It’s Christmas (or Winterval if you’re politically correct) so it must be competition time. We are indebted to Gazettereader offer partner Averys Wine Merchants for the generous donation of six magnums (magna?) of the finest Chateau La Rose Gadis 2004 Bordeaux Rouge. One will duly wet the whistle of the first six Obiter readers to email the correct answer to the following teaser. Put these wine bottles in order of size from largest to smallest: Balthazar, Jeroboam, Magnum, Methuselah, Nebuchadnezzar and Salmanazar.

Which reminds us: did you hear about the Latin scholar who went into a bar and ordered a Martinus? ‘Don’t you mean Martini?’ said the barman. ‘If I’d wanted two, I’d have said so,’ the scholar replied. Cheers! (And apologies to Barry Cryer.) Answers to obiter@lawsociety.org.uk.