Life
Wild life
It was towards dusk by the time we had given the tourist police the slip and started climbing the pyramid…
Taki: My perfect afternoon? Getting drunk with Spectator readers
To London for a brief visit to meet Spectator readers, as nice a reason as I can think of for…
Jeremy Clarke: How to cheat at a pub quiz without even knowing it
One evening last week, I trotted over to the caravan site’s clubhouse to use the wifi and pick up emails.…
Melissa Kite: My horse show shame
‘Congratulations! You’ve qualified for The Sunshine Tour!’ beamed the lady judge, as she pinned a rosette to my horse’s bridle.…
Alexander Chancellor: Pursued around the world by a thousand books
It is exactly 40 years since my elder brother John gave up a successful career as a publisher to set…
Robin Oakley: Henry Candy's brilliant bargains
Cape Peron was my easiest choice for our Twelve to Follow. When Henry Candy smiles his gentle smile, as he…
Bridge
In any sport, a sense of elation is a dangerous thing. When a player does something good, he can’t afford…
Lord of the flies
It is often said that the great chessboard artist, Polish Grandmaster Akiba Rubinstein, was afflicted during tournament play by an…
No. 283
Black to play. This position is from Rotlewi-Rubinstein, Lodz 1907. This is the conclusion of one of Rubinstein’s most famous…
Genesis
In Competition 2814 you were invited to describe how a great writer stumbled upon an idea that he or she…
2130: Elusive
Each of 23 clues comprises a definition part and a hidden consecutive jumble of the answer including one extra letter.…
Solution to 2127: Dire straits
Twelve unclued lights are names of ARTISTS which are ANAGRAMS (9) of superfluous words in clues. First prize E.…
Toby Young: Why do so many people want me to take on Andy Slaughter?
I was at a surprise birthday party for a member of the cabinet last week when a Conservative minister spotted…
Dave
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My mansion tax solution: hit rich foreigners. But no one else
I am surprised no more attention has been given to Martin Vander Weyer’s suggestion in The Spectator two weeks ago…
Dear Mary: The rules of wearing a dressing gown
Q. What to do when you are an unwilling eavesdropper in a train carriage in which people you know assume…
What it's like to drink a 118-year-old wine
Marcher country, the Jura lies to the east of Burgundy and the contrast is marked. Burgundy: the very name is…
Mind your language: the dark side of squee
Oxford Dictionaries have been adding some rather silly words to their online resources, such as phablet (‘a smartphone with a…
The patriarch of wines
Marcher country, the Jura lies to the east of Burgundy and the contrast is marked. Burgundy: the very name is…
Hot Candy
Cape Peron was my easiest choice for our Twelve to Follow. When Henry Candy smiles his gentle smile, as he…
A mansion tax that monkeys would understand
I am surprised no more attention has been given to Martin Vander Weyer’s suggestion in The Spectator two weeks ago…
Taki: perhaps Obama should read All Quiet on the Western Front
I used to see him in El Morocco, the most famous nightclub of its era during the late Fifties and…
Jeremy Clarke: War games on Polzeath beach
We picked up the key to the caravan, let ourselves in, ascertained the phone signal situation (none) and went to…
Melissa Kite: hands off my single occupancy discount, Lambeth Council
Some call me paranoid, but I don’t think one can be suspicious enough when it comes to the activities of…
Alexander Chancellor: what’s wrong with the word ‘toilet’?
I am embarrassed not by people using ‘non-U’ expressions but by people who still care about such things
