In one of the articles I introduced the dramatis personae,
so instead I've put them here by way of introduction.
EBU Magazine readers should know all of them.

The Purple Carapace	reference to the crimson jacket adorning a Director’s body and a strong reference to how thick-skinned directors need to be. Specific instances are M.A.X - the Mighty Ayatollah Xing-Ho; Poo-Bah, Lord High Everything Else; MadDog - from his playing days;
Senior and Junior Caddy	Young Purple Carapaces, not yet fully in shell, who charge around collecting pick-up slips, dispensing assignments and creating total mayhem when working in tandem.
The Rottweiller	A young but very dangerous creature that savages hands. Sometimes mistimes things and bites himself in the foot.
DM	Dungeon Master -Reference to the referee who runs the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons (tm). He who is notionally in charge.
Proddy	Very long suffering partner of the author
The Gerbils	The group I coach in Coaching Corner on BridgeClubLive. Very keen, gnaw their way to the solution