[Wendy Sloan]

Congratulations Jim & Martin.

Sam won 25 whole pounds sterling, eh? Should come out to -- at least 30 bucks, right -- even after the middlemen chew on it?

Let us know how much you end up with, Sam.

[Martin Elster]

Thanks, Wendy! And congrats to you, Jim. I thought your piece was really clever and funny.

Best wishes,

Martin

[R. S. Gwynn]

Got a better idea, John. I give you the checkque and you buy a good bottle of single malt while you're over here. We drink it, then you cash the chequek at home and buy another bottle which we drink if I get over there in June. What could be fairer? More fair?

"Pears" = "Pierce"? And "Pierce" probably rhymes with "nurse." Damn Brits and their surnames. Next you'll be telling me that Cholmonderley has only three syllables.

[John Whitworth]

Sounds good to me re Malt Sam, particularly as single malts are CHEAPER over here, yes really. When I worked in London near Little Venice and and consequently Lord's was but a step away Middlesex had a batsman called Featherstone pronounced Featherstone. I would never say that Cholmondeley had three syllables under any circumstances whatever.

There once was a curate of Salisbury
Whose manners were quite halisbury-scalisbury.
He ran about Hampshire
Without any pampshire
Till his bishop compelled him to walisbury.

Chew on that. And while we are about it I have found a competition judged by two respectable people, Fleur Adcock and Michael Schmidt, with a set subject, a very old-fashioned sort of thing. And Fleur is a sucker for metrical verse, being a dab hand at it herself. I shall open a thread on it. She wrote a celebrated poem arguing that smokng was much less dangerous to women than sex. I'll bet you can google it.

[Terese Coe]

Well, I sent in my bears bit but I can't say I was tempted to write humor. It just ain't funny! Even Jon Stewart took it pretty seriously, fer pete's sake.

Thanks again for the info, John!