Short shrift
On 10 May, Britain’s most famous grandmaster, Nigel Short, chose the pages of the Times to announce his surprise candidacy…
no. 507
White to play. This position is from Short-Muir, Gibraltar Masters 2004. How did Short bring his kingside attack to a…
A fine bromance
In Competition No. 3049 you were invited to submit a poem about a bromance. Pairings including Friedrich and Karl,…
2360: Diplomatic
One unclued light is the title (two words) of a work by a person whose name is formed by two…
to 2357: Half a Drum
Unclued lights were five fictional TOMs and their authors: JONES (14A) and FIELDING (8D), SAWYER (16A) and TWAIN (35A), BROWN (41A)…
The BBC makes Jeremy Thorpe’s downfall a very enjoyable scandal
As a conservative, I wasn’t sure what to make of the news that the BBC was adapting A Very English…
London Bridge station: Netwór Krail’s £1 billion experiential artwork
In the shadow of the Shard, not far from Borough Market, is a £1 billion public artwork, an allegorical sculpture…
Dear Mary: As best man, can I seduce the groom’s sister?
Q. We often take friends to what my husband calls a ‘poncey’ pub which has won numerous awards and where…
It’s not so easy to turn wine into words
Words, words, words. Over a couple of sessions, we drank a selection of serious wines, starting with a Cantemerle ’05.…
Similar to (as opposed to like, as with, such as)
I’m often annoyed by like being misused in different ways. (In place of as, for example: ‘Like I expected, he was…
Emma Pearson
A remarkable achievement; since its inception in 2002, Pinchgut Opera has staged 20 rarely performed operas, many for the first…
Brown study
Here at the United Nations Human Rights Council, we pride ourselves on getting the job done in double-quick time. But…
Over-rating Marx
Was Karl Max over-rated as a thinker? It was hard not to ask that (provocative) question as I read the…
SOS for SGMs
If you were trapped at an upper window of a burning building and a fireman appeared at the top of…
Hangers-on
The former NSW Premier Neville Wran had an interesting take on the true meaning of working class culture. Having grown…
Amnesty, morally corrupted?
When Amnesty International concerned itself with campaigning on behalf of individual and identifiable political prisoners of regimes of whatever political…
Simon Collins
Has Flipper finally flipped? After centuries of challenging dogs for the Mans’ Best Friend guernsey, an incident in New Zealand…
Bloodshed in Gaza: who’s to blame?
In the seventy years since the rebirth of the Jewish state, the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem is…
Diversity notes
Abstractionitis revisited In its recently published survey, Leading for Change: A Blueprint for Cultural Diversity and Inclusive Leadership Revisited, the…
Buffoons, donkeys and little men
Good news for Australia in Beijing this week, if a mild setback for Kiwis. In the twelve months to February…
Warrior prince weds a Hollywood princess
The happy marriage between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will have formidable and long-lasting consequences. Australians took the occasion to…
Congratulations Julie, Malcolm
So it seems that somebody finally picked up that pristine copy of The Spectator Australia that is usually left untouched…
Sally McManus finds her inner capitalist
It would probably be hard-pressed to think of anyone you know who voluntarily paid more taxes than they’re required. And…
An unprecedented attack on faith and freedom defeated
The advancement of religion has been recognised as a charitable purpose in the common law since at least 1601. Australian…
