Remarkable and imaginative: Fitzwilliam Museum’s The Art of Food reviewed
Eating makes us anxious. This is a feature of contemporary life: a huge amount of attention is devoted to how…
Handsome and revivable but I wasn’t moved: Royal Opera’s Death in Venice reviewed
Premièred within two years of each other, Luchino Visconti’s film and Benjamin Britten’s opera Death in Venice both take Thomas…
Rap that feels like a sociology lecture: Loyle Carner at Alexandra Palace reviewed
A few years ago, I asked the young American soul singer Leon Bridges — a latter-day Sam Cooke, with the…
Wildly entertaining Pope-off: The Two Popes reviewed
The Two Popes stars Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce — that’s two reasons to buy a ticket, right there —…
Prince Andrew and me
No use piling on where Prince Andrew is concerned. It’s a sorry business, and he’s not among the brightest either.…
When Brexiter meets Catalexiter
After the hostel breakfast, I stood on the tropical grass lawn smoking the first fag of the day and mulled…
I’ve finally found out the truth about my horse-riding nemesis
She was a trade union activist, she told me. She wanted a second referendum. Well, they all do. I’m starting…
Bridge
Nothing is ever routine or boring when Alex Hydes is at the table. One of England’s best players, he’s a…
A good year for Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen is the star attraction at this year’s London Chess Classic. The festival, now in its 11th edition, runs…
no. 582
Black to play. Zelcic–Melkumyan, Tournament of Peace, November 2019. Melkumyan enjoys a big endgame advantage, and he found a cute…
What’s in a name?
In Competition No. 3126 you were invited to rearrange the letters of the names of poets (e.g. Basho: ‘has B.O.’)…
2436: The Devil’s Own
The unclued lights, including one of two words, comprise two adjectives and six nouns. All share a common origin and…
to 2433: House and garden
The painters were Millais (suggested by BOXING MATCH/SLOTHS: 1A/9D), Constable (GYP/FIRM: 7A/35), Gainsborough (EARNS/BROOKLYN: 29/24) and Landseer (NATION/SOOTHSAYER: 30/19). …
Panto should be about escapism, not saving the planet
If you were hoping to escape the bilge that’s been pumped out by supposedly neutral organs of the state during…
Why Ben Stokes should win Sports Personality of the Year
Oh those lazy, hazy, Stokesy days of summer: how long ago they seem now. When England won the cricket World…
Dear Mary: How do I stop getting lumbered with the washing up on weekends away?
Q. A friend, who is very careful with his money, occasionally invites a group of six to eight out to…
Nauseating, but I like the garlic bread: Legoland Windsor reviewed
The theme music to Legoland in Berkshire is the theme music to The Exorcist. It appears from speakers hidden in…
Where did ‘decuman’ come from?
‘What made you chase that hare?’ asked my husband with rare geniality. John Ruskin was to blame. He asked James…
Why ‘progressives’ are going nowhere
As the Labor Party, following its unexpected loss in the recent federal election, is forced to question the progressive worldview…
Trump, impeachment and the media
Many of us living in the Westminster parliamentary part of the democratic world don’t have much grasp of what the…
Endangered species
Not long ago, visiting the hospital unit of a local rest home, I listened to a gathering of those too…
The Memory Pool
‘Tis the season to be planning your holiday reading. I take inspiration from the marvellous bookshop in the beautiful lobby…
Hydrogen’s all hot air
Faced with evidence that the Paris Agreement on limiting emissions is being ignored, including news that China is building or…
Haunted by the miserable ghost
I still think back to that night in mid-May this year: scrutineering in some far-flung warehouse in suburban Melbourne, running…
