Christmas quiz
Set by Christopher Howse. Illustrated by Castro
Gravestones
A parishioner in West Yorkshire has been allowed to put an inscription in Chinese on a relative’s gravestone. ‘There is…
Public art
On his lockdown rambles, Christopher Howse finds beauty and solace in London’s street furniture
Beards
Viewers of the BBC News channel, now that Zoom shows talking heads in their own homes, want before anything to…
Gay giraffes and dead in ditches: The Spectator 2019 quiz
They said it In 2019, who said: 1. ‘You have stolen my dreams and my childhood.’ 2. ‘I didn’t sweat…
Away from the manger: the holy relics of Bethlehem
‘No crib for a bed,’ says ‘Away in a Manger’ rather puzzlingly, since a crib is a manger. ‘No one…
Gay giraffes and dead in ditches: The Spectator 2019 quiz
They said it In 2019, who said: 1. ‘You have stolen my dreams and my childhood.’ 2. ‘I didn’t sweat…
Christmas quiz
You don’t say In 2018, who said: 1. ‘I have the absolute power to PARDON myself, but why should I…
The peculiar allure of the Pyrenees
On 26 August 1880 Henry Russell consummated his marriage in an unusual way. He was, to his own mind, married…
Christmas quiz
Weird world In 2017: 1. Police discovered thousands of what kind of plant growing in a disused nuclear bunker…
On Moses’s mountain
A medieval party of 800 Armenians at the top of Mount Sinai suddenly found themselves surrounded by fire. Their pilgrim…
To be a pilgrim
In his friendly and beguiling voice, Jean-Christophe Rufin explains (in a way that reminded me of the pre-journey relish of…
War on Mount Olympus
It is a curious fact that the modern Hebrew for ‘atheist’, Tim Whitmarsh notes in passing, is apikoros. The word…
Away with the angels?
John Dee liked to talk to spirits but he was no loony witch, says Christopher Howse
Agony and ecstasy in the garden
I usually throw away dust jackets but Robin Lane Fox chose his for a reason. He originally encountered Augustine of…
Christmas Quiz
Set by Christopher Howse. Illustrated by Castro
The answers
On the record 1. Jean-Claude Juncker 2. David Cameron 3. Sir Tim Hunt 4. Jeremy Corbyn 5. President Vladimir Putin…
Remembering P.J. Kavanagh
OBITUARY
All things to all men
What did St George do? Killed a dragon, as everyone knows. And yet, as Samantha Riches points out, no mention…
Christmas Quiz
Set by Christopher Howse. Illustrated by Castro
In a world of their own
Cilla Black has become a strange creature during her 50 years in showbiz. When her husband Bobby was in hospital…
Pass the sick bag
Charles Saatchi, the gallery owner, has created his own Chamber of Horrors in this thick, square book, ‘inspired by striking…
Layers of meaning
An untitled photograph by Jerry Uelsmann from 1991 shows a rock like Magritte’s floating in the sky between an Ansel…
How to read well
What the title promises is not found inside. It is a tease. John Sutherland says he has ‘been paid one…
Madrid
I got Madrid utterly wrong for quite a long time. It’s a lovely city to walk in, and I thought…
