Books and arts – 2 November 2017
The Spectator
Thursday
to 2331: Anagrams
The suggested words were ESTER (1), REEST (20), TERSE (24), TREES (43), TERES (6D), RESET (9), TEERS (23), STERE (30) and STEER (36). EERST (in the ninth row) was to be shaded. First prize John Newell, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey Runners-up S.C. Daneff, London SW18; Roger Baresel, London SW7
Thursday
Letters | 26 October 2017
Meeting halfway Sir: If our Brexit negotiator David Davis has not read Robert Tombs’s wonderful article ‘Lost in translation’ (21 October) on how different the French and the British can be when it comes to the negotiating table, he really should, as it splendidly exemplifies how useful history can be. The trouble is, of course,
Barometer | 26 October 2017
Littler Hitlers Cabinet secretary Damian Green appealed to commentators to halt the ‘ridiculous rise of routine comparisons to Hitler’. A small selection of examples in the past week: — Chants of ‘Go home, Nazis’ met a white supremacist rally in Florida, where at least one attendee was in a swastika T-shirt. — Ex-US vice president
Identity issues
It was always going to be difficult for Theresa May’s government to secure a legacy beyond Brexit. With the negotiations running into difficulty, it becomes all the harder. Ministers must avoid, however, resorting to well-meant gestures which open the government to ridicule. Take, for instance, the revelation that Britain has insisted on the UN’s International
Portrait of the week | 26 October 2017
Home Of perhaps 400 Britons returned from the former territory of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, those who ‘do not justify prosecution’ should be reintegrated, Max Hill, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, told the BBC. Rory Stewart MP, asked about foreigners fighting for the Islamic State in Syria, said that ‘the only
Books & Arts – 26 October 2017
to 2330: IMAGE
The poem ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ (originally ‘XXII’) by William Carlos Williams is considered perhaps the foremost example of IMAGISM. First prize M. & M. Taylor, Waterthorpe, Sheffield Runners-up Bill Stewart, Leicester; Rupert Miles, Bisley, Gloucestershire
Sunday
The Kurds are on their own | 22 October 2017
The routing of Isis in northern Iraq ought to be a time of international celebration, but as ever in the Middle East, there is no such thing as a straightforward victory. No sooner had Isis been driven away — though not quite vanquished — than the next great struggle commenced, this time between the Iraqi
Thursday
Letters | 19 October 2017
The great divider Sir: Niall Ferguson (‘Tech vs Trump’, 14 October) draws a parallel between the Reformation — powered by the printing press — and today’s social networks — powered by the internet — in their influence on the established hierarchy. Ferguson astutely observes that the consequence of the Reformation was not a hoped-for harmony but
Portrait of the Week – 19 October 2017
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, and David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, went to Brussels and had dinner with Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission and the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier. They came up with a joint statement that ‘efforts should accelerate over the months to come’. But by this week’s meeting
The Kurds are on their own
The routing of Isis in northern Iraq ought to be a time of international celebration, but as ever in the Middle East, there is no such thing as a straightforward victory. No sooner had Isis been driven away — though not quite vanquished — than the next great struggle commenced, this time between the Iraqi
Books and Arts – 19 October 2017
to 2329: PLACES TO EAT
The paired unclued lights are food items which include a place-name. BATH and BUNS do double duty, BUNS is the plural and BRIGHTON ROCK is the literary reference. The pairs are 1A/22, 8/12, 8/14, 11/14, 13/33, 31A/25D, 38/37 and 39/30. First prize Leslie Mustoe, Hitchin, Herts Runners-up Sandra Speak, Dursley, Glos; Morris, Birchington, Kent
Thursday
Barometer | 12 October 2017
Cheat sheets The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education wants universities to catch out more students who buy essays online. How much do cheats pay for this service? — 1,000 words in seven days to 1st standard £103. Also offers 2:1 standard for £74 and 2:2 standard for £57. This website offers a refund if
Letters | 12 October 2017
Let’s talk about guns Sir: I was surprised that the cover stories on the recent shootings in Las Vegas (‘Say nothing’, 7 October) did not address the issue of gun control. The point surely is that if weapons are readily available, and not universally disapproved of, sooner or later someone will use them. There doesn’t
Portrait of the week | 12 October 2017
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, when asked by Iain Dale in an interview on LBC: ‘If there was a Brexit vote now, would you vote Brexit?’ repeatedly refused to say. Earlier, briefing the House of Commons on Brexit, she said that the country must prepare for ‘every eventuality’. The government published two papers on
The new tycoons
The giants of the internet have long said that they are not publishers but mere platforms — or couriers — of the new information age. Companies such as Google and Facebook insist that they’re the digital equivalent of the vans, newsagents and paperboys who distribute what other people publish. So they ought not to be
Books and Arts – 12 October 2017
Solution to 2328: Second coming
The suggested title is Brideshead Revisited, HEEDS/RABID (6A/42) being an anagram of BRIDESHEAD. The six characters, all members of the Flyte family, are ALEXANDER (Lord Marchmain) (21D), TERESA (Lady Marchmain) (37), and their children, BRIDEY (17), SEBASTIAN (8), JULIA (33) and CORDELIA (19). FLYTE (diagonally from the eighth row) was to be shaded. First prize Daisy