Paul stories
An excellent recent article by Dominic Lawson in Standpoint magazine reminded me of the greatness of Paul Keres. The Estonian…
No. 391
White to play. This is from Fischer-Benko, US Championship, New York 1963. The obvious 1 e5 is successfully parried by 1…
Christmas crossword: The winners
The first prize of £100, three prizes of £25 and six further prizes of the Chambers Dictionary of Great Quotations (2015)…
Macaronic
In Competition No. 2930 you were invited to submit up to 16 lines of macaronic verse. A dictionary of poetic…
Your problems solved
Q. What can be done when more people than you can cater for accept an invitation? We are giving a…
The Battle of Brussels
My friends divide into three groups. There are those who are determined to anticipate Lent. There is a larger number…
Pickets of privilege
Treatment for that once-virulent condition, the British disease of strikes, has largely been successful. The number of working days lost…
High life
Gstaad War and Peace has been in the news lately, so what was it that Leo wrote about all happy…
Long life
Before the start of Aladdin in Milton Keynes this week a promotional video showed Brian Blessed in oriental costume bellowing…
Long life
Before the start of Aladdin in Milton Keynes this week a promotional video showed Brian Blessed in oriental costume bellowing…
Low life
I was at home in Devon for the month of December. My sister was also there and her tyrannical, wildly…
Low life
I was at home in Devon for the month of December. My sister was also there and her tyrannical, wildly…
Waybread
‘Did you say “fabric”?’ asked my husband when I was telling him about words that have just been added to…
Real life
All disputes are now a clash of rights in which both sides compete to see who has the greatest claim…
Tell the truth about benefit claimants and the left shuts you down
Next month sees the release of Trumbo, a biopic about Dalton Trumbo, the screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood…
Tell the truth about benefit claimants and the left shuts you down
Next month sees the release of Trumbo, a biopic about Dalton Trumbo, the screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood…
Q: What is a good school? A: One that other people like
A few months ago I received a call from someone running a small private school near New York. They believed…
Wild life
On New Year’s Day I took the family out for an evening walk on the ranch. Along the verges, lush…
The mercenaries of IS and ancient Greece
Last week we read that Isis was crumbling, but still a force to be reckoned with. That is true, but…
Diary
Whatever you do, don’t allow your six-year-old to be caught short at Crewkerne station. With the rain pouring and the…
Compelling evidence
From ‘The Position of the Government’, The Spectator, 15 January 1916: Any man who knew the nature of Englishmen, or…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that, on Britain’s place in the European Union, ‘what I would like to…
Away with the angels?
I remember the shock, like a jolt of static electricity. One day, between taking my degree and beginning my first…
Endurance test
The Revenant is a survival-against-the-odds film that so puts Leonardo DiCaprio through it I bet he was thinking, ‘I wish…
