Bridge
Simon Cochemé, whose witty column appears monthly in English Bridge magazine, celebrated his 70th birthday with a knees-up and duplicate…
London classic
The annual London Classic is now underway at Olympia. Understandably Magnus Carlsen, after his exertions in New York, is not…
Chess puzzle
Black to play. This position is from Topalov-Nakamura, St Louis 2014. Black seems to be in big trouble, but how…
Festive features
99 (five words) and 20 (four words), whose 37 were 61 (two words) and 35D (two words), are seasonal 53…
The answers
Say so 1. Theresa May 2. David Cameron (overheard on air, speaking to the Queen) 3. Jeremy Corbyn 4. Stephen…
Puzzles from GCHQ
Solving serious puzzles — to catch criminals and thwart terrorist plots — is what the men and women who work…
Christmas Quiz
Say so In 2016, who said: 1. ‘Brexit means Brexit.’ 2. ‘We’ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt…
Let’s twist
In Competition No. 2977 you were invited to submit a Christmas carol with a topical twist. ‘In the bleak midwinter’…
to 2287: Quarry
Unclued lights are types of LIMESTONE. First prize Frances Whitehead, Harrogate, North YorksRunners-up Margaret Almond, Sholing, Hants; P.D.H. Riddell, London…
Christmas diary
I couldn’t ask for a present this Christmas. First, what’s left for a conservative to wish for after this astonishing…
Celebrity Dear Mary
From Rt Hon Gisela Stuart MP Q. I keep getting into arguments with people about what being a Labour MP…
Long life
While American conservatives, including Donald Trump and the Cuban exiles in Florida, whooped with joy at the news of the…
Ten questions of sport
1. Can anyone explain why England wore dark blue, not white, for the autumn international against Argentina, just as they…
Wild life
Kenya I realised I had fallen from grace when we were dropped from the Queen’s birthday party guest list at…
Australian notes
In her defence of her wretched Human Rights Commission, Gillian Triggs boasted that the Commission has been processing some 22,000…
O come, let us adore him
On 27 July 1613 a man prostrated himself in the church of San Pedro Mártir in Toledo, having first made…
Diary
Novelists can’t merely tell cracking tales. We’re supposed to save the world. At the University of Kent, a student implored…
Australian letters
Gay progressives Sir: I am a great admirer of your magazine. It brings some balance into the political debate. I…
Letters
Taking precedent Sir: In his excellent piece on the Supreme Court Article 50 ruling (‘Brexit in the balance’, 3 December),…
Portrait of the year
January The cost of an annual season ticket from Cheltenham to London rose to £9,800. Oil fell below $30 a…
Faith in the trenches
From a letter published under the heading ‘The religion of the ordinary soldier’, The Spectator, 23 December 1916: During a discharge…
Power and the people
When The Spectator was founded 188 years ago, it became part of what would now be described as a populist…
The one thing that really gets better with age
On the London Underground last week the carriage was crowded. No seat. No problem. I’m only 67 and content to…
When the Donald met the Vlad
SpeccieLeaks presents: Transcript of private meeting between President Trump and President Putin, 14 February 2017, Andreyevsky Hall, Grand Kremlin Palace…
Christmas in South Sudan
Ten days before Christmas 2013 a civil war started in the new nation of South Sudan. The events leading up…
