My Winkly Reader · February 1977

February 1977

Winking makes you blind, you know.

– English Winking Proverb

FERD 4, SHEEP 3

One foggy July day, Ferd was [sic original=”ploding” correct=”plodding”] and plotting. Plodding because it was late and he had gone further than he had wanted in the Toten Gebirge of Austria and plotting because, well, that’s most of what there is to do. Today’s theme happened to be tiddlywinks; it appeared to be as reasonable as just about anything else.

This was the summer when the trend of returning to the ancestral homeland began in the winx world. The brave trio who were the pawns in this historical crusade were Severin, Winke, and Ferd. Severin, stopping briefly on a quaint island off the coast of Europe, first defended his already lost singles championship. (Overheard in the post-mortem, “Ye Gods, this is their 6th best.”) Then he proceeded on to Poland to meet his parents and his past. Severin had decided to do everything there with utmost caution (some might say he’d been practicing for a few years…), not wanting a 2nd chance at turning European fellow-prisoners on to winx. At the time of this writing he had not been heard from.

Then there was Winke. He was going to Germany. Your correspondent does not have all the data, but we suspect he was going to be visiting mostly the caves in the Black Forest, hoping to trace the ancestry of his current basement home. It wasn’t taken note by many, but he also had a rendezvous, he was to slip across the border into Austria to meet Ferd.

Ferd, traveling incognito and protected by his mother, stopped on many a mountain stroll to chat with the cows and bulls on the way. He liked Austria: it was the only place he knew you could go hiking in the forest and run into cows. Or an old man whistling the International.

But on this particular stroll it was sheep. He had just finished plotting the new Polish Partition that Winlce and he (representing Germany and Austria) would rend unto Severin. The name of their trusty agent in Russia must remain a secret—but who was that man whistling in the woods, anyway? The fog was getting thicker and gloomier. He tried to remember his schooling: “when you’re in a fog, you have to pay close attention to what’s right close to you.”

When all of a sudden, emerging out of the fog, came a herd of stampeding sheep. Freshly shorn, horns glistening (in the fog?), right at him. Who ever heard of hostile sheep? Not Ferd, but that was no time to rely on hearsay; better to panic. When suddenly, out of the very same fog, for no reason whatsoever, appeared a tiny hut. Ferd, willing to accept salvation in any guise, ran to the hut. Hot wanting to miss out on a good thing, so did the sheep. As the score indicates, Ferd got there just ahead of them. The hut, however, was locked tight. Fortunately (the author’s bias revealed), there was a porch with a gate attached to the hut and Ferd was able to barricade himself in it. The sheep, obviously trained in military tactics, surrounded the hut in a tight semi-circle, baa-ing at their prisoner. They seemed to know just what they wanted with him, but he could not detect their intentions, it being especially hard to think midst all their racket. Ford remembered a tactic used by outnumbered persons through the ages—ask a representative of theirs to step forward and negotiate; see what he could trick one lone sheep into revealing. It worked. It quickly became clear that the sheep’s main intention was to give Ferd a licking. Multiple rough and scratchy sheep tongues are no pleasure but thinking about worse possibilities made the experience not so bad, especially in the context of thinking about it being one of those stories you tell your grandchildren. (try it out on winkers first.)

Now, things disappear into the fog as easily as they emerge out of it. And so, following an escape characterized by much licking of Ferd by sheep, much yelling by Ferd at the sheep, and much sweating by Ferd ’cause of the sheep, the trail disappeared. The fog grew heavier and there was a glimmer of understanding of the name of these mountains.

EPILOGUE

Ferd did eventually escape but Winke never made contact with him in Austria. Dear reader, you have all the facts before you. Please explain what happened.

SOLICITATIONS!

As hassling editor of this hard to name paper i request some help. Several interesting topics-questions have been suggested to me and i would like to [sic original=”complile” correct=”compile”] a general survey of as much of NATwA as possible. So, i am asking team representatives to attempt to gather responses (short, essay, whatever) from their teammates and to send them on to me (*).

Questions:

Do you expect to be winking in 5 years?

Will you always be a winker?

What is it about winx that has attracted–kept your interest?

How popular would you like to see the game become?

Playing styles

Different players shoot with many different styles. The technique used depends on the type of shot—short or long potting or squopping, approaching, piddling, squidging off, etc.) There are many kinds of squidgers, grips (2 or 3 fingers, angle of squidger to wink, hand on table or in air, etc.), directions (towards or away from body) and other variables such as use or nonuse of concavity. Please describe your own personal style in as much detail as you’d like.

Stories

Heard any good winx stories lately?

Have any winx dreams? Share them.

Awards

Nominate your choice, in 25 to 50 words, for Winker of the Year. Below are two sample nominations.

—Merle Jeeter—

founder of FernfTwa, for his inspirational winking and leadership, his barnstorming tour that brought winx to Southwestern Ohio, and his good [sic original=”good” correct=””] work for charity.

—Sue Perspaz—

who rebounded so courageously after breaking both arms, a squidger and the mat in attempting a Goode shot, for her amazing last game 5 round shot which turned a 1-6 into a 6-1 to win the match by 1/6 of a point, a tremendous feat with her tremendous feet.

Coming Soon

March 12 B.I.T. —MIT Mezz. Lounge April

World Singles—N.Y.C.

May 7&8 Pairs— MIT Mezz. Lounge

May 28&29 Singles—MIT Mezz. Lounge

The Mohegan weekends offered the highest concentration of top level play. I feel the Mohegans enhanced the tactical development of winx in North America and was the prime contributing force in NATwA’s victories over the English. – Bill R.

ǝƃpᴉɹq ƃuᴉʞ ɥɔuǝɹℲ ˙∀

At long last we are able and willing to print the suppressed Ferd adventure story of last summer. Due to foolish editors, The Return of the Missing Wink chose not to print this heroic story, even though HE had solicited it back in August. Having asked for a sheep story and having received a mainly travel story, we, instead of asking for revisions, decided not to print the story and to hope that Ferd wouldn’t notice that it was missing. The ploy almost worked but not quite. Such a policy—not dealing with a problem, just trying to ignore it in hopes that it will go away—is not the way to run a newspaper, or, in general, to do anything. We humbly apologize to Ferd, have given him a Title (He likes to see his name in print) and have now printed, with the requested sheep amplifications, the whole story.

On Competition

Word has reached this backwater that members of a certain Zoo, recently suffering a rare second place finish and perhaps weary of bearing the championship crown, have considered abdicating their title and seeking refuge from “competitiveness” in the B division.

Women and other sensitive persons, it is said, turn away from our forums even in broad daylight due to the vibrations of unbridled competition. What are these omens? Has winkdom become a felt jungle where jackals with sharp squidgers pounce on weekend squoppers to pad their egos and averages? What is this burning issue which has lately given rise to so much hot air?

To begin, let us not confuse competition with envy of well-earned success. Dear Zooites, you are presently to winx what the Yankees have been to baseball, and if some bunch of gum-chewing rookies catches you with your shoes tied together, you must not be surprised if they glory it up a bit. They have certainly paid their dues.

But what is your success? Have you left a trail of blitzed opponents, crushed pairs, shattered squidgers? Not really—all this combative imagery is jock-talk and hot-doggerel; we are still here, hasically undamaged and friendly. Your success has been the growth of your own skill and understanding, and it has been in the balance and tension of competition that you have grown.

Consider the see-saw, a structured interrelation between two sides, without the tension of the boards, you cannot balance your weight against another’s. Without someone on the other end, you can’t get off the ground. It is not the point of a see-saw that you may always be on the high end, but that you learn to go up and down with some degree of grace.

Competition, to my mind, is a human relationship in which persons agree to contend together for the purpose of spurring each other to excellence. There is little enough to win and nothing at all to lose; the only obstacle against which one struggles is one’s own limitations, and by far the greatest aid in one’s effort is a first-class opponent. Those who are best set the standard of excellence, and it is natural for all to strive to match or overtop that standard. For these reasons, the members of this Zoo are among my favorite opponents, and I would hope they would not deprive the many fine players in the A division of the opportunity to put their skills to the test.

For those parts of our organization and those parts of ourselves which, out of pressing insecurity, struggle for mere victory, which is relative and a matter of statistical interest alone, I feel concern. What would happen if one’s arrogance or callousness while riding the high end were so to discourage one’s fellow player that he leaves the board? That one’s opponents are unpracticed, confused, or unlucky—none of these help one play a better game. To desire or gloat on such is to violate the compact and spirit of competition, for is not good-hearted competition a genuine form of cooperation, whose goal is the betterment of all?

Bob Henninge

SPIKE’S CORNER

It is soberly I take pen in [sic original=”and” correct=”hand”] today to repeat the first Cbenkin’s Corner —a meandering, rambling personal self-indulgence remarkable solely for its lack of wit or pertinence.

[### insert here. Says “continued on page 21” but there is no page 21.]

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While 1 agree with most of the facts presented in mary’s article, I believe that the explanation she offered for them are, at best, highly confused. The fact that there are so-called “sexist” members of NATwA should in no way be construed to mean that NATwA itself is sexist any more than all Republicans should be branded as crooks because of Watergate. One statement simply does not follow another. This type of problem must be dealt with on an individual basis and I do not feel that NATwA as an organization should be involved in regulating a person’s behavior and/or beliefs. I do feel that blatant sexist behavior is not in the best interest of anyone and that we should try and make these people see the error of their ways, but if this fails then there really isn’t much else to do but try and live with it the best you can. If that means doing something drastic like not showing up when these people are present then so be it.

ç

My trajectory has gotten lower as I’ve grown older—Bill R commenting on his current style of potting

A Winx match is a lot easier to deal with than a horseshow—Charlotte, during her first NATwA event

CONTINENTALS 77

This year’s Continentals promises to bo a strange one. The format—a 5 team A division and an autonomous B division—was devised last July to [sic original=”accomodate” correct=”accommodate”] a west Coast team and to handle the possibility of over 10 teams competing. Four of the five teams qualifying for the A had rosters of 9 players, which, together with the team bye schedule, made it look as though over 12 A Division players would be inactive at all times. Well, a team from the west is now planned for 78, 8 teams might be closer to the truth, and rosters have shrunk to more traditional sizes (5?). Time still remains for a Friday eve captains meeting to reorganize the match (that’s what happened last year), but at this time it seems that the 1977 title chase will see the Toads, Renaissance, Chickens Courageous, MIT, and Zoo in the A, and some combination of Hearts of Oak, Cornell, Toronto, Crown & Centipede, and Other in the B. Here is how the A teams appear to themselves:

Zoo: A very dull team, very lethargic, even more so than the last 2 years. Could not mind losing the title to a new breed of winker. Will use at most 7 players. Goals include seeing Ithaca, playing bridge, etc.

I like him because he’s so cuddly — a spectator at the Renke interview

Toads: Hope to make a respectable showing and to serve notice to the rest of winkdom that they don’t intend to stay boondocked. Using the triple triple system, not all out to win but maybe all out to make it a close match. Appearing due to the grace and forebearence of the Toronto team, bearing the banner of the far west, and keeping the Toronto spirit present.

What I liked most about the tournament was having Renke and Myro call me ’’Big”—Big, after his first NATwA event

Renaissance: Let no one be mistaken, we are definitely trying to win, but in a respectable manner. Unsure about internal management due to overly high chief to indian ratio. Hope to be accepted as a legitimate team.

The team that flops together, squops together—Larry ’Horsemeat’ Kahn, when much of his team flopped at Lokweed’s

MIT: Intends to be at least equal to Regional strength and to come in 1st. Will rely on great confidence and trepidation. Needs dressing room to post up desparaging comments of non-MIT fearing fools.

’’Judging from the last 3 years of Continentals, it seems the more people MIT loses, the better we get. If we don’t win it this year, I think myself, Martin, Rick and Rich will leave the team. That way we’ll be sure to get it next year.”

– Charles

Chickens: To approach the match as we did as IIYTH in 74—hoping to do well, expecting to do well, but not to get caught up in ‘wanting to win.’ Will use traditional stategy of people playing only as much as they want, pairings being picked for enjoyment at least as much as for chain strength.

“It’s the thing I do best in life.”

– Sunshine, describing winks to an amused roommate seeing the game for the first time

CONGRESS 1977

A good number of heavy issues are brewing for this year’s Congress. On the agenda for this, Spike’s scheduled departure from Sec-Genship, are such such topics as:

• Toronto dues question
• Rules revisions
• Equipment crisis (revisited)
• Regional structure
• Election
• World Singles and other matches
• Other NATwA [sic original=”contoversies” correct=”controversies”]
• Singing

PeRveRseR

The months since the timely publication of T. All. Arl. B. G. Presents (perv. Manual) have seen several new games get themselves invented. The sports world has been the grateful beneficiary of this new work, with such worthies as pool, volleyball, a new (improved?) soccer, and horserace, joining the lists. A new potting game, with no moniker but yclept squidge off, has also surfaced.

And the boondock has been put into boondock.

Horserace, which can easily be transformed into tug o’war, consists of butting a squidger along the mat by clicking a large wink off another squidger, into that original squidger.

In squidge off, a long process is [sic original=”uded” correct=”used”] to determine who goes first, hence the name. This is the fun part. Thereafter, winks are shot from the middle of the long side of the table to a corner and from there towards and into the pot. Winks which leave the mat in attempts to reach a corner are placed in the diagonally opposite corner with no accompanying loss of turn. The game is played until one of the contestants pots all 6 or 12 of his or her winks.

In the world of 4 colour games a variety of winks played until one pair pots all of their opponents winks has had a recrudescence after nearly 8 years of non-use.

Finally, most startling of all, in a late evening encounter, 2 otherwise respectable old timers played 2 otherwise normal 4 colour games on …………………………… a ……. blanket.

The Masked Marauders often appear at Regionals. This year both the Boston and Toronto matches were won by teams playing under this name (and in the Continentals?). In Toronto this strange collection of players became the first team to ever go through a match (of over 9 games) without scoring less than 2 points in any single game. The team average of 4.93 PPG was the highest ever at a Regional and the 5th highest in NATwA history. The all time record is an incredible 5.73 PPG by MIT in the 69 Continentals. MIT lost only 2 of 33 games, and had been undefeated thru 24 games.

Chickens Plucked?

The Ithaca Regional was a remarkable tournament from start to finish, but not so on the mat. It was highly emotional but unsuspenseful. It began with the dramatic entrance of ths Chickens Courageous, clucking wildly and wearing their new chain uniforms. (Joe, the captain of Ren, wore one as well, inexplicably to many.) Also T-shirted were the Cornell team and Crown and Centipede, making Ren, the only NATwA team with a sponsor, the only ununiformed team. Subsequently, there being so many new winkers, the PBTT made introductions highlighting the uniqueness of each player.

The discordant mood of the tournament had been set Friday night when the two main contenders, Ren and CC, disagreed over the round in which to play each other. The next day Ren allowed CC their preference and the tourney proceeded. Crown and Centipede decided not to play for the title, but rather for (more) fun, having one game each round switch partners between the pairs. This they did with Ren while CC was beating Cornell 43½- 19½.

At lunch, team captains and other NATwA brass had a lengthy discussion on the Toronto dues question, thereby delaying the start of the second round. When the match resumed, Ren beat CC 35-27 in a real chicken fight. Ren needed 36⅔ points the next day against Cornell for first place.

Overnight, Dave Barbano fell ill to a nasty virus and Ren found themselves with only four players. Upon arrival at the match, however, they found that their opponents were similarly handicapped.

In another discussion likely to be repeated at Congress, it was decided that each team would take on one of the three highschoolers who had returned for the second day. Tournament director Spike deserves much credit for his fine work, considering he was a franchise of a contending team, had been emotionally drained by the previous day’s minicongress, and was suffering from a hangover. Despite his decision, however, adversary captains Matt and Joe agreed that Ren would take on the third extra person and Matt would play singly with a one-third penalty. He beat Sev and Reppy 6-1, lost to Lokweed and Emma 5-2, and lent to Larry and Joe, the only Ren pair remaining intact, 5-2; but he lost 3⅓ of his 10 points to the penalty. The other two Cornell pairs, Alan and Belinda and Mike and Zoller, scored 17 points, giving Ren the victory by 2⅚ points. Interestingly, if Matt’s singles games had not been penalized, Ren would have finished in second, ½ point behind the Chickens.

Standout for the tournament was Larry, whose 5, four 6’s, and three 7’s gave him a PPG of 6.25. He might have done even better, but for the traumatic experience he faced before his first game. Larry had a newly legalized six inch long (thick) experimental squidger. He didn’t know where he was going to use it in a shot, but planned on doing so sometime during the weekend. He mistakenly lent the squidger to Lokweed, who, with a depraved look in his eye, set up a highly implausible hypothetical shot. Taking the thing in his two hands. Weed rammed it through the pile and almost through the table trying to pot the bottom wink. Unfortunately, instead of potting, the madman smashed the top wink, forcing officials to disqualify the squidger as being dangerous. Larry hopes that if he promises not to let Lokweed touch it the squidger will be allowed next season.

Also notable was the fact that four Chickens, Sunshine, Carl, L, and MP, finished with PPG’s of 4.0. Monconformists Moishe, Dean, Jake, and Lyle had 4.42, 4,30, 3.60, and 3.25 respectively. The Regional also marked the debut of Matt as Ithaca regional coordinator, infusing some new blood into the position vacated by Severin, NATwA’s most veteran winker.

Dues Question Tabled

This year 4 tables were unofficially accepted as payment of $30 in dues for the 2 Toronto teams. The unofficial agreement calls for these tables to be used in no activities not conducive to future winking use on pain of reimbursing NATwA the $30 in dues, no doubt on a pro rata basis.

In the 2 previous years Toronto had printed Newswink prior to the collection of NATwA dues and was reimbursed for the difference between cost of printing the magazine and amount of dues owed.

Treasurer Bill Renke has each year considered the matter to have been resolved equitably, including this year. Others are less sure of the acceptability of this year’s arrangement.

comeback

In their first match, the Chrome Toads nearly overcame a 17 point [sic original=”defecit” correct=”deficit”] against Toronto, at one time cutting the lead to a single point. The longest successful comeback in NATwA history was pulled off by the TKO’s in their juggernauting days. In the 74 Ithaca Regional, the TKO’s came from 3rd place, 16 points off the pace to pass Rivendell in the last game by 2½ points. In the 76 Continentals MIT rallied from 19 back to land only 3 behind Zoo. Other great comeback stories include * in the 76 Singles, winning after trailing by 6-1- with only 2 games to go, and Severin, in the 74 Singles, recovering from 6th place out of 7 players and 11½ from first at the midway point of the match.

Q. What NATwA player likes to eat babyfood?

We must apologize for several omissions on the Power Structure page of our last issue. One additional duty of the Sec-Gen is to visit the Humbletoad treefarm. Also omitted were all references to the ARW.

Q. When was the last time, prior to this [sic original=”years” correct=”year’s”] Ithaca Regional (where Larry’s cylindrical squidger broke a wink in the hands of a maniac) that a squidger was ruled illegal? (Hint :that maniac made the ruling.)

. . . Recent Potting Records . . . small winks

2" from pot: Consecutive - 624
             Out of 1000 - 998 
6" from pot: Out of 25O  - 246

Potting 12 winks from 3′ – 23 shots

large winks 2″ from pot: Consecutive – 722

on the weekend of

On the weekend of November 13th the Chrome Toads (a fission product, along with Hearts of Oak, of the late Somervillains) trekked from their distant dens to the Plywood Palace in Toronto for the first (dare we say?) annual Far Western Regional Debauch and Incidental Winx Match. Also present were three triplesworth of thinly masked Marauders, a group which included a number of the missing winkers sought but not found at the previous Toronto debacle in April.

Play proceeded remarkably smoothly on the six wobbly surfaces in three smokey rooms. The Marauders mauled the Toads 42½–20½ in the first round, while the Toronto farm team was honoring their elders 15–41. After the usual fragmented lunch crisis, the Toads rebounded 35–21 over the Farm, and Toronto relaxed 15–48 before the Marauders, with only Myro & Evets managing a 4-3 win and Rog & Goff absorbing their only three defeats of an otherwise strong performance.

That left Toronto with a six point official bulge (only ½ counting the Marauder scores) going into the final round against the Toads. The first three games went poorly for the Toads, and they trailed by 17, but a strong comeback spearheaded by the pair of Mex and mary narrowed the gap to 63–62 with but two games to play. Those two games were left for the Sunday finale.

Alas for the Toads, those two games were both against Rog & Goff, who turned back the best pairs the Toads could glue together to preserve the home team triumph 73-66, nipping the Toads 32-31 head to head.

The final tally, with the Marauders in parentheses, read

                       games
(Marauders) (1O8½)      (22)
 Toronto    ( 88)   73  (26)
 Toads      ( 86½)  66  (26)
 Farm       ( 46)   36  (20)

Following the final game, the Toronto team caucused and, in accepting the accolades of their fans and foes, renounced their spot in the Continental A division and offered it, with all strategic aid at their disposal, to those (High-Flying, Knock-Kneed Pigeon-) Toads.

— Blinks and Mods —

Eight of the Marauders contended for highest PPG, all but Nan having 4 or 5 wins and precisely one loss—a scheduling marvel for which we commend the PBTT. Rog & Goff, 6-3 for 39, led the rest of the field, racking up an impressive string of excesses on and under the mat. An excounter with the chillum was no cheap shot.

Bob of the Toads set some kind of record by scoring no ones or sixes in 9 games, the last six in a row being threes and fours. The Toads en masse were extremely average, finishing 13-13 for a 3.31 PPG.

The bountiful surplus of players allowed Ferd and Nan to score big in the kitchen by potting spaghetti and sauce. The thought occurs that if such an arrangement could be transferred from supper to lunch, it might alleviate the frustrations and complications of spontaneous individual lunchings.

Speaking for the Toads, we found the atmosphere and the play enjoyably high. Praise to the guests, to the hosts, and to the power within the pot.

Tiddlywinks is the best game I’ve ever played because it combines the three most important elements of all games—luck, skill, and strategy – Tim

P.S. Ask Severin

One of the traditionally most potent hexes in the sports world, has athletes honored by having themselves portrayed on the cover of national Sports magazines, following up the honor by breaking bones, or falling into a slump, or getting bored. We in tiddlywinks upheld this tradition in our usual fashion by jinxing those we discussed on the last page of our Official Magazine. We thus forced the postponement of the World Singles Match. (Ed.—a certain deplorable lassitude on the part of our lame duck (lame chicken?—watch those cripple jokes) Secretary General, and our putative IFTwA Sec.Gen., also contributed)

It is rumored that the match may occur in April sometime. Let us say no more about it in the hopes that it shall not suffer the fate of the earlier abortive attempt.

Alan Dean regained his ETwA Singles crown this year with a victory over Jon Mapley.

The 1968 MIT Championship team is still quite active in NATwA today. Ferd of Hoo, Bob of the Toads, and * , L, Moishe and Tim of the Chickens were on the team that easily defeated Toronto and defending champion Cornell (the last Cornell title holder) in the first Ithaca Continentals. Cornell was captained by Severin.

If there is anyone in NATwA at this time who doesn’t fear us, they are fools —Charles, on his MIT team

The only person I’ve ever feared in my winking career is Moishe—Joe, on fear in NATwA

The highest compliment I feel I was ever paid in winx was given when I was an up and coming youngster and Bob H. said that I was a real scrapper—Dave L.

In recognition of our responsibility to provide to you (u), the readers, the most up-to-the-minute information on further randomizations of games involving small plastic counters, and in the belief that we can make this sentence go on almost indefinitely by the use of a nearly infinite number of prepositional phrases, we proudly present

Perversion of the Week [### insert graphic]

(This is the first in a series of articles exploring that wonderful world of perversions, diversions to many. Suggestions for future articles can be sent to: Perversions c/o this paper, where they will be subsequently framed and hung.)

This week’s perversion is Boondock, not the game we all know, and perhaps love, but a new form of the old Boondock, which by decree will henceforth and forevermore be called Autoboondock, for reasons which will soon be clear.

Its rules and many strategical nuances were worked out by * and Mary defeated a field of five pairs.

The main differences from Autoboondock (see Alleghany Airlines Presents) are as follows:

• When a player squops one or more opponents’ winks, the squopped winks do not automatically go back to their respective lines, but rather must be manually freed. Only one [sic original=”winks” correct=”wink”] need be freed on a shot.
• Failure to free by the end of one’s turn results in the squopping wink being sent back to its line.
• After freeing the [sic original=”opponents” correct=”opponents'”] wink, the player receives another shot if the freed wink lands with its nearest edge at least 12″ from the base of the pot.
• If an [sic original=”opponents” correct=”opponents'”] wink is shot off the mat, that opponent may choose where on the boundary to replace the wink, as long as it is at least 4″ from any other wink.

These changes obviously make the act of boondocking much more influential on the game. A player does not get an automatic advantage, for merely squopping (this is not meant derogatorily, squoppers), but is rather forced to perform a boondock. On the other hand, the manual boondock allows for players to shoot themselves closer to their next intended victims. Thus squopping takes on an even bigger role than autoboondock, since how you squop determines how easily you can set up for the next squop and how well you can boondock the opponent. Boondock has always been the closest to the four color game of all perversions, in terms of strategy and the types of shots called for. Now it is even closer.

POT DEBUT

The Second Boondock (Doonbock?) tournament , held at MIT on 1/15/77, unveiled the new boondock. The match was a very relaxed affair, even to the extent that several key rules changes were not discussed until after they were actually needed in games. The first game was over before any transfer rule was picked, leading to a low 5.1 PPW for the match. The loss of turn or shot controversy surfaced several times. A 12 inch minimum boondock rule was strictly enforced, but without a ruler and with confusion as to where to measure from—edge or middle of pot. In the game between the top two pairs, a coin toss was used after Bob boondocked *’s 6th wink to 11¾ inches from the edge of the pot.

Five pairs participated, none of which consisted of members of the same NATwA team, and the Chicken Toad pairs lead the field. Whoever wrote down the box score before the match did so perfectly—placing the pairs in the proper order and in symmetric fashion.

             W  L  For Against
*-mary       3  1   19- 9
Bob-Carl     3   1  17-11
Ferd-Moishe  2   2  14-14
Joe-Charles  1   3  11-17
L-Dave P     1   3   9-19

If I had known you were home, I wouldn’t have called you—Sev, after Joe answered the phone

Lokweed’s Lore

One hoary strategy pressed into service when a pair is faced with the prospect of playing a game against a far superior pair, is to blitz.

The basic argument in favor of this stratagem is that the less skilled pair is likely to lose any game played in the more common more conservative fashion, quite probably by a 6-1 score. Thus, this theory states that the best chance to get off the Schneider is to play to blitz. It is thought that this would afford the most winning chances, and in the event of a win, would necessarily provide for a large winning margin.

This is all well and good, but my [sic original=”coveats” correct=”caveats”] here would be of two sorts (Ed.—It is said that there are 2 kinds of people in this world—those who divide the world into 2 classes, and those who don’t).

First, and of little importance is the somewhat obvious point that when a loss should be incurred, the score may very well put the losing team on the greatest Schneider of them all, the short end of a 7-0 score, instead of providing them with at least 1 point to console them in defeat.

Second, and my major objection, is that even should blitzing provide some short term positive score adjustments, it militates rather conclusively against a pair improving their play.

It is a sad fact that one must play the normal type of hard fought game in order to learn how to win, considering the present high level of play in NATwA. Though one will probably lose consistently at first, you will be giving yourself the greatest chance of improving the level of your play.

You’ve got to lose in order to learn how to win.

No one has called me Cannonball for 2 or 3 years —Billy the Eggplant

The Renaissance Story

At the 1977 Continentals, in addition to two old teams with new names, there will be two completely new teams. One is based on the farm in Ohio, an outgrowth of Somerville plus Jim, Alan, and Scottie.

The other is Renaissance, and thi9 ia ita story.

The idea of Ren was born on Feb. 21, 1976. In the NATwA Congress that had just ended, Jne and Sev had proposed a Scholastic Championship between MIT, Rivendell, Cornell, and Ithaca High School. They argued that since these teams were annually losing graduating players they were not on a level competitive with the club teams. (They had no way of forseeing that the next day MIT would be three points out of first place.) They proposed that an all-star team be made from among the school team players to compete in the A-division of the Continentals. This was voted down. Joe and Sev, intent on staying in winx but unhappy at the prospect of another year coming up in which recruiting and teaching would be their main winking activities (they each faced the possibility of losing at least half of their teammates), looked for a way out. At the time, Larry had just graduated from MIT, and Dave Lockwood had just returned from England. Neither had a team to play on for the following year.

As the Congress broke up, the four got together to talk about playing together in 1976-7. They knew they had many problems to get around. They were very different in terms of personality, life style, and attitude toward the game. Rut they were all good friends, they enjoyed playing with each other, they were all willing to make sacrifices for the team and for NATwA, and they wanted to win. These became the driving philosophies behind the team.

But they numbered only four, and a team has six players. They set out looking for people to join them who shared their philosophies: friendship, on-the-mat [sic original=”compatability” correct=”compatibility”], love for the game, and desire to win. The first to join them was Phyllis [sic original=”Liss” correct=”Lis”], a graduating Rivendell player. Dave and Phyllis Barbano also had expressed a desire to play on the team if they were in Ithaca, but weren’t to find that out for several months. It wasn’t until that time that these seven people knew they had a team to play on the following season. They would eventually give options to Tina Warren and Buck Webb.

To make up for being so geographically disparate, the team has tried to hold a number of [sic original=”gettogethers” correct=”get-togethers”]. Held in Boston, Ithaca, Westchester, and Baltimore, they covered the team’s centers of activity and attracted most team members, along with some other winking friends. The team remained unnamed until the Westchester [sic original=”gettogether” correct=”get-together”] when it was learned that the Bookstore in Ithaca wanted to sponsor the team.

No difficulty was [sic original=”anticipate” correct=”anticipated”] in gaining the acceptance of the rest of NATwA and none was noticed. (Until …) This is merely further evidence (teehee) of the liberal attitude of winx since before the Gammerdingor affair. (What!) It can be generalized by saying that at the start of any season no team has “rights” to any player and any group of players must be considered a team if they wish. (Ed.—Actually, a team [sic original=”captains” correct=”captain’s”] vote can be called for in the case of any player relocation disputes.)

Renaissance won the 1976 Ithaca Ragionals, its only team tournament to date, so its streak will be on the line at the Continentals. Ren will be there and is out to win it.

Who knows—perhaps NATwA today, England tomorrow.

My only goal for this year’s Continentals is to get enough sleep Saturday night—someone who has suffered on Sunday mornings in other years

HOO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT

The Boston Regionals held on the 4 + 5 of December, was the scene of a large upset. Perhaps it was the largest upset since Hyth took Zoo’s measure in the 74 Continentals.

Zoo looked to be on paper even with a rookie by name of Charlotte on their team, to be the strong favorite. Hearts of Oak and MIT seemed destined to slug it out for the coveted 2nd place and probable entry into the A division of the Continentals.

Then there was the surprise reappearance of Martin. Even so, MIT’s no name offense of Rich & Rick, Dave P & Brad, and Charles & Martin failed to frighten anyone. C&M coming off their strong 3rd place showing in the Pairs, were thought to be a strong pair, but the rest were considered likely to fall prey to Zoo, Hoo, and the Marauders.

Hoo, also known as Coeurs de Chêne made an enthusiastic entrance, displaying the team coat of arms as they marched around the room. However, MIT and Zoo beat Hoo by the respective scores of 35½–27½ and 36½–26½, Thus Zoo led MIT by 1 point. The unofficial Marauders beat MIT 40-23 and lost to Zoo 36½–26½.

Sunday, everyone was counting the points MIT needed to clinch 2nd. Charles kept saying they needed 32 to tie Zoo. Everyone else kept saying they needed 18⅔ to take second.

The 1st round was a stunning MIT victory, 14½–6½, with C&M scoring a 7-0. MIT followed this up with an 11½;–9½ win in the second round, and suddenly needed only 6⅙ points in 3 games for the title. Zoo scored a quick 7-0 but MIT held on in two tight games for 5-2 wins. MIT had won their first Regional since 1970, Zoo had absorbed its worst defeat—36 to 27—in history, and Bill R went winless for the first time in his career Actually, fhe Marauders took first.

RECENT RECORDS

Most wins season prior to Continentals          Dave L  22 (* 22 in 1971)
Most games season prior to Continentals         Joe S   28 (Bill R 27 in 71)
Most partners during a season                   *       16 (Moishe 15 in 74-75)
Wins with most different partners in a season   *       12 (Moishe 12 in 74-75)
Most consecutive games with different partners  Don     11 (Charles 9 in 72)

SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS

                Wins                     Games                    Losses
Score    High %       Low %        High %        Low %         High %      Low %
 7-0  Bill R  8.5  Don     0.0  Bill R  9.2  Don     0.9  XXX    XXX  Craig  0.0
      Jim M   6.8  Mich K  0.0  Tim     8.1  Craig   2.0  XXX    XXX  Jim M  0.0
 6-1  Sev    43.8  MP     18.5  L      64.6  Bob H  41.2  Chas  36.3  Tim    9.3
      Tim    41.8  Mich K 18.5  Dave P 58.1  Rick   43.0  L     33.7  Bob H 10.1
 5-2  Dave Y 14.5  Jim M   5.0  Dave Y 22.6  Tim    10.4  Carl  11.9  Tim    2.9
      Larry  12.6  Moishe  6.6  Carl   21.0  Moishe 11.1  Dean  10.7  Dave B 4.5
 4-3  Rick   14.5  Dean    3.3  Betsy  30.2  Sev    11.5  Betsy 18.5  Rick   5.3
      TDI    14.2  mary    4.9  TDI    21.3  Dean   12.0  Don   14.0  L      5.9
 Frac Craig  12.1  L       1.8  Craig  17.1  L       6.2  mary   8.3  Jim M  1.9
 tion Tim     9.9  Joe     2.4  mary   15.1  Jim M   7.3  MP     7.4  Ferd   2.7
 Ave  Dean    5.69 Nan     5.15 Tim     4.63 XXX     XXX  Bob H  2.01 L      1.39
      Sev     5.69 Rick    5.18 Bill R  4.54 XXX     XXX  Betsy  1.93 Rick   1.43

CONTINENTAL RECORDS

Tim      53-14-1  4.87    
*        72-23    4.56
Bob H    82-26-1  4.52
Rick     28- 8    4.47
Larry K  37-11    4.43
Ferd     72-35-1  4.39
Bill R   46-17    4.35
Dave L   32-15    4.28
Scott    31-16    4.16
Craig    32-15-1  4.14
Dave Y   26- 9-1  4.10
Bill G   44-27    4.05
Sev      45-33-2  4.01

Most Partners Played/winning With

Bill R  41/29
Dave L  40/31
Moishe  40/27 
*       39/34
Ferd    37/31
Sev     34/27

The current value of the Renke is 235, with some hopes for future deflation.

Winks in USA

‘Becoming a national past-time in America’—as evidence of this claim Joseph U. Venaglia in New York revealed that in just one week of December 1962, a 2-page picture-story on tw appeared in Life magazine, a 15-minute tw demonstration was shown on a nation-wide TV program, the Harvard team were taped for another TV show, and popular national magazines were covering tournaments and meets and were due to carry stories. 

America began big-time winking when four Oxford players toured the States in August 1962, sponsored by Guinness. Teams were specially formed to play Oxford and it was on 31st August that a side from Gargoyle, the Harvard University students’ magazine, confronted Oxford across the mat. Although losing 7-21, the Gargoyle club was so impressed by the potential of tw that by March 1963 they had played 19 matches and taken part in tournaments in New York and Los Angeles. There was difficulty in obtaining equipment and to meet the shortage a Madison Avenue firm imported 299 tw sets from England. A news release was sent to college newspapers in 48 States, and mailing despatched to 1000 campus organisations. The efficient business promotion through which tw has spread in the USA contrasts vividly with the casual amateur development of tw in Britain.

The wide publicity resulted in many new clubs being formed, and all playing to the ETwA International Rules as far as possible. The game’s stronghold, as in Britain, is among high school and college students. The Gargoyle club became a leading force in US tw, because of its TV and magazine appearances, undefeated record since the Oxford game, and the prestige of Harvard. To some extent it has become a record-keeper and clearing-house for US tw, and has been organising American teams into Leagues. Early in 1963 the Rational Undergraduate Tw Society of Amerioa sought affiliation to ETwA: Peter Downes suggested that the Gargoyle club took the initiative in founding the American Tw Assn, which could then join IFTwA, This is how tw is enveloping the world: the game grows within each winking country until for the sake of efficient internal administration a National Tw Assn becomes necessary, and now we have reached the stage where a supranational body must co-ordinate and standardise world tw – the role of the new IFtwA.

October 1963 The Winking World

NATwA White Elephant Sale

NATwA’s grand plans for 76-77 have thus far remained plans. The pot mold did make some progress – first samples were used in the Boondock tournament. Some differences from the old egg cup were noted – wider rim edge, straighter outside curvature, flat inside bottom, and a strange sound of potted winks. But the winks didn’t seem to mind and no one in the Boondocks complained during the match.

The cost thus far is $700 and hopefully the needed minor modifications will not require additional funds. We plan to make over 2000 pots. Winks are another matter. Last summer the company agreed to Severin’s request of 10000/colour and the price was to be under $100. The request was “lost” and recent communication seems to indicate prices are up and that the minimum order is 50000/colour/size. Attempts at renegotiation are in motion but it appears that no winks will be in motion in the near future. The rule books and boxes can be produced on short notice, but given the lack of winks, pots, and NATwA funds, these too are in hold status. Tune in at the Congress for more info.