Life
Low life
I took the only spare chair on the terrace of the Modern bar, one of four bars on this Provençal…
Chrononhotonthologos
When I ran out of space last week, I was about to mention the way in which some people relish…
status
Whenever I try to use the NHS I end up feeling like Bruce Willis’s character in The Sixth Sense. No…
Our (nearly) golden summer
It seems like a long time ago, but back in the day, when Sir John Major launched the National Lottery,…
Hurrah for Cornish holidays!
After the misery of going abroad for the summer holidays for the past few years, I’m now happily back in…
Hurrah for Cornish holidays!
After the misery of going abroad for the summer holidays for the past few years, I’m now happily back in…
Blessed be the humble
After 30 years in racing it is a little late in Rab Havlin’s career to suggest that he will suddenly…
Blessed be the humble
After 30 years in racing it is a little late in Rab Havlin’s career to suggest that he will suddenly…
Bridge
Bridge players love going on about system. Some want every bid to have a conventional meaning and some want to…
Battle for Britain
The post Battle for Britain appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
to 2270: Hard
Seven unclued lights were names of VERSE-MEN (22) minus one letter: VI(R)GIL (1A), BRO(O)KE (15A), BRID(G)ES (16), DON(N)E (9), S(P)ENDER…
2273: Numbers
Clockwise round the perimeter from 3 run the titles of three items (1, 6, 3, 1, 4, 2, 1, 4,…
Summertime
In Competition No. 2960 you were invited to submit a poem on the theme of summer in which the last…
High life
Gstaad ‘He flies through the air with the greatest of ease, that daring young man on the flying trapeze.’…
Honorificabilitudinity
My husband told me with glee that Nicholas Byfield had a great big stone ‘like flint’ in his bladder, weighing…
Bridge
Here’s a bridge tip you won’t find in a book — one which the wonderful Gunnar Hallberg gave me. You’re…
Real life
The builder boyfriend colicked for a week after eating a falafel kebab as he and I sat up all night…
Surreptitious subversion
After the vote to leave the EU it is time to reclaim the good old English names for traditional openings…
Dear Mary
Q. I live in Balham but work in Mayfair. Twice recently I have had to take whole days off work…
Low life
At 11 p.m. I sneaked away from my boy’s wedding party to my ground-floor accommodation in the hotel to write…
Long life
A hoo-ha has broken out in the city of Oryol, south-west of Moscow, over a proposal by the officials there…
no. 421
White to play. This position is from Steinitz–Chigorin, World Championship (Game 4), Havana 1892. How did White finish off? Answers…
When more data makes you more wrong
In a one-day international against Australia last year, Ben Stokes was dismissed for ‘obstructing the field’, a rule rarely invoked…
Character study
Will Lyons, a delightful companion, is not only a friend of mine. He has one of the finest palates in…
The problem with grammar schools
By rights, I should be one of those Tories who is passionately in favour of grammar schools. After all, I…
