Life
The year sport and politics became inseparable
Sport and politics have always been intertwined, but this was the year they became joined at the hip. Yorkshire racism;…
Dectet
Ten pairs of unclued lights give the names of people whose 89 was ‘50D/2A’ (six words in total). They include…
Twelve questions for Christmas
1. ‘I like the game, the money, and the fame.’ Which Twitter-loving top grandmaster said that, in response to an…
2021 Christmas quiz
Set by Christopher Howse. Illustrated by Castro
Aussie Life
The slur issued by Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe in the Chamber last week towards Hollie Hughes reaffirmed one thing, that…
Aussie Language
Nick Cater has coined what I think is a brilliant new expression the ‘laptop class’. This is his vivid and…
Spectator competition winners: Goldfinger for tots
In Competition No. 3228, you were invited to provide a well-known extract from adult literature rewritten for inclusion in an…
Puzzle | 11 December 2021
White to play and mate in 2. Composed by W.A. Shinkman, Montreal Spectator, 1880. As things stand, White has no…
Bridge | 11 December 2021
All the best people play bridge. Stephen Sondheim, who died two weeks ago, was mad about the game. In his…
A hidden side of the Somme
Noticing via this Low Life column that I had trench fever, the Western Front Association treated me to a year’s…
The culture of the weighing room needs to move with the times
In the first such case for 20 years, former rider Freddy Tylicki, paralysed and wheelchair-bound since his mount Nellie Dean…
Why I prefer to rely on natural immunity
‘Did you hear it?’ said a friend of mine, red-faced with the flush of a piece of news she couldn’t…
What do Millwall supporters and internet alt-righters have in common?
My grown-up friends don’t use based in its new slangy sense, so I asked Veronica (whom I still think of…
Carlsen’s breakthrough
Game 6 of the Carlsen–Nepomniachtchi world championship match was one for the ages. After draws in the first five games,…
Has Formula 1 ever been this exciting?
The good citizens of Stevenage would be well advised to prepare extensively for the likely open-top bus parade of their…
The Battle for Britain | 11 December 2021
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The best Greek salad I’ve ever tasted: INO Gastrobar reviewed
Soho is so gilded nowadays that even drug addicts look down on it. The wasteland without must match the wasteland…
Dear Mary: should I force dinner guests to take a lateral flow test?
Q. My mother-in-law has remarried and now lives in South America. She has a large family with nieces, grandchildren, godchildren,…
Let’s not become Scotland
The Law Commission has published a string of recommendations following its recent consultation on changes to hate-crime laws in England…
America is a nation divided
New York Imagine a European country today in which a newspaper in its most populous city launches a mendacious project…
2536: At rest
Unclued lights are three sets of three words of a kind, along with a name which connects them all (two…
2533: Monday’s Child - solution
‘From harmony, from heavenly harmony, this universal frame began’ opens JOHN DRYDEN’s Song for ST CECILIA’S DAY (22 November, a…
Aussie Life
I have reached an age where I have started to forget where I have put things, but so far they…
Aussie Language
In a recent piece in the Australian newspaper paper Terry McCrann (the doyen of economics writers — he of the…
Bridge | 4 December 2021
The 2020 European Championships were an early casualty of lockdown but hopefully 2022 will rectify the count! It’s going to…
