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fieryjack

29th May 2026, 15:28
Likes included Darla 9,Tyke 35 and Aristo 36,
Voting for
Swarb @30
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swarbrules

29th May 2026, 17:13
geting @ 5
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darla

29th May 2026, 17:56
wil 16
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geeker

29th May 2026, 18:15
Thanks to all the participants.

Tied on 3 votes were swarbrules@24 and wil@16. Due to a like and votes for other clues, I'll break the tie in favour of swarb@24 for silver; wil@3 with bronze.

Gold with 4 votes to darla@9 with Note: American traitor first to be the one to make a deal with the devil (5)
Well done!

Note: the first clip will likely require youtube captioning (the CC button plus autotranslate Russian to English in the Settings [gear button])

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82D9Zb3nc5A Master and Margarita

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuhm-D_3n8w Dorian Gray

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnw7YyqEdV0&list=RDTnw7YyqEdV0 Mephisto Waltz

Plus geek content of chess prodigy interview (after Round 13 he analyzes his Round 12 game from memory)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQYeT7OkYe0
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geeker

29th May 2026, 18:16
Apologies for typo: wil@16 the bronze.
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chrise

29th May 2026, 18:21
Congrats darla. If my knowledge of American history is correct, the name Benedict Arnold springs to mind!

Thanks geeker. The Master and Margarita{/i] appeared on the Guardian's 100 best books. I wasn't sure if I could count it as one I had read, as I've started it about 5 times, and always thrown it away at about the same point - far too "religious" for me.
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chrise

29th May 2026, 18:22
Sorry, wrong bracket
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geeker

29th May 2026, 18:25
Chris, The Master and Margarita is a polarizing book. Many people rate it highly, but I've seen New York Times Book Review interviews of famous novelists who consider it an overrated mess.

I am a huge fan and even own DVDs of an old Russian TV production. I want to see this new film in the worst way and hope for a US cinema release.
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chrise

29th May 2026, 18:32
[Hi geeker
The first time I tried to read it was when I was up at university in the 70s. The last time was a few weeks ago, after it appeared in the Guardian's list. I don't think I'll try again. Apparently its driving force was a criticism of Russia's atheism; as a committed atheist, I couldn't be sympathetic.]
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jono

29th May 2026, 18:39
Congrats Darla and thanks for hosting Geeker? Thanks also to Wil for the vote.
I think the clue should be “traitor’s first” rather than “traitor first”.
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