Illegal raves
Every time I read that Britain’s anti-coronavirus measures are being jeopardised by a ‘small minority of senseless individuals’ holding illegal…
Brits aren’t idiotic – but our institutions are
Two headlines from the same news-paper, less than three weeks apart. So, the Guardian on 31 July: ‘The Guardian view…
The house on the Heath
Lissa Evans has been single-handedly rescuing the Hampstead novel from its reputation of being preoccupied by pretension and middle-class morality.…
2471: Inky
The unclued lights can be associated with an undisclosed quality. All associations can be found in Brewer and/or Chambers. Alphabetical…
Gimme shelter
In the Covid-19 crisis the calamity-howlers have found a vindication: go back to survival mode and bunker down because nobody…
Tears before bedtime
I met Jane Birkin’s parents, who flit across these pages. Her mother, Judy Campbell, was an actress in Noël Coward…
Letters
Scottish hearts and heads Sir: Alex Massie ignores the evidence when he espouses the assumption that economic concerns no longer…
Solution to 2468: noah entry?
The puzzle’s number 2468 was printed above the grid, hence ‘The theme is confirmed by the information provided.’ Letters deficient…
Grim and resolute
Faber must take a rather dim view of British readers’ historical awareness these days. This is a biography of one…
Certainty is overrated
I have decided to divorce my wife after 31 years on scientific grounds. Though perfectly happy, on reassessing my original…
Holiday washout
There is an old Yorkshire tale about a prosperous town which, legend has it, once stood on the site of…
When things fall apart
Okay, I admit it. I have a girl crush on Juliet Stevenson. Ever since I first saw her in the…
The original Edinburgh festival
James Sadler’s 1815 balloon flight, a Fringe first, heralded the greatest musical extravaganza that Scotland had ever seen, says John D. Halliday
…and of looking at real pictures again
One Sunday evening in the autumn of 1888 Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin went for a walk. They headed…
Television Keep it in the family James Delingpole
‘By the way, my name is Max. I take care of them, which ain’t easy, because their hobby is murder.’…
The joy of going to a real concert…
I went to a concert! Not a livestream or download: a real concert, with real musicians, a real conductor, a…
We-ness rising
Back in March, I made a long-odds bet that Michelle Obama would be the Democratic party’s vice-presidential nominee. I knew…
Double time
In Competition No. 3162 you were invited to submit double dactyls on stars of popular or classical music. Fans of…
Puzzle no. 618
Black to play. McShane–Anand, World Rapid Championship 2017. While executing my last move, 51 Qf4-f3, attacking the h5-pawn, I got…
Streaks of brilliance
Last week, snooker ace Ronnie O’Sullivan won his sixth World Championship at the age of 44, a full 19 years…
