Life
A magnificent malt worthy of Burns
The bleak midwinter. Actually, since I wallowed in curmudgeonly complaints about dreich days, everything has improved. Clear blue skies, pleasing…
2021 in sonnets
In Competition No. 3232, you were invited to retell a news story from the past year in sonnet form. An…
Christmas crossword 2021 - solution
The NATIVITY (89) of the ACTOR (37) HUMPHREY BOGART (47/13), the singers ANNIE LENNOX (112/12) and IAN BOSTRIDGE (4/61), the…
Dear Mary: Do I have to display my friend’s awful painting?
Q. A long-standing artist friend, whose work now commands high prices, has sent me out of the blue a present…
I got Covid (again) – is it time I got jabbed?
I got Covid a couple of weeks ago. Second time for me, which was annoying because I’d told Caroline that…
Aussie Life
I am writing this in Old South Wales, in the visitor suite of my mother’s assisted living facility. When I…
Aussie Language
In his column in the Weekend Australian just before Christmas demographer Bernard Salt expressed his fear that the Australian language…
2535: Green light! Cross!
In this pangrammatical puzzle, the unclued lights are of a kind near 21A. Ignore all accents. Across 7 Fresh…
No. 685
White to play. Maxime Lagarde-Thai Dai Van Nguyen, Reykjavik 2021. Lagarde found a brilliant finish, forcing mate in just a…
Spectator competition winners: pretentious wine writing
In Competition No. 3231, you were invited to supply an example of pretentious wine writing. Space is tight and the…
Surrey’s vegan wars
One of the village vegans gave the bacon sandwich resting on top of the recycling bin outside my house an…
The best schnitzel in London: Schnitzel Forever reviewed
It is a truism that there is never enough schnitzel (‘slice’, German); or, rather, schnitzel does not get the attention…
My ocean voyage from hell
Kenya Wondering what this year will bring, at dawn this morning I stood in the waves in front of our…
The elementary misuse of ‘alumni’
My husband is forever being sent magazines from his Oxford college inviting him to give it money. I suggest he…
2536: At rest - solution
The unclued lights (3 composers, 3 artists and 3 writers) are all buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery. The name should…
Dear Mary: How can I get my cleaner to stop complaining?
Q. My cleaner is industrious and trustworthy but she doesn’t have many people to talk to and evidently looks forward…
The unexpected brilliance of Don’t Look Up
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Don’t Look Up, the new satirical film on Netflix. It’s about a couple of…
Bridge | 15 January 2022
Why is defence so difficult? Why do I have to suffer partner’s incredulous face when I play the wrong card…
The magic of champagne
The four portraits of four siblings that Catriona had painted from their photographs over four months were framed, hung and…
Why we should study literature, not science
Gstaad Who was it who said good manners had gone the way of black and white TV? Actually it was…
The BBC is killing cricket
Full homage to the nail-biting cricketing miracle in Sydney, while bearing in mind that miracles, like lightning, rarely strike twice…
The Battle for Britain | 15 January 2022
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When travel unravels
Recently, with some regret, I declined an invitation to play chess in the Netherlands. I fancied the trip, but alas…
Kiwi life
Of the making of many books, the Bible says, ‘there is no end’. It’s starting to feel a bit like…
Backlash
‘Lashings of ginger beer?’ asked my husband when I mentioned backlash. He thought the phrase came from Enid Blyton, though…
