Barometer
Oldies and goodies Captain Tom Moore, 99, raised more than £26 million by walking 100 laps of the garden of…
Letters
The closing of churches Sir: Stephen Hazell-Smith is quite right in writing that churches should re-open (Letters, 18 April), however…
Solution to 2451: Cretinous
Unclued lights are anagrams of the names of countries (anagram of Cretinous): UNHOARDS (1A: anagram of Honduras), ATWAIN (5: Taiwan),…
2454: 17 Across
Thirteen unclued lights are of a kind (all singular, not plural) and confirmed in Chambers. 17 across gives the puzzle’s…
Anniversary clerihews
In Competition No. 3145, to mark the 10,000th issue of The Spectator, you were invited to submit clerihews (two couplets,…
Puzzle No. 601
Black to play. Sjugirov–Carlsen, Chess24 Banter Blitz Semi Final. In this wild position, Carlsen’s next move put the result beyond…
FantasticStar beats MagzyBogues
‘I’m just completely collapsing in these games… unbelievable.’ World Champion Magnus Carlsen didn’t hide his anguish after losing a game…
Furlough
In July, in its ‘Guess the definition’ slot, next to the day’s birthdays, the Daily Mail asked its readers to…
Real problems erase fake ones
Last week, a friend quoted a two-year-old email of mine: ‘I’m starting to root for a plague or world war…
Turns of the century
Not looking great, is it? Until we all get jabbed, theatres may have to stay closed. And even the optimists…
Happy hebdomaversary
The Spectator’s 10,000th hebdomaversary (hebdomas, ‘a group of seven’: a weekly cannot have an anniversary) will surely be celebrated with…
The case for trust
Our Plan is entirely new, comprising – 1. The whole News of the Week: selected, sifted, condensed and arranged as…
Portrait of the Week
Home The number of people with the coronavirus disease Covid-19 who had died in hospitals by the beginning of the…
Lessons from the Anzacs as we navigate crisis
National crises challenge liberal democracy more than anything else. Citizens surrender civil liberties they couldn’t imagine living without in ordinary…
Half of Americans want their state to sue China for coronavirus damages
Public opinion is rapidly turning against China as and intelligence agencies have exposed the full extent of the communist state’s…
Predictable politics returns as Brexit talks stall
Although the coronavirus pandemic means that we are living in uncertain times, some things remain predictable. As is the case…
‘Trust but don’t verify’: US-China relations in the 21st century
It seems this virus is fiercely contagious but far less lethal than first supposed. The argument now is whether we…
Britain’s bid to become China’s best friend in the West is over
One consequence of this crisis is that nearly everyone in the Tory party has become a China hawk. Tomorrow sees…
Why are people taking Trump’s disinfectant comments seriously?
Every time you think Donald Trump has lost his talent for making people’s heads explode, he somehow excels himself. His…
If austerity is off the table, how do we pay for Covid-19 costs?
What is the true cost of Covid-19? No one knows – yet. But it’s not going to be cheap. The…
Easter diary
Chocolate eggs still. Tick. Roast dinner still. Tick. Church still. Tick. But as if in a strange, distorting dream. This…
