[Max Goodman]

Thanks for the good wishes, Chris. I remember your welcome after my first Speccie win. Your friendliness and that of others has gone a long way toward helping me feel like a part of this club whose members I admire. I suppose wanting to feel my membership more firmly was a large reason for resolving to compete more regularly, at least for a year, and to measure my success against that of others. How much of my gentlemanly reserve about the comps was a cover for fear of failure? How regularly could I catch Lucy's and Tessa's fancies if I really tried?

Thanks also for sharing your pseudonym, and congratulations on that double win!

I occasionally send in multiple entries. I'm the rarely successful competitor Noam D. Plum (a pseudonym I used to use in Light Quarterly and elsewhere). Recently, I've avoided sending multiple entries, not searching for a second approach once I find one I like. Among the things I've noticed as I pay more attention to stats is that, in 2018 at least, I'm more successful in weeks when I send only one entry. Do I not polish entries as well as I think I'm polishing them when there is more than one to polish? Is Lucy annoyed with me for sending more than one? On the other hand, my one 2018 win in a comp for which I sent in more than one was for an entry I wouldn't have sent if I'd restricted myself to the one I thought the best, so...