[Julie Steiner]

I'm not so sure this is a great idea, John and Jayne.

How would you feel if you entered a poetry contest that had promised blind judging...but the judges had a means of identifying which entries came from folks who were members of the same brass band (or cat fanciers' club, or what have you) to which they, too, belonged?

Even if the judges couldn't be sure exactly which member of their own clique had sent in which poem...wouldn't you object that the judging had not truly been blind, but only myopic?

We've frequently complained on Eratosphere about contests that supposedly had blind judging, but the winner just coincidentally turned out to be someone the judge knows...a former student, say, or the editor of a journal that often publishes the judge's work. This coincidence is probably due to a shared affinity for a certain style of work, of course, but the losers always suspect something more sinister. And a thread such as this one would be considered damning evidence of premeditated intent to keep the prize in the family, so to speak.

If Sphereans should be well-represented in the winners' circle (as well they might), and the judges' participation on this thread comes to light, how do you think the non-Spherean contestants might explain that coincidence?

Just sayin' it smells a bit off.