Life
Spectator competition winners: presidential mnemonics
In Competition No. 3227, you were invited to provide verses to help children remember the sequence of the last eight…
Mar del Plata
Alireza Firouzja produced a momentous performance for France at the European Team Championships, held in Slovenia last month. The 18-year-old,…
The Battle for Britain | 4 December 2021
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My battle of the bulb
The streetlighting engineer walked up and down outside my house trying to work out who was right: me, or my…
Why punish a scientist for defending science?
As a defender of free speech, I sometimes feel like a man falling through a collapsing building. Just when you…
French kissing with the French
Every year Vernon celebrates the gathering in and pressing of his olive harvest by inviting friends to a ceremony at…
After a lifetime in nightclubs, now I party at home
New York It’s party time in the Bagel, and it’s about time, too. Good restaurants and elegant nightclubs are…
No. 682
Black to play. Plat-Esipenko, European Team Championship, 2021. The 19-year-old Russian playing Black found a way to force mate in…
The six ways to pronounce ‘Omicron’
‘There once was a curate of Kew, / Who kept a young cat in a pew,’ began my husband when…
Why you shouldn’t always ‘follow the science’
Fairly early in the pandemic it was widely accepted in scientific circles that the likelihood of outdoor transmission of Covid…
Raising a glass to Grey Gowrie
A group of us had gathered together to raise a glass, tell stories, to laugh and to mourn. It was…
Dear Mary: How can I stop friends laughing at me for learning another language?
Q. We have moved into a terraced house in a seaside town. Our joy is confined, however, by the fact…
2532: Patchy? - solution
The unclued lights are TV detectives and their PATCH: 10/8, 13/5D, 15/39, 26/41, 36/33. First prize Emma Corke, Abinger Hammer,…
2535: Triplets
The unclued lights, all nouns or verb forms (one is a hyphened plural), include a common feature different in all…
Aussie Life
Koalas & babies When Covid first hit the news nearly two years ago the Save the Children Fund ran an…
Aussie Language
The hot political word of the moment has to be faction. In Victoria the anti-corruption body, IBAC, is currently investigating…
Dear Mary: how can I get out of a Christmas party?
Q. I belong to a fairly intimate private club which is the one reliable oasis of calm and civility that…
The Battle for Britain | 27 November 2021
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I’ve become a social pariah – just for having children
When Caroline and I got married in 2001, having four kids was not only fashionable, it was the socially responsible…
A small victory in a bad year: José Pizarro at the RA reviewed
Piccadilly is losing its patina of dirt, its cadaverous character. It is overpriced and over-renovated,a meeting place for luxury goods.…
The Kushner conundrum
Gstaad I have two special girlfriends, Lynne and Fiona, the ladies who guard The Spectator’s entrance against the outraged #MeToo…
Bridge | 27 November 2021
Succumbing to your emotions at the bridge table can be fatal. Whatever you’re feeling, get a grip! Easier said than…
A feast of feelgood emotion
Ascot’s image is all champagne and fascinators, high society and high rollers. Said Art Buchwald: ‘Ascot is so exclusive that…
2534: Off-pitch
Eight unclued lights (four of two words) are of a kind. Across 1 False prophet faces interjection, perhaps (12,…
Poor Ole wasn’t cut out for Man U
Manchester United have ended up with a temporary coach before they look for an interim manager. Haven’t we heard that…
