Life
Declan Rice is an island of decency in modern football
As all but the most tribal fruitcases would agree, Arsenal’s Declan Rice is an island of decency in the rather…
Dear Mary: how can I shut up a noisy fellow diner?
Q. I was lunching at a writers’ club in Lexington Street. It is a small but agreeable space. At one…
What do the French see in Ireland?
As the eco-tourism season got under way, the confused-looking French people began to arrive. They come to see ‘la nature’,…
True freedom is wearing someone else’s pants
Kyrgyzstan Forget the detailed itinerary – a 12-day trip that included the vertiginous 2,446-metre Kotorma pass on horseback – the…
‘I wanted to lie face down in the hummus’: Erev reviewed
Erev is an Israeli restaurant in Notting Hill, though Israeli restaurants do not call themselves Israeli nowadays. They have rebranded…
Spectator Competition: Shrink away
Comp. 3449 invited you to psychoanalyse, in the manner of Freud/Jung etc, a 2026 phenomenon. In a small but accomplished…
First they came for Mandelson…
At the time of writing, I haven’t seen the King’s Speech, but it’s a safe bet it will include a…
Aussie life
Advertising which gives a brand topical relevance gets extra traction with its target audience. So if I was creating the…
Language
My rage against the journalistic abuse of ‘populist/populism’ continues. As I have pointed out in the past, the meaning of…
Resist the cult of ‘picky bits’
We are, according to Marks & Spencer, in ‘picky bits’ season. I cannot bear the tweeness of it all. M&S…
What really killed off the traditional B&B
To B&B or not to B&B? That is the question. Whether it’s nobler to offer breakfast to a guest is…
The ‘airport effect’ that’s ruining modern life
The phrase ‘computer says no’ now has its own Wikipedia page. The first recorded use dates back to a Stasi-era…
Dear Mary: How can I stop my husband from interrupting?
Q. My husband worked in an office for 25 years and now works from home. As well as the interaction…
Why does everything now pivot?
‘As the door turneth upon his hinges,’ says the Book of Proverbs, ‘so doth the slothful upon his bed.’ But…
Can our democracy survive the ‘bad chaps’?
What is the greatest threat to British democracy? Zack Polanski’s call for ‘building a society’ that ‘doesn’t include’ people who…
2751: Transmission
Together, three unclued entries (two of two words) cryptically explain the three other unclued pairs. Solvers must highlight the single…
Spectator Competition: Laughter lines
For Competition 3448 you were invited to supply a joke in verse form.Apologies for an ambiguous brief; I was actually…
