The Spectator

Wednesday

The Spectator

2555: 6 x 2 mixtures – solution

The paired unclued lights (2/25, 4/16, 5/28, 10/20, 13/17 and 15D/41) are anagrams of one another. First prize Trish Baldin, Chorley, Lancs Runners-up Michael Crapper, Whitchurch, Hants; J.E. Green, St Albans, Herts

Thursday

The Spectator

How profitable are Britain’s biggest oil companies?

A slip of the tongue George W. Bush condemned a political system where one man could wage a ‘brutal and unjustified invasion of Iraq’ before correcting himself and saying ‘Ukraine’. Some other Freudian slips by US politicians: – In the 2012 US election Senator John McCain, who had been the Republican candidate four years earlier,

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Boris Johnson’s guilt

An ability to survive narrow scrapes has been one of Boris Johnson’s defining qualities. The pictures of Downing Street’s lockdown social events included in the Sue Gray report were so dull as to be almost exculpatory: staid gatherings of half a dozen people around a long table with sandwiches still in their boxes, apple juice

The Spectator

2554: Going, going… – Solution

The unclued lights were all extinct species. PTERODON was an acceptable variation at 5 Across. DODO was to be deleted from the final grid. First prize Jason James, Cambridge Runners-up Ian Shiels, Leeds; Hugh Schofield, Paris, France

The Spectator

Letters: The true state of Oxbridge admissions

Applying myself Sir: It was interesting to read David Abulafia’s rather damning critique of the Oxbridge admissions process (‘Who’s out’, 14 May), given the fact that he entirely contradicts much of what he must have seen as a professor of history at Cambridge. Abulafia criticises the fact that ‘candidates from one type of school with

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: Banning Russia’s culture only benefits Putin

Don’t ban Russia’s culture Sir: It is uncouth, illiterate and actually beneficial to Putin when theatres, opera houses and other cultural institutions in Britain and across the globe block access to these heights of culture (‘Theatre of war’, 14 May). During Stalin’s last decade and throughout the Cold War, Isaiah Berlin was a superb help

The Spectator

When did footballers’ wives become ‘WAGs’?

Wagtime Footballers’ wives Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney are locked in a libel trial dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’. The term WAGs, as it happens, was first unleashed on the public 20 years ago this week while the England football team and their families were spending a five-day bonding session in Dubai, prior to the 23 players

The Spectator

2553: Island alien – solution

The unclued lights when arranged as 12, 11, 43, 5, 24, 1D, 1A form Chambers’ definition of MULLET at 30D. First prize Lynne Mullen, Eastbourne Runners-up Susan Bell, Reeth, N. Yorks; Paul Davies, Reading, Berkshire

Wednesday

The Spectator

Sanction Gerhard Schröder

From the start of the war in Ukraine, the democratic world has shown striking unity in the economic boycott of Russia. But sanctions are always a blunt instrument: aimed at the regime, they end up harming the whole population. Ordinary Russians, too, are victims of Vladimir Putin’s corruption and misrule. Far better to target the

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: What happened to hymns in schools?

Disarming by default Sir: Underpinning Rod Liddle’s amusing article on use of nuclear weapons last week is the reassurance provided by our deterrent (‘Will Putin go nuclear?’, 7 May). It is not difficult to imagine Putin’s behaviour if Russia alone possessed nuclear weapons. Our nation has embarked on refreshing the deterrent; and replacement of the

The Spectator

The problem with Macron’s vision for Europe

The Ukraine crisis has transformed international affairs, forcing countries the world over to rethink their alliances and interests. New patterns are forming that will probably stay in place for many years – and one outcome is that global deals are being seen as more effective than regional ones. Sweden and Finland look set to join

The Spectator

2552: ???? – solution

The emoticon which formed the title of the puzzle suggested George Smiley, Le Carré’s nemesis of MI6 moles, ordered as per the thematic rhyme: Alleline (Tinker), Haydon (Tailor), Bland (Soldier) and Esterhase (Poorman). First prize Charles Oliphant-Callum, Crowthorne, Berks Runners-up Nick Porter, Beeston Sandy, Beds; Margaret Shiels, Edinburgh

The Spectator

How hard is it to see an NHS dentist?

Biergate Sir Keir Starmer was facing the scandal of ‘beergate’. Biergate is a lane in the Lincolnshire village of Grainthorpe. It is a noted area for grain production, although the origin of the name is not clear as it has also been recorded as Beargate on old maps. – It would not be happy hunting

Monday

The Spectator

Read: Vladimir Putin’s victory day speech in full

The following is The Spectator’s translation of Putin’s speech for victory day 2022. Most respected citizens of Russia, dear veterans, comrade soldiers and sailors, sergeants and petty officers, midshipmen and ensigns, comrade officers, generals and admirals: I wish you all a happy great victory day! The defense of our homeland – when its fate hung

Thursday

The Spectator

Can anything save Boris Johnson?

As Boris Johnson faced the possibility of a no-confidence motion earlier this year, a large number of Tory MPs decided they would neither back him nor sack him. ‘Wait until the local elections,’ they said. The Prime Minister was chosen as party leader not because of popularity among his political peers (he has never commanded

The Spectator

Who’s heard of Lorraine Kelly?

The right to buy The Prime Minister floated the idea of granting housing association tenants a blanket right to buy. How many social homes have been sold over the years? – Since 1980, 2.19m homes have been sold in England. The most sold in any one year was 167,123 in 1982/83 and the fewest was