Just in time for the long weekend – Rising, footy tipping and our new quiz

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This is deputy editor Orietta Guerrera, filling in for Patrick Elligett while he’s on leave.

Given it’s the first time you’ve heard from me in this role, by way of a quick introduction: I have worked at The Age for two decades in various reporting and editing capacities, most recently as federal politics editor and reader editor. I’m approaching five months in this “new” role and enjoying the opportunity and challenge.

As this week draws to a close, I hope many of you, our subscribers, are preparing to enjoy the long weekend – our first King’s Birthday public holiday in more than 70 years. Perhaps you’re looking forward to some downtime, catching-up with family and friends, or seeing some of what’s on in Melbourne at the moment. As usual there is a bit happening, notably the Rising festival, which started this week and ends on June 18. For those considering going along but yet to buy tickets, you can find a peek into the program here, with stories on some of the shows on offer from our arts and culture writers. Don’t miss this Spectrum piece “The best of the fest”: 10 things not to miss at Rising.

Warwick Thornton’s video work Way of the Ngangkari features in the the Rising festival’s Shadow Spirit installation celebrating First Nations artists.

In the AFL, it’s another bye round for some clubs, however there’s still some action in Melbourne, including Carlton v Essendon, and Melbourne v Collingwood. At this midway point of the AFL season, The Age footy team this week assessed where each of the 18 teams are at: who have been the big improvers, who has disappointed and which teams will play the finals. “What is clear is that as the run home approaches, there is plenty on the line for all clubs,” Jon Pierik writes. For some like me, a lifelong Carlton supporter, the individual club report cards make for sobering reading. Others may feel more buoyed by what the remainder of the season holds.

Football fans may have noticed changes to our expert tipping this week too, thanks to our sports and design teams who have worked on a revamped home for our tips. You’re now able to see our experts’ success rate when tipping each game, scroll back to see results from previous rounds, and get match results and margins in the same place. You can read more about the new features and how to navigate them here to help with your own footy tipping. (If you’d like more footy news and analysis you can sign up for our Real Footy newsletter here or listen to the podcast here.)

There’s not much separating the top half of our expert tippers leaderboard. Peter Ryan, followed by Pierik, Caroline Wilson, Marc McGowan and Michael Gleeson, are leading the pack with 12 rounds to go. Ryan tells me he’s feeling the pressure with Pierik and Wilson “nipping” at his heels. “I am definitely in danger of going into my shell to protect the lead … but I’m determined to tip with renewed bravery after the bye rounds.”

Finally, for lovers of quizzes, I’m pleased to introduce our inaugural The Age quiz, which launched today, just in time for the long weekend. Each Friday we’ll test your local, current affairs, sports and arts knowledge. Stephen Brook is our quizmaster, supported by input from different sections of the newsroom. Our general quizzes, including the Good Weekend Superquiz, have proved popular with subscribers so we set out to produce something distinct for our Age readers.

There was some chatter in the office about whether we’ve struck the right level of difficulty with our questions – I admit I was stumped by a couple despite having lived in Melbourne most of my life. The verdict from the newsroom was “it’s tricky but fair”. We hope you agree – and that you learn something about our city and state along the way too. Please do have a go and let us know what you think.

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