Life

2614: Monkey business

22 July 2023 9:00 am

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

22 July 2023 9:00 am

Unclued lights were world CHESS champions. Current champion DING was to be highlighted. First prize Gail Petrie, Brean, Somerset Runners-up…

Aussie life

15 July 2023 9:00 am

If British women’s rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen goes ahead with the defamation suit she is reportedly considering taking out against…

Language

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Is the word ‘bonzer’ no longer part of the living Australian language? Bernard Salt thinks not, writing in the Weekend…

Solution to 2610: 700

15 July 2023 9:00 am

2613: Way off

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Spectator competition winners: verse obituaries for Berlusconi

15 July 2023 9:00 am

In Competition No. 3207 you were invited to submit a verse obituary of Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian former prime minister…

No. 760

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Luke McShane

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Oracy

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Where to drink Tuscany’s finest summer tipples

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Some subjects invite an eternal recurrence. One such is Tuscany. The other day, I wrote about that glorious region: its…

Dear Mary

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Light bulb moment: the flaw in the petrol car ban

15 July 2023 9:00 am

This week, writing in the Daily Mail, Matt Ridley produced a devastating takedown of the government’s 2030 ban on the…

The Battle for Britain

15 July 2023 9:00 am

I expected more from Caitlin Moran

15 July 2023 9:00 am

I first met Caitlin Moran at Julie Burchill’s flat in Bloomsbury. This was in the early 1990s and she was…

Bridge

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Paddington emerged victorious but Eclipse was an enthralling duel

15 July 2023 9:00 am

I should have listened to George Duffield. Sandown Park’s Eclipse Stakes, the first time the Classic generation of three-year-olds take…

Maybe the village will be sad to see us go after all

15 July 2023 9:00 am

‘You certainly gave us a run for our money,’ said the village elder, serving us with what appeared to be…

I know how Jonny Bairstow feels

15 July 2023 9:00 am

A poor little Greek boy writing about cricket etiquette is like Harry Sussex lecturing on discretion, but never mind. As…

Aussie life

8 July 2023 9:00 am

It used to be joked that Australia risked becoming the fifty-first state of America. But having enjoyed a family holiday…

Language

8 July 2023 9:00 am

We all know what ‘dictation’ means –  speaking words aloud for someone to write down. Once every office had its…

Dear Mary

8 July 2023 9:00 am

If you thought Lord’s was rowdy, get ready for Leeds

8 July 2023 9:00 am

Shouldn’t we all just calm down a bit after Lord’s? Once prime ministers decide to intervene, you know things have…

2612: Grounded

8 July 2023 9:00 am