Life
Why rugby is a perfect match for Japanese culture
The ITV set for the channel’s thunderingly good coverage of the Rugby World Cup is more Japanese than anything in…
Dear Mary: How do I cope with university flatmates who can’t cook?
Q. For many years I employed around 60 people with whom I worked in an open-plan office. I moved on from…
I’ve had my fill of brasseries: Moncks reviewed
If you review restaurants professionally you would not think Britain wanted to leave the EU. You would think she wanted…
Sweaty Betty, Acne: the fashion for nasty brand names
On my way to a party in Ealing I saw a shop called Pan Rings. A mental image popped up…
An elegy for New York
New York The master of the love letter to New York, E.B. White, eloquently described the city as a place…
Why Sodom and south Devon are a million miles apart
We gathered around in the sunshine and watched the coffin being lowered into the freshly dug trench. Stratifications visible on…
The rise of the Brexitainers
The Union Jack is flying on the front of my house. After a long discussion with the local council, planning…
When nice guys come first
With shorter days and leaves falling, I begin to itch for the more sporting, less obviously commercial world of jump…
Bridge
The World Championships, held in Wuhan, China, came to the end of a gruelling eight days of qualification (eight teams…
Double fianchetto
In my pantheon of heroes a particular place of honour is occupied by the hypermodern grandmaster Richard Réti, the first…
no. 573
White to play. This position is from Van Foreest-Bortnyk, St Louis 2019. How did White break through on the kingside…
Speeches as sonnets
In Competition No. 3117 you were invited to recast a famous political speech as a sonnet. Lots of you…
2427: In other words
The unclued lights are of a kind, all confirmed in Chambers or Oxford. A portmanteau word (7) defining this phenomenon…
to 2424: Poem V
The poem is La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats. ATONY (2), CORYZA (3), LOCKJAW (6), ENTERITIS (8) and…
Abolish private schools? Bring it on!
I cannot recall a week in which Britain’s private schools have received better PR. The Labour party has pledged to…
The Battle for Britain
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Why business is perfectly relaxed about Brexit
It’s difficult to go into the office nowadays, since most of my colleagues are so distraught by the prospect of…
Dear Mary: Is it OK for a couple to ask us to contribute to their savings as a wedding gift?
Q. Every three months or so my PA blossoms into a great beauty for a couple of weeks, then has…
There is always time for a bottle of Champagne
My friend Dominic decided that it was time to convoke a lunch. There were matters to discuss, including that perennial…
How did BBC’s Late Night Line-Up get its name?
The title of the television review and discussion programme Late Night Line-Up is a curious one. I’d be interested if…
![[Photo: by-studio]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/21SeptHighlife.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
Why I prefer cows to humans
Gstaad The cows are coming down, the cows are coming down, and I’m off to the Bagel. My Swiss…
![[Photo: Lovattpics]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/21Septlowlife.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
Semi-recluse (me) seeks dilapidated cottage on Dartmoor to rent
So now I must find somewhere else to put my books and live sometimes. Dartmoor, I thought: one of the…
![Do I need planning permission to fly a Union Flag on my house? [Photo: coldsnowstorm]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/21Septreallife.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
What Brexiteers can teach Remoaners about good manners
‘If we are going to Westminster to riot,’ I told my Brexit-voting friends over dinner at the Thai restaurant at…
Bridge
The bridge world championships are underway in Wuhan in China, and I’m obsessively following the action online. Fortunately it’s taking…
Adopt a hero
I am often asked which players I admire most and which grandmasters, writers and champions exerted the most influence on…
