Life
The Battle for Britain
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It’s easy to sex up the business of paying tax
To fund the war against Napoleon in 1813, Princess Marianne of Prussia invented an ingenious tax-raising scheme. Wealthy Prussians were…
Dear Mary: How do I stop people cadging cigarettes off me?
Q. My mother died a few months ago. Her collection of colourful clothes, hats, shoes and an immense amount of…
The tangled roots of ‘artichoke’
My husband has been growling: ‘You cross-legged hartichoak.’ He tries it on obstructive pedestrians hypnotised by their mobile phones. He…
In an era of illusion and fantasy, let the wine do the talking
We had all said everything there was to say about Brexit a hundred times over. So the conversation took different…
The softer side of Hemingway
I didn’t like it, and then I did like it. But a writer’s job is to tell the truth, as…
What my mother’s death means for Brexit
Considerate to the last, she had her order of service arranged in her mind. I sat close with my notebook.…
The NHS clearly wishes I would just naff off
The receptionist fixed me with a withering stare. I had just filled out a repeat prescription form and politely inquired…
The true saviours of African wildlife
Laikipia, Kenya A cheetah perched in the front seat of your gold-plated Lamborghini. Stick that on Instagram in Saudi…
Bridge
I’ve recently been reading Daphne du Maurier’s novel Rebecca to my children, and while it’s every bit as enjoyable as…
Holy Grail
Gawain Jones has fought his way to the no. 1 position on the UK ranking list by a series of recent…
no. 556
Black to play. This position is a variation from today’s game, Hillarp Persson-Jones, Malmo 2019. How can Black conclude the…
Life support
In Competition 3100 you were invited to pen an ode to Alexa or Siri. A recent Unesco study claimed that…
2410: Alphabetical jigsaw
Clues are presented in strict alphabetical order of their solutions. Solvers have to assign the solutions to their correct places…
to 2407: Stickmen
The unclued lights (with the pair at 37/26) are orchestral CONDUCTORS. First prize Elisabeth Johnson, Toronto, CanadaRunners-up Gareth Davies, Langstone,…
The fanatical thinking that’s on its way to British schools
For anyone who isn’t following the long march of racial self-flagellation through America’s institutions, last week’s revelations about the excesses…
The Battle for Britain
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Cricket’s – finally – coming home
Well, you have come a long way baby. As the whizz-bang hoopla of the cricket World Cup strides into view…
Dear Mary: I won a bet – how do I make my friend pay up?
Q. A delightful but disorganised friend has invited several of our circle for a weekend at his family’s beautiful country…
A princess of greasy spoons: Café Diana reviewed
Café Diana is a Princess Diana-themed greasy spoon in Notting Hill Gate. It is a mad place, but it is…
Just who – or what – are the men in suits?
After he invented the term young fogey (in The Spectator in 1984), the much lamented journalist Alan Watkins coined the…
My feud with Conrad Black
Goody goody gumdrops! The Donald has pardoned Lord Black and I couldn’t be happier. Conrad got a bum deal and…
Banana leaf, wood-effect on knitted? Choosing my mother’s coffin
The mental fruit of yet another sleepless night was that my mother was determined to arrange her funeral as quickly…
My little lodger has been stolen from me
‘Farewell then, little lodger. I wish you would stay for ever but I understand that girls in their early twenties…
In praise of older horses – and their trainers
Newbury is as fair a test for a racehorse as you can get with its galloping track and a wide-open…
