Life
Dear Mary: What is the etiquette of responding to save-the-dates?
Q. I have a problem with a much older friend who is slightly insecure and super-sensitive to criticism and I…
How do you pronounce ‘mayoralty’?
‘Six!’ cried my husband, waving his notebook as he monitored the by-elections. He wasn’t counting Reform wins but the ways…
My foolproof plan to avoid speeding fines
The online speed awareness course cost £101, or a few pounds less if you didn’t want to book ‘flexible’ so…
We’re spending the children’s inheritance on the dog
After we bought a place on my father’s hill farm in 2000, I’d study the notices pinned to boards in…
Spectator Competition: That’s your cue
Competition 3398 invited you to submit a poem about snooker as the world champion-ship was under way. The entries poured…
My ones to watch this season
With racing there is always a little history involved. One of the few top races John Gosden has never won…
Back to winning ways
Vasyl Ivanchuk was at the centre of a heart-rending scene during the tenth round of the World Blitz Championship in…
Are you a ‘tidsoptimist’?
Last week Caroline sent me an Instagram reel that featured a Norwegian word and its English translation. A ‘tidsoptimist’, I…
Aussie life
Reading the works of Confucius and other Chinese ancients recently, with their guidance for a life of introspection and honesty…
Language
In the Weekend Australian I read a review of a book about AI and its disastrous impact on undergraduate student…
My new-found love for Marsala
Western Sicily is one of the most wonderful places on Earth. From the Greek temples in the south to the…
My high-speed bus chase
My youngest daughter and her husband moved to New York last October. Three days after they arrived, she tripped on…
Texas is the perfect holiday destination
Business travel isn’t quite the perk it is cracked up to be. For one thing, you have no say about…
Dear Mary: how can I tell young people to pipe down at dinner parties?
Q. I find that when I go to mixed-age dinner parties the young all seem to be shouting. How can…
The Airbnb guest from hell
‘Is there a secret passageway behind that door?’ said the weirdly difficult Kiwi as she eyed a door marked ‘private’…
Bridget Phillipson’s perfect storm for schools
In its manifesto, Labour pledged to recruit 6,500 new teachers and the Education Secretary reiterated this a few days after…
2698: Au pairs – solution
The seven unclued pairs are BENSON/HEDGES, COUNTRY/WESTERN, TIME/TIDE, MUSCAT/OMAN, TWEEDLEDUM/TWEEDLEDEE, DUMFRIES/GALLOWAY and BITS/BOBS. First prize Roland Rance, London E17 Runners-up…
