Would we expect to find lifeboats on the Ship of Fools?
Why, yes: how else would the rats abandon ship?
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• No. It’s too crowded.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• It’s about as likely as finding a humble politician in parliament.
David Turner, Bellevue Heights, South Australia
• No – like Donald Trump, we’d just have to put our faith in the Old Buoys Club.
Noel Bird, Boreen Point, Queensland, Australia
• Perhaps, but if lifeboats are on board, expect them to be unable to be launched or unseaworthy.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
Only time will tell the tale
What is the most accurate method for measuring greatness?
By reviewing the evidence 25 years after the death of the subject.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• By using the formula “c minus t”, where c equals the most impactful contribution to the greatest number of people and t equals the tendency to blow one’s own trumpet.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US
• A humility test.
Neil Johnson, Birmingham, UK
• A ruler?
Bernard Galton, St-Nazaire-sur-Charente, France
• Imperial measures.
Stewart Dutfield, Delmar, New York, US
• Measure head size.
Jenefer Warwick James, Paddington, NSW, Australia
• True greatness is unmeasurable.
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
Anyone without children
What sort of person squares up picture frames in other people’s houses?
The same type of person who straightens out armchair covers and reverses toilet rolls on bathroom walls. They have obsessive compulsive disorder. The condition is inherited. I blame the parents.
Paul Wentworth, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
• I and my soulmates. But I always ask permission first so as not to cause offence.
David King, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
• Anyone who has never had children.
Len Owen, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada
• I do. I also have “write to my MP” on my to-do list.
Christian Ensslin, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Fantastic and fabulous too!
Is anything truly incredible?
Something must be, otherwise I’d have to believe everything.
Stephen Schafer, Leichhardt, NSW, Australia
• Why yes – nearly everything is. Where have you been? They’re also awesome, fantastic and fabulous.
Jake Sigg, San Francisco, California, US
To the victor goes the spoils
Who benefits from fighting the idea that government is for the people?
The 1%, and they’ve won the fight.
John Black, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
• It all depends who wins.
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Any answers?
What is the difference between a populist and a demagogue?
John Geffroy, Las Vegas, New Mexico, US
Is airport security safe?
E Slack, L’Isle Jourdain, France
Send answers to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com
