Life
High life
An operation on my hand after a karate injury has had me reading more than usual. I even attempted Don…
Long life
From reading the newspapers you might get the impression that honeybees were on the way to extinction. In Europe, it…
Long life
From reading the newspapers you might get the impression that honeybees were on the way to extinction. In Europe, it…
Low life
On 26 June there is a party at the Spectator office at 22 Old Queen Street to launch a paperback…
Low life
On 26 June there is a party at the Spectator office at 22 Old Queen Street to launch a paperback…
Eurovision-speak
Like a reluctantly remembered nightmare, last week’s Eurovision Song Contest already seems very distant. But, in the manner of the…
Real life
Andy the tech guy looked delighted when I told him I had done the stupidest thing ever. He is one…
Thrills and chivalry at the most civilised place on earth
If heaven is a place on earth, as Belinda Carlisle so wisely observed, then surely that place has to be…
Sturgeon doth protest too much, me thinks
I couldn’t believe it when Nicola Sturgeon called for the resignation of Alistair Carmichael, the former Scottish Secretary, over his…
Sturgeon doth protest too much, me thinks
I couldn’t believe it when Nicola Sturgeon called for the resignation of Alistair Carmichael, the former Scottish Secretary, over his…
Flat pack
Getting to Goodwood last Saturday was an achievement in itself. On the Bank Holiday weekend I calculated a cross-country route…
High life
This is as good as it gets. A light rain is falling on a soft May evening and I’m walking…
Low life
From somewhere in the tree canopy, a nightingale song. The virtuoso trilling and warbling, the underwater bubbling, the teetering on…
Real life
You can’t always get what you want. And you can never get what you want if you want a phone…
Long life
I have rather a poor record for speeding over the years. I have been caught by cameras quite often, sometimes…
Wild life
Nairobi Trout were first introduced into Kenya’s highland streams in 1905. Men like Ewart Grogan, ‘baddest and boldest of…
Bridge
I was lucky enough to sit next to David Gilmour of Pink Floyd at a friend’s dinner the other night.…
Reichenbach falls
The former world champion Vladimir Kramnik recently espoused an opening system which I elaborated in a tournament in Germany in 1975.…
Puzzle no. 363
White to play. This is from Kramnik-Svidler, Russian Team Championship, Sochi 2015. The black pieces are in a tangle and…
21st-century Belloc
In Competition No. 2898 you were invited to give an update on one of the children in Cautionary Tales who…
Plus ça change
The unclued Across lights (Individually or as a pair) are defined by the unclued Down lights (individually or as a…
To 2209: Safe-blowers
The unclued lights were preceded by PETER (translation of 32A) to form phrases listed in Chambers or Brewer. First prize…
Freedom for free schools
I was disappointed to hear Andy Burnham on Marr last Sunday declare his opposition to free schools. He put plenty…
Battle for Britain
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The importance of selective inefficiency
Readers of a certain age may remember choosing a cassette player in the 1980s. In theory the process was simple:…
