past master

Farage is a past master at grabbing headlines, seizing on issues other politicians are sometimes reluctant to, talking in terms that raise eyebrows, creating rows and news coverage.

Besieged on all sides, Mr. Lee is a past master at playing to public emotions.

He is a past master at laying off his debts as well as his moral responsibilities.

There are sequences here that nod to past masters, from Hitchcock to Spielberg to Shyamalan, and shots that revel in the sheer ecstasy of moviemaking.

Pleading his case to Alithea, the Djinn turns Scheherazade, telling stories of his past masters and the centuries of imprisonment he has endured as a result of their lust and greed.