Life
Long life
At the beginning of November 1980, one week before Ronald Reagan won a landslide victory in the presidential election, Henry…
Low life
I didn’t fancy the hotel breakfast, so I wandered into Arles old town looking for a café. The weather and…
Low life
I didn’t fancy the hotel breakfast, so I wandered into Arles old town looking for a café. The weather and…
Hygge
‘If there’s one thing I can’t stand,’ said my husband, ‘it’s scented candles.’ Now, we have never knowingly harboured a…
Real life
A wonderful email has arrived from Airbnb entitled ‘Discrimination and Belonging — What It Means For You’. Having tried to…
Football’s new Special One
Jurgen or José: compare and contrast (and please write on as many sides of the paper as possible). Is there…
Oh, the shame of not being Pointless
I give an after-dinner speech occasionally called ‘Media Training for Dummies’. That may sound condescending, but the dummy in question…
Oh, the shame of not being Pointless
I give an after-dinner speech occasionally called ‘Media Training for Dummies’. That may sound condescending, but the dummy in question…
Twelve to follow
When Theresa May came to power the Turf community was full of hope. Had she not been, if only briefly…
Twelve to follow
When Theresa May came to power the Turf community was full of hope. Had she not been, if only briefly…
Bridge
The last three weekends have not been relaxing for those of us playing the Premier League, with all its attendant…
Looking after Leo
I’ve just spent a day looking after our one-year-old vizsla and, to be blunt, I have some sympathy with Michael…
The Battle for Britain
The post The Battle for Britain appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment…
Ode worthy
In Competition No. 2972 you were invited to supply an ode on a Grayson Perry urn. Frank McDonald wasn’t keen:…
to 2282: Timely
The perimetric quotation (referring to October), AMBIGUOUS MONTH, THE MONTH OF TENSION, THE UNENDURABLE MONTH’, is followed by DL, the initials…
Dear Mary
Q. Some elderly friends of mine love to entertain in their London club on their visits, but a problem arises…
High life
Sixty years ago this week all hell broke loose: Soviet tanks rumbled into Budapest and put down a nationalist uprising…
Long life
For almost 400 years, since it was built on the orders of Pope Urban VIII in the 17th century, the…
Low life
‘Look at them, they’re all fat,’ he said. I’d slowed the car to allow four children to cross the zebra…
Post-Brexit
Staring at a brown envelope, my husband said: ‘I’ll deal with that post-breakfast,’ and then laughed as though he had…
Real life
For three months after I move to the country, I am told, I am going to be in the most…
How to carry less baggage
One fairly reliable rule of thumb is ‘never buy anything at an airport if you can help it’. Something about…
Bridge
My ten-year-old football-loving son thought I was making some silly joke when I told him last weekend that I was…
no. 433
Black to play. This position is from Nakamura-Carlsen, chess.com Blitz Final 2016. The position looks quiet but after Black’s next…
2285: Characterful
Unclued lights are three groups of three words of a kind, each group relating differently to a theme word. This…
