Great Britten
No question, the Royal Opera is on a roll. Just look at the cast list alone for Deborah Warner’s new…
Letter from Kyiv
I write this from my Kyiv air raid shelter. It has become my second home, an improvised bedroom, study and…
Oxxxymirin: Beauty & Ugliness
Grade: A+ I was going to review hyperpop chanteuse Charli XCX’s album this week, but it was such boring, meretricious,…
Barometer
Time for a change A bill before the US Senate would abolish daylight saving time. Some countries which have previously…
Where Eddie Jones is going wrong
Rugby Union, bloody hell. We’ve got to talk about Eddie, but before that, what about something much cheerier? Just when…
2548: Poem VII
Unclued lights are nine words taken from a poem whose first three words (as quoted in ODQ) will appear in…
Puzzle no.695
White to play and mate in 2. Composed by Bo Lindgren, Probleemblad 1969. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by…
Bridge
The England U26 juniors have been flying high lately. A couple of weeks ago they won the Junior Camrose, and…
Low life
Speaking pretty good English, Dr Tayeb came straight to the point. Was I eligible for the ground breaking new cancer…
Diary
‘Why the hell did you hire a lorry without a spare tyre?’ asked Rizvana. Fair question. Luckily we had just…
A crooks’ paradise
The war in Ukraine has turned a lot of people’s attention to oligarchs in the UK. How did these guys…
Sunak’s salami slice
Next month, Rishi Sunak will break a Tory manifesto pledge by increasing National Insurance as the tax burden heads to…
Character is king
Thriller writers are hard pressed to stand out in what’s become a very crowded field. As a result, from Cardiff…
User friendly
‘I like to have a martini,/ Two at the very most./ After three I’m under the table,/ After four I’m…
All England in a little room
In the tight dark maze of alleys that wind between the Thames and St Paul’s the pleasures of the living…
Norwegian wood
The Worst Person in the World is a Norwegian film that has made a big splash. To date, its star…
An accidental hero
Ferdinand Magellan’s fame was largely undeserved. Horatio Clare sees the explorer cut down to size
What is a ‘woman’?
I happen to know that a woman is an adult female. And these days, that makes me a veritable genius.…
