Life
Aussie life
I’m in a nursing home. It’s St Vincent’s, Australia’s biggest not-for-profit aged care provider, one of several in Brisbane run…
Language
A Speccie reader asks for a word that explains the obsessions of the woke around us. Looking for a single…
Why an ex-Spectator editor told me to back Reform
When I told an ex-editor of this magazine that I was planning to write about why I’m voting for Reform…
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…
