Every year when the world goes into a festive parallel universe, the silly season starts in style. I note the Daily Telegraph has kicked off grandly reporting what every anaesthetist knows about their surgeons. (Surgeons not all brains, 16/12). The claim of brain-surgeons’ intellectual superiority might briefly apply when their patients are under the spotlight with harsh metal retractors in place, with mind-numbing drugs and temporary pathology, but that’s the extent of their intellectual advantage. Success is embedded in hard work, commitment and a deep sense of caring, often at odds with those relying on the vagaries of reputation. I await the next morsel of silly-season nonsense with arrows of parody and ridicule at the ready. Alan Sexton, North Parramatta. 20Dec2021.