2631: Nine capitalists – solution
The unclued lights are the surnames of the nine LONDON WORTHIES, verifiable in Brewer. First prize Andy Gemmill, Lenzie, Glasgow Runners-up Alasdair MacKenzie, Hambledon, Hants; Emma Corke, Abinger Hammer, Surrey
The Spectator
Wednesday
Letters: why not let readers buy The Spectator?
Power to the readers Sir: I would suggest that even if the government of the UAE gives a ‘cast-iron’ guarantee not to interfere with The Spectator’s editorial line, this should be taken with a very large pinch of salt (‘The real deal’, 2 December). Why don’t you ask your subscribers to buy the magazine? With nearly 140,000
Where does ‘panda diplomacy’ come from?
Black and white politics Two pandas, Yang Guang and Tian Tian, left Edinburgh Zoo for China after their 12-year loan to Britain ended. But contrary to popular belief, ‘panda diplomacy’ didn’t begin in 1972 when Chairman Mao gave two to the visiting Richard Nixon – and received two musk oxen in return. (In 1974, Mao
Broken clock
Past time, maintains the broken clock. It isn’t off, not by a minute. Without a tick, without a tock, Past time, maintains the broken clock. Twice every day, those still hands mock the present, but they’re never in it. Past time, maintains the broken clock, It isn’t off, not by a minute.
Wednesday
2630: Souvenir – solution
The puzzle appeared on 11 November 2023. The unclued lights reveal ‘The CENOTAPH and POPPY evoke REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY, once ARMISTICE DAY, the ARMISTICE being SIGNED at the ELEVENTH HOUR, ELEVENTH DAY and ELEVENTH MONTH’. First prize Victoria Estcourt, Tisbury, Wilts Runners-up John Harley, Norton, Stockton on Tees; M.D. Conway, Grimsby
Press freedom isn’t ‘sentimental’ – it’s vital
‘We can be quite sentimental about some of our so-called treasured assets,’ said Lord Johnson, one of Kemi Badenoch’s business ministers, earlier this week. ‘The reality is that media and information has moved on. Clearly, most of us today don’t buy a physical newspaper or necessarily go to a traditional news source.’ His implication was
The Old Campaign
‘Love and war are the same thing…’ — Miguel de Cervantes Somewhere over the tiled foothills of our council estate A man and a woman are arguing. The focus of the argument is something brutally trivial A TV programme choice, that sort of thing, Yet the air is a hot Isandlewana of big
Portrait of the week: Elgin Marbles madness, Israel/Hamas ceasefire and Oscar Pistorius freed
Home Net migration reached a record 745,000 last year, the Office for National Statistics said, 139,000 higher than the 606,000 it had previously given. Robert Jenrick, the minister for immigration, was reported to be ‘pressuring’ No. 10 with ideas for cutting immigration, such as by making a minimum salary of £35,000 a requirement for a work
Letters: it’s not rude to ask how someone’s name is pronounced
No control Sir: Your leading article (‘The welfare monster’, 25 November) has fallen into the increasingly common trap of posthumously attributing to Brexit voters imagined reasons for their voting to leave. No, we didn’t ‘in large part’ do so in a search for a better economic model. We did so to rid ourselves of the
Why don’t Britons spend time in nature?
School’s out Aslef members walked out on strike again this week, 18 months after this round of rail strikes began. But the unions still have a long way to catch up with Britain’s longest-ever strike, which lasted 25 years in the unlikely setting of the village of Burston, Norfolk. It began on 1 April 1914
Bone Water
He felt brave, capable and full of duty He went out with the rest of them and scoured the high grass And the tide-step and low sandy grass He saw how early morning on the river had its beauty They spread out in a loose crescent form Each man could hear the other’s high rubber
Wednesday
Britain’s welfare system is out of control
To grasp the scale of Britain’s welfare crisis, consider some of the changes announced by the government this week. There will be tighter restrictions on sickness benefit and people with mobility issues will have to work from home. It’s a big and controversial reform. But the result? The number of Britons claiming sickness benefits –
Portrait of the week: tax cuts, hostage releases and highly rated horses
Home Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said, ‘We can now move on to the next phase of our economic plan and turn our attention to cutting taxes,’ having seen a reduction in inflation. Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, followed suit in the Autumn Statement, cutting personal taxes. The government was to make changes
2629: Urban Renewal – solution
Unclued lights are anagrams of US state capitals: 13A Boise; 18A Dover; 23A Raleigh; 24A Denver; 28A Madison; 38A Salem; 3D Austin; 22D Des Moines; 27D Lansing. 12A/2D is an anagram of Oklahoma City and 40A/29D of Baton Rouge. First prize Heather McLaren, Seaford, East Sussex Runners-up Iain Chadwick, Edinburgh; Raymond Wright, Wem, Shropshire
What is best: gas or electric?
Hobs choice Oxford City Council has banned the installation of gas hobs in new homes from 2025. What is best: gas or electric? – According to Which? running a gas cooker costs £23 a year, compared with £61 for an electric cooker. Boiling a large pot of water takes an average of 9.69 minutes on
Letters: arts funding is in good hands
Culture clash Sir: Rosie Millard doesn’t like the current Arts Council England (ACE) strategy (Arts, 18 November). She quotes the experience of two organisations, ENO and the Fitzwilliam Museum, ‘who did not get their regular grant’ and who have fallen ‘out of favour’. It is often forgotten that no arts company is guaranteed funding beyond
Wednesday
Sunak only has himself to blame for the Rwanda ruling
It is seven years since the British public voted by a slim majority to leave the European Union. The idea was to ‘take back control’ by retrieving powers of sovereignty that had been given to Brussels. But there was another part of the equation that was less talked about: the power over law that had
Portrait of the week: King Charles turns 75, Cameron returns and Gaza fighting continues
Home Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister appointed David Cameron, prime minister 2010-16, as Foreign Secretary and sent him to the Lords for the purpose, though there was a delay before the peerage was gazetted. The Speaker of the Commons asked the government how the Foreign Office would be held ‘properly accountable to this House’. There
2628: Customary taxes – solution
The unclued lights are all SCOTticisms, most listed on page 14 of the Word Lover’s Ramble at the end of Chambers 13th edition. First prize Ann Holme, Salisbury, Wiltshire Runners-up Sandra Speak, Dursley, Gloucestershire; Paul Beesley, Barnet, Hertfordshire
Was the pro-Palestinian march the biggest protest in recent history?
Post-PM posts David Cameron will not be the first former prime minister to serve as foreign secretary (which remarkably is only his second ministerial post). – Sir Alec Douglas-Home served as Edward Heath’s foreign secretary between 1970 and 1974. The difference in his case is that he had renounced a peerage when he became prime
