[Mary McLean]

Originally Posted by Martin Parker

Not only is no Spherical on the list but I am still waiting for the Dictionary which I supposedly won in Comp. 178. I pointed this out to "Tessa" but received no reply.
Are these signs of discrimination against us all, do you suppose?

Maybe against men -- I got my dictionary for Comp 179

[Nicholas Stone]

I don't think much of these, but fair play to them, I suppose; Tessa is the measure of all things, &c.

It does rankle that so many of the victorious lines don't scan properly, though.

[Nicholas Stone]

Re - missed entrants and internet thunder- Do you think The Oldie entries might also benefit from having a Deep Drills?

[Nicholas Stone]

I must be naive. I thought Tessa was Tessa!

[Jayne Osborn]

Nico -- shhhhh on the Tessa front!

We've discussed Deep Drills before, and there's no need for our Oldie entries to be an undercover job. It's NS that won't publish anything that can openly be seen here; we're safe with both The Oldie and The Spectator, as our (usual) regular Spherian wins prove.

Jayne

[Martin Parker]

Jayne,
Many thanks for your efforts re. Comp. 178.
Loyal Oldie supporter that I know you to be I am sure that the matter of Tessa, with or without inverted commas, is secure in your keeping -- and in the keeping of various others. But pseudonyms are fair game for the determinedly curious and I do not feel their owners can expect a permanent right to their assumed obscurity. Many Sphericals have pseudonyms for competition and other purposes and have not complained at their "outing". My own disguise as Leo Vincent was, in fact, stripped bare by an eminent Spherean. I was well able to deal with the small degree of temporary inconvenience which flowed from it.

And my ouija board has as yet revealed no complaint from "Saki", "Georges Sand", "Mark Twain" et al.

[Sylvia Fairley]

Why the mystery surrounding 'Tessa's' identity? There must be a very strong reason for it to be cloaked in such secrecy.

[Martin Parker]

Indeed, Sylvia, one might think so.
Personally I don't give a fig who Tessa is. But there is something Kafkaesque about being judged by someone whose identity is not permitted to be known. Why the reluctance, one wonders. Could it be lack of judgely confidence, or simply a fear of being mugged in the street by a band of vengeful Sphereans?

Though revealing a name would not make Tessa a better or a worse judge it might give a hint of the judgely credentials behind the burka.
Everyone knows that the pseudonym Jaspistos was the Spectator's James Michie,excellent poet, man of wit, discernment and civilised charm -- whose translation of Homer is said to be the best. And none of us ever mugged him in the street for spurning our never-ceasing brilliance.

Most of us, I suspect, regard competitions as something akin to the Lottery. But most of Brits know the name of the orange idiot who fronts that event on Saturday night telly. And even he has escaped my oft-contemplated muggings -- as yet!

So what's with Tessa's coyness?

[Jayne Osborn]

I am still waiting for the Dictionary which I supposedly won in Comp. 178.

Martin,
I've just spoken to Josh at The Oldie, who assured me he would deal with this today; he promised to ring me back and confirm, so I expect to come home later and find an answerphone message to that effect!

The dishing out of prizes is nothing to do with Tessa. (Let's not resort to inverted commas - I know Tessa's identity but it's meant to be a secret )

Jayne

PS. Regarding these (and other winning entries that we sometimes feel aren't up to scratch, and say so) I posted a slightly derogatory remark years ago about the standard one month and got absolutely slated for it -- by one person in particular -- and called a 'bad sport', among other things. I'm not a bad sport at all, but in certain quarters it's deemed that one shouldn't comment adversely on the poems chosen to win. So since then I've kept schtum on the subject!!!
Hmm...but all the same...