Life
I rode my own racehorse and was changed for ever
‘The last owner who tried to ride his own horse got tanked,’ said the trainer, looking up at me as…
What I learnt trying to buy lunch for an anti-Tory protestor
The mood at the Conservative party conference this week was a little subdued, and no wonder. As those who watched…
What I learnt trying to buy lunch for an anti-Tory protestor
The mood at the Conservative party conference this week was a little subdued, and no wonder. As those who watched…
We let programmers run our lives. So how’s their moral code?
A few years ago, in the week before Christmas when supermarket sales are at their highest, staff at one branch…
Bridge
There’s no doubt about it: I’m an addict. A BBO addict. Since the Bermuda Bowl began, nearly a fortnight ago,…
Hurrah! Demi Moore is Pugs club’s new Mistress of Chamber
If cheating is the cancer of sport, losing has to be its halitosis. I stunk out the joint in Amsterdam…
My nights with Hollywood film stars may be far behind me
At least two insurances are going to have to go, as I grapple with fear of penury, I have decided.…
The rewards for breaking rules of horse-racing have to stop
One of Alan Bennett’s characters once lamented, ‘We tried to set up a small anarchist community …but people wouldn’t obey…
2231: On the side
Unclued lights (three of two words; ignore one apostrophe) may be grouped to form a related triad. Across …
To 2228: Unfair
GRASSHOPPERS (9) of ZURICH (30) is a team that plays football — not cricket, as indicated by corrections of misprints…
Steve Jobs was a genius, but was he a monster too?
Last week I went to a screening of Steve Jobs, the new biopic about the co-founder of Apple directed by…
Give Robshaw a break
Pity poor Chris Robshaw. England’s sturdy captain might have a knockout girlfriend and exceptional skills on the cappuccino machine, but…
Farewell, white ovoid exhaustion-inducing tablets; hello, West Ham’s religious revival
Every morning for the past two years, on waking, I’ve reached out for the white plastic tub on the bedside…
Robert Peston has got it all wrong about ties —viewers want broadcasters to look humbly respectful
When Robert Peston, the economics editor of the BBC, interviewed George Osborne on television in an open-necked shirt with collar…
Bridge
The 42nd Bermuda Bowl has kicked off in Chennai, and after several weeks of cheat-busting Boye Brogeland (‘The Sheriff’) has…
Homer nods
Paul Morphy, in a strange prefiguration of the later career of Bobby Fischer, was often described as ‘the pride and…
No. 381
Black to play. This is from Botterill-Basman, Eastbourne 1973. What is Black’s best move? Answers to me at The Spectator…
Right to reply
In Competition No. 2917 you were invited to submit a reply from Andrew Marvell’s coy mistress. Marvell’s mix of cajoling…
Battle for Britain
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Dear Mary, do I have to go to see my friend perform again?
Q. A friend of mine is performing a recital in Dublin and has sent round an email advertising the time…
Smith & Wollensky doesn’t even serve the best steaks in Covent Garden
Smith & Wollensky is a restaurant from The Shining: a terrifying American steak joint by the Thames, four months old,…
I was wrong to criticise using ‘critique’ as a verb
I lost my husband on the way from Malabar. He is easily lost. We had been talking about the verb…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Homer nods
Paul Morphy, in a strange prefiguration of the later career of Bobby Fischer, was often described as ‘the pride and…
No. 381
Black to play. This is from Botterill-Basman, Eastbourne 1973. What is Black’s best move? Answers to me at The Spectator…
