Life
Why I’m going to start speaking in acronyms
‘I’ve got COPD,’ said a friend of mine, not elaborating at all as I stared at him waiting for him…
Bridge | 11 September 2021
The end to the European Championships Qualifier — from an English perspective — was one of the most dramatic ever…
Dear Mary: How should my granddaughter deal with her date’s body odour?
Q. My granddaughter Jane has been asked on a date to the Wolseley by George (both pseudonyms). Although she finds…
The stories that are too good to check
Last weekend, Rolling Stone ran a story about an interview an emergency room doctor had given to a local news…
Spain vs Italy: who would win the wine Test?
In London, the weather is a gentle sashaying mockery. An Indian summer reminds us of the sullen apology of summer…
What does Peter Quennell have to do with fish?
When Peter Quennell was sent down from Oxford for consorting with a woman called Cara (by Evelyn Waugh’s account), he…
The folly of American imperialism
Gstaad Mercedes Benz heir Mick Flick and I have been friends for more than half a century. We both married…
Spectator competition winners: In memoriam Geronimo the alpaca
In Competition No. 3215, you were -invited to supply a poem about Geronimo the alpaca. The camelid’s fate was finally…
2520: 5 4 3 2 1 - solution
The unclued lights are the names of the six principal presenters of COUNTDOWN (hence 5 4 3 2 1 as…
2523: Monstrous regiment
The unclued Across lights are of a kind when preceded by one word, as are the unclued Down lights (one…
Puzzle no. 670
White to play. Harvey–Roberson, Northumbria Masters 2021. Black’s last move, 37…Kf7-e7 looked plausible, but walked into a clever tactic. What…
French connection: how to make cherry clafoutis
My daydreams at the moment follow a predictable theme. I am on holiday somewhere balmy, with a carafe of cold…
Titles bonanza
At the beginning of August, seeing his outstanding performance at the Fide World Cup in Sochi, I wrote that Ravi…
Aussie Life
As a child in Budapest, I heard my grandfather tell the family around the Sunday lunch table to beware the…
Aussie Language
You’ve often come across the charge that ABC news and current affairs programs are being made by ‘activists’ rather than…
My literary heroes have led me astray
Gstaad Good manners aside, what I miss nowadays is a new, intelligent, finely acted movie. Never have I seen…
The importance of second chances
A Sandown Saturday proved the perfect send-off for 12 raceless days on the otherwise wonderful Isle of Mull. A Frankie…
Was I the picture of evil incarnate?
Not long after Catriona and I first met, her husband painted my head and shoulders portrait in oils as I…
Bridge | 4 September 2021
It’s not often that bridge makes headlines, but last week something extraordinary happened. At the online European Qualifier for the…
You need to be a millionaire to move to Wales
We began searching for the farm of our dreams in Wales as we planned our escape from Surrey. The problem…
The Battle for Britain | 04 September 2021
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Why Gove’s night on the dance floor is good news
I was pleased to see pictures of Michael Gove at a nightclub in Aberdeen last weekend. According to press reports,…
The absurdity of tennis players’ toilet breaks
Forgive the personal question, but how long does it take you to, you know, go to the gents, ladies, non-binary?…
Dear Mary: How do we get our friends to pay for the carpet they ruined?
Q. We have had some rather rich Argentines to stay. No one was able to come in to help before…
Scarface’s lair with nibbles: Louie reviewed
A French creole restaurant rises in the sullen ruins of London. It is called Louie, for French king or trumpeter,…
