Life
no.437
White to play and win. This is a position from Caruana-Kramnik, Leuven 2016. Answers to me at The Spectator by…
Empty words
In Competition No. 2977 you were invited to submit a selection of meaningless, pseudo-profound statements. Bullshit was defined in a…
2290: Timely II
Clockwise round the grid from 11 run three trios (8,4,6,5,9,3,5,8,4), each trio combining to suggest the same word. A trio…
to 2288: Housey-housey
Unclued lights are names of PARLIAMENTS. First prize Judith Bevis, NewportRunners-up Hilda Ball, Belfast; Michael Grocott, Loughborough Got something to…
Harry, Jeffrey and Benoit
I first ate at the London version of Harry’s Bar in the early 1990s. Back then, Jeffrey Archer and I…
High life
What a great year this has been, what a good mood I’m in, why, it’s almost like being in love.…
Long life
New Year’s Day is the most depressing of holidays. It doesn’t celebrate anyone or anything worth celebrating. It simply marks…
Low life
I drew back the curtains. Yet another absolutely still, sunny day. Early-morning mist lying in the valleys. An echoing report…
Uh-oh
Here are the first 50 words in the order that they were learnt by a child called Will: 1 uh-oh;…
Real life
What a fraught, divisive, infuriating sort of year it’s been. It started with me attempting to go on a blind…
Do I hang myself out to dry again?
And so it begins again. This time last year, I decided to see how long I could last without alcohol.…
Keep death off the roads with an app
Controversial I know, but I feel a little sympathy for Tomasz Kroker, the lorry driver jailed for ten years for…
Wines of the times
The other day, I had lunch with the grandest person I know. Forget 1066: Adrian Ziani de Ferranti can trace…
Wiltons wonderland
I have agonised over this Christmas review. I ate the Christmas lunch at Harveys Nichols 5th Floor Restaurant, Knightsbridge, next…
High life
Here we go again, my 40th Christmas column in a row, and it seems only two weeks ago that I…
Low life
We’re driving east, destination Grasse. Hairpin bends circling oak-clad hills. Autumn gold and scarlet. Exciting cambers. Blinding winter sunshine. The…
Yeah
My husband has an irritating habit of holding his hymn book open at the right page but obviously not referring…
Real life
‘Right, this is it,’ I said to the builder boyfriend. ‘I am going to knock on the door of next…
Who will rid me of this turbulent beast?
I’m keeping my eyes peeled for one of those billboards saying ‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas’…
The turf
It is a long time since I spent a morning on the gallops with the footballer-turned-racehorse trainer Mick Channon (he…
The rich aren’t so different any more
The traditional orange at the bottom of a Christmas stocking dates to a time when this was the only orange…
Battle for Britain
The post Battle for Britain appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Bridge
Simon Cochemé, whose witty column appears monthly in English Bridge magazine, celebrated his 70th birthday with a knees-up and duplicate…
London classic
The annual London Classic is now underway at Olympia. Understandably Magnus Carlsen, after his exertions in New York, is not…
Chess puzzle
Black to play. This position is from Topalov-Nakamura, St Louis 2014. Black seems to be in big trouble, but how…
