Life
Since when is it too much trouble to serve proper tomato juice?
‘I have a feeling,’ said my father, ‘that this evening is not going to go well.’ We were sitting in…
I thought paedophiles were rare – but then I read the newspapers
One problem from which I am confident I don’t suffer is paedophilia. I have always liked picking up babies and…
Ralph Beckett's winning way with the fillies
Fretful horses who waste their energies — and often their racing potential — ceaselessly pacing their stable dormitories are known…
Bridge
The European Team Championships drew to a close last week and the most successful country overall was …England! The doughty…
Attack
This was the watchword of Grandmaster Dragoljub Velimirovic, one of the leading players of the former Yugoslavia. I first encountered…
No. 322
White to play. This position is from Velimirovic-Gipslis, Havana 1971. How did White conclude? Answers to me at The Spectator…
Dead-end job
In Competition No. 2855 you were invited to compose an elegy for an endangered profession. Estate agents, travel agents, publishers,…
2170: Hector’s Summer Nights
The unclued lights (one of three words and three of two), as three pairs and three individually, are of a…
to 2167: Groupies
The unclued lights are ‘nouns of assemblage’, all listed on page 6 of the Word Lover’s Miscellany section in Chambers…
If John Bercow were two-and-a-half inches taller, he'd never have been such a big success
Unlike 99 per cent of my colleagues, I was quite touched by John Bercow’s comment about how fed up he…
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
The crazy rush to run down Alastair Cook
A jaw-dropping moment on the front page of Her Majesty’s Daily Telegraph the other day: ‘How to fix England’, read…
Dear Mary: Our holiday hosts swim naked
Q. We have recently returned from Provence where we stayed the first night with distant relatives. We woke on a…
Dean Street Townhouse – at last! Somewhere I'd pay to eat
Occasionally a critic must review a restaurant in which they are prepared to spend their own money. So here is…
Just how old-fashioned is Labour's 'cost of living' campaign?
Labour’s appeal to the cost of living has a rather old-fashioned feel to it: as if the whole nation still…
Simple pleasures in Soho
Occasionally a critic must review a restaurant in which they are prepared to spend their own money. So here is…
Why the crusade against Alastair Cook?
A jaw-dropping moment on the front page of Her Majesty’s Daily Telegraph the other day: ‘How to fix England’, read…
Fit as a filly
Fretful horses who waste their energies — and often their racing potential — ceaselessly pacing their stable dormitories are known…
I think I just went to the greatest ball in history
To Fort Belvedere for a ball that most likely will discourage any more balls because of its brilliance and perfection.…
A circle of love with Brown Eagle Feather
‘I’m wasted,’ said Trev, meaning not that his life is futile, but that his mind was overwhelmed by illegal drugs.…
A tip for future invaders of Britain – start after 3pm
If we had to fight a war on the home front I’m fairly sure we would be stuffed. I base…
The profitable delusion shared by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair
Tony Blair and Bill Clinton must be very happy about how they have fared since leaving political office, for each…
Bridge
Our Golden Oldies have brought home the Gold! Many congratulations to the England players who have won the Seniors Teams…
Tiger tiger
Petrosian Move by Move is a new book published by Everyman Chess written by the Swedish international master Thomas Engqvist.…
No. 321
White to play. This position is from Petrosian–Rossetto, Portoroz 1958. What is White’s most efficient continuation? Answers to me at…
