A remarkable film that gleams with mastery
What a relief it was to see Parallel Mothers the new film by Pedro Almodóvar. There was the tediousness and…
Aussie life
Is the woke tide finally starting to turn? One aspect of the mainstream media’s coverage of the Ukraine crisis might…
Language
The word ‘fatigue’ has been part of the English language since at least 1693. It comes from a French source…
Barometer
Off duty How many non-doms are there in the UK? – In the year ending 2020, 75,700 people filled in…
French lessons
In just over a week’s time, Emmanuel Macron will most likely win a second term. He has the opponent he…
A fine mess
Attending an impromptu birthday party in the office is not the most heinous of crimes, and of course Britain’s fixation…
Diary
This week has been Passiontide, which means lots of wonderful plainsong in the choir of Canterbury Cathedral as my predecessors…
Blowing hot and cold
A ‘Ghost Shop’ has appeared between Domino’s Pizza and Shoe Zone on Sunderland High Street. Look through the laminated window…
Letters
Backward devolution Sir: Thanks for once again highlighting the many issues with government in Scotland (‘Sturgeon’s secret state’, 9 April).…
The great deceit
Operation Mincemeat is based on the book by Ben Macintyre, which in turn is based on what Sir Hugh Trevor-Roper…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, travelled to Kyiv in secret and joined President Volodymyr Zelensky for the cameras in…
Hot cross buns
What makes a hot cross bun a hot cross bun? Is it in the bun: the spice, the dried fruit…
There’s no shelter from this storm
I was walking last week from Canary Wharf tube station to my flat in east London – not far, little…
Brave new world
Joe Biden announced in November: ‘Transgender people are some of the bravest Americans I know.’ When Conservative MP Jamie Wallis…
Puzzle no. 698
White to play. A variation from Esipenko-Nakamura, Fide Grand Prix Berlin 2022. Which move would allow White to force a…
Solution to 2548: Poem VII
The poem is ‘Rondeau’ by Leigh Hunt. Its first three words as quoted in ODQ are ‘JENNY KISSED ME’ (diagonally…
The crop of gold
Publishers love books with ambitious subtitles such as ‘How Bubblegum Made the Modern World’, and this one’s, about American wheat…
Strong opinionsloosely held
In his 2005 book What The Dormouse Said John Markoff traced the roots of the personal computer industry to the…
A Frankenstein device
For as long as we have been human we have looked for some way of telling when we are being…
A true European
Virginia Woolf admitted to her journal: ‘I haven’t that reality gift.’ Her contemporary Arnold Bennett had it in spades. He…
Toxic testosterone
Squaring up to the prospect of a new Red Hot Chili Peppers album, I’m reminded of a vintage quote by…
Violets
The English Rock Garden, the magnum opus of the great gardening writer, horticulturist and plant collector Reginald Farrer, is an…
Weirder and weirder
The only impersonation I can do is my Jimmy Savile impersonation. This is not uncommon among people of my generation:…
