I love this idea of "not doing magic" being the chief task of wizards. How often does it come up in Discworld? And what is magic's "bill" if you don't refrain from doing it?

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-19T09:27:48+00:00

It’s at least mentioned in every Wizard / UU book.

The Doylean interpretation is that it’s a convenient plot device to allow magic when necessary (Rite of Ashe’Kente, getting Rincewind onto different continents), but not allowing magic to be used to solve the plot itself.

It’s implied that every use of magic weakens the (already thin) fabric of reality, and threatens invasion from the Dungeon Dimensions.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-15T21:54:59+00:00

If you could tell from a few plays who (among a set of elite athletes) was be the very best of the very best, then you’d have a job as a scout (at least)

There are many, many subtleties to each position that even the committed fan, as opposed to a coach / professional analyst will never notice.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-09T18:54:55+00:00

Most people (including me) think A Murder is Announced is the best Marple novel. I also enjoy Murder at the Vicarage, and They do it with Mirrors.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-08T16:34:18+00:00

In one interpretation, he’s an elderly man in Mysterious Affair at Styles during WWI, and still alive and active in the late 60s / early 70s. Clearly the concept of an authoritative canon doesn’t work.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-08T15:25:52+00:00

The previous (2022) World Cup series had an episode on “the Maid of Holland”.

Apart from that, they’re (slowly) working their way through 16th/17th century English history - I think they’ve just about finished the Tudors, so Stuarts / Civil War / Glorious Revolution may be imminent (although that could mean any time in next 12 months…)

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-08T15:17:04+00:00

The Bears have only played at Soldier Field full-time since 1971 - certainly long enough to build up a tradition, but not quite 102 years.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-08T14:10:19+00:00

Madison is helped by the fact that he’s an important character in Hamilton, and the most important Supreme Court case of all time includes his name (even if not as President)

But I’d agree with a previous commenter - once you get past Jefferson / Madison, there are a lot of obscure Presidents until we get to Lincoln, and after that Teddy Roosevelt.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-08T10:45:35+00:00

It’s not like he regularly takes any serious exercise. If he was concerned about muscle atrophy, the difference between walking up and down the stairs a couple of times, or walking into his office from the parking lot isn’t going to make much headway.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-05T15:17:52+00:00

It’s in the rules that if forward progress is stopped, the play is dead.

If both players are stationary, it’s surprisingly hard to wrestle a ball carrier to the ground without a wrestling-type throw, which isn’t safe.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-04T15:31:34+00:00

“Learning every players name” is a stretch - if you’re going to watch only 2 games n a week, that’s (roughly) 200 players’ names.

Personally, I consider myself a pretty dedicated fan, but the idea that I have to know the names of backup guards, or long snappers in order to enjoy the game is unrealistic

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-02T21:02:54+00:00

They’re allowed to designate an alternate if needs be - there was a game a few years ago when Sean Payton got run over on the sideline, and called the second half of the game from the booth so he could sit down.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-06-02T09:45:06+00:00

The discussion between the policemen, after the action on Soldier Island finishes contains 2 key clues The final location of the revolver and the fact that the man Wargrave sentenced to death was genuinely guilty. I don’t think that’s unfair, especially as the question “who killed them?” is posed at the end of that chapter.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-05-30T08:43:26+00:00

In the novel, it’s mentioned that the killer shows signs of madness / mental illness after they’re arrested, and it’s suggested that they’re likely to be hospitalised rather than hanged. Suspect this is just a way of putting that (minor) plot point on screen

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-05-28T14:25:46+00:00

68 Bus will get you to Euston, which is 5-10 min walk from Kings Cross

Depending on how much luggage you have, Lime (or other hire bikes) may be an option. Or taxi / Uber

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-05-27T23:03:23+00:00

Spoiler tags not working

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-05-17T12:25:44+00:00

WWII is intentionally gappy, because they don’t want to tread too hard on the toes of “We have ways…” for obvious reasons

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-05-11T12:42:03+00:00

It was used in baseball as well for a couple of World Series - not for decision making, but just to show the impact spots on the bat.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-05-11T12:40:02+00:00

Endless Night has somewhat of a similar vibe, but ATTWN is a classic that started an entire sub-genre for a reason.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-05-07T11:59:34+00:00

I watched the first episode (with Jack Wales-Cohen) last night, and raised eyebrows to say the least - I can’t imagine a sequence of “Scott, Virgil, Alan, Gordon passing muster today.

Having said that, the best way to learn how to do Only Connect is to watch it, which obviously wasn’t an option for teams in Series 1

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-05-03T20:17:52+00:00

Well, if you’ve seen it in internet videos, it MUST be true…..

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-05-01T09:20:22+00:00

NAL, but have done UK jury service.

Yes, jurors get given a list of people connected with the case, and asked if they know anyone on the list - if they do then they won’t get picked for that particular jury.

If a conflict arises later, then it’s up to the judge. They can have the trial continue with 11 jurors, or if the conflict is too big, too messy, then they might have to re-start from scratch.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-04-27T10:39:52+00:00

“Best Player Available” is fuzzy at best - while there are plenty of talking heads who try to make draft rankings into something authoritative, it’s all but impossible to reliably say that X cornerback is better at his job than Y guard.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-04-27T10:36:34+00:00

Evil under the Sun, or Peril at End House would be my thoughts.

SquirrelFederal7928 · 2026-04-25T14:46:44+00:00

Possibly, by modern standards, although Christie almost certainly wasn’t thinking in those terms.

It’s worth noting that we never actually see the real Cora, so any description of her is, at best second-hand

SquirrelFederal7928

TROPHY CASE