The Spectator

The unclued Across lights were some of the radio communications alphabet and the unclued Down lights are part of the current Nato alphabet, all listed under ROGER (solution at 16 Across) in Brewer. ‘Uncle’ and ‘Victor’ are two further examples from the respective alphabets. First prize Revd John Thackray, Ipswich, Suffolk  Runners-up Paul Harrison, Wilpshire,

Out of service  Conservative MPs criticise the proposed appointment of Sue Gray as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff. It is not unknown, however, for civil servants to switch to political careers, including two prime ministers of recent times.  – Edward Heath began his career in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, having come joint top in

Friends like these… Sir: I much admire Peter Frankopan as a historian but his article ‘Is Putin winning?’ (4 March) is misleading and plain wrong. He argues that the vote at the UN on Ukraine on 23 February demonstrated that Russia’s strategy is winning new friends in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia; friends

The theme word was FORD (in line 4), and the sets of unclued lights were 1A, 20, 21 (makes of car), 18, 39, 43 (US presidents), and 11, 31, 33 (characters in The Merry Wives of Windsor). First prize Sue Pounder, Ashton-under-Lyne Runners-up Michael Moran, Penrith, Cumbria; Lucy Robinson, London N16

Striking out An England vs Wales rugby match was nearly called off after Welsh players threatened to go on strike over the terms of their new contracts. Although rare, industrial action is certainly not unheard of in the sporting arena. – In June last year the Canadian men’s football team went on strike demanding they

Beyond belief Sir: Tim Farron (‘Church and state’, 25 February) repeats many of the common errors made by those of faith. He starts by equating secularists with atheists, yet they are quite distinct. To be an atheist is simply not to believe in the existence of a God. That’s it. You can be an atheist and

The seven unclued lights are BIRDs (36) minus one letter: (S)WAN (14), (G)ROUSE (18), P(H)EASANT (22), TE(A)L (40), S(W)ALLOW (7), R(O)OSTER (29) and S(K)IMMER (30). GOSHAWK (in the 9th column) was to be shaded. Title: cf. BI(R)D. First prize Oenone Green, Feltham, MiddlesexRunners-up Robert Stephens, Bearsted, Kent; Julia Jones, Pleshey, Essex

That’s another story Roald Dahl’s books have been edited to make them less offensive, with references to ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ people removed. Other children’s media that has been revised: – The Noddy books originally featured golliwogs, which were removed in 2009. – Six Dr Seuss books were withdrawn from sale in 2021, one for featuring

Delusion of Sturgeon Sir: Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation speech was the longest and most delusional in living memory (‘After Sturgeon’, 18 February). There were reportedly more than 150 ‘me’, ‘my’ and ‘I’s spoken, as she congratulated herself at length, despite the government’s deplorable record since the SNP came to power. She referred to Scotland just 11