Bellum sociorum
The internecine but friendly annual rivalry between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, generously hosted last month by the Chess Circle…
No. 402
Black to play. This is from Pichot-Khismatullin, Moscow 2016. What was Black’s killing blow? Answers to me at The Spectator…
Short story
In Competition No. 2941 you were invited to supply a short story entitled ‘Diary of a Superfluous Man’. Turgenev’s Tchulkaturin;…
2254: Ecofriendly
Answers to clues in italics must become 15 (hyphened) to create grid entries. Definitions of these entries are supplied by…
To 2251: Animal track
WILD HORSES, the title of a track on STICKY FINGERS (1D) by the ROLLING STONES (12), defines the other unclued…
Why I’m uneasy about academies for all
This is the use of socialist means to achieve Conservative ends in schools
Reasons to be cheerful, parts one, two, three…
Never let anyone tell you that the T20 World Championship isn’t cricket at its finest
Your problems solved
Plus: I can’t stand be in the same county as my ex-wife, so what should I do when my daughters get married?
Send in the Alsatians
If there is another restaurant-homage to Strasbourg in north London, I have yet to find it
Surplus, not surprises
Unless the Senate does something spectacular – and God knows it likes to make a spectacle of itself – the…
Brown study
A new authoritarianism has descended. There now seems to be a list of official beliefs we are allowed to hold…
Australian notes
The New Atheists – clever, uncompromising, polite – seized the initiative only a few years ago, at least in publishing.…
Exclusive: Fraser’s regret
Private notes confirm Malcolm Fraser’s anguish over condemning his Prime Minister to the scrap heap
Consider this
Unrelenting school lobby ‘Needs based [school] funding is used as a proxy for arguments for more funding.’ Indeed it…
New kid’s diary
One of the advantages of filling a casual vacancy in the Senate is the short lead time between being chosen…
Malcolm Turnbull, chameleon
The Prime Minister offers a glimpse of conservative leanings, but are those his true colours?
PWC OR PC?
PwC should just be done with it – and change their acronym to ‘PC’. Their ‘report’ into the cost of…
Simon Collins
Crosses may have huge symbolic significance for Christians but the physical reality of crucifixion is something most of us only…
Culture buff
A glamorous program for the special Brisbane Baroque will transport music lovers straight to a baroque heaven. From April 8…
Florence
Once, it seems, Sandro Botticelli played a trick on a neighbour. Next door was a weaver who possessed eight looms.…
