North American Tiddlywinks Association

NATwA founded • 27 February 1966


  • Publication Title • Newswink
  • Whole issue • 14
  • Publisher • North American Tiddlywinks Association
  • Publication date • 13 February 1982
  • Publication location • Silver Spring, Maryland
  • Editor • Rick Tucker
  • Number of page sides • 16
  • Preparation • Typewritten on 8½” by 11″ white paper with black content and handwritten titles
  • Production • Photocopied from paste-up originals
  • NATwA archives artifacts: original typewritten pages with paste-up illustrations; original photocopied prints; digitized images of original prints
  • Date updated • 17 August 2022
To do:
  • (2022-08-17) Restructure elements in Elementor Pro to have article sections and #hashtag-ids for each section
  • (2022-08-17) Add tw-divider widgets between articles
  • (2022-08-17) Add table of contents in Toggle widget 
  • (2022-08-17) Add list of people mentioned
  • (2022-08-17) Add abbreviations used
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Newswink 14

AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN TIDDLYWINKS ASSOCIATION
13 FEBRUARY 1982

Return of the Sleazy Wink

Sev & Gammer to Wed

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WEST LONDON OBSERVER 8 JULY 1981

It’s a Yankee doodle!

AMERICAN giants squidged and squopped their way to a crushing victory over Hammersmith school boys.

The game was a tiddlywinks friendly match between the USA champions and the cream of the Latymer Upper School Tiddlywinks Society.

The Americans skill competing this week in the world championships, proved too much for the schoolboys.

The transatlantic team fielded an engineer, computer wizards and the British champion Jon Mapl[e]y, 34, an accountant.

WARMING up the winks before the big match 4 … (left to right- Larry “Horsemeat” Kahn, Paul Ireson, Latymer captain Tony Brennan and Charles Frankston)

RICK TUCKER, EDITOR  (301) 933-3840
2701 WOODEDGE ROAD
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND 20906 USA

 

Chronicle

4-12 July / US tour of England

4 July / Manchester Open Pairs – taken by Severin Drix & Jon Mapley

5 July / World Bairs 2, Manchester – Sev & Larry Kahn keep title, defeat English titleists Nigel Knowles & Charles Relle

6 July / USA vs LUSTS, London – age has its benefits

8 July / USA vs NEWTS, London – USA 35 1/3. NEWTS 27 2/3

10 July / World Singles 12, London – Dave Lockwood’s 6th consecutive win, this the 2nd over Jon Mapley

10 July / USA vs Southampton, London

11 July / USA vs Great Britain, London – 2 USA pairs 86, 4 GB pairs 61

12 July / World Masters Singles – Jon Mapley takes one for the Brits

10 Oct / Haverford Unstacked Pairs – snarfed by Larry [Kahn] & Fred Shapiro & Marg [Calhoun]’s baby

7 Nov / World Singles 13. Haverford PA – Dave [Lockwood] hangs on to what he’s got yet again

14 Nov / Fall Ithaca Tournament/FuntlnenTals No discernible winner but many losers

5 Dec / Boston Open Pairs (actually Cambridge Open Pairs) – Arye [Gittelman] & Brad [Schaefer] (as singles) pummel hordes of entrants in this new tournament

Corruption in Winks, or, How I Finally Won Something

by Fred Shapiro

On October 10 NATwA experimented with an “unstacked pairs” tournament, in which, by explicit design, no pair stronger than the level of Larry Kahn and Fred Shapiro would be allowed. Not surprisingly, Larry and Fred won the tournament; indeed, any other winner would have been automatically disqualified.

The other pairs participating in this futile endeavor at Haverford were Bob [Henninge] and Mac [MacAvoy] (3-2, 19 for second place to L & F’s 5-0, 26), Rick [Tucker] and Ken M[oraff], Joe [Sachs] and L [Richard Hussong], and Moishe [Michael Schwartz] and Beast [David Solomon]. There was also an unusual persimmon-plus-baby combination consisting of *, Barb, Marg [Calhoun], and Jesse [Calhoun]. Even if the 1971 B Continentals, featuring Sid Freund’s elementary school team, were counted, the NATwA age record certainly was shattered.

Although no one noticed at the time, after three games Larry’s career point total was exactly 2000. Moishe and Joe both played their 400th game; Joe’s feat of playing 400 games in eight years is undoubtedly a record.

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Berry's World cartoon by Jim Barry · 1981

Tiddly Winks old man,
Suck a lemon if you can;
If you can’t suck a lemon
Suck an old tin can.

— Children’s taunt, England, 1950s. (via Fred Shapiro)

England 1981

by Larry Kahn

In a reversal of the 1978 tour, the U.S. team returned triumphant, winning 6½ out of the 8 singles, pairs, and teams matches. It was a great, fun-filled tour, with 8 matches being played in 9 days. As usual, the British winkers were magnificent hosts and we hope that they can get a team over here some day.

After lots of final minute planning, begging, and scrounging, the U.S. managed to get 6 players together to form an all-star team to play against the British 8 person squad. 5 of the 6 were 1978 returnees Larry [Kahn], Sev [Drix], Dave [Lockwood], Joe [Sachs], and Charles [Frankston], and we were really out to stomp this time after the beating we took the last time over. After Bill [Renke], Ross [Callon], and Arye [Gittelman] wimped out we were very fortunate to get Rich Steidle from the west coast (btw Rich has now landed in Cincinnati). This gave us 3 strong and tested pairs: Sev-Larry, Joe-Charles, and Dave-Rich.

 After mild hassles due to turkey air traffic controllers, all arrived in London except Joe (who came later) and we all trucked up to Manchester for the Manchester Open and the World Pairs (4 & 5 July).

The Manchester Open saw Americans & English pair off amongst themselves, except for Severin who continued to mooch off of good partners by playing with England’s best player, Jon Mapley. They ended up winning over Dave-Larry by taking a 6-1 in the playoff game. The remaining pairs, in order of finish, were Alan Dean+Pam Knowles, Rich+Charles Frankston (who had the only win over the top pair), Cyril Edwards+Idwal Jones, Charles Relle+Nigel Knowles (British Pairs champs), Keith Seaman+Peter Toye,
Dave Hull+Geoff Thorpe, and Dave Pentelow solo. The highlight of the match was a game between Dave-Larry & Alan-Pam played live at a radio station with occasional live coverage. It turned out to be an exciting game (for winks) with Larry finishing a rather wild endgame by potting out a wink on a wink facing exactly the wrong way.

On Sunday was the World Pairs with Sev+Larry emerging victorious over Charles+Nigel 30½-11½. It wasn’t a particularly well-played match; the English pair seemed rather nervous at the start and never really were in it.

Monday saw a rather unequal matchup of the U.S. vs. LUSTS (Latymer Upper School Tiddlywinks Society). LUSTS has a lot of interested and promising young players, most notably Tony Brennan, and everyone had a good time. They are kind of the equivalent of Ithaca High and are a nice bunch of younger generation winkers.

Tuesday was a sightseeing day & I visited a very interesting tourist trap called the London Dungeon. It’s an incredible collection of gruesome exhibits of the horrors of the middle ages such as plagues and torture chambers.

Wednesday night at Charles Relle’s home there was a rematch of NEWTS vs. USA, with Geoff Thorpe filling in for Joe and NEWTS players being Charles Relle, Jon Mapley, Cyril Edwards, Dennis Opposs, Mick Still, Mick Wiseman, Geoff Allen, and Tom Gardner. In a close 9-game match the US won 35 1/3 to 27 2/3, including a semi-official 5-2 win for the US. Leaders were Dave-Rich with 15 in 3 games and Cyril-Dennis with 13 2/3. Charles has an amazing book collection that covers about 3 rooms if anyone ever gets a chance to visit.

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Nonuple after a Larry Kahn green click - 21 April 1981 (note: there were 7 blues on the table)

Thursday was another sightseeing day. Sev, Bev, and I went up to Cambridge for some punting and a huge rainstorm. Unfortunately, I once again allowed Severin to sucker me into going in to listen to Evensong.

Friday afternoon saw the appearance of apl [not sic] Joe and the disappearance of Larry as the US played another match against a Southampton team. Again, this one wasn’t very close as the Southampton team had some players who were more or less novices. They seem to be doing pretty well as a club, however.

Friday night saw Dave successfully defend the World Singles title against Jon in a very late match. Dave should learn how to count time limit points.

Saturday was the day of the big All-Star match. The 3 US pairs went up against the English pairs of Charles+Nlgel, Alan+Pam or Geoff Thorpe, Jon+Tony, and Cyril+Keith. There were a total of 24 games—8 rounds of 3 games each. Jon’s regular partner David Rose was unavailable, so Tony filled in for him. Going into the match we figured it rated to be close since neither team was at full strength potential, though everyone was damn good.

It soon was clear that Jon+Tony was their weak link and that the US pairings were quite effective (as opposed to what we did last time). At the end of the first full round the US had a huge bulge of 55-29 and the match was all but over. Alan continued to demonstrate his resurgence in England by managing 10 points with Pam and Geoff and winning 2 of 3 games.

After the break, there was somewhat of a US letdown and the individual rounds became more or less even. By the end of the 7th round the US lead was insurmountable so we decided not to finish. The final score was 86-61. If we had had a 4th pair out of Bill, Ross, and Arye I’m sure England would have won easily.

On the final day (Sunday) we decided to throw a bone to the British and let Alan and Jon into the World Masters Singles. In keeping with the fine English tradition of winks reporting I won’t go into details except that Jon beat Alan. There’s an excellent writeup in Winking World 38, at your local newsstand.

Beverly and I stayed on another week to tour Northern England and Scotland. In a reversal of the Ithaca syndrome I stayed a week in Scotland and it only rained for half of one day. We met a really weird train conductor on the night trip back to London who acted like Franz [Christ].

All in all it was a most enjoyable trip and I thank everyone in England for setting up a great tour and being such good hosts. I definitely plan to go back in a few years so we should start talking about the next tour. Stomp ’em in ’84!

 
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The Most in One Tournament

by Rick Tucker

Each possible score

 7  -  5 in 13 games 73 Pairs          - Bill Renke, Ross Callon
 6  - 10 in 13 -     75 Singles        - Severin Drix
      10 in 15 -     71 Easterns       - Bob Henninge, *, mary kirman
 5½ -  3 in  6 -     78 Scholastics    - Andy Leed, Belinda Spalding
       3 in 10 -     79 Continentals   - L
       3 in 11 -     71 Continentals   - Jon Miller
       3 in 12 -     71 Continentals   - Bob Henninge
 5  -  5 in  8 -     75 Continentals   - Rich/Mex Davis
       5 in l6 -     67 Continentals   - Tomaino of Waterloo
 4⅔ -  2 in 12 -     78 Continentals   - mary kirman
 4½ -  2 (many)
 4  -  4 (many)
 3½ -  2 in  8 -     80 Continentals   - Scott Hirsh
       2 in 10 -     80 Continentals   - LN Davis
       2 in 12 -     80 Continentals   - TDI
 3  -  5 in 12 -     70 Westerns #1    - Jackie Brede, Mike Brede of Ottawa
 2½ -  3 in 13 -     74 Pairs          - TDI, Scott Hirsh
 2⅓ -  2 in 12 -     72 B Continentals - Dan Bricklin, Larry Kahn
 2  -  6 in l0 -     80 Singles        - David desJardins
 l½ -  3 in  6 -     71 Continentals   - Marty Vine
       3 in 12 -     71 Continentals   - Lee Cousins
 1  -  9 in 15 -     71 Easterns       - Oscar of McGill, Chris Howard
 0  -  6 in 10 -     77 Singles        - Gerry Rawling
       5 in  6 -     70 BIT            - Marilyn of Regis
3½ + 2⅓      in  6 - 72 HOTT            - Jay Wollenberg Lewis Stein
(also Sev, Dave Pinckney, Bob Henninge, Arye Gittelman, Paul Mailman, Fred Shapiro, Beast Solomon)

3½ + 4⅔ + 4⅔ in 12 - 78 Continentals    - mary kirman

3½ + 4⅔      in  5 - 76 BIT             - Steve Crounse, Severin Drix
             in  5 - 81 Silver Squidger - Barb Pease

Different scores (maximum possible is 15; 21 in theory)

9 in 11 - 75 Continentals - Ferd
9 in 12 - 72 Easterns     - Betsy Smith, FerA
9 in 12 - 77 Continentals - Jim Marlin, Scott Hirsh
9 in 12 - 78 Continentals - Bob Henninge
9 in 13 - 80 Continentals - Big, Gred
9 in 15 - 71 Easterns     - Fred Shapiro, Paul Mailman, Rich/Mex Davis
9 in 16 - 67 Continentals - Freeman, Webb of Waterloo

Different fractional scores (maximum possible is 7; 13 in theory)

4 in 11 - 77 Pairs        - TDI, Joe Sachs
4 in 12 - 71 Continentals - Bryon Alexandroff, Mel Solmon, Bob Henninge 
4 in 13 - 75 Singles      - Bill Gammerdinger
4 in 13 - 80 Continentals - Big, Gred
4 in 15 - 71 Easterns     - Fred Shapiro, Paul Mailman

Different nonfractional scores (maximum possible is 8)

7 in 11 - 75 Continentals - Ferd
7 in 12 - 67 Continentals - Mitch Wand, Mark Oshin
7 in 12 - 70 Continentals - Sid Freund
7 in 12 - 74 Continentals - Dave Lockwood, Joe Sachs 
7 in 12 - 77 Continentals - Dave Lockwood, Larry Kahn
7 in 12 - 80 Continentals - Charles Frankston
7 in 13 - 75 Singles      - Joe Sachs 
7 in 13 - 80 Continentals - Bob Henninge 
7 in 16 - 67 Continentals - Freeman, Webb of Waterloo

Total fractional scores

6 in 12 - 71 Continentals - Bob Henninge

Only one type of score

6 6’s in 6 games - 71 HOTT - Jake Solomon
* * *
 ***  Anything
***** to add,
 ***  Sunshine?
* * *

Winston looked at the (Snakes and Ladders game) sulkily and without interest. But then his mother lit a piece of candle and they sat down on the floor to play. Soon he was wildly excited and shouting with laughter as the tiddlywinks climbed hopefully up the ladders and then came slithering down the snakes again …

— George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-four; 1949; 3rd page from end (via Tony Brennan)

Overheard at a tournament:
“I wish I was in the alternate universe where I won that game!”

Unexplored Frontiers

by Rick Tucker

Obscurity hides within the possible (at least in theory) score combinations that result from the rules of tiddlywinks: 4 match points for 1st place, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd; divide evenly if places are tied; transfer 1 point to potting-out pair when a potout. (Footnote 1) In the following chart, for simplicity, I have blue or red taking 1st place (and if a potout, blue-red getting the point transfer).

 -PLACES-   ------ GAME SCORE -------
B&R   G&Y   no potout   potout by B-R
1 2   3 4    6  - 1        7  - 0
1 1   3 4       "             "
1 2   3 3       "             "
1 2   2 4    5½ - 1½       6½ - 1½
1 3   2 4    5  - 2        6  - 1
1 2   2 2       "             "
1 1   1 4    4⅔ - 2⅓       5⅔ - 1⅓
1 3   2 3    4½ - 2½       5½ - l½
1 4   2 3    4  - 3        5  - 2
1 3   1 4       "             "
1 4   2 2       "            "
1 1   1 1    3½ - 3½       4½ - 2½
1 3   1 3       "             "
1 4   1 3    3  - 4        4  - 3
1 4   1 1    2⅓ - 4⅔       3⅓ - 3⅔

The least likely of the 3 in-theory-only game scores is undoubtedly 6½-½. After blue has potted out, red and either green or yellow must be potted out as a result of the same shot—which might be a mite difficult since all winks are separated from each other after the blue potout. However, there is some hope of a 6½-½ in our lifetime. Recently Moishe performed half of the necessary miracle feat when the wink he was shooting bounced on another wink which then found its way into the pot.

The two other game scores which have never occurred in play are the potout varieties of 4⅔ – 2⅓: 5⅔ – 1⅓ if blue, red, and one of green or yellow are all potted out on a shot by blue or red; and 3⅓ – 3⅔ if blue,
green, and yellow are potted out on a shot by blue (or red!)—the only way to pot out and lose!

Of course several other scores have never come out of a potout, but they are ordinary scores in non-potouts: 5½-1½, 4½-2½, and 4-3. And the 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd placing that gives a potout score of 6-1 is even
less likely than the fabled 6½-½!

14 NATwA winkers have the full distribution of 15 ordinary scores. Of those 15 scores, 3½ is rare — only 47 out of the 5187 NATwA games have been ties. And only 39 NATwA games have been 4⅔ – 2⅓, so 4⅔ and 2⅓ are much more rare than 3½, the score distribution requires both.

And so there are 21 theoretical scores in a full score distribution … who has accepted the challenge to take winks to new limits?

(Footnote 1: I have seen no rules which handle the case where two colors axe potted out at the end of a shot. Rules do refer to transferring the point to the pair of the color that potted out first. I suggest that a shot is the increment of play in the game, and the state of the game is sampled when each shot is completed (all winks at rest). In the chart I have taken the liberty to assume that if one or more colors is potted out as a result of a shot, that if one or two of the potted-out colors is of the same pair as the shooter, then the shooter’s pair gets the point transfer. Comments are solicited from the rules generators out there.)

Crates

by *

Much of the compulsory non-winking fun at the Funts [Funtinentals] was had playing this exciting variation of Uno and crazy eights. Usually a partnership game with 4 players, slight rules variations are available to accommodate other numbers of players. An excellent table talk game with such utterances as ‘Cooper’ … ‘One Card’ … ‘Pressure’ ‘Arggh’ ‘Thank you partner’ and ‘Two Sequence’. A normal game consists of 15 hands ( 8 cards, 7 cards, … 1 card, … … 8 cards), the object being to get rid of cards and also not to get points. Play generally consists of following suit or number, but not really.

The rules are simple but numerous and combine in at times confusing manners. The following table summarizes most (but not all) of what one needs to know.

card  function                  points
 K    boring                      10
 Q    boring                      10
 J    boring                      10
10    reverse direction           25
 9    wild, same color            30
 8    wild, any suit              50
 7    partner a card              20
 6    go again                    30
 5    cards for all other players 30
 4    skip to partner             15
 3    normal play with non-8:      3
                  by self:       -50
 2    starts 2 sequence, answers  20
 A    answers 2 sequence           1
'One card' or 2 cards
  1st pressure = 5 (for partnership)
  2nd =  10
  3rd =  20
  • • •
  8th = 640
  Nth = 5*2N-1

The 3, 2, & 1 hands are the ‘skill’ hands. Do not hide your quantity of cards or count the stock. No thinking allowed. Incredibly fast players need only hour for a game, novices up to 2 hours. For more details, ask. By the way, one cannot go out on a 6 as a play is not over until completed. (= ‘Cooper’ =)

Practice Makes Better

by Dave Lockwood

It is time for the veterans of the world to take note of the fact that, for all your vaunted strategical insights, if you can’t execute the necessary shots, you will lose to those who can. Too long have Renke, Dean, Seaman, Sachs, Ferd, and company relied on physical skills grown rusty due to lack of use.

It is no surprise that Arye Gittelman, Charles Relle, the surging Lusts pair of Tony Brennan & Duncan Budd, Southampton’s Mike Surridge, and Charles Jeffries of Newts have stunned the senior winks establishment in recent winks matches. Some of these British names may be new to NATwAns but their recent efforts are the shape of things to come.

These newcomers (not including Relle who began in 1960) have discovered that the big names can be had by consistent play. This is a lesson that MIT, Cornell, Cambridge, and Southampton would do well to learn. It is also something that those same rusty vets could take to heart. It is no great surprise that the winners of all Pairs and Singles matches this year have been proponents of practice. It takes no great time or effort to leave a mat partially unfurled with a set on it to allow 24 pots a couple times a day. The disappointments of missed crucial shots need not be as extensive as they have been in recent years. Try a little practice. It’s fun and it helps.

Errata to Newswink 13

p1 – the Continentals are of course today and tomorrow, 13-14 Feb.

p9 – curiously omitted from Larry’s chart of Lifetime leaders in Continentals is Joe at 65-31 with a 4.4-0 ppg for 5th place.

Crunch!

by Dave Lockwood

It is high time someone told the real story of the American tour of Britain in 1981. I have seen The Winking World 38 version of the events which generally ignores the American dominance during the tour. In the Manchester Open, all 5 Americans were in the top 4 pairs (3 in the top 2 pairs). In World Pairs 2, Sev & Larry cleaned up against the ETwA champions, Nigel Knowles & Charles Belle, in a record 30½-11½ (6-1 , 5-2, 1-6, 6-1, 7-0 (controlled blitz)).

The US-LUSTS match on Monday had Jon Mapley & Geoff Thorpe playing for the Guys From Across The Water in a one-sided match. US-NEWTS was won by the US. Southampton was smashed by the 6 player American team on Friday, and Jon Mapley lost World Singles 12 in 6 games. As for the Team International, it was clear early on that the British side was lackluster. American won six of seven rounds to clinch a round early. Even the 1972 MIT World Club champions needed all eight rounds. Neither American nor Britain fielded their best 8 but the Brits have no excuse. Retrospectively it would have been a better match if we had played 6 a side each.

The Brits’ sole moment of glory came in the first World Masters Singles with both top Americans getting knocked out in the semis. Next time we’ll have to take that too.

Finally, I again thank the British winkers and their families for the hospitality that has been inexhaustible over the years. Personally, I am indebted to the Deans, the Relles, the Knowles, the Seamans, the Edwards,
and my other ETwA friends, We’ll be back for more in ’84!

In the Post

Nov 30.

Please tell * to revise Bleph… for me. Lightning hitches occur infrequently and imply rain. I have never been rained on while hitching. Also string of bad luck. (NYC-DC) made it to Newark Airport after 2½ hours. Many hour wait at entrance to I95. Took bus back to NYC, borrowed money, took train. First failure ever. Hair must be too short.

Reason for disappearance. The last time I saw my squidger it bit my thumb. Thus, fear of squidging syndrome, characterized by severe pains in first joint of both thumbs. Cure unknown.

Matthew Solà

postmark Washington DC

by Fred Shapiro

The 100 Game Club recently ushered in its 45th and 46th members: John Reppy (102) and Beast Solomon (100). Beast was the 6th David on the list. Other multiple first names include Richard (4; can you name them?), and William, Mary, and Michael (2 each). Beast’s induction also enabled Solomon to break its tie with Agranoff and Barbano for the lead among surnames. Ross remains the only name to appear on the list as both a first and a last name, although Dean qualifies on an international level.

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U.S. Patent 453,480 · C. N. Hoyt · Game Apparatus

Willis

(Charles Relle sent this clipping with the letter that appeared in Newswink 13, page 14. From The Pauline, July 1963.)

Willis.—On April 20th, 1963, the Rev. Edgar A. Willis, known to generations of Paulines and others as “Eggs,” died peacefully in his sleep at Cirencester at the age of 71, in the middle of one of the holiday houseparties for boys which he and his greatest friend had been organising without a break in spite of war-time difficulties for over forty years. These holiday parties were started in 1919 by a group of friends, and for fourteen years were run exclusively for Paulines. Although since then Pauline house-parties have been continued up to the present time, Eggs felt strongly that the field should be extended into other schools, and up to the time of his death over 150 schools have been represented in the succeeding thirty years.

Eggs was at School from 1904 to 1910. From the Classical side he passed to the Maths, VIII and thence to the City and Guilds Engineering College, where he obtained his B.Sc. and A.C.G.I. His early promise at rugger and cricket was cut short by two successive dislocations of a knee, which Sir Herbert Barker was to put right many years later; but he developed into a good half- and quarter-miler and a useful oar. He was secretary of the Chess Club, a pillar of the Christian Union and one of the leaders in organising a Christian meeting for boys outside school on Sunday afternoons, which has been not only maintained till the present day, but extended in scope. The list of speakers in Eggs’s day included William Temple, and “Monty” was once a visitor.

Employed on tank design during the First World War, Eggs was not destined to remain an engineer for long. He had often been invited as a lay preacher to take services in both Anglican and Free Churches, and in 1927 the Ickenham Congregational Church asked him to become their full-time Minister. He gave up his profession as an engineer, and while officiating at Ickenham he took a course of training at New College, London, to become a Congregational Minister.

After four years at Ickenham he took charge of Brixton Independent Church, combining his ministry with the post of Schools Secretary of the Student Christian Movement.

From 1948 to 1957 Eggs was in charge of the Broad Plain Boys’ Clubs in Bristol. With his work in Bristol began a close a fruitful association with the boys’ club movement which was to continue until his death. He joined the Training Committee of the Executive Council of the Bristol Federation of Boys’ Clubs and then became a Religious Adviser to the Federation. He became closely identified with Idle National Boys’ Club from its early days and served on its Management Committee since 1958.

One of the National Boys’ Club Secretaries, who was his colleague at Bristol, has commented that “at all times and in every place—sports field, training course, camp or club—Eggs added his own inimitable blend of fun, encyclopaedic knowledge and uncompromising Christian belief, and he became one of the most widely known and appreciated figures in time of his death over 150 schools have been Bristol’s club scene. His ready sympathy, kindly wisdom and sheer enjoyment of life were rare indeed, and were always at the disposal of individual boys or groups with whom he spent the bulk of his time. Among his many gifts was that of speaking about religion to young people, and few who heard him failed to be moved by his simplicity and sincerity. He used language they understood, though I never heard him ‘talk down’ to an audience anywhere.”

In 1955 Eggs underwent a serious, but entirely successful, operation for cancer, and was able in the last eight years of his life, in spite of persistent thrombosis in his legs, to add some twenty-five climbs of Cader Idris in North Wales to his previous score of about 120.

It was with boys that Eggs was always most truly at home and it was with them that his main—one is tempted to say “unique—genius lay. Collectively at his holiday house-parties, over seventy of which have been held every Easter and August at Cirencester, and individually Eggs used his great gift of cultivating spiritual friendship.

This may sound “pi” [pious], but there was nothing in the least “pi” about Eggs. He had the keenest sense of humour and was sharply alert to avoid, to detect and to deflate any false or unhealthy sentimentalism in religion.
Fun and games (many of his own invention) were his unfailing avenue of approach. Of all the unusual sports at which Eggs was an expert, Tiddlywinks perhaps stood highest. In 1958 it received much publicity through the support of the Duke of Edinburgh, and an English Tiddlywinks Association was formed, with Eggs as its first Secretary General. At his first press-conference he told bewildered reporters that “the world is looking to Tiddlywinks in its urge to get back to the primeval simplicity of life”, a profound thought which eventually became a “saying of the year” in The Observer. His motto might well have been “Christian strength through joy”.

When he was over seventy he was still a boy at heart, and that was one of the main secrets of his ability to penetrate and to win the hearts—and souls—of boys.

Nearly forty years ago Stephen Neill dedicated a book of his to two friends, one of them being “E. A. Willis … Cordium Puerorum Interpreti Optimo”. That might not inappropriately serve as Eggs’s epitaph.

What to Do When Your Squidger Breaks

by Dave Lockwood

This article deals with that seldom mentioned subject—the trauma of breaking your squidger. There is, of course, the stupid method of squidger breaking. This usually takes the form of the squidger thrown against the floor or wall in a fit of pique. Many players have on occasion thrown down their squidgers in disgust. The problem is not with the squidger here but rather with the squidgee. Few players have raised this art to the level attained by Tim Schiller. Then again, few have tried.

The thrown squidger has at least a measure of satisfaction about it. The venting of frustrations, the sound of plastic hitting vinyl, cement, or brick, and the stunning tinkle of rapid crack propagation provide an outlet for those baser instincts that winks so often ignores.

A tragic and perhaps more devastating method is the disintegration of a squidger in the normal act of play. Moishe broke his squidger while his wink bounced another wink into the cup. Jon Mapley also had this happen to him recently. He was able to laugh it off because he makes his own squidgers and always has a spare. Those more emotionally attached to their shooting implements have a more difficult time.

Lastly we come to the sad case of Severin A. Drix. Denied even the satisfaction of watching his squidger break, his simply disappeared. After carrying his cherished tools of the trade in his wallet for years, on the alert for the odd game in Harlem, Africa, or Ithaca, suddenly they were gone. His game was destroyed. The long, drawn-out learning process of squidger pressure had to begin with a new set of squidgers. Happily, Sev has settled on some new Tucker designs which seem to have rejuvenated his game. Having learned the lesson of overdependence on the physical elements, the ex-Paper Tiger has now gone into hibernation to learn how to raise his game above such arbitrary limitations.

Championmania

by Larry Kahn

The following trivia questions pertain to players who have a total of 100 or more games in the Continentals, Pairs, and Singles (= advance question: how many winkers have done so? =). Only A division games are counted unless the Continentals format was quads. Anyone who can answer all six correctly gets the Sunshine Achievement Award.

  1. Name the 5 players who have won all three titles.
  2. Name the 4 players who have at least 200 total wins for the three tournaments.
  3. Name the 5 players who have played at least 6 0% of their games in these tournaments.
  4. Name the 4 players whose ppg for the championships is higher than their total ppg.
  5. Name the 4 players with winning percentages over 70.
  6. This is the hard one. Name the 2 players with ties in the Singles.

(= Answers in Popular Winking volume 4, number 6, June 1991 =)

Active/Semiactive Players Ranked by Time of First Tournament

by Fred Shapiro

 1 Sev Drix (1967 Triangular)
   Ferd T. Bull
   Bob Henninge 
   Sunshine 
 5 L (1968 Continentals)
   Moishe
   Tim Schiller
 8 MP Rouse (1969 Comell-Harpur)
 9 Dave Barbano (l9?0 Continentals)
   Jim Marlin
   Dean Solomo
   Bill Renke
13 Dave Lockwood (1970 Easterns)
   Bill Gammerdinge
   Fred Shapiro
16 Jake Solomon (1971 Continentals)
17 mary kirman (l971 Branches of the Tree)
   Carl Chenkin
19 Larry Kahn (1971 HOTT)
   Don Fox

Apathetic NATwAns Peril Organization

by Dave Lockwood

After the record number of games played in 1979-80 (527), the 1980-81 total of 264 was the lowest since 1969-70. The current season seems to be continuing the downward trend. The participation of most veterans has decreased and too few new recruits appear. The problems with recruiting (boredom for veterans, unwillingness to believe game can be serious on part of potential recruits, etc.) have been examined before but did not spell the demise of NATwA as long as 15-30 veterans would play 25-65 games a year. Now that these veterans no longer play as many tournaments/games, the existence of NATwA itself may be in jeopardy.

Last year, NATwANs recognized that a problem existed and scheduled so-called “fun” tournaments to slow the decline in participation. With 13 winkers at the HUP (Haverford Unstacked Pairs), 17 at the FuntlnenTals/Fall Ithaca Tournament, and a handful (12) at the Boston Open Pairs (BOP), fun didn’t work. While ETwA is strong and growing once again, NATwA is experiencing a decline approaching annihilation. Active veterans like SecGen Horsemeat will stop appearing at distant tournaments (Boston, Ithaca) if significant local interest is not maintained. Each person’s absence from a tournament contributes to the overall malaise.

The reasons for the decline are several. The most significant is the increasing dispersion of active winkers—Tim, Charles, Bill G, and Scott are too far away to make more than one Eastern tournament a year, if that. Bob, Mac, Mary, Marg, Rich D (Mex), Country, Martin, Rich S are one large step closer but find many tournaments, particularly those in Boston, difficult to attend. Even such active winkers as Joe, Larry, Fred, and Rick find the Philly/Washington area too remote. Coupled with the distance problem is the money necessary to reach tournament sites. This is an especially insoluble problem.

Therefore, I recommend the following 4½ point program to “solve” the current winks decline.

1. Local area get-togethers once a month in relaxed surroundings (i.e., not schools, but homes)

1b. Publicize these meetings in local newspapers, magazines, radio stations, etc. to draw interest

2. Eliminate statistics from all tournaments except the championships—Continentals, Pairs, Singles.

3. Local random tournaments once every 2 or 3 months (in addition to local get-togethers.

4. Extreme urging of all players to attend the championships with the promise that formats will be changed to reflect varied interest levels (e.g., knockouts, B division singles, etc.)

These ideas are not exclusive; all others are welcome and needed. It is time to take stock of this phase of NATwA’s development and plan for the future. NATwA’s funds should be used to pay for the publicity for the local get-togethers. Dues must be more rigorously collected to facilitate this and to finance needed equipment purchases. We must work together now or else all we have worked for up to now will go for nought.

The State (or Lack Thereof) of NATwA

by Larry Kahn

This hasn’t been the greatest year for American winks. About the only thing I can say is that I think I’ve done a better job for NATwA than Reagan has done for the US. Maybe that’s the problem. Everyone has gone into hiding waiting for Reagan to drop the big one and is afraid to travel to tournaments.

Seriously, we do have somewhat of a problem. I think the main difficulty is the lack of new blood; as people get older they start having other interests and perhaps can’t devote as much time to winks. Recruiting hasn’t gone really well in the past five years and there doesn’t seem to be an easy solution (= how bout Videowinks games in every nook? =).

Another problem is that I think people don’t show up because they’re afraid of having to do some work. Over the last year I’ve gotten a lot of help from *, L [Richard Hussong] & Sue [Assmann], Ken [Moraff[, Rick [Tucker], & Bob [Henninge ] and at least in terms of organizing we got everything done. It only takes about half a dozen well-placed people to do the work and I think we’ve got that at this point so the only thing the rest of you have to do is show up.

Maybe this has just been a bad year for a lot of people and next year will be better. I know the farm was busy building a house and Severin was hibernating half the year. I think there are enough truly dedicated people (even if it’s only 5 or 6) that will keep things going indefinitely, so if winks has dropped in priority for some of you, at least realize that NATwA will be around when you feel like getting back into it a little more.

I’d at least like to see the 3 championships remain meaningful and I hope that more of the established players will try to get to at least 2 of them. As for the other tournaments, maybe they should be directed more toward local get-togethers than trying to pull people from everywhere.

If anybody has suggestions or comments, please let me know and if possible write them down for publication in Newswink.

Match Game

by Sunshine

…match winkers with gossip

Arye        Not moving to North Carolina
Beast       Retreating
Bill G      Changing coasts
Bob         Laid off
Charles     Decompilers for robots
Dave L      On new land
Jake        Legal support
Joe         Nepal hiker
Ken         ?? (par avion)
L           Expecting
Mac         Medical history
mary        Teaching in China? 
MP          Philadelphia resident
Rich        Engaged
Sev         Miami resident
TDI         Cincinnati resident

(eman tsal yb redro lacitebahpla ni srekniw egnarra stniH)

Moishe) dull programmer, never been to Himalayas

Greg(or)) (verb) all musical instruments (including fast cars), attempting permanent MIT student status, Slovak royalty (Koso

Don) gamer, hiker, working-class hero (for the Union makes us strong) (Fox

Nan) avocation(s) – poet, artist. vocation – technical secretary (Brady

Peter) would-be peddler of statistical snake oil, might spiring ‘interest’ in a couple of months, home body (Nestor

By playing in 3 games at the unstacked pairs, Muenster has now taken (a big) part in 5 NATwA games, breaking the old record of games by a paranormal wink of 4 set by Clure in 1971. The beloved Clure passed away 10 years ago, 12-5-71.

World Single 13

by Larry Kahn

Haverford College

7 November 1981

Dave retains the title after an interesting, though not particularly well-played 7 game match over Larry. The final score was 27½-21½, with the score after 6 games being 21½-20½ for Dave.

20 minute games, 30 second opponent choice rule, Dave wins coin toss, chooses color choice (red-blue) over corner choice. Players alternate colors each game, also mats will alternate between Dave’s new English mat and one of Larry’s summer English mats (= unfortunately the lights could not be dimmed, otherwise Larry would have had the brightness choice =). Joe refereeing. TV and radio coverage (National Public Radio) coverage for the 1st game.

Game 1 / A tight game as neither player takes any real chances. Dave goes up near the end of regulation but Larry gets on a pile in just the right spot and blows it. Eventually Dave recaptures a small pile with a good squop. Dave pots a 7-incher blue for the win, pots a red off a green to get 5½ and Larry does not pot a yellow off a pile ending game. In retrospect, Larry probably should have potted ending 4th, guaranteeing either a 3 or 4.

Game 2 / Dave plays very well, Larry does little, perhaps bothered by the last game. Not much to report. Dave takes 6 to go up 11½-2½.

Game 3 / A reverse of game 2. Larry makes nearly every shot, Dave helps a lot in his own demise and Larry gets a much needed 6. 12½-8½ Dave.

Game 4 (after lunch break) / Maybe the best (at least  most even) game. Larry makes an excellent gromp of a red on green onto a yellow next to green for a tenuous triple. Dave fails to make an easy bomb with the next yellow shot which would have swung the game heavily to him. The game ends up close in rounds but it is an obvious 4 for Larry. 15½-12½ Dave.

Game 5 / Larry takes initial control and eventually a monster pile develops near the cup. Dave eventually makes some good attacking shots near the end of regulation but Larry makes the necessary squops to keep control. 6-1 to Larry, making the total 18½-16½ Larry.

Game 6 / A pot out game all the way, Dave with greens and Larry with both colors. At the critical point Larry has 5 trivial blues and one big nurdled, 1/8″. Since there are no winks in, Larry tries the nurdled first instead of putting the others in but misses, his head getting in the way. Green continues but misses after 2, red takes a threatening yellow instead of trying a non-trivial potout, and yellow comes at blues, squopping one. Larry then tries to pot a bottom blue and get the top in position to pot out the squopped blue but fails. Dave then pots out with green and ends up getting the obvious 5 since yellow was at the boondocks. 21½-20½ Dave.

Game 7 / Fairly even initially, but Larry has a very bad sequence where he tries a difficult shot with a somewhat bad result, then subs the other color in an approach, and rolls off after a bomb shot. He makes a brief comeback attempt but it is too late and Dave ends up with a 6. Final score 27½-21½.

Overall, neither player showed consistent good play. It was a streaky match, with the wins going Dave 2, Larry 3, Dave 2. Each player had chances to put the other away and didn’t (until the final game). Interestingly, over the 10 practice games the day before and the 7 in the match, the score was exactly a tie after the 17 games.

Lockwood’s World Singles Opponents

8/78 Sev Drix
7/79 Alan Dean
2/80 Jon Mapley
4/80 Sev Drix
8/80 Larry Kahn
3/81 Pam Knowles
7/81 Jon Mapley
11/81 Larry Kahn

Games Played in the Eighties

by Fred Shapiro

 1 Dave Lockwood    106
 2 Arye Gittelman    98
 3 Larry Kahn        96
 4 Rick Tucker       90
 5 Fred Shapiro      82
 6 Ross Callon       78
 7 Joe Sachs         77
 8 Severin Drix      68
 9 Bill Renke        66
10 David desJardins  65
11 Moishe            60
12 Ken Moraff        52
   Ferd              52
14 Bob Henninge      46
15 Brad Schaefer     44
16 Sam Pottle        43
17 Beast Solomon     40
   *                 40
19 Don Fox           38
20 John Reppy        36
21 TDI               33
22 L                 32
   mary kirman       32
   Jim Roberts       32
25 Doug Young        30
   Matt Solà         30
27 Charles Frankston 29
28 Nan Brady         28
29 Mac McAvoy        27
   MP Rouse          27
31 Jim Butler        26
   Rich Steidle      26

Tiddle-a-Wink, Tiddle-a-Wink, Tiddle-a-Wink the Barber,
Tiddle-a-Wink, Tiddle-a-Wink, went to shave his father.
But he made a slip and cut his lip,
Which made his father roar,
The father knock’d poor Tiddle-a-Wink Bang upon the floor.

— chorus of ‘Tiddle-a-Wink the Barber, The Popular Comic Song, Written, Composed & Sung with Immense Success by John Read’ [music-hall song] (via Fred Shapiro)

[+template:(Tucker Tw ID • [+xmp:title+] — publisher • [+iptc:source+] — title • [+xmp:headline])+]
NEWSWINK

Big Bopper

by Larry Kahn

On December 5th the first Boston Open Pairs took place. Since this is the last Newswink article to go in and not much happened at the tournament anyhow, I’ll keep it short. There was a reasonable Boston turnout of Arye, Sue, Moishe, Ferd, Brad, L, Barb, Bill Renke, Jim Butler, new recruit Dale, and immigrants Dave and Larry. Arye ended up on top, edging out Dave+Larry who managed to finish 2nd despite Larry playing the worst anybody had seen in about 6 years. Bill played in two games in the last round and we still need a score for L+Barb vs. Bill+ Dale (if you remember or care). Sunday tournament play was canceled due to the big snowstorm although a few hardy souls trekked in for a few games. Dave & Larry stayed at Arye’s on Sunday night and helped kill cockroaches.

Sunshine & the Dragon, etc. in Literature

by Fred Shapiro

  1. The general form of the sunshine curve is thus a strong minimum in winter, a steady increase to a maximum in May.
    — H. N. Dickson in Scottish Geogr. Mag., June 1892
    [was this a prophecy concerning the 1976 Singles?]
  2. Many authors … say that dragons have no poison in them.
    — Bishop Patrick, A Commentary upon the Book of Deuteronomy (1700)
    [the Third-Place Jinx foretold?]
  3. No one ever heard of a short-sighted Indian
    — George C. Harlan, Eyesight, and How to Care for It (1879)
    [referring to solar home innovation?]
  4. My gammer is so out of course, and frantyke all at ones.
    — John Still, Gammer Gurton’s Needle (1575)
    [said by Bill Renke after partner spazzed?]
  5. The sum due for horsemeat was twelve shillings.
    — Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews (1742)
    [never bet he won’t make a squop!]

World Pairs Number Two

by Larry Kahn

On July 5 in Manchester Sev & Larry played in their 2nd World Pairs match, this time against the English champions, Charles Relle and Nigel Knowles. Going into the match it was unclear who had the advantage (or disadvantage) since Sev & Larry hadn’t played as partners since their North American victory in April, and Nigel & Charles had finished a disappointing 5th in the Manchester Open the day before.

Game 1 C wins squidge-off with G. L’s bring-ins are very good but he makes a nearly impossible sub and Carnovskys his 6th on a 6″ bounce. S lunches a Y and game develops into a tight battle near the cup. The British pair seems somewhat tentative and nervous and when they jump into the American territory it’s all over—S+L take 6.

Game 2 S wins squidge-off with B and proceeds to pot his 1st wink. N attempts a potout by potting 2 free winks and then tries to pot out of a pile but misses. In a streak of bad play by all Y gets squopped out and eventually S+L get G out also. In working for a R potout R gets off a key pile allowing Y to pot 5 winks and when S doesn’t pot his 6th (nurdled) it ends 5-2 for USA. Total 11-3.

Game 3 Once again the therapeutic value of beer on the English is demonstrated. N + C come on strong and take a solid 6-1 aided by a key 8″ squop by C. Total 12-9 and it appears the match will be close since neither pair has yet demonstrated a take-charge attitude.

Game 4 L wins squidge-off with R and bring-ins establish good territory on both sides, but an English wink of each color is held in US territory. C+N decide to try to fight their way in but are unsuccessful, and while not squopped-out are short on winks. C makes a superb Bristol onto a pile, getting a good seal yelp out of L. After blowing up part of that pile the Americans regain control but a bad piddle by S allows C to pot 2 winks for 6 tips, tying S’s useless 6 free. US 5½ England 1½. Total US 17½,UK 10½.

Game 5 Once again the 5th game becomes the pivotal game in a World Championship match. L wins the squidge-off but bring-ins are all poor. A mostly Y pile develops near the cup but eventually this is blown and about 10 minutes into the game it is fairly even. Everyone suddenly takes interest in 3 single squops near the cup. S+L finally show their form as they keep the edge with a successful series of medium- to long-range squops. L then proceeds to miss an easy shot on a big G, allowing C to climb onto the big pile, knocking away the controlling B. He recovers nicely, however, grabbing the whole thing with a big R from 5″. Final 6-1 to the US and a nearly insurmountable 231 [should be 23½]-11½ lead.

Game 6 C wins with G. When S suggests that they keep a double in N’s territory L asks if S isn’t planning on winning the match by getting two 1s. They fight there nonetheless and actually manage to take over the area. At this point G has 5 free and one squopped outside the main area. G pots one but then misses, and R takes a G. A fight develops over the isolated squopped G but America quickly wins there and eventually L pots out, controlled, in the last round. S runs 6 and the match ends 30½-11½.

In retrospect it was not a particularly well-played match. Lately the world matches have been marked by inconsistent play} perhaps the pressure inhibits consistent good play. S+L continue their impressive record—they have never been defeated in a Pairs tournament (4 American titles, 2 World)—and while not always in top form they seem to be able to come up with whatever is necessary to win.

Another Dumb Contest

by Rick Tucker

Okay, so the last contest was too much for all of you … or too little for too few. Halley’s comet has yet to come, and my first NAC too, and though one answer has been received, it has been declared to extend the contest to anyone who ever had a heart. Just in case you’re not up to mediocre challenges, I now present you with yet another in the Newswink series of popular contests.

Challenge: Find as many words in the combinations of letters in the word TIDDLYWINKS which are:

  1. exactly 4 letters
  2. not plural (no WITS)
  3. not proper names

and a letter may appear in a word up to as many times as it appears in TIDDLYWINKS (no LILY).

Terms of the contest:

  1. deadline for entries is indeterminable.
  2. entries must be postmarked, or if not, a reasonable facsimile of a postmark must accompany each entry.
  3. printouts of every possible combination of the letters, including combinations disallowed by the conditions, and including non-words, will be ignored.
  4. entries are to be sent to
    Richard W. Tucker
    2701 Woodedge Road
    Silver Spring, Maryland 20906 USA
  5. winners will be duly notified and acclaimed.

WANTED for Newswink 15

  • fewer words
  • more pictures, drawings
  • letters
  • anything of note from newpapers, magazines, books, etc.

NATwA Secretary-General:
Larry Kahn
18802 Nathan’s Place
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20879

…slatnenitnuF

by Larry Kahn

On November 14 & 15 a medium-sized pile of winkers was formed in Ithaca for the first (last?) FuntlnenTals tournament. Unfortunately, the people for whom the tournament was designed didn’t make it, but those who did show up had a good time. From Boston came Bill, TDI, Arye and his new recruit Gregor Koso, Moishe, and old timer Peter Nestor playing in his first tournament since the 1972 Easterns. Larry & Rick came from DC, and Beast, Dave, and * also made it. All the prominent winkers remaining in Ithaca were there at some point during Saturday (Ken, John, Sam, Steve, Doug, and MP).

Alliance (Larry, Dave, Rick, Ken, John) wanted to remain somewhat intact so they added Doug, Sam, and Moishe and played against the rest in a BIT-style tourney. It really wasn’t that even but no one really cared much as long as individual games were pretty close.

In the 1st round there was a real perversion when Ken+John+Moishe lost a 5-20 triples game to Bill+Peter+*+Muenster. Rick ended up with 4 6’s to lead everyone. John got his 1st tournament 7 with Larry against TDI+Steve, and in the one heavy supernovagame Bill+TDI beat Larry+Dave in a close 5-2 decision.

Most of the fun probably occurred during the afternoon Saturday break when a bunch of people went out into the quad for a boomerang and Frisbee break. We had a lot of spectators for the boomerangs & almost managed to nail some.

Sunday brought rain (what else is new?) a smaller turnout and a bunch of nontournament fun games. All in all, the tournament was quite enjoyable but there was a sense of disappointment that we didn’t get a larger turnout of the fun-oriented winkers (Stand and Deliver!) (Put up or shut up! ).