Life
Don’t let City spoil top-flight football
The Pac-Man defence, as all high-flying financiers know, is a tactic borrowed from the enjoyably addictive computer game which means…
How to decode adspeak
The National Galleries of Scotland is singular. In its public pronouncements its pronouns are it and its. Fair enough. Though…
Why would Labour be anti-racing?
Enjoying the election? It was a colleague from my days with CNN who alerted me during Donald Trump’s first contest…
My dreams of Jeremy Clarke
The other week my eldest daughter and I were staying with friends in Richmond for the launch of Jeremy’s third…
How to make elderflower cordial
I have a complicated relationship with elderflower cordial. I love taking ingredients that have short seasons, preserving and squirrelling them…
Puzzle no. 805
White to play. Adapted from an example in Capablanca’s classic manual Chess Fundamentals. Only one move leads to a win…
The trials and tribulations of getting a plumber
‘Please, I’ll do anything,’ I told the plumber. ‘I’ll give you all the money I have if you just come…
Aussie life
Encomium or insult, tribute or travesty; the line between portrait and caricature can be a very fine one. Readers who…
Language
This is an appeal to Speccie readers to join a modest campaign to ban the use of ‘begs the question’.…
The joy of Portuguese wines
There was a wonderful old boy called John – Sir John – Wordie, who was a quintessential member of the…
Dear Mary: how do I dodge a party to avoid an undesirable guest?
Q. I am on a long, jam-packed and much disrupted train journey to Scotland. In the carriage someone is working…
Why being anti-car is a luxury belief
It happened six years ago on a flight back from the United States. ‘Sir, I’m pleased to say you’ve been…
The Tories have failed us over debanking – again
On Saturday morning, when I was helping Caroline prepare for a lunch party, I got an urgent request for help…
Being asked to ‘bear with’ is unbearable
‘Bear with me,’ said my husband on the phone and then let out a loud roar. It was intended to…
My father vs the killer lion
Laikipia, Kenya This month, in broad daylight on our Kenyan farm, a lioness mauled one of my bull calves. Before…
