1. Percy (A), office boy in the pay of Willoughby Scrope (B), informs Mabel that Minnie Shaw (C) – or possibly a miniature – has been put away in the middle drawer of the desk [The Girl in Blue, ch. 7].

2. The gentleman who has called on Percy Pilbeam (D) is Hugo Carmody, secretary of Lord Emsworth [Summer Lightning, ch. 4].

3. Mr Slingsby (E) is irritated by the whistling of his office boy Henry Smith (F), thus enabling Flick Sheridan (G) to make her escape [Bill the Conqueror, ch. 9].

4. Messrs Goble (H) and Cohn (J) are the employers of Ralph (L), whose injunctions are superbly ignored by Jill Mariner (K) [Jill the Reckless, ch. 10].

5. Sacheverell Mulliner (M) has come to see the manager of the Leave-it-to-Us Correspondence School, Jno. B Philbrick (N) ["The Voice From the Past", from Mulliner Nights].

Round 292 - 30 October 2006

1. An intrepid Tankard of Stout (A) is making a deep impression on Mr Mulliner (B) and the other regulars at the Anglers' Rest ["Monkey Business", from Blandings Castle and Elsewhere].

2. Sam Shotter (C) is singing the praises of Pyke's Home Companion (E), whose advice proved a great help to G.D.H. (D) [Sam the Sudden, ch. 12].

3. Soapy Molloy (H) is being throttled by Oofy Prosser (F), after the former's denunciation by Lord Blicester (G) [Ice in the Bedroom, ch. 19].

4. The prune specialist is Laura Pyke, her victim Bingo Little (J), the narrator Bertram Wooster (K) ["Jeeves and the Old School Chum" from Very Good, Jeeves].

5. Empress of Blandings reminded the Duke of Dunstable of his aunt [Uncle Fred in the Springtime, ch. 2].

Round 293 - 8 November 2006

1. In just one of his many indiscretions Archie Moffam, (A), accidentally wandered into a hotel bedroom belonging to Broadway actress Vera Silverton, (B), and her bulldog Percy. And when Miss Silverton herself entered the room our hero was compelled to seek refuge under the bed. From Chapter 13 (“Rallying Round Percy”) of Indiscretions of Archie.

2. Knowing that the enraged Tuppy Glossop, (C), was quite capable of carrying out his stated intention of turning him inside out and making him swallow himself, Gussie Fink-Nottle, (E), found sanctuary first under Bertie Wooster’s bed, then in Mr Wooster’s bedroom cupboard, and finally, as a last resort, on the roof of Brinkley Court. From Chapter 18 of Right Ho, Jeeves (US title Brinkley Manor).

3. Bream Mortimer, (F), missed out on much of the excitement in the tumultuous final chapter of The Girl on the Boat (US title Three Men and a Maid) when he decided to hide under his bed after being mistaken for a burglar by Jane Hubbard, (H), whose motto was “Shoot first, and ask questions later”.

4. Things didn’t break well for Rupert Baxter, (I), when he made an ill-fated clandestine call on the Blandings Castle bedroom of Miss Schoonmaker, (K), with the intention of destroying a compromising letter. It was under the bed for Baxter when Miss Schoonmaker (actually Sue Brown in disguise), and no fewer than five others including Lord Emsworth, (L), and Lady Constance Keeble, (J), dropped in for one reason or another. From Chapter 17 of Summer Lightning (US title Fish Preferred).

5. Sacheverell Mulliner, (M), stricken with a sudden severe case of Headmaster Phobia, took refuge under the beds of the Bishop of Bognor, (N), and his fiancée Muriel Branksome, (O), in the short story “The Voice From the Past”, which was first collected in Mulliner Nights.

Round 294 - 15 November 2006

1. After a few misunderstandings involving red-headed troublemakers, irate loony doctors, hot-water bottles and darning needles, Bertie Wooster was compelled to spend Christmas Eve sleeping in an arm-chair at Skeldings Hall. From the short story “Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit”, which was first collected in Very Good, Jeeves.

2. In Chapter 17 of The Small Bachelor Mrs Sigsbee H Waddington, (B), who found herself arrested and imprisoned in a Greenwich Village roof-top sleeping-porch, made the mistake of standing on a chair incapable of bearing her weight while trying to communicate through a small window with a potential rescuer on the Outside.

3. Ukridge’s attempts to impress the beautiful Myrtle Bayliss, (E), her father and Uncle Phil, (D), with a lavish tea were sabotaged when his furniture was repossessed in the short story “Ukridge and the Old Stepper” from Eggs, Beans, and Crumpets.

4. With a one hundred pound purse in the Drones Club’s Fat Uncles Sweepstakes on the horizon, Oofy Prosser, (H), was convinced his Uncle Horace, (G), was a sure-fire winner. From the short story “The Fat of the Land”, which was collected in A Few Quick Ones.

5. For the bonus point, Tom Ellison and Dick Henley were the two friends willing to sacrifice their chairs to the bonfire in the early (1905) short story “Tom, Dick, and Harry”, which first appeared in book form in The Uncollected Wodehouse, a 1976 collection edited by David Jasen.

Round 295 - 23 November 2006

1. In Chapter Fifteen of Love Among the Chickens Ukridge’s creditors, including the one in Dorchester who supplied a gramophone and sixteen records, were beginning to get a little anxious about when they were going to see their money.

2. Rodney Scollop, (A), and Bernard Worple, (B), were alarmed at the disastrous impact the cat Webster had on the lifestyle of their friend Lancelot Mulliner, (C), with Worple being reminded of a similar incident involving an interior-decorating friend of his, who was reduced by an evangelical parrot to a harmonium-playing hymn-singer. From the short story “The Story of Webster”, which was first collected in Mulliner Nights.

3. In Chapter Eight of Frozen Assets (US title Biffen‘s Millions), Percy Pilbeam’s anecdote about the reporter Billingsley’s (D’s) luncheon engagement with the late Edmund Biffen Pyke gave Lord Tilbury reason to be optimistic that his brother’s will could be successfully contested on the grounds he (the late brother, not Lord Tilbury) was as loony as a coot, if not loonier.

4. In Chapter Ten of The Girl on the Boat (US: Three Men and a Maid) Mr Bennett, (E), was annoyed to have his afternoon nap disturbed by the strains of Tosti’s ‘Goodbye’, played on the Windles orchestrion at maximum volume by his old friend Mr Mortimer, (G). The part of (F) was played by the valet Webster.

5. Life at Rowcester Abbey (US: Towcester Abbey) seemed to consist of one calamity after another, but in the opinion of Sir Roderick Carmoyle, (H), the television set handing in its dinner pail moments before the running of the Derby took the biscuit. From Chapters 20 and 21 of Ring For Jeeves (US: The Return of Jeeves).

Round 296 - 3 December 2006

1. James Rodman, (A), was saved from a fate worse than death by the timely table-upsetting trick of the dog William, (B), at the climax of the short story “Honeysuckle Cottage”, which was first collected in Meet Mr Mulliner.

2. Two of the seven occasional tables dotted about the Blandings Castle hall were reduced to kindling after a violent skirmish involving Ashe Marson, (C), George Emerson, (D), and the Efficient Baxter, (E), in Chapter 8 of Something Fresh (US title Something New).

3. Despite being jilted earlier in the book by Gerald Foster, (G), Sally Nicholas, (F), was still haunted by the man’s glamour and personality. But after Gerald’s behaviour in Chapter 17 of The Adventures of Sally, the title character found that she could look at him calmly and feel only a faint half-pity, half-contempt. Which would turn out to be very good news indeed for another young man in the next chapter.

4. Shocked to discover Pauline Stoker lounging in his bed wearing his heliotrope pyjamas with the old gold stripe, Bertie Wooster contemplated the scandal that must surely erupt on the morrow when his new man Brinkley, (H), arrived in the bedroom with the morning cup of tea. From Chapter 7 of Thank You, Jeeves.

5. The climax of Quick Service was delayed slightly in Chapter 19 by this ruckus involving an Alsatian, a cat, an occasional table and former pork-and-beans boxer Howard “Mugsy” Steptoe, (I).

Round 297 - 11 December 2006

1. B, the Scrooge, is Mr Cook, father of Vanessa; A is Bertie Wooster and C is OJ (Orlo) Porter. (Aunts Aren't Gentlemen, US title The Cat-Nappers, Chapter 17)

2. Bertie Wooster reminds Stephanie (Stiffy) Byng of Sidney Carton. (The Code of the Woosters, Chapters 13-14)

3. Ronnie Fish seems like a Cheeryble Brother to Sue, but like Sidney Carton to himself. (Heavy Weather, Chapter 9)

4. Lord Ickenham's allusion to Mr Pickwick goes over the head of Alaric, Duke of Dunstable. (Service with a Smile, Chapter 11)

5. Henry Weems is the lawyer, and K is Josephine Trent. (French Leave, Chapter 1)

Extra Credit 1: Dinah Biddle says that her name "ought to be Dinah Micawber" because her father was "about the most impractical man who ever lived". ("Life with Freddie", Plum Pie)

Extra Credit 2: Bill Shannon compared Hollywood to Scrooge. (The Old Reliable, Chapter 3)

Round 298 - 19 December 2006

1. The man nostalgic for a babyless Brazil is William Oakshott. (Uncle Dynamite, Chapter 5)

2. Ginger Winship is the man who has learned that a politician's lot is not a happy one, involving as it does the kissing of babies. (Much Obliged Jeeves, US title Jeeves and the Tie That Binds, Chapter 3)

3. Ukridge and Corky discuss the pros and cons – actually, there are only cons – of baby-kissing. ("The Long Arm of Looney Coote," Ukridge, US title He Rather Enjoyed It)

4. D is Freddie Widgeon ("Noblesse Oblige, Young Men in Spats)

5. The Edward G Robinsonesque baby is Algernon Aubrey Little. ("Sonny Boy," Eggs, Beans and Crumpets)

Round 299 - 27 December 2006

1. The babytalker is the "nice though goofy" Phyllis Mills; A is the cat Augustus, and B is Wilbert Cream. (Jeeves in the Offing, US title How Right You Are Jeeves, Chapter 15)

2. C is Mrs Evelyn Paradene-Kirby; D is Bill West, and E is Cooley Paradene. (Bill the Conqueror, Chapter 2)

3. Wilbur Trout is reminiscing nostalgically to Vanessa Polk about one of his ex-wives, Genevieve. (A Pelican at Blandings, US title Nudes and No Nudes, Chapter 5)

4. The speaker is Mrs Luella Mainprice Jopp, accompanied by her Pekingese, Tinky-Ting (aka Muzzer's Pet). ("The Heel of Achilles", The Clicking of Cuthbert)

5. Stiffy Byng is addressing the dog Bartholemew. (The Code of the Woosters, Chapter 4)

Round 300 - 4 January 2006

1. Bill Oakshott reproaches Pongo Twistleton (B) for having kissed Elsie Bean (A). (Uncle Dynamite, Chapter 8.)

2. Sam Shotter (C) explains why he kissed Kay Derrick. (Sam the Sudden, US title Sam in the Suburbs, Chapter 16.)

3. At her father's command, Packy Franklin (D) kisses Jane Opal (E) in the presence of her fiancé, Blair Eggleston. (Hot Water, Chapters 7-8.)

4. Lord Tilbury (G), about to kiss Gwendoline Gibbs, has difficulty getting rid of Cyril Bunting (F). (Frozen Assets, US title Biffen's Millions, Chapter 11.5.)

5. Lady Florence Craye kisses Bertie (I), in gratitude for his releasing her from their engagement. (Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, US title Bertie Wooster Sees It Through, Chapter 22. Bertie makes a similar comment after receiving an equally unwelcome kiss from Madeline Bassett in Chapter 23 of Right Ho, Jeeves.)