Double trouble
American Pickle is a comedy based on a short story by Simon Rich, originally published in the New Yorker, and…
Sprinting in the sand
Dancing at Dusk captures the final rehearsal of a new version of Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring. It’s only…
Beauty and the beast
Michael Hann talks to Kevin Rowland about Dexys, insecurity and the cocaine years
Bonjour happiness
Soon, very soon now — even sooner than I imagined, if A Suitable Boy turns out to be as lacklustre…
Portrait of the week
Home Some 2.7 million people in Greater Manchester and parts of Lancashire and West Yorkshire, where many Muslims live, were…
Weighty matters
Tackling obesity is the latest government initiative, universally condemned as nannying. Ask a Spartan. From an early age, Spartan children…
Soho moonwalk
Back to the West End at last. After a four- month lay-off, I grabbed the first available chance to catch…
Letters
Peer review Sir: A neat solution to the levels of inactivity of some members of the House of Lords (‘Peer…
Barometer
The other Argos The Argos catalogue, known as the ‘Book of Dreams’, is no longer to appear in printed form.…
Who cares about reality?
Activists wish to change the name of a school in north London because it is named after a road which…
High life
Island of Serifos Let’s get one thing straight: island life is not for me. Island life off a boat, jawohl,…
Real life
The whole of Surrey and south-west London seem to have gone abroad on holiday so I’ve got my sanity back.…
Low life
Provence-Alpes-Côte D’Azur Until January the foreign correspondent lived in a late-18th-century house with a vineyard, olive grove and vegetable garden…
Nobody should be forced to shield
The best way (and with politicians sometimes the only way) to know whether people are aware they’ve made a mistake…
The turf
It was to have been, if not a glorious return, at least an encouraging one. On the Stewards’ Cup day…
Bridge
Stuart Wheeler was a true original. I was lucky enough to be a friend (we met playing bridge), and will…
Crossword 2469: Breadth
Unclued lights are anagrams of Shakespearean characters. These lights are defined by surplus words in eight clues. Across 1 Recreational…
Puzzle No. 616
Black to play. Studer–Naiditsch, Biel, July 2020. White intends to meet 1…Bxb5 with 2 Bxe7 Qxe7 3 Qxb5, with an…
The Spectator’s Notes
Juan Carlos, ex-King of Spain, behaved foolishly in relation to money and sex, and so his decision to leave Spain…
To 2466: Gender bender
The author was GEORGE SAND (19/26), whose original name was AMANTINE LUCILE AURORE DUPIN (25/40/5/16). The perimetric works are INDIANA,…
Short story
In Competition No. 3160 you were invited to supply a short story whose opening sentence is ‘I have no idea…
