Shorten surfs the Orlando wave
Surf’s up and Bill Shorten is taking off on a pink set he hopes will carry Labor back into government…
The misery of black tie
Men don’t look good in black tie. They might think that they look like Sean Connery in Dr No, but…
Memorable Mamedyarov
Local hero Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan by virtue of three consecutive victories at the…
No. 214
Black to play. This is from Caruana-Mamedyarov, Gashimov Memorial Play-off 2016. Black played 1 … Kg8 here, missing a clever…
Lovelier than a tree
In Competition No. 2953 you were invited to supply a sonnet that has the name of a tree hidden in…
Your problems solved
Q. A friend’s daughter is marrying soon. She and her husband-to-be, both art-lovers, have dispensed with a wedding list, instead…
West End churls
Cafe Monico, as if named by an illiterate playboy, is on Shaftesbury Avenue between The Curious Incident of the Dog…
High life
I always thought the Freuds a pretty sordid bunch, and after the latest revelations it seems I wasn’t far off.…
Long life
One of my first outings while recovering from a little stroke has been to the New London Theatre in Drury…
Long life
One of my first outings while recovering from a little stroke has been to the New London Theatre in Drury…
Low life
Before dashing out of the door and driving to Nice airport, I gave my eyebrows a quick trim with the…
Low life
Before dashing out of the door and driving to Nice airport, I gave my eyebrows a quick trim with the…
Eight hard words
I was humiliated in trying to make out the meaning of eight hard words. See how you do: claustration, edulcoration,…
Real life
The cottage in Surrey has fallen through, for the time being at least. Maybe I am going to be a…
On the money
Forced to depart Ascot earlier than usual to fulfil a cruise lecture booking on the fjords, I hadn’t reckoned with…
On the money
Forced to depart Ascot earlier than usual to fulfil a cruise lecture booking on the fjords, I hadn’t reckoned with…
Cicero’s Brexit moment
If Remain has won, for all the political and financial flurries, it will be business as usual for us plebs.…
Barometer
Big game hunt Wales beat Russia 3–0 to finish above England in their group at the European Football Championships. Which…
Diary
It was a nice touch that MPs sat in each other’s seats in the Commons during the tributes to Jo…
Who is this again?
From ‘English or British?’, The Spectator, 25 June 1916: We wish that this question of ‘England’ or ‘Britain’ could be settled satisfactorily,…
Letters
European identity Sir: Alexander Chancellor (Long life, 18 June) echoes the widely accepted view of the European Union as a ‘bulwark…
Portrait of the week
Home One week before the United Kingdom voted in a referendum on membership of the European Union, Jo Cox, a…
Show business
Sport has never held much appeal for me, so I rarely venture into stadiums. But I do appreciate their peculiar…
Home alone
The Secret Life of Pets is the latest animation from Illumination Entertainment, which also brought us Minions and Despicable Me,…
