Life
The extraordinary Green manifesto
I’m disappointed that Ed Balls’s suggestion that the Office of Budget Responsibility should audit the parties’ manifestos was never taken…
No fairy tale ending
It all depends how you like your fairy tales. OK, so we would have loved the retiring Tony ‘AP’ McCoy,…
High life
Ah, spring! The spring of our frostbitten age. At the Polish Club in London, a wonderful place studded with portraits…
Low life
Spectator Life’s third birthday party was a glamorous affair. It had paps, pop stars and Pippa. One went in and…
Real life
After I phoned the Aviva call centre for the ten thousandth time, a girl called Adele had to sort it…
Long life
It’s April. It’s spring. The daffodils and the cowslips are in flower. The birds are chirping merrily. But where are…
Bridge
Bridge has always been a game of highs and lows, but what happened to Janet de Botton and her partner…
Polymath
I learn from The Problemist, the organ of the British Chess Problem Society, that the polymath Dr Jacob Bronowski also…
No. 357
Black to play. This is from Cochrane-Staunton, London 1842. How did Staunton exploit his menacing build up of pieces on…
Consequences
In Competition No. 2892 you were invited to submit an irregular quatrain in which you bring together two people from…
2206: Landslip
Four of the unclued lights (one of two words) and an unclued pair are of a kind, and can become…
To 2203: Peeping toms
The theme is CATS; the unclued Across lights are breeds of cats and unclued Down lights and TOPCAT (which had…
Miliband vs Millwall
I’ve been trying to think of a good football analogy to describe the battle between the two main parties as…
Battle for Britain
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Why plane crashes are getting weirder
In the late 1980s, the parks service in the United States were concerned about the deterioration of the stonework on…
Dear Mary
Q. For ten years, I have made a reasonable freelance income working from home. During this time my husband has…
A rum encounter
For many years, the Central American republic of Guatemala had a grievance against the United Kingdom. It claimed sovereignty over…
Pious
Married to a public-school man (I almost said boy) for many a long year, I can’t bring myself to disqualify…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Polymath
I learn from The Problemist, the organ of the British Chess Problem Society, that the polymath Dr Jacob Bronowski also…
No. 357
Black to play. This is from Cochrane-Staunton, London 1842. How did Staunton exploit his menacing build up of pieces on…
Consequences
In Competition No. 2892 you were invited to submit an irregular quatrain in which you bring together two people from…
Dear Mary
Q. For ten years, I have made a reasonable freelance income working from home. During this time my husband has…
A rum encounter
For many years, the Central American republic of Guatemala had a grievance against the United Kingdom. It claimed sovereignty over…
High life
Ah, spring! The spring of our frostbitten age. At the Polish Club in London, a wonderful place studded with portraits…
