Life
A lightbulb moment at the self-checkout
I spent the last few days in Deal and Folkestone with Professor Richard Thaler at Nudgestock, Ogilvy’s seaside festival of…
Wild life
Laikipia, Kenya Out cross-country running on the farm in Kenya recently, I came face-to-face with a gang of bull…
Putting Greece on a sound footing is like cleaning out the Augean Stables
There’s nothing to add to Martin Vander Weyer’s item about Hellas of two weeks ago in these here pages except…
After the initial shock of my cancer diagnosis, I’ve never been happier
On Sunday morning, I was kicking a football in the back garden with my grandson. I had bought him his…
The joy of anti-psychotic drugs
The doctor eyed me suspiciously as I walked into her consulting room. ‘Ye-es?’ she said, nervously, eyeing me up and…
Dressing up for the opera is not elitist
It’s June, and the country-house summer opera festivals are now in full swing. Glyndebourne, which opened the season last month,…
Frankie Dettori: Britain’s favourite Italian is back
Nothing has been lost since William Powell Frith painted his Derby Day panorama in 1858: today, instead of the carriages…
Bridge
Andrew (Bertie) Black started his bridge life many moons ago but stopped to found Betfair, which became the world’s largest…
Triple tie
This week I conclude my coverage of the Fidé (World Chess Federation) Grand Prix which finished last month in Khanty-Mansiysk.…
No. 366
Black to play. This is from Rodriguez-Xiong, California 2012. How does Black finish off? Answers to me at The Spectator…
Pylon poetry
In Competition No. 2901 you were invited to write a poem in praise of a modern-day blot on the landscape.…
2215: IVOs
The unclued lights (one hyphened and another a novel which is listed in Chambers Crossword Dictionary) display a similar feature…
To 2212: : Plus Ça Change
The unclued Across lights (15, 23/21, 38 and 39) are LITERAL anagrams of the unclued Down lights (3, 19, 32/37,…
Meet the Canadian Ed Miliband
I’ve been reading Fire and Ashes, Michael Ignatieff’s account of his disastrous foray into politics, in an attempt to understand…
Battle for Britain
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The Kiwi tourists are a lesson in sportsmanship
A rather desultory Test series is taking place in the Caribbean where Australia are marmalising the West Indies, with a…
Dear Mary: Must I be effusive in visitors’ books?
Q. My parents brought me up to write only my name in a visitors’ book. However, following a recent long…
A fantasy world with its own perfumed air: the Colony Grill Room
The Beaumont Hotel is a bright white cake in the silent part of Mayfair, where the only sound is Patek…
Trigger warning: this is an article about the word ‘trigger’
A notion is going about that, just as readers of film reviews receive spoiler alerts, so readers of anything should…
Battle for Britain
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Triple tie
This week I conclude my coverage of the Fidé (World Chess Federation) Grand Prix which finished last month in Khanty-Mansiysk.…
No. 366
Black to play. This is from Rodriguez-Xiong, California 2012. How does Black finish off? Answers to me at The Spectator…
Pylon poetry
In Competition No. 2901 you were invited to write a poem in praise of a modern-day blot on the landscape.…
Your problems solved
Q. My parents brought me up to write only my name in a visitors’ book. However, following a recent long…
Grills just want to have fun
The Beaumont Hotel is a bright white cake in the silent part of Mayfair, where the only sound is Patek…
