Life
Dot Wordsworth: Lost in England? Ask for a bread roll
If Manchester University is to be believed, last year saw a creeping advance of effete southern language into the gritty…
The great white Burgundy disaster
We agreed that it was the gravest crisis facing mankind. It has led to dashed hopes, widespread grief and a…
Luddites in the kitchen
I enjoy reading reviews of kitchen gadgetry. Clever new kitchen products are often under-appreciated. Many rituals around food preparation are…
Taki: our leaders are weak and powerless in the face of religious fanatics
This Christmas our thoughts need to be with our fellow Christians who are being threatened in the Bible lands. No…
Jeremy Clarke: If you haven’t read We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, you haven’t lived
Christmas shopping in Waterstones, I came across a memory card game called We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. I snatched…
Melissa Kite: My attempt to parody myself as a scrawny neurotic didn’t tickle Mrs Inglis pink
A very cross letter arrives from someone who wants to tell me I’m a ‘silly woman’. ‘You are a silly…
Alexander Chancellor: This Christmas it’s nice to be able to pity the stinking rich for a change
This is the season of goodwill when one should think about people less fortunate than oneself and wish them better…
Aidan Hartley: If Santa Claus tried to make a delivery, he’d be shot before he reached the chimney
Laikipia In the cattle rustlers’ camp, I know as I write this that the warriors are sharpening their blades, staring…
Why does Newbury alienate potential racegoers?
You don’t realise how much your pleasures mean until you are denied them. It was wonderful to get back on…
Bridge
Autumn 2013 has been the single worst season of my bridge career. Actually, do I have a bridge career? Doesn’t…
The Spectator's Christmas Quiz
Set by Christopher Howse
The Christmas Quiz answers
Says who? 1. David Cameron. 2. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby. 3. Nick Clegg. 4. Prince…
London classics II
This year’s London Classic tournament is still in progress and features Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, reigning British champion Gawain Jones,…
Christmas Issue
White to play. This position is from King-Howell, Staunton Memorial, London 2003. Can you spot White’s fine finish to the…
Dear Santa
In Competition 2827 you were invited to submit a Christmas list, in verse, in the style of the poet of…
Cold Comfort
Five Christmas carols (5, 6, 5, 3 and 4 words respectively) have been re-arranged, and re-titled at 23/38 (4 words),…
To 2140: Essex Man
The hero is Father Brown, appearing in column 3. ‘The Innocence (22) / Wisdom (15) / Secret (6D) / Scandal…
Rory Sutherland: If there's no answer, the question's probably wrong
Until the late 1960s, the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson ran something called a ‘copy test’. It was a series…
Toby Young: The surprising lesson of my old friends - middle age makes you nicer
When I first suggested to my closest male friends that we have a boys’ Christmas lunch, it didn’t occur to…
Dave
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Roger Alton: 2013 was even better for sport than 2012
British sport used to be dead. You only have to look down the list of past winners of the Sports…
Tanya Gold: The sheer horror of Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland is a Christmas-themed playground that lands on the sorry part of Hyde Park in November; the part that…
Bruce Anderson: Bordeaux's negociants deserve to suffer - and they will
Our sweet enemy, France, is not always that sweet. It is tempting to respond to France’s current degringolade with cynicism…
Dear Mary solves problems for Sir Les Patterson, Rachel Johnson, Rory Stewart and more
Once again Mary has invited some of her favourite figures in the public eye to submit personal queries for her…
Why twerking sounds so stupid
The Widow Twankey first appeared on stage in 1861. At that time daily papers listed on Boxing Day dozens of novelty-stuffed…
