QA71-80

Round 71 - 1 January 2001

1. Champagne of a sound vintage was flowing like water elsewhere (...)

Given G's perverse addiction to orange juice, he was obviously Gussie Fink-Nottle, impersonated here, at Deverill Hall, by the narrator, Bertie Wooster. Bertram was distressed by the horrid auntfulness of the place and his own woeful champagnelessness. Jeeves's Uncle Charlie (Charlie Silversmith) was buttling with his customary zeal. The Mating Season, chapter 5.

2. But nothing more. It was practically a teetotal evening.

The sufferer (X) was tennis player Dwight Messmore, and the shrewd medical attendant on the scene was his rival in love, Dr Ambrose Gussett (once described as "an iodoform-scented butterfly"), a keen golfer who deservedly triumphed in the end. "Up from the Depths" (in Nothing Serious).

3. Where before he had been a mere toad beneath the harrow, under the influence of the generous fluid he had been converted into an up-and-coming toad (...)

The girl's initial (G) was meant to help you to identify her as Gertrude Butterwick, and so her swain (Y) as Monty Bodkin. The champagne was provided free of charge by Mr Flannery, husband of the third Mrs Llewellyn, at his night club, The Happy Prawn. Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin, chapter 7, section 1.

4. "R!" said the second burglar, helping himself to more champagne and mixing in a little port, sherry, Italian vermouth, old brandy and green Chartreuse to give it body.

Two hefty burglars were looting Osbert Mulliner (Z)'s house, and they particularly enjoyed the contents of larder and cellar. The ‘second burglar’ whose revolting behaviour is described in this passage was Ernest, and the other was called Harold.

"The Ordeal of Osbert Mulliner" (in The World of Mr Mulliner or other collections).

Round 72 - 9 January 2001

1. Lord Rowcester (Bill Belfry) and Jeeves were planning to put an incoming guest, Mrs Spottsworth, in the Queen Elizabeth Room, which was to be both a bat-less and a bath-free zone (as Ian Michaud stylishly put it). As you may remember, Bill's country seat, Rowcester Abbey, was a decayed white elephant where damp reigned supreme ...

Ring for Jeeves, chapter 5 – US title (with the Towcester variant) The Return of Jeeves.

2. The young man who had to entrust life and limb to one of the Blandings water pipes was Bill ‘Blister’ Lister, a.k.a. ‘The Face’. Having been trapped in young Prue's bedroom by a most threatening posse, poor Bill first crept along a ledge to the next window where he made faces and shouted "Hi!", all to no avail, as the room's occupant (Tipton Plimsoll) took one look at The Face and disappeared with a shudder. He was then left with no alternative but to climb down the water pipe to terra firma, where a few more shocks awaited him.

Full Moon, chapter 10, section 4.

3. First, let me apologise for an error. In the quotation there should have been ‘(...)’ – indicating that some words had been left out – between ‘Fedora.’ and ‘And he went on’.

Having turned his aunt's residence, The Cedars, into a thriving boarding-house, Ukridge was appalled when he learnt that Miss Ukridge was to return earlier than expected. He simply had to flush his paying guests out of the house before she arrived back home. So he caused a panic about supposedly defective drains – and all was going well with his scheme until Mr Wapshott intervened.

Julia Ukridge's house in Wimbledon is called The Cedars in this and other stories, but sometimes Heath House too (in "First Aid for Dora", for instance).

"Ukridge and the Home from Home", in Lord Emsworth and Others (or other collections).

4. Miss Putnam was showing Packy Franklyn (impersonating the Veek) the celebrated leaking cistern in the château Blissac, St Rocque, France.

Hot Water, chapter 9.

Round 73 - 17 January 2001

1. Bertie was intimidated by Jeeves' uncle, Charlie Silversmith. Bertie was disadvantaged by impersonating Gussie and also introducing a large and plebian dog. You may remember that Gussie felt equally at a loss, knowing people thought he was Bertie. The Mating Season chap 5.

2. Albert Peasemarch, Beefy Bastable's butler, was telling his love to Lord Ickenham. Peasemarch later gained his love by means of the tried and true Ickenham system, where one grabs the intendeds wrist and showers burning kisses on her upturned face. Cocktail Time chap 9.

3. Melvyn Spink and Lord Shortlands were rivals in love for Mrs Punter, the cook, in Spring Fever chap 21. Sadly, they were both pipped at the post when her true love, Augustus Robb the burgler, returned.

Round 74 - 26 January 2001

1. was Bertie in "The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy" (Carry On, Jeeves), wasting his sweetness on the desert air of the British Empire Exhibition, accompanying Biffy, who had undergone the disaster of becoming engaged to Honoria Glossop.

2. was Ukridge, in "The Old Stepper" (Eggs, Beans and Crumpets), discovering that his Australian Uncle was not the goldmine he had appeared.

3. was James Datchett in "Out Of School" (The Man Upstairs). His uncle had threatened to banish him to the Colonies if he could not earn his own living. However, thanks to some useful blackmail, he was able to avoid that threat.

Round 75 - 4 February 2001

1. Poppet is the dachsund belonging to baby-talking Phyllis Mills. He is first introduced in chapter 3 of Jeeves in the Offing. Later in the book Bertie remarks to Jeeves, "He wouldn't hurt a fly, but he has to put up a front because his name's Poppet. One can readily appreciate that when a dog hears himself addressed day in and day out as Poppet, he feels he must throw his weight around. His self respect demands it."

2. Augustus, otherwise known as Gus, is the Brinkley Court cat in Jeeves in the Offing. Bertie explains his lethargic disposition by saying he has Traumatic Symplegia. However, when confronted with Poppet, he livened up, precipitating Bertie into the lake.

3. It would appear there is a plethora of cats named Miggles in the canon. The one I was referring to was owned by Edwin Waters (aged seven) in "Stylish Stouts" (Plum Pie).

Round 76 - 12 February 2001

1. Bertie was the publisher, trying to ingratiate his friend Corky's fiancée with Corky's Uncle. Unfortunately, the scheme worked only too well, and Muriel married the uncle. "The Artistic Career of Corky", from Carry on Jeeves.

2. The eccentric Mr Saxby was entertaining Cosmo Wisdom in chapter 12 of Cocktail Time. Cosmo wished to discuss the serial of the novel, but ran into difficulties, firstly because Mr Saxby disapproved of such breakfast foods, and secondly because he had promised his mother he would never read newspaper serials, whereupon Cosmo left in despair.

3. Otis Painter was the impetuous publisher, kissing the imperious Hermione Bostock (which I wouldn't have done on a bet). Hermione had persuaded her father not to sue Otis, who had published the unfortunate parent's memoirs with modern Art prints. Major Bostock had particularly objected to the nude female with "Myself in the Early Twenties" beside it.

Round 77 - 6 March 2001

1. St. Monica's School headmistress Miss Mapleton, Bertie Wooster, Jeeves and an unidentified police constable were in conference in the Mapleton's study when the sound of a flower pot smashing through the roof of the garden's conservatory created a sensation, causing even Jeeves to leap several inches from the floor. ("Jeeves and the Kid Clementina" from Very Good, Jeeves)

2. Osbert Mulliner, upon the discovery of the burglars Harold and Ernest hard at work looting his Cromwell Road flat, cowered behind the dining room curtain while his two burly uninvited guests had a serious falling-out on the subject of table manners during their impromptu pot-luck supper. ("The Ordeal of Osbert Mulliner" from Mr Mulliner Speaking)

3. After accepting a bet to do so, Jimmy Pitt, aided by professional burglar Spike Mullins, broke into a house in Manhattan but had the misfortune to select one occupied by New York Police Captain John McEachern and guarded by the baritone bulldog, Rastus, and the soprano bull-terrier, Tommy. The evening wasn't a total washout for Jimmy though, as the house also contained Capt. McEachern's beautiful daughter, Molly. (A Gentleman of Leisure, Chapters 6 & 7)

Round 78 - 20 March 2001

1. Constable Eustace Oates of the Totleigh-in-the-Wold constabulary learns a valuable lesson - viz: when peddling a bicycle next to a ditch it is always advisable to keep at least one hand on the handle bars. P.C. Oates' encounter with the dog Bartholmew Byng was witnessed by Mr Bertram W. Wooster and described in Chapter 4 of his autobiographical work, The Code of the Woosters.

2. Archibald Mulliner (X), after an evening of political education in Bottleton East, had just started a 3 a.m. command performance of his world famous hen-laying-an-egg act outside the 36A Park Street residence of his sweetheart, Aurelia Cammerleigh, when Police Constable C-44 came butting in, cramping his act with a curt, "What is all this?" ("Archibald and the Masses", which first appeared in book form in Young Men in Spats)

3. It was a rough night for Officer Garroway of the New York Police Department. Shortly after a burglary suspect evaded arrest by flinging a handful of pepper in his face, the intrepid officer's attempt to apprehend Z, George Finch, for flouting the laws of prohibition were stymied in the manner described. (The Small Bachelor, Chapter 16)

Round 79 - 28 March 2001

1. Bertie Wooster, in the midst of the first leg of his Brinkley Court-Kingham Manor bicycle marathon, was startled by a close encounter with a road-side owl. (Chapter 22 of Right Ho, Jeeves)

2. This was originally going to be Bertie's swan from Jeeves and the Impending Doom but, with another of Wooster's zoological adventures on this week's agenda, it was decided to select the swan, name unknown, that so rudely interrupted the treasure-hunting activities of Sir Raymond "Beefy" Bastable in Chapter 17 of Cocktail Time.

3. Peter the Snake (B), the property of a certain Mme. Brudowska, had gone AWOL, only to be recovered by Archie Moffam (D), who transferred the serpent in the middle of the night to the apartment of his irascible father-in-law, Daniel Brewster. (Indiscretions of Archie, Chapter 8)

4. Lady Pauline Wetherby's pet monkey, Eustace (X), incensed by an unprovoked attack by the kitchen cat, sought vengeance by hurling a large supply of fresh-laid eggs at the domestic staff. (Uneasy Money, Chapter 13)

Round 80 - 5 April 2001

Commerce

1. Bertie Wooster, commissioned by his Aunt Dahlia to sneer at a cow-creamer, visits a Brompton Road antique shop where he would shortly stand accused of the attempted theft of an umbrella and the cow creamer in question. (The Code of the Woosters, Chapter 1)

2. Osbert Mulliner, in quest of a complete traveller's outfit for a planned expedition to India, Japan, South Africa, Peru, Mexico, China, Venezuela, the Fiji Islands and other beauty spots, finds himself unable to say "No!" to the forceful salesmen at the Cohen Brothers shop near Covent Garden. Before many more moments have passed a cocked hat and a sewing-machine would be added to his order. ("The Ordeal of Osbert Mulliner" from Mr Mulliner Speaking)

3. Soft-hearted pawn-broker Monsieur Gandinot, the ugliest man in Roville-sur-Mer, tells his assistant Ruth Warden the sad tale of the latest pauvre Anglais to visit his establishment to negotiate the exchange of apiece of jewellry for ready cash, unaware that George Vince, the pauvre Anglais in q., was actually the well-to-do son of Vince's Stores and his motive in visiting the pawn shop was to drink in M Gandinot's appearance for later use in designing a new line of uniquely ugly children's toys. ("Ruth in Exile" from The Man Upstairs and other Stories. While this particular early (1914) collection of short stories wasn't published in the US, "Ruth in Exile" did appear in the American market in David Jasen's The Uncollected Wodehouse.)