Life
My comically awful Airbnb break
Caroline likes to rent somewhere on Airbnb between Christmas and new year to break up the winter holiday. No, not…
The joy of Thomas Mann’s diabolism
Throughout the flat, post-Christmas limbo I lay languishing after another dollop of chemotherapy and read my Christmas present, Thomas Mann’s…
Aussie life
It might not be a very net-zero-friendly activity, but driving around to view the Christmas light show is part of…
Language
It’s Word of the Year time again, when all the dictionaries announce their chosen winner. The Australian National Dictionary Centre…
A last-minute alternative to Christmas cake: boiled fruit cake
This time last year, I was disgustingly well organised. Awaiting the arrival of my first baby, with a late December…
Birthday Boy
Two unclued lights are a title (three words) and its creator (two words). Remaining unclued lights are four names and…
Answers to Spot the Book Title 2022
1. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin 2. Scoop 3. The Thirty-Nine Steps 4. Moll Flanders 5. The Girl on the Train 6.…
2022 Christmas quiz – the answers
Verbals 1. Boris Johnson, on resigning as leader of the Conservative party 2. Liz Truss, on being elected leader of…
The Spectator’s 2022 Christmas quiz
Verbals In 2022, who said: 1. Them’s the breaks. 2. I know that we will deliver, we will deliver, we…
In praise of missionaries
Kenya Tonj is a war-battered settlement on a river that eventually feeds into the White Nile, in South Sudan. When…
The naked truth about cannabis farming
Then dear old Dolly drove down from Essex to pay her respects. It was a brave effort because she hasn’t…
