Life
Spectator competition winners: Nursery rhymes for the pandemic
In Competition No. 3211 you were invited to submit a nursery rhyme inspired by the pandemic. When I set this…
2519: Not so up-to-date
One clued solution can precede each unclued light (four of two words and one of three), all to be found…
2516: Such childish vocabulary - solution
The unclued lights are the nouns from the opening sentence of The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter. TAFFETA was…
The Battle for Britain | 14 August 2021
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From ferreter to animal-rights champion
I was sitting quite still at the typewriter when a plump mouse emerged from under the fridge and crossed the…
No. 666
White to play. Abdusattorov–Durarbayli, Sochi 2021. The endgame looks tricky, but White found a way to force a quick mate.…
The Olympics have become a celebration of human frailty
Coronis Embracing one’s vulnerability seems to have replaced the higher, faster, stronger ethos of the Olympics. The very frailty that…
Calculated risks
Two years ago, the brilliant young Polish player Jan-Krzysztof Duda made a baffling decision. In the second game of his…
Bridge | 14 August 2021
Most of us have lost a year and a bit, but hopefully we will get back to normal (bridgewise) fairly…
Aussie Life
The voiceover says new ABC series Ms Represented is all about Australian women in politics but really it’s all about…
Aussie Language
When Kaylee McKeown won Olympic gold her comment on worldwide television became the headline. Her sister and mum were watching…
No. 665
White to play. Adhiban–Delgado Ramirez, Sochi 2021. White has more than one good move, but Adhiban found a spectacular way…
The Fide World Cup
As I write this, the Fide World Cup is underway in Sochi, the Black Sea resort in Russia which hosted…
What would Avery Ice Age have made of the Tokyo Olympics?
Avery Brundage was known to his enemies as Avery Ice Age — and to quite a few of his friends…
2518: Make a run for it?
11 Across (three words) is a phrase suggested by the puzzle’s title explaining how to arrive at the other unclued…
Have my suits shrunk in lockdown?
I hadn’t noticed how much weight I’d put on during lockdown until I went out for a business lunch a…
The Battle for Britain | 7 August 2021
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Dear Mary: How do we tell our interior designer relative we don’t want her doing up our house?
Q. I’ve just completed a six-month paid internship for a hedge fund manager. I was mostly in his private office…
2515: Paragon - solution
The name was Margaret, whose various versions are suggested by THE SPECTATOR (1: Mag), BARN OWL (10/36: Madge), LEAD HAMMER…
Spectator competition winners: poems inspired by the phonetic alphabet
In Competition No. 3210, you were invited to provide a poem or a piece of prose containing words from the…
Bridge | 7 August 2021
To be a killer bridge player, you need to be aggressive. Many of us are hampered by timidity, especially when…
The art of losing your hair
Although fatigued to the point of catatonia, and sitting there like a 19th-century Fang funeral mask, I am glad to…
An elegy on yachting
Patmos A very long time ago I wrote in these here pages that spending a summer on the Riviera or…
Proper racing is back at last
At last proper racing is back. Through the long days of lockdown horses and jockeys have still given their all…
The lost dogs of Surrey
The woman pulled up in her flashy 4×4 which was meandering along the farm track in that way people have…
