Life
Memories of Stellenbosch and South Africa’s finest wines
Lockdown provides time to think, and to reminisce. A South African friend, trapped in Amsterdam, phoned the other day. Had…
‘Espouse’ has become divorced from its meaning
What do people think espouse means? It looks fairly plain, since spouses are to have and to hold, or indeed…
The economics of learning languages
There is a kind of conversation which sounds intelligent, and which makes sense at first hearing, but which deeper thought…
Synthetic diamonds
Diamonds are forever, they say. Likewise, brilliant games of chess have an everlasting sparkle. I will never tire of replaying…
The secret code of the ruling class
I naively hoped that last year’s statement by the Equalities Minister explaining why unconscious bias training was being phased out…
Beware the hobby bobby
‘Anything you say may be given in evidence. Do you have anything to say?’ I looked at the baby-faced police…
2492: Little man - solution
The solution at 1 Across includes the theme-word PAUL which means ‘little’, hence the puzzle’s title. First prize Mike Leese,…
No. 642
Black to play. Warakomski-–Korobov, February 2021. White has a pin on the b-file and 1…Bxg2+ 2 Kxg2 Bc5 3 Rb7…
The Battle for Britain | 27 February 2021
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Bridge | 27 February 2021
The late, great Martin Hoffman always claimed he was the unluckiest player in the world. If he was playing rubber,…
Why I need to become a French citizen
After weeks of living in the 18th century, going everywhere on foot and encountering few other souls, I drove to…
Aussie Life
The most powerful ad I created for David Cameron’s 2010 election campaign was a billboard featuring a still from a…
Aussie Language
A Speccie reader has asked if it is linguistically permissible to label the tactics of climate catastrophists as ‘brainwashing.’ The…
The lost magic of Palm Beach
Gstaad Good old Helvetia. I’m quitting her for the rainy but pleasant land of England. The cows are beginning to…
How to breathe life back into European rugby
French rugby has always been well stocked with boeuf but now it has added lashings of exceptionally tangy moutarde and…
No. 641
White to play. Carlsen–Vachier-Lagrave, Opera Euro Rapid 2020. Carlsen played 31 Bd4+ Rxd4 32 cxd4 Bxd4 which should be drawn,…
Feasting on memories of Venice
Dining in catastrophe used to be more interesting: but we must be fair. It was a smaller (and wetter) catastrophe:…
Dear Mary: Why is my 87-year-old mother emailing me risque jokes?
Q. My mother, aged 87, has taken to forwarding me by email slightly risqué jokes. Her carer is the recipient…
From bread to Kate Bingham: the evolution of ‘nimble’
‘I’ll stick to being Brazilian,’ said my husband. It was a family joke. Every time a politician on the radio…
The coup that nearly cost the bookies £10 million
Since coup conspirators nearly won £10 million from the bookies, the sport has divided into two camps. Some grinned and…
2494: Back to front
The unclued lights have something in common. None is a real word. Across 1 Promoted male only editor eclipsed…
The Battle for Britain | 20 February 2021
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The mystical power of the word ‘unsafe’
The street light as bright as the Dog Star was fitted with a shield, and I was assigned my own…
2491: Recycling - solution
The ten unclued lights comprise the seven primary Wombles, best known for their recycling of objects found on Wimbledon Common.…
Spectator competition winners: mischievous acrostics
In Competition No. 3186 you were invited to supply an acrostic poem praising or dispraising a public figure, in which…
