Life
The Battle for Britain
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Cricket, tennis and the Women’s World Cup: what a summer
Great sport needs great rivalries, and that is why anyone with a pulse must celebrate being in the throes of…
Dear Mary: Should I tell my boss I swiped his champagne?
Q. I have got myself in a pickle. My boss was given a bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal by a…
Big Little Bavaria on Thames: Bierschenke bierkeller reviewed
I am not sure the vast Bierschenke bierkeller in Covent Garden is successful, even if it is skilful: I worry…
Vape
Last year, Oxford Languages’ word of the year was goblin mode. Apparently 300,000 voters decided upon it, but I haven’t…
Bridge
Bridge isn’t a game you can master quickly. Quite the opposite: with every new level you reach, another looms above…
Blitz
Nine wins in a row. What are the chances? That’s how Magnus Carlsen began on the first day of blitz…
Puzzle no. 761
White to play. Rapport-Caruana, Grand Chess Tour Rapid, Zagreb 2023. Caruana’s last move, 61…Bd6-e7, was a decisive mistake. Which move…
Travellers’ tales
In Competition No. 3208 you were invited to submit a short story whose first or last line is: ‘“Is there…
2614: Monkey business
Unclued lights (one of three words and one of two words, singly or paired) form three groups. Group 1 is three…
2611: On-board entertainment
Unclued lights were world CHESS champions. Current champion DING was to be highlighted. First prize Gail Petrie, Brean, Somerset Runners-up…
Aussie life
If British women’s rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen goes ahead with the defamation suit she is reportedly considering taking out against…
Language
Is the word ‘bonzer’ no longer part of the living Australian language? Bernard Salt thinks not, writing in the Weekend…
Spectator competition winners: verse obituaries for Berlusconi
In Competition No. 3207 you were invited to submit a verse obituary of Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian former prime minister…
Where to drink Tuscany’s finest summer tipples
Some subjects invite an eternal recurrence. One such is Tuscany. The other day, I wrote about that glorious region: its…
Light bulb moment: the flaw in the petrol car ban
This week, writing in the Daily Mail, Matt Ridley produced a devastating takedown of the government’s 2030 ban on the…
I expected more from Caitlin Moran
I first met Caitlin Moran at Julie Burchill’s flat in Bloomsbury. This was in the early 1990s and she was…
