Life
My parents have driven us to boiling point
After two weeks of us heating the house to the temperature my nearly 90-year-old father wanted it, the door to…
All hail the chickenpox vaccine!
On 1 January, the NHS announced it would be including a chickenpox vaccine in the bundle of inoculations given to…
Spectator Competition: Elementary
For Competition 3431, you were invited to submit a passage in which Sherlock Holmes solves one of the great mysteries…
Don’t blame Ben Stokes
So what was the best bit of this dispiriting Ashes series? Lucky you if you’ve found one, but for me…
Dear Mary: How do I get my friend to clean up after her dog?
Q. Every so often we’re invited to our friends’ house for lunch or dinner. It’s close by and the house…
Scott’s vs Mayfair
Kingsley Amis was obsessed with Scott’s on Mount Street, Mayfair, and he knew a lot about food. He ate himself…
If you’re ‘reaching out’, you sound deranged
‘Why doesn’t anyone do what you ask them to?’ enquired my husband, who is something of an expert on the…
My advice to the next generation
Everyone went to the same school as someone famous. In my case it’s Spider-Man, Tom Holland, who joined my former…
Why are roast potatoes so hard to get right?
Roast potatoes shouldn’t be complicated. We’re talking two ingredients, plus some salt and maybe herbs if you’re feeling fancy. It’s…
Aussie life
Less than two months after its imposition, the world’s first children’s social media ban is already exceeding targets, with a…
Language
Let’s begin the year by summarising the ‘Words of the Year’ chosen by the world’s great dictionaries to represent last…
Spectator Competition: Forward thinking
For Competition 3430 you were invited to write a rhyming prophecy for 2026. Joe Houlihan’s closing couplet encapsulates the tenor…
I’ve been duped by the Toby hoaxers
Going to see QPR on Boxing Day has become a tradition in the Young household – and not because we…
Where are you on the tightwad scale?
I once stood in a queue behind a Scotsman checking out of a hotel in Germany. After he had finished…
Dear Mary: How do we stop our generous host putting us in the worst room?
Q. Around this time of year a successful friend likes to rent an expensive ski chalet with cook and fill…
There’s nothing to fear from Madeira
Perhaps because of the Flanders and Swann song in which a louche older gentleman tries to lure a younger lady…
