Life
A toast to the platonic ideal of diplomatic intellect
My dear friend Richard Stow is a most congenial fellow. A serious financial entrepreneur, he is also a clubman and…
The Battle for Britain | 19 March 2022
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
2547: Ascending order
The (unrelated) unclued lights (one of three words, four of two words, (one with an apostrophe), one pair and two…
The link between motorway service stations and shortages of PPE
I spend quite a lot of time attacking what I call ‘motorway service station’ path design. More attentive readers of…
He knew a swan from a duck: remembering Andy Turnell
You don’t always have to win to enjoy it. At the end of the £100,000 Paddy Power Imperial Cup at…
Dear Mary: how can I avoid splitting the bill?
Q. These days I am on a tight budget while many of my friends are still able to spend freely.…
My football analogy for the free speech debate
By the time you read this the new draft of the Online Safety Bill should be on the DCMS website.…
The magical kitschiness of black forest gateau
Kitsch is something of my stock-in-trade. And it doesn’t get more kitsch than Black Forest gateau. Pots of cream, pints…
I stink at virtue signalling
The lodger looked at me blankly and pronounced wearily, as though intoning something he was tired of parroting, that I…
2544: Fives - solution
First prize Leigh Hughes, Bootle, Merseyside Runners-up Francis Wheen, Pleshey, Essex; Robin Jolly, Selsey, Chichester, West Sussex Got something to…
Spectator competition winners: lives in three limericks
In Competition No. 3240, you were invited to tell the life story of a well-known figure in three limericks. In…
The shadowy charisma of the Mater Dei sisters
Catriona has a commission to paint the 17th-century façade of the chapel of St Joseph’s. She’d made a start when…
Aussie life
There’s nothing like a war and a flood to ease pretend problems like exaggerated viral outbreaks off the front pages.…
2546: Picture book
43 (two words) created 1A (four words) and 3 10 14 (seven words). The latter inspired 17 30, whose work…
The surreal purgatory of A&E
‘This is my father, and his pronoun is he,’ said the builder boyfriend, checking his dad into Accident and Emergency.…
Why does everything ‘embolden’ Putin?
The most emboldened man on earth must be Vladimir Putin. Everything seems to embolden him. Treating Russia as a pariah…
Dear Mary: What’s the etiquette of tipping takeaway delivery drivers?
Q. Rory Sutherland recently wrote about high-end takeaways (Wiki Man, 19 February). In the last London lockdown, I was fortunate…
Food ruined by an existential crisis: Fallow reviewed
I was going to be jolly this week, for variety and denial, but I changed my mind. Instead, I wonder…
Let’s scrap the Six Nations
If you were one of the sharp-suited head honchos at CVC Capital Partners, the private equity megalith that has ploughed…
No. 693
Black to play. Shirov-Kramnik, Groningen 1993. Shirov threatens Rg3-h3+ so Kramnik forced a draw: 1…Rxg7+ 2 Rxg7+ Kh6 3 Rg8…
Bridge | 12 March 2022
The Lederer Memorial Trophy was carried off this year by my lovely friend Jonathan Harris, albeit with a little help…
What really happened when my wife left me in charge
I’m currently standing at the top of Brownie Point Mountain, having spent the past two weeks looking after our three…
The books that made me who I am
Gstaad This is my last week in the Alps and I’m trying to get it all in – skiing, cross-country,…
2543: Parts of Speech - solution
Unclued lights are the many parts each man plays, from the ‘Seven ages’ speech by Jaques (29D) in As You…
Spectator competition winners: political manifestos inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien and Lewis Carroll
In Competition No. 3239, you were invited to submit political manifestos inspired by literary heroes. Sajid Javid loves Ayn Rand:…
