The softer side of Hemingway
I didn’t like it, and then I did like it. But a writer’s job is to tell the truth, as…
What my mother’s death means for Brexit
Considerate to the last, she had her order of service arranged in her mind. I sat close with my notebook.…
The NHS clearly wishes I would just naff off
The receptionist fixed me with a withering stare. I had just filled out a repeat prescription form and politely inquired…
The true saviours of African wildlife
Laikipia, Kenya A cheetah perched in the front seat of your gold-plated Lamborghini. Stick that on Instagram in Saudi…
Bridge
I’ve recently been reading Daphne du Maurier’s novel Rebecca to my children, and while it’s every bit as enjoyable as…
Holy Grail
Gawain Jones has fought his way to the no. 1 position on the UK ranking list by a series of recent…
no. 556
Black to play. This position is a variation from today’s game, Hillarp Persson-Jones, Malmo 2019. How can Black conclude the…
Life support
In Competition 3100 you were invited to pen an ode to Alexa or Siri. A recent Unesco study claimed that…
2410: Alphabetical jigsaw
Clues are presented in strict alphabetical order of their solutions. Solvers have to assign the solutions to their correct places…
to 2407: Stickmen
The unclued lights (with the pair at 37/26) are orchestral CONDUCTORS. First prize Elisabeth Johnson, Toronto, CanadaRunners-up Gareth Davies, Langstone,…
The fanatical thinking that’s on its way to British schools
For anyone who isn’t following the long march of racial self-flagellation through America’s institutions, last week’s revelations about the excesses…
Cricket’s – finally – coming home
Well, you have come a long way baby. As the whizz-bang hoopla of the cricket World Cup strides into view…
Dear Mary: I won a bet – how do I make my friend pay up?
Q. A delightful but disorganised friend has invited several of our circle for a weekend at his family’s beautiful country…
A princess of greasy spoons: Café Diana reviewed
Café Diana is a Princess Diana-themed greasy spoon in Notting Hill Gate. It is a mad place, but it is…
Just who – or what – are the men in suits?
After he invented the term young fogey (in The Spectator in 1984), the much lamented journalist Alan Watkins coined the…
GetUp!’s road to nowhere
Australia owes a debt of gratitude to GetUp!, the George Soros funded outfit with an almost missionary zeal against conservatism.…
Pride and priorities
Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, used to be thought of as the King’s Cross of Melbourne. It was the heart of…
Brown Study
A few months ago, I was cleaning up my study to see what could usefully be discarded, so that my…
Simon Collins
Like many Speccie readers I’m old enough to remember when men smoked pipes on buses and tradies whistled. I can…
The public humiliation diet
Last month, the UK’s version of Jerry Springer, The Jeremy Kyle Show, was cancelled after a guest suicided post-recording. Steve…
May finally exits, stage left
I have been on sabbatical now, living in London, since the beginning of this year. During that whole time I…
The climate conundrum
All political philosophies are rational according to their own logic. Even reprehensible and morally repugnant ideologies can appear logical if…
