2476: Playtime solution
The unclued lights form pairs of famous soloists and the instruments they play; 1A/19, 5/34, 23/8, 31/39, 43/16A. First prize…
Portrait of the week: Boris’s wind power pledge, Trump catches Covid and James Bond kills Cineworld
Home Coronavirus was on the increase. At the beginning of the week, Sunday 4 October, total deaths (within 28 days…
Now the Tories must make it their mission to repair the country
The centrepiece of Boris Johnson’s speech to Tory party conference this year was his Damascene conversion to the merits of…
2475: Poem VI - solution
The poem was The Brook by Alfred Tennyson. The words were HERN (8A), LINGER (20), BRIMMING (32A), FLOW (40), TROUT…
What happens when a US president dies?
Vice squad Donald Trump catching Covid-19 has concentrated minds on what happens if a US president dies in office. Normally,…
Letters: The sorry state of BBC sport
Misplaced Trust Sir: Charles Moore is as ever bang on target (The Spectator’s Notes, 26 September). National Trust members have…
Portrait of the week: Curfew street parties, Trump’s taxes and a bone-eating vulture
Home More than a quarter of the population of the United Kingdom (three-fifths of the Welsh, a third of the…
Who started America’s presidential debates?
Word for word US presidential debates are often traced back to the first televised debate, between Richard Nixon and John…
Letters: Lessons for Boris from the classroom
Lessons for the government Sir: James Forsyth suggests that the Prime Minister wishes to avoid sounding as if he is…
The lockdown battle of Marseilles is a warning for Boris
From the vantage point of Downing Street, Boris Johnson may feel reassured that the further measures against Covid-19 he imposed…
2474: Love Me Do solution
In George Orwell’s 1984 WINSTON SMITH (31/3) worked for the MINISTRY of TRUTH (43/21). The MINISTRY of LOVE (43/34) got…
The first 2020 presidential debate — live blog
7:25 p.m. ET — Matt McDonald: Hello and welcome to The Spectator’s live blog for tonight’s tête-à-tête between President Donald Trump…
Whose bright idea was the circuit-breaker?
It’s electrifying! Who invented the circuit-breaker? Thomas Edison patented it in 1879, realising what damage could be caused to electrical…
Letters: It’s too late for Boris
Disastrous decisions Sir: In his otherwise excellent analysis of Boris Johnson’s premiership (‘The missing leader’, 19 September), Fraser Nelson suggests…
2473: May solution
The unclued lights, along with Peter MAY in the title, are England cricket captains. First prize Harry Hyman, Streatley, West…
Iran hasn’t earned the right to bear arms
Hard though it is to remember now, 2020 began with a very different dark cloud on the horizon. For a…
Portrait of the week: New Covid restrictions, a Supreme Court vacancy and an earthquake in Leighton Buzzard
Home Pubs and restaurants would have to close at ten o’clock, under new coronavirus restrictions announced by Boris Johnson, the…
Who will have more informants: the Stasi or Covid marshals?
Information overload The government’s plan to put ‘Covid wardens’ on the streets to enforce the new rule against more than…
Letters: In defence of seagulls
China’s covered Sir: If Charles Moore had contacted the BBC, rather than conducting a fruitless Google search, we would have…
2472: All-inclusive solution
The perimeter quotation is from Mahler. Remaining unclued lights were names of symphonies: 12A Mahler / Schubert; 26A Haydn; 39A…
Portrait of the week: new laws, illegal mingling and bungled tests
Home At one minute past midnight on Monday, new laws came into force prohibiting households in England increasing their numbers…
Labour’s identity crisis
On the face of it, there could scarcely be better conditions for a revival of the Labour party. Even before…
Letters: Why does No.10 seem so oblivious to the threat of Scottish independence?
Referendum risk Sir: James Forsyth’s excellent analysis (‘To save the Union, negotiate independence’, 5 September) has one flaw: it is…
Ministers need to defy the instinct to lockdown
One of the many ironies of the past few months is that young people, while least affected by the virus,…
Portrait of the week: banned gatherings, stopped presses, and Frogmore’s refurbishment
Home Gatherings of more than six people from more than one household were made a crime in England from 14…
