[Chris O'Carroll]

For Competition No 4305, set by Leonora Casement, they want “unlikely second lines to well-known firsts.”

This is the sample they offer:

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky
For if I stop in Downing Street, they’ll lynch me by and by.

Although they don't say specifically that the “well-known firsts” have to be first lines from poems, that seems strongly implied. I doubt that something like “Call me Ishmael. But don't call me in the middle of the night.” would stand much of a chance.

The maximum number of entries is ten. The deadline is January 2.

comp@newstatesman.co.uk

[Chris O'Carroll]

I keep forgetting to include this reminder. If you have entries you'd like to post, don't put them here. To keep them eligible, post them only in Deep Drills.

[Roger Slater]

Tailgaters. Many of us might have already published our best here.

[Brian Allgar]

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

Tailgaters. Many of us might have already published our best here.

Err ... Bob, don't you think that this too might be better in Deep Drills, just in case?

[John Whitworth]

Oh I love this. It will amuse me for days.

[RCL]

Yes, whoever can, please move to Deep Drills. I'd like to harvest several of mine!

[Roger Slater]

Brian, I agree, but the thread I linked to came into existence long before Deep Drills, and it wasn't pruned, so if one were to use an entry from that thread, it could be googled and discovered by the NS. That's why I recommend editing one's posts from that contest to delete possible NS entries.

[Jayne Osborn]

Chris,

Just a thought: Why not start all the NS threads on Deep Drills? I can't really see the point in posting some here and others on DD.

Don't forget, the Deep Drills board was created in the first place because of the problem with Staggers!

Jayne