Life
Anniversary
‘It’s like Pin number,’ said my husband, drifting into lucidity. So it is, in a way. The construction under discussion…
Real life
The builder boyfriend has dug himself a hole. I don’t mean he’s in trouble with me. I mean he has…
Stupid is as stupid votes
John Stuart Mill is usually credited as the person who first called the Conservatives ‘the stupid party’, but that isn’t…
Why we need paper promises
When you get into a taxi, there’s usually a framed sheet of paper describing what you pay for your trip:…
Global mourning
In Competition No. 2997 you were invited to submit an obituary for planet Earth. It was a smallish but…
2309: Complicated
Each of fifteen clues contains a misprinted letter in the definition part. Corrections of misprints spell the four-word title of…
to 2306: Instruction
The instruction was ‘SEND IN THE CLOWNS’ (21D/14) from A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim. The remaining unclued lights…
Dear Mary
Q. My 23-year-old son has taught himself to play the piano, learning the theme tune to The Truman Show without…
Character floors
Six Storeys on Soho is in a slender grey townhouse on Soho Square: a bar, restaurant and club. It is…
High life
Much like the poor, the charity ball has always been with us, but lately it’s turned into a freak. Something…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
I was sitting between mother and daughter on the sofa, and we were having a ‘wee night’ as Glaswegians put…
Progressive
I laughed, in a sympathetic way I hope, when I read a letter in the Daily Telegraph pointing out that…
Real life
Well, there were seven of us in this chain, so it was a bit crowded, to paraphrase a princess. We…
Two hours down the track
Of the great sporting imponderables that have come into clearer view over the past few days — will The Archers’…
Magical thinking isn’t a political position
I’m due to debate the philosopher A.C. Grayling on Saturday about whether there should be a second EU referendum on…
The turf
The longer Donald Trump sits there the better Ronald Reagan looks, not least because he had a sense of humour.…
Bridge
I realised long ago that I almost never play bridge with a partner worse than me. Occasionally, I cut a…
Tetralogy
Four important events have taken centre stage over the past few weeks. These were tournaments in Shenzen (won by Ding…
no. 456
White to play. This is from Kramnik-Adams, Shamkir 2017. How did Kramnik complete his rout of the black position? Answers…
Acrostic spectator
In Competition No. 2996 you were invited to submit an acrostic sonnet in which the first letters of each line…
2308: Landmark
This puzzle is a landmark for D(0)C: his first crossword appeared in The Spectator in the issue dated July 4th…
to 2305: Whodunnit?
The unclued lights are trios of Cluedo © rooms at 1A, 14A and 40, weapons at 6, 13 and 14,…
Dear Mary
Q. I have a very good cleaner who comes once a week. She is far more efficient than anyone I’ve…
A very British bildung
Over the long weekend I read a couple of bildungs-romans; one a revisit after many years, the other a recent…
