Diary
Polite, well-heeled New Hampshire is the last place you’d expect to see a voodoo doll. But there it was, pointed…
Bridge
My ten-year-old football-loving son thought I was making some silly joke when I told him last weekend that I was…
no. 433
Black to play. This position is from Nakamura-Carlsen, chess.com Blitz Final 2016. The position looks quiet but after Black’s next…
2285: Characterful
Unclued lights are three groups of three words of a kind, each group relating differently to a theme word. This…
From Bordeaux to Nato
An aeon ago, when I was first invited to the odd City lunch, there was a standard formula: G&T, white,…
In praise of hurt feelings
In the keynote address at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival in September, the novelist Lionel Shriver took aim at some of…
November Wine Club I
Start your festive stockpiling right here, right now. Why wait until the week before Christmas to buy Berrys’ scrumptious own…
Post-election discussion
After the American people have voted, what next for the US and the rest of the world? Join Sir Christopher…
Christmas cartoon offer
Purchase a Spectator cartoon now to receive free framing in time for Christmas. Enter FRAME16 at checkout for your free…
Festive Wine lunch II
Owing to overwhelming demand our business editor, Martin Vander Weyer, and our drinks editor, Jonathan Ray, will be hosting a…
Private view
The Spectator invites you to a private breakfast view of Abstract Expressionism at the Royal Academy of Arts on 26…
Winemaker’s dinner
Join us for a Spectator dinner featuring the wines of Armand de Brignac, a much-talked-about champagne house. Emilien Boutillat will…
Oh, those wide-eyed Buzzfeed kidz
It must be a quiet news day. Buzzfeed’s Mark di Stefano posted a reheated story this morning, casting a close…
Mike Baird: beyond satire
On September 29, after the South Australia’s electrical power collapsed, I wrote satirically of a fantasy New South Wales premier…
Hazelwood closure: higher costs and lower reliability
A little over two decades ago, as the deputy secretary responsible for Victoria’s energy policy, I accompanied the then Coalition…
We put 1,000 people out of a job today – and it’s only the beginning
Close to 1,000 workers will lose their jobs following the announcement of the closure of the Hazelwood power station in…
Free speech and the boss: who wins?
When the internet first began in early 90s one of its defining characteristics was anonymity. People created Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL accounts with…
Notes on California
The mood in California was apologetic. Most people we met seemed embarrassed that their country’s dirty laundry was being aired…
no. 433
Black to play. This position is from Nakamura-Carlsen, chess.com Blitz Final 2016. The position looks quiet but after Black’s next…
Ode worthy
In Competition No. 2972 you were invited to supply an ode on a Grayson Perry urn. Frank McDonald wasn’t keen:…
Dear Mary
Q. Some elderly friends of mine love to entertain in their London club on their visits, but a problem arises…
From Bordeaux to Nato
An aeon ago, when I was first invited to the odd City lunch, there was a standard formula: G&T, white,…
A passage to India
When a Prime Minister flies off abroad with a few business-leaders it is seldom worthy of comment. Such trade missions…
High life
Sixty years ago this week all hell broke loose: Soviet tanks rumbled into Budapest and put down a nationalist uprising…
