A succession of predigested clichés: Bohemian Rhapsody reviewed
There is a moment in Bohemian Rhapsody when the screen swims with print. The reviews for Queen’s epic new single…
Requiem for New York
New York In the dark she still looks good. The mystery and magnetism linger until dawn, then you slowly…
My first world war obsession
My reactionary first world war reading jag continues. The literature is vast, but so is my capacity and fascination. I…
Bitless and scared witless: a dangerous new left-wing cult
Just when you thought there was nothing more for women of the left to nonsensically oppose, I bring you news…
The dirtiest racehorse names
Watching whip-thin jockey George Baker, just short of six feet, greeting his mounts used to make me think of the…
Bridge
Vytas and Erikas Vainikonis, father and son bridge enthusiasts, are the generous hosts of one of the best five days…
Condottieri
The recently concluded European Club Cup, held at Porto Carras in Greece, resembled late medieval Italian warfare — populated by…
no. 529
Black to play. This position is from Carlsen-Ding Liren, Porto Carras 2018. Black tried 1 … Nxg4 here but Carlsen…
Accentuate the negative
In Competition No. 3071 you were invited to supply a demotivational poem. This was your opportunity to come up…
2382: A pointed remark
Three unclued lights make up a nine-word quotation. Remaining unclued lights are of a kind. Across 1 Norway blocking…
to 2379: Shocking
The word is ‘pink’. Definitions of the eight headwords are: CARNATION (9), STAB (43), CHAFFINCH (22D), SMALL SAILING SHIP (41/1A/13),…
Science is on the side of the trans activists
Some interesting scientific research on gender differences was published last week. Two social scientists studied the preferences of 80,000 people…
John McDonnell’s right – the four-day week could work
Most people were scandalised by John McDonnell’s proposal to promote a four-day working week. But before we get incensed about…
Dear Mary: How do I stop my wife from sabotaging my anecdotes?
Q. My wife and I have been married for 50 years. The marriage is basically sound but she has recently…
Searching for God in the twilight on the Aegean Sea
My friend Jonathan Gaisman recently gave rise to a profound philosophical question concerning wine. Jonathan is formidably clever. He has…
The polite origins of the police
My husband, who fancies himself as something of a classicist, was delighted to see the Turkish investigators of the Khashoggi…
Latham’s law
I’ve found a solution to the world’s problems. We need to get David Duke to say the following words: ‘Political…
Ephialtes of Wentworth
When Ephialtes of Trachus betrayed the Spartans at Thermopylae (you remember the grotesque hunchback from The 300) his mind doubtless…
Pandering to the Wentworthies
Contrary to reports, Wentworth has not been a blue ribbon Liberal seat since the 1980s. And the seat is so…
Simon Collins
It wasn’t until the mid-1980’s that the party-pooping Ulema shut down Saudi Arabia’s cinemas. So there’s a good chance that…
All trick, no treat
The election to parliament of the ghoulish political figure of Dr Kerryn Phelps on the eve of Hallowe’en seems, alas,…
Getting away with murder, twice
The election of a so-called Independent and LGBTIQ activist as the temporary Member for Wentworth is not so much the…
Brown study
Here at the Islamic Research Bureau in Jeddah, we devote ourselves to unravelling the knottier issues of the law and…
Hit the pope where it hurts
Of all the rich, out-of-touch, globalist left-wing institutions, the Catholic Church is the most corrupt and depraved. Its primary sickness…
