Life
The intense heat is gone and so are the grandsons
Finally rain. None for months, then a violent tropical storm lasting two days. It marked the end of high summer…
Waiting for the rain that never comes – and for the elections to be over
Kenya After two years of no rain, all colour has drained from the landscape on the farm so that by…
Why everyone is ‘struggling’
‘Quicksand!’ yelled my husband, flailing his arms wildly. Since he was sitting in his armchair, his dramatic representation of a…
Among the best puddings I’ve ever eaten: Richoux reviewed
Cakeism is offering the voters everything they desire, knowing you will never give it to them because you live in…
The Battle for Britain | 27 August 2022
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Dear Mary: How can I find out whether old friends fancy each other?
Q. How can I find out, without making things awkward, whether one of my close male friends fancies one of…
2570: Short story
The unclued entries comprise two authors and a work of fiction, attributed by one author to the other. Each author…
Confessions of a lawn obsessive
For the past few days I’ve been frantically watering my lawn in anticipation of the London hosepipe ban. True, there…
I fancy Emma Raducanu’s chances at Flushing Meadows
British tennis fans famously only acknowledge the sport exists for a couple of weeks in the middle of summer in…
2567: Stop! - solution
The unclued lights (including the pairs at 2/14 and 12/36) are names of organ stops which Brewer calls ‘music in…
Spectator competition winners: cosy crime with a topical twist
In Competition No. 3263, you were invited to submit a short story, written in the style of a cosy mystery…
A week in Torquay
Hats off to Harry Grieve, who took clear first place at the Chessable British Championships which concluded in Torquay last…
Aussie life
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is one of those documents, like the ‘Bringing them Home’ report that everybody has…
Language
When radicals want to upend society they often cloak their intentions under kind-sounding words. So, if the plan is to…
Aussie life
‘Why can’t a woman be more like a man? complains Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, a musical whose title…
Language
British journalist Richard Godwin has alerted me to what may be the trendiest word of the moment: ‘namecore’. This is…
Sole Véronique: there’s no need to fear fish and grapes
One of the joys of writing about old-fashioned food is coming across dishes that are new to me, and turn…
The thrill of sailing rough seas
Coronis I suppose there’s always a first time, and looking back it was bound to happen. I scrambled off a…
My evening as a rapacious capitalist
An isolated Provençal stone farmhouse from the outside; from the inside a comfortable English country house. Sunk into the garriguea…
Bridge | 20 August 2022
My husband is a writer (John Preston), whose recent books were better received than he had ever dared hope. When…
2569: Anadad
Round the grid from 1 runs a quotation (1,3,4.2,5,3,5,3,2,6) from a play followed by the dramatist’s name (two words). Two…
The first Olympiad
Everyone remembers their first Olympiad. As I boarded the flight to Chennai last month, it struck me that two full…
No. 716
Black to play. A variation from McShane-Hamitevici, Chennai 2022. I avoided this position, but lost in a different way. White…
Spectator competition winners: Tory leadership acrostics
In Competition No. 3262, you were invited to submit a poem on behalf of Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss in…
Somewhere XII – Solution
30 July is Independence Day in Vanuatu in MELANESIA (23D). Its capital city is PORT VILA (39/16), one of its…
