Life
The brilliance of Ben Stokes
Test cricket, bloody hell! For years, it’s been getting the last rites – now it’s the most exciting way anyone…
More spectacle than food: Ave Mario reviewed
Ave Mario looks like Clown Town, a soft-play centre in Finchley with a ball pit so large you could drown…
The Battle for Britain | 18 June 2022
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Have we made a hash of rehash?
My husband put one foot forward atan angle to the other and grasped his left hand with his right. ‘Occiditmiseros…
Aussie life
I have a confession to make. Despite voting for an Australian Republic in 1999, and despite making an ad arguing…
Why you should never buy scotch eggs
One of the perils of being a recipe writer is that people regularly ask me why I bother making things…
2556: Recent origins – solution
The unclued entries give the origins of elements 110-118 now named Darmstadtium, Roentgenium, Copernicium, Nihonium, Flerovium, Moscovium, Livermorium, Tennessine and…
El Ajedrecista
Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, ‘El Ajedrecista’, died in prison in the United States on 31 May. The Colombian drug lord, a…
No. 706
White to play and mate in 3. Composed by Sigmund Franz Josef Lehner, 1864. There are several ways to give…
Why should Turkey be allowed to change its name?
Turkey has told the UN it wants tobe called Türkiye. Even when it is written in capitals, it would still…
2559: Platinum upgrade
Reading clockwise around the perimeter are six theme words, in random order, one of which starts in square 38. The…
Working from home could have been the reset we needed
‘It is vital that we see a return to face-to-face meetings to foster the dynamic collaboration that creates breakthrough ideas.’…
The Battle for Britain | 11 June 2022
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
A claret to toast the Queen – and forget the Prime Minister
It was an extraordinary weekend. The various spectacles had something for all tastes: pageantry on Horse Guards; solemnity in St…
Why I don’t do WhatsApp
If I could ban one question ever being asked of me again it would be: ‘Are you on WhatsApp?’ I…
Dear Mary: how can we get a neighbour to acknowledge our kind deed?
Q. As a mildly famous professional cook, I agreed to judge a children’s cake-baking competition at the summer fête of…
Bridge | 11 June 2022
I recently spent a long weekend in Lillehammer in Norway. Apparently it’s very charming, but frankly I have no idea:…
It is time for me to ‘get right with the Lord’
‘But you look so well!’ How many times have I heard that lately. Kindly meant by most, but for a…
How modesty triumphed in the Derby
In the absence on her Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty, such an avid Derby attender in the past, and following…
My wine-fuelled mini break
For Christmas Caroline bought me a ‘Deluxe GiftExperience’ at Chapel Down, the UK’s leading winery. I say ‘me’, but it…
The healing power of the Hamptons
Southampton, Long Island These are peripatetic times for the poor little Greek boy, up to the Hamptons for some sun-seeking…
Spectator competition winners: how not to write a letter of condolence
In Competition No. 3252, you were invited to write a letter of condolence on the mis-fortune of an acquaintance which,…
Aussie life
In last Saturday’s Weekend Australian, Professor Peter Sutton, an internationally recognised anthropologist and linguist, wrote ‘Indigenous identity has become such…
Language
‘Bike shedding’ was coined by British historian and author C. Northcote Parkinson, famous for his book Parkinson’s Law (1957), but…
Why I love Her Majesty
I’ve often wondered whether Her Majesty the Queen glances through The Spectator from time to time. And if she does,…
