Today’s Wordle: 4
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White to move and mate in 4. Tricky.
1. Qf8+ Qf7 2. e5+ dxe5 3. fxe5+ Ke6 4. Qd6#
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
I wonder how Rossini would react if you told him future generations would know his music because of an anthropomorphic talking rabbit. pic.twitter.com/JcPCN1pZUE
— old toons (@oldtoons_) January 3, 2026
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old tunes wrote: I wonder how Rossini would react if you told him future generations would know his music because of an anthropomorphic talking rabbit.
That’s how I got hooked on Wagner!!!
“Kill the wabbit … kill the wabbit. … I will do it with my spear and magic helmet!”
— Guy
https://vimeo.com/444002896
I wonder how Rossini would react if you told him future generations would know his music because of an anthropomorphic talking rabbit.
Indeed, the first time I heard the Barber of Seville overture, I exclaimed “That’s Bugs Bunny music”. I then grew up having far more interest in classical music because of that connection. But an earlier generation would have exclaimed “That’s Lone Ranger music” upon hearing his William Tell overture.
I suspect that especially with overtures, the composers probably recognized something more universal about their music and its potential for dramatic presentation: they had not exhausted the usefulness of one melody line be making it the initial point of one specific opera. And it is surely the case that they recognized some operas were silly, and intentionally played upon the lightheartedness in the themes of such operas with equally lighthearted music. So, I strongly suspect that the Bugs “Barber” episode would strike him as an excellent twist on his music, and his laugh would be louder than ours.
That is a breathtaking shot.
Mate in four, or else Black loses his Queen, with mate to follow:
1. Qf8+ Qf7 (Black’s only move)
2. e4e5+ d6xe5 (if Black plays Ke6, see #4 below)
3. f4xe5+ Ke6 (otherwise Black loses his Queen)
4. Qd6 mate
TonyO,
Your experience sounds familiar. When I was in 8th grade (1967) the teacher said, “Today we’ll listen to classical music;” we students all muttered …. awwww rats …. classical music?????? Ewwwwww.
When she put on the record, we all sat up with saucer eyes: it was “The Lone Ranger” and the Loony Toons music, etc. We recognized all the music. She sure pulled a fast one on us — and opened our ears.
In the time of the great opera composers, organ grinders and bigger mechanical organs, calliopes, etc. roamed the streets of Italy, playing the great opera tunes.
Rossini would be happy about it. And he’d probably be a pain in the butt to Mozart about his sequel adaptation getting more screentime than Mozart’s original adaptation.
Technically, Rossini adapted the prequel play and Mozart adapted the sequel play. Sorry about that.