Theatrical opium
Ian McKellen in his early eighties plays the Dane in his mid-twenties. A production with such a strange innovation should…
Aquariums
Fish tanks were probably first conceived in the distant past by the Chinese, but in many respects, aquariums are a…
Putting the commie in committee
Last month an epidemiologist called Professor Michael Baker described the UK government’s decision to free its people from Covid restrictions…
Puzzle No. 665
White to play. Adhiban–Delgado Ramirez, Sochi 2021. White has more than one good move, but Adhiban found a spectacular way…
Portrait of the week
Home After the number of people ‘pinged’ (alerted by an NHS Covid-19 app) neared 700,000, the app was adjusted so…
Your country needs you at the wheel of a lorry
Here’s a patriotic proposal: let’s form a Dad’s Army of lorry drivers, of which the Road Haulage Association reckons there’s…
The Fide World Cup
As I write this, the Fide World Cup is underway in Sochi, the Black Sea resort in Russia which hosted…
What a Games
Avery Brundage was known to his enemies as Avery Ice Age — and to quite a few of his friends…
2518: Make a run for it?
11 Across (three words) is a phrase suggested by the puzzle’s title explaining how to arrive at the other unclued…
A time to live, a time to diet
I hadn’t noticed how much weight I’d put on during lockdown until I went out for a business lunch a…
Is burglary on the rise again?
Long before the official numbers began to rise, back in 2014, it was clear that knife crime was on the…
West End pearl
The newly renovated Theatre Royal Drury Lane has seen it all and staged it all, says Robert Gore-Langton
Barometer
Happy valet Police Scotland dropped what they said was a randomly generated codeword — ‘Bunter’ — for the security operation…
Such tweet sorrow
The distinction between on and offline life blurred long ago. The greatest spats, sexual self-fashionings and mad soliloquies now unfurl…
Dear Mary
Q. I’ve just completed a six-month paid internship for a hedge fund manager. I was mostly in his private office…
Heads, shoulders, knees and toes
We need to talk about Eric. In Jennifer Packer’s portrait of her friend and fellow artist, Eric N. Mack sits…
State of the union
Big Red Machine release their second album later this month. It’s a fine name for ten tonnes of agricultural apparatus…
Marathon man
I’ve not been allowed anywhere near the TV remote control this week because of some kind of infernal sporting event…
Solution to 2515: Paragon
The name was Margaret, whose various versions are suggested by THE SPECTATOR (1: Mag), BARN OWL (10/36: Madge), LEAD HAMMER…
