids
I’m on holiday with my family in Turks and Caicos, and maintaining my current weight is proving difficult. Regular readers…
The Battle for Britain
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Bring out the biltong for Labuschagne, an Ashes hero
Funny, the things cricketers put on their bats. England’s Jos Buttler has ‘Fuck it’ written at the top of his…
Dear Mary: How can my son tell if his cleaner is stealing from him?
Q. What is your view on emailed vs handwritten thank-yous? During my recent travels around pre-Brexit Europe I stayed in…
Like Twitter, but with food: Market Hall Victoria reviewed
The Market Hall Victoria is an international food shed opposite the station terminus. I have long hated Victoria, thinking it…
Are our feelings towards politics apathy or inertia?
My husband, with a dependable appetite for chestnuts, says he would be the ideal person to start an Apathy party.…
Another birthday has got me down, but the alternative is being dead
If it hadn’t arrived I’d be dead, but it was hardly welcome: another birthday — 38 years old on 11…
