Life
The Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
John McDonnell’s right – the four-day week could work
Most people were scandalised by John McDonnell’s proposal to promote a four-day working week. But before we get incensed about…
Dear Mary: How do I stop my wife from sabotaging my anecdotes?
Q. My wife and I have been married for 50 years. The marriage is basically sound but she has recently…
Searching for God in the twilight on the Aegean Sea
My friend Jonathan Gaisman recently gave rise to a profound philosophical question concerning wine. Jonathan is formidably clever. He has…
The polite origins of the police
My husband, who fancies himself as something of a classicist, was delighted to see the Turkish investigators of the Khashoggi…
Why truth gets you nowhere
New York There is fear and loathing in this city, with men looking over their shoulders for the thought…
Guns and gin: just another Spectator Wine Club lunch
East of London the Thames broadens dramatically to a surreal waste of mud and sewage-coloured water lined with shipping-container dumps.…
Silicon Valley’s evil plan
After months of trying not to try the exciting new version of Gmail, the exciting new version of Gmail tried…
Bridge
I’ve just come back from ten days in Orlando, but don’t ask me what it’s like — I haven’t a…
Ship ahoy
The Evans Gambit was invented by a British naval officer of the early part of the 19th century, Captain W.D. Evans,…
no. 528
White to play. This position is from Khmelniker-Harari, Isle of Man 2017. How did White make the most of his…
Mary, Mary…
In Competition No. 3070 you were invited to provide a poem with the title ‘When I Grow Up I Want…
2381: Step changes
1 Across and 45 Across form a phrase, and the other unclued entries form a word ladder linking them, by…
to 2378: Boundary
LIMES (22), a term for a boundary of the ROMAN EMPIRE (7 30), is a DEFINITION (19) of five items…
Why are faceless accusations allowed to end men’s careers?
On 11 October 2017 an anonymous Google spreadsheet began doing the rounds of American newspapers and magazines — a document…
The Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
The terrible injury toll of modern rugby
Eddie Jones’s sorrows as England’s rugby coach certainly keep coming in big battalions. Now the giant battered No 8 Billy…
Dear Mary: My friend’s cooked breakfasts make me gag
Q. My fiancé and I spend many great weekends with another couple. I am a vegetarian and quite particular about…
Breakfast for idiots: it was the wrong time of day for a visit to Gazelle Mayfair
I couldn’t find Gazelle. I walked up and down Albermarle Street, in which Oscar Wilde once plotted his own doom…
Mind your language: Woman, women, womxn
When I say that it has given comfort to my husband, you can judge how foolish the Wellcome Institute was…
Partying with the Clintons
Gstaad The bells are ringing, the bells are ringing, ding dong, ding dong. The cows are down from up…
A pub brawl certainly livened up a boring football match
I told Oscar to wait outside and I went in and said to the barman: ‘Would it be all right…
The law of acronyms
Teacher training is terrific fun. Oh yes, I am thoroughly enjoying myself on my evening course at Guildford College. Don’t…
A no-deal Brexit could cripple horse-racing
Racing is full of risk-takers, not least those who fork out hefty sums to buy yearlings or unraced two-year-olds. Back…
Bridge
Good news for bridge if the Open World Championships in Orlando are anything to go by. Far from dying, it…
