Life
Spectator competition winners: Mrs Malaprop turns tour guide
In Competition No. 3212 you were invited to provide a spiel that a well-known character from the field of fact…
The Battle for Britain | 21 August 2021
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2517: Final line-up - solution
The unclued lights are the eleven England footballers who LINED UP at the kick-off of the Euro FINAL on 11…
The Orwell Foundation has let George Orwell down
George Orwell would not have been surprised by the brouhaha surrounding Kate Clanchy. Two years ago, Clanchy published Some Kids…
‘Lifeless and necrotic’: Native at Browns is an ode to joylessness
Browns is a famous fashion boutique in deepest Mayfair. It occupies a curved cream townhouse on Brook Street, which seems…
Dear Mary: how do I stop my fat friends breaking my chairs?
Q. We have two very longstanding and generous-hearted (female) friends. Both have always been overweight, but since Covid they have…
Can cricket go on like this?
‘Fifty years from now Britain will still be the country of long shadows on county grounds, warm beer, invincible green…
Aleatory, fate and a rolling of the dice
‘What do they mean, “Guess”?’ asked my husband, staring suspiciously at a page of the Daily Mail that had been…
Aussie Life
At time of writing, Australia is sixth on the Tokyo medal ladder and with only one day of competition left…
Aussie Language
In December the various dictionaries will announce their choice for the Word of the Year title. For a while I…
Dear Mary: How do I stop my husband repeating himself?
Q. A very old friend has rented a holiday house and invited my husband and me to stay. The property…
I took my wife to a Millwall match – and it didn’t go well
The fighting started just as Caroline turned right on to the Uxbridge Road after emerging from QPR’s stadium on Loftus…
The wine that made me change my mind about Valpolicella
There was a marvellous general of yesteryear called George Burns. He had a good war and a splendid peace. He…
Why cocktails are superior to wine
I often argue that, in theory at least, well-made cocktails are indisputably better than wines costing 20 times more. My…
The dramatic evolution of ‘actor’
‘That chap in Line of Duty. That’s what I’d call a bad actor,’ said my husband with vague certainty. He…
Why I’m thanking God, my immune system and garlic
‘Contact a GP if you’re worried about symptoms four weeks after having Covid.’ That was the NHS quote on the…
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…
