Life
Sonoma survivor
I had not drunk the wine for 20 years, and nearly all the information which I thought that I had…
What Miliband needs is a grilled tomato
My children have a phrase called ‘fomo’ — which stands for ‘fear of missing out’. It is a constant, mildly…
Taki's Christmas gift to readers: a masterclass in the art of seduction
Here is my Christmas gift to Spectator readers, one that applies mostly to unmarried males, but is also available to…
Forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas against us
After lunch on Christmas Day my father always stood at the sink in his apron and yellow Marigolds and did…
Here’s what I’ve learned in 2014
The countryside is all very well so long as you know you can leave it. Funnily enough, exactly the same…
Without Jesus and with less Santa, what does Christmas mostly consist of?
More than ever this year I find friends planning to go abroad for Christmas, some to countries such as India…
I cannot imagine living in a world without lions
Laikipia We are privileged to live with lions on the farm. We hear them most nights. We encounter them frequently.…
Christmas reading for racing folk
‘Hang on a minute—he’s a bit wobbly,’ trainer Oliver Sherwood told photographers imploring him to stand with his winner when…
Bridge
Pierre Zimmermann, captain of the hugely successful Monaco team, plays with Franck Multon and they are probably the best sponsor/professional…
Christmas Quiz
Set by Christopher Howse.
Illustrated by Castro
The answers
So they say 1. President François Hollande of France 2. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, of Nick Clegg, the…
London greats
The London Chess Classic, graced by two former world champions Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, as well as the world…
Christmas chess puzzle
White to play. This position is from Anderssen-Kieseritzky, London 1851. It is a brilliant encounter that became known as the…
Season’s greetings
In Competition No. 2877 you were invited to submit a Christmas round robin as it might have been written by…
Anagram Pie Christmas double puzzle
A first prize of £100, three prizes of £25 and six further prizes of the Chambers Book of Great Speeches…
To 2189: Offering
Answers to clues in italics — stramash (1A), pasteboard (33) and lineated (36) — are treated as in the ROMAN…
What will it take to live up to my father’s Great Life?
I received a phone call the other day that I wasn’t expecting. It was a BBC producer calling about a…
Fifteen things we learned about sport in 2014
It was the year of KP, Keano and the Kiwis; of Federer, Froch and Phil the Power (no change there…
The most preposterous restaurant to have opened in London this year
Somerset House, a handsome Georgian palace on the Thames, was once the office of the Inland Revenue, and the courtyard was…
How to pick the perfect present
I had always attributed it to bad luck in the genetic lottery. I am three-eighths Welsh and a quarter Scottish,…
Battle for Britain
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Cognac and the Viking connection in la France profonde
The chestnut trees were still resplendent in yellow leaf along the banks of a misty autumn river on its glide…
Dear Mary solves problems for Jim Broadbent, N.M. Gwynne, Jesse Norman and others
Once again Mary has invited some of her favourite figures in the public eye to submit personal queries for her…
The curious language of Christmas carols
I could never understand as a little girl why we sang: ‘Away in a manger, no crib for a bed.’…
The answers
So they say 1. President François Hollande of France 2. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, of Nick Clegg, the…
