Now I am anxiously awaiting the appearance of the Kakapo, the Magellanic Flightless Steamer Duck, the Invisible Rail, and of course, the Rhea.

Nowadays, "flightless satellites" orbit under celestial governance and are hit with <electromagnetic radition> which bounces off of them in a series of <DEFLECTIONS> <BLOCKADES> <PINS> and <SKEWERS> so these "secret messages" are delivered in a <sans avian> manner.

But the legacy remains.

Hence, the enduring relevance of the <flightless Steamer> and the <invsible rail>.

If you post your EMU account you, too, can participate in this technological marvel of communication which depends on a physical infrastructure that has the rather ironic side effect of obliterating birds via <GLOBAL WARMING> or an <ICE AGE> (I can't remember which one).

Oh wait that's <Bigfoot>.

Ok never mind then.

Four clues about the myserious chess player:

1) You have mentioned his name before on these pages.

2) It's the real Brecht, old Bertolt himself, who is mentioned, not a dog.

3) The author was dead within two years.

Its favouring of adult themes was not the only thing that was striking in a children's cartoon. As I said, it could be awfully sad - take, for example, the very first episode, when Alfred's entire family gets run down by a car. The look, feel and design of the show was something else too - most of the lads wore quite normal, contemporary dress, but at the same time there were spaceships whizzing around all the time. I distinctly remember an episode, too, where Dolf pulled a Garry Shandling and realised that he was in a television programme, though I might be making that up.

Now, I've just realised that this entire wrong turn into Dutch cartoons is kosher, because in the start sequence young Alfred is playing chess. Here's the phantasmagoria in English (infuriatingly cut short by about half a second): http://youtube.com/watch?v=GyYJdgAk...

1) I've just realised now that there may also have been an episode where his chess pieces come to life. Not in a Raymondo, 'the pieces are literally alive and tearing at black's king like Napoleon and Baron Von Richtofen' type way, but in a walking, talking, creepy way. I can't seem to find any evidence for it unfortunately, as much as I would love to keep up Frogspawn's recent trendy tendency to post youtube vids left right and centre.

Not Lloyd George or HG Wells, then, as they survived a bit longer. Joseph Conrad? Nah. Schrodinger didn't actually die, he just moved to Dublin; I admit it can be hard to tell the difference.

Afraid not, and you've had far too many clues already for me to offer another one up.

Yours,

Technically, yes. Since 'Scotus' originally meant Irish. However, the Irish Grouse is either extinct or in disguise, and nobody in their right mind would play the Irish Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 -- according to theory, "I didn't see that the pawn was protected" ...)

Barnie Wlatmenj
Jeramin Bentlaw

Since you're on a role with (accurate, but potentially offensive) anagrams this evening, maybe you want to dash over to the Christmas Clues page quick... Chessgames Present Hunt Clues Page

"Oh, a pig is a jolly companion
Boar, sow, farrow or gilt
A pig is a pal
Who'll boost your morale
And back you right up to the hilt ..."

But no Teddy Bears. As the headline in the Sudan Sun, loosely translated, sez:

Nor, for that matter, Breyer-Vanu or Byrne-AuVer or Burn-Eavery etc. Should I plough through all the listed games of Breyer, Burn, Byrne, Ryan, Vernay and Rueb? Maybe it's not an anagram, but an allusion to Reuben Fine or Rubinstein or something else entirely ...