Newswink

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN TIDDLYWINKS ASSOCIATION

EDITORS:
Rosie Wain
Andy Tomaszewski

Vol. III No. 1
September, 1970

WAND DRAFTED

WASHINGTON – A recent news bulletin has released the name of Mitchell Wand as among those due for conscription later this year.

Wand is well known throughout the Winking world not only for his brilliant organisational ability but also for his performance on the mat itself. As Secretary General of the North American Tiddlywinks Association for the past three years he has reorganised it beyond all recognition and while based at MIT created a top-level club which since then has been known as the “Pot ‘n’ Squop Centre of North America”.

In his home town of Waltham, Massachusetts, Wand granted NEWSWINK the following exclusive interview:

NEWSWINK: Is it true that after much wrangling with the Selective Servitude Service, it became clear that you were going to be drafted, so you found yourself a spot in the so-called “six month program”?

WAND: Yes.

N.W.: Can we assume that this means you will be going on active duty for about four months during the coming year?

WAND: Yes.

N.W.: As per norm have they refused to commit themselves to dates?

WAND: Yes.

N.W.: Won’t it likely be November through mid-March?

WAND: Yes.

N.W.: So it must look very unlikely that you will be able to attend the next Continentals. Do you propose to appoint an Acting Secretary of Secretaries to run ANTwA during your absence?

WAND: Yes.

N.W.: In that case, you would want self-nominations by mid-October, or so.

WAND: Yes.

N.W.: Will you want to resume your duties immediately upon your return to civilian life in March if the membership does not, of course, elect another permanent Secretary at Congress 1971?

WAND: Yes.

N.W.: Would not a possible beneficial side-effect be that you will have a lighter academic load this year, so that the long-bruited industrial funding campaign can get started although with the current economic pinch, it might not get too far?

WAND: Yes.

N.W.: Do you have any other items for NEWSWINK?

WAND: No.

POSITION VACANT

casual labour

November 1970—mid March 1971

ACTING SECRETARY GENERAL of NATwA

editorial

PRECURSOR

I have just been reading the latest WINKING WORLD and although I found it a little hard to digest, as usual, it made me realize that a periodical of this type can function in much the same way as the mass communications media, only on a smaller scale and, consequently, more efficiently. WW-17 discusses such topics as the image of the game of Winks, the present organisation of Tiddlywinks Associations, and the direction in which they and their members are headed. It also touches upon the possibility and format of singles matches and criticizes the present scoring system.

We feel that NEWSWINK could very well follow this example, much to the benefit of its readers, and of NATwA as a hole [sic, should be whole]. In this issue, we shall touch upon several speculations about the future of NATwA and the game of Winks in general. We expect that all those members who are not totally apathetic will write to the editors on these matters, whether it be criticism or support. We hope that a good number of other issues will be raised as well.

The next issue of NEWSWINK (around Christmastime) will be largely devoted to “Letters to the Editor”, where everyone who has not previously had the opportunity will be able to air their views. By the time the 1971 Continentals are to be played, everyone should have had sufficient time to come to their own conclusions on the topics discussed, and we hope that, as a result, the annual Congress will be more productive than ever before.

STIMULANT

Can you count the number of times YOU have spoken to an unconverted heathen about the game of Winks? And would you not agree that the overwhelming majority of responses are a combination of laughter (or at least a smirk) and comments akin to: “I haven’t played Tiddlywinks since I was a child”? And do you not agree that the uninitiated have a poor opinion of the game because it is known as a child’s pastime, one of {\underline the} most primitive of children’s games, and graded just a trifle below the game of “Jacks”? And is it not true that it is extremely difficult to persuade the ignorant masses to partake in that first enlightening game (leaving nothing more to be done to addict the person concerned)? And what are YOU going to do about it!?!!

Perhaps we could begin by changing the name of the game to “Winks” (officially) thereby distinguishing it from the nursery pastime, and making more credible the statement that Winks is not the game with which they are familiar, but rather one which is far more sophisticated and which involves strategies similar to those encountered in Chess in their level of complexity.

The changing of its name would considerably aid the popularization of the game on a personal level, but perhaps a promptional programme could be initiated which would familiarize the public with the game on a larger scale!

COMPROMISE

It may be that we should concern ourselves more with internal matters, such as the organisation of NATwA, or perhaps a re-assessment of the scoring system both for tournaments and for individual games, and whether or not the latter should be assessed in collaboration with the Winks associations in the British Isles.

One member of IFTwA has proposed that, rather than allowing a total of 7 points for each game, the score should be calculated on the basis of 3 points for winks in the pot, and one point for each wink left uncovered, resulting in totals of scores which range from one to 63. Preliminary tests are reported to have demonstrated that the system is a highly practicable one.

Back on this side of the ocean, it has crossed out minds that the political organisation of NATwA is not all it should be. The editors feel that a distribution of official functions within our Association might be beneficial in a number of ways. The appointment of members of various teams to Treasurer, Public Relations Man (or Woman for our Lib. readers), Regional Tournament Organisers, etc., would lighten the burden of the Secretary allowing him to devote his time to correspondence and official business on the Continental level and, at the same time, allowing the other jobs to be performed more efficiently. It would increase communication within NATwA, and would create a greater feeling of involvement on the part of teams which are at present geographically dissociated from the two existing centres of political activity, i.e., MIT and Cornell.

LAST GASP

The editors encourage all members who have opinions on any or all of the abovementioned topics (or any other idea that may be brewing in the back of your minds) to take a few minutes to write a “Letter to the Editor”. We shall publish as many as possible in the next issue of NEWSWINK.

Andy Tomaszewski

*** NOTE ***

Please address all “Letters to the Editor” to:

NEWSWINK
155 Parkdale Ave., #2
Ottawa 3, Ontario,
Canada

letters to the editor

Dear Ed:

Your last NEWSWINK was really good.

My team’s name is HYTHNLBTWOC (pronounced hith-nil-bit-wock), or “Hark Yon Tree Has No Leaves But They Will Out”.

It is not that I like Frisbee more than Tiddlywinks, its [sic, should be it’s] just that my team was so much better at it than Winks.

*

Dear Editor:

(Severin opens his letter by describing a mystical incident which occurred on the weekend of the Pairs Tournament in Ithaca. The story is related in the Comics section of this issue.)

…. Meanwhile, it’s looking less and less likely that I’ll be in Ithaca next year. Just where I’ll be is still wide open, dependingon where I can find a good place to teach. I might end up in Georgia (!), Virginia, Michigan, Maine, Lower New York State, Philadelphia, or the Boston area. As far as Winks goes, Georgia would be almost exile: I’d have to start two teams, and any action there would have to be a separate NATwA. Other areas I’d be able to start a team and have some teams to play against, though Virginia is a bit far out. If in Michigan, I’d probably team up with Perlo and form one, and if in Philly, I’d play with Sunshine, while if in Boston, I’m a Somervillain. The possibilities for speculation are almost endless. Certainly, if I end up with some other already existing team it’ll change a lot of things. Ferd vs. me is the oldest rivalry in NATwA; how strange it’d be playing with him; or with Sunshine. Well, it’s all speculation; I hope I find out soon enough.

Severin Drix

Dear Editor:

I want it made clear that I had nothing to do with the production of the last issue.

Mitchell Wand

comics

The Green Squidger Case

The story you are about to read is true. Only the names have been omitted for no particular reason at all.