Who came up with ‘lockdown’?
The start of lockdown The earliest known use of ‘lockdown’ in its current sense was in a 1973 story in…
Books of the year, chosen by our regular reviewers
Reviewers choose the books they have most enjoyed in 2020 – and a few that have disappointed them
2478: Namesakes - solution
The lyrics of the perimetric I’M POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN and FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN were written by Sammy Lerner,…
Where is there water in the solar system?
The Moon under water Nasa scientists using spectrometers claim to have found good evidence of water on the surface of…
Portrait of the week: Shopping bans in Wales, soft drinks in Scotland and stowaways at sea
Home Wales, entering a 17-day ‘firebreak’, closed most shops by law but then tried to stop supermarkets selling ‘non-essential’ items…
A Biden victory would be no great boon for Britain
It is remarkably uncommon for a US president to fail to be re-elected. It has happened just twice in the…
Letters: How Nicola Sturgeon outdoes Boris
Ask the English Sir: Toby Young rightly criticises the juvenile posturing of the devolved governments of the Union over Covid-19…
Why is the Republican party symbol an elephant and the Democratic symbol a donkey?
Political animals Why is the Republican party symbol an elephant and the Democratic symbol a donkey? Both go back to…
2477: Rendezvous - solution
The unclued lights take an extra letter to make BRAMBLING (1A), BUDGIE (12A), STARLING (14A), REDSTART (23A), BRANCHER (27A), TURACO…
How many school teachers are male?
Special Offa A regulation passed by the Welsh government to prevent people travelling from Covid hotspots in England has brought…
We deserve to know what Sage is saying
At the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis it was easy to see why the Prime Minister was so keen to…
Portrait of the week: A Manchester stand-off, a Presidential showdown and a Brexit culture clash
Home After ten days spent trying to persuade Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, to accede to the city…
Letters: why Scots want independence
State of the Union Sir: Writing in a week that an opinion poll shows 58 per cent support for independence…
The final 2020 presidential debate — live blog
8:30 p.m. ET — Matt McDonald: Hello and welcome to The Spectator’s live blog for the second and final debate between…
Portrait of the week: new alerts, birthday honours and fires on Kilimanjaro
Home ‘The weeks and months ahead will continue to be difficult and will test the mettle of this country,’ Boris…
Mind the gap: how wide is the North-South divide?
Red light, green light The three tiers of Covid restrictions have been described as a ‘traffic light’ system. — The…
Britain is a successful melting pot – and the government should say so
When the Black Lives Matter protests struck London in the same week that Public Health England published a report into…
Letters: what unites the two sides of the mask debate
Wind worries Sir: You are right to side with the 2013 version of Boris Johnson, when he claimed that wind…
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…
