Life
Spectator Competition: To the letter
In Competition 3361 you were invited to submit a passage or poem whose meaning was affected by some missing, substituted…
British Championships
The stench of burning rubber hung in the air as I trudged back to my hotel in Hull city centre last…
Yorkshire curd tart: a well-kept, delicious secret
There are many old dishes in the UK that are hyper-regional, whose reach has never extended beyond geographical boundaries but…
The glory of Glorious Goodwood
You wouldn’t want to have been collecting the empties from Robins Farm, Chiddingfold, last week. There is no more sociable…
Bridge | 10 August 2024
What can you say about the Rimstedt brothers that hasn’t already been said? They returned from the American Nationals in…
An ode to the builder boyfriend
Relationships are about compromise and no wonder so many of us come a cropper in this department when we don’t…
A French restaurant Glastonbury would be proud to host: Café Lapérouse reviewed
I am working my way around the restaurants of the Old War Office (OWO), now an acronym and Raffles hotel…
Aussie life
Imagine if, instead of returning to the USA to become its third president, Thomas Jefferson had died in France on…
Language
A fellow Speccie writer asked me about what he called the ‘absurd equivalence’ being drawn between ‘anti-Semitism’ and ‘Islamophobia’. He…
The summer of Brat
The singer Charli XCX (or ‘Ninety Ten’ as my husband insists on pronouncing it) has endorsed Kamala Harris, in a…
Welcome to the new global theocracy
I had a revelation while watching the Olympics opening ceremony. It was during the infamous section that I (and almost…
Nothing beats a 1980s brick phone
In the late 1980s, a story entered advertising folklore. A group from an ad agency had boarded an evening train…
When in doubt, have a drink
Most Tory MPs enjoy leadership elections. There may be an element of what the trick-cyclists call ‘displacement activity’. Equally, it…
The secret language of horses
‘Horses – beautiful, noble, intelligent creatures,’ said the neighbour I was having tea with. ‘There speaks someone who has never…
The dark side of your local dog show
Over at the judging for Waggiest Tail, things were getting acrimonious. ‘That bloody woman,’ my new acquaintance muttered. We were…
The joy of getting lost in the Congo
Republic of Congo I’m sending this to you from the rainforest in Congo, surrounded by vast trees and jungle noises…
Spectator Competition: Wrong ’un?
In Comp. 3360 you were invited to submit a passage or poem in which a fictional villain offers their side…
Aussie life
According to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, increasing competition among supermarket giants will help deliver lower grocery prices. ‘If it is more…
