# A friendly game of Mornington Crescent **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [December 29, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179 "2020-12-29T14:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/181 "2022-09-08T13:36:12Z")
That calls for a stiff drink. **Elephant & Castle** seems apt. Not sure whether this blocks the Bakerloo Line during an _Escheatment_, but the Northern Line should provide safe passage for this round at least. That’s three pint bonus points for me, if I am not mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/182 "2022-09-08T23:38:36Z")
_Escheatment_ has lapsed, the Northern Line is open, the portends are auspicious but fuck it, I can’t close the game out. Bugger. In a fit of pique I considered playing Queenbury, but amongst the assembled and accomplished that would be considered gauche. Best (and Buckley’s) chance is playing the right bower in **Kings Cross St Pancreas** and hope in vain that somebody fumbles the ball. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/183 "2022-09-10T09:44:00Z")
In the meantime I’ll go for **Westminster** hoping to collect some advanced condolency points lying around there. There probably are some special rules for the rare moments when Monarchs transition from Queen to King, but, to be honest, I am too lazy to look them up, so I’ll just pretend I’m there to pay a visit to Charles Darwin and maybe even Newton. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/184 "2022-09-10T10:13:37Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > There probably are some special rules for the rare moments when Monarchs transition from Queen to King, but, to be honest, I am too lazy to look them up, so I’ll just pretend I’m there to pay a visit to Charles Darwin and maybe even Newton. Well of course there are, you fool! Just for starters, you’ve forgotten to reapply for a Royal Warrant **or** reaffirm your acquiescence to the Act of Supremacy, so your obsolete passport isn’t going to get you within a stone’s throw of the Houses of Parliament, and that’s not even touching the matter of Mountbatten’s Precedent being invalid in the period between the accession of a new king and his coronation. Since your move is therefore invalid until such time as you can convince one of the Livery Guilds to sponsor you as a lapsed journeyman, I’ll be taking advantage of the fact that this year marks the 48th anniversary of the Fourth Doctor’s debut to invoke the Baker Street Re-Shuffle and land on Shepherd’s Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/185 "2022-09-10T10:31:19Z")
I must refute your invalidation in the strongest terms, Sir! Under _Kurfürstenprivileg_ (cf. Chapter XIII, _Mephistophelicum Anphetaminicum Superannuatiae_) in its currect updated version from 1989 my Royal Warrant is valid in perpetuity by fiat of Mord-or-Lagian underclassification, and as a foreign sovereign citizen I cannot and will never concede any acquiescence whasoever to an Act of Supremacy that eighteen generations of my ancestors have fought. So anyway. Shame on you for even suggesting that, and be glad that this is only a friendly game or the consequences would have been unforseeable. So not only is my move valid, Sir, I double down to **St. James’s Park**. An apology would be considered. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/186 "2022-09-10T10:41:49Z")
The 1989 edition doesn’t apply when the Duchy of Edinburgh is vacant, you silly goose. During such interregna we must defer to the 1977 edition, which clearly states, and I quote, “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.” As such, I recognize your move to St. James’ as valid, but I will not be apologizing unless and until you provide me with the sum of three shillings and eight with which to polish the silver buckles on my Official Mornington Crescent Player’s Shoes, and I further respond to your doubling down by splitting my aces between **Theydon Bois** and **East Ham**. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/187 "2022-09-10T11:11:30Z")
Invoquing a _Lorem Ipsum_ while sitting on a fence with two aces on different places leaves me no choice but **Barking** , as in mad, which you may well take personally, as it is meant. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/188 "2022-09-10T16:31:18Z")
**Mornington Crescent.** Nice game people. We must try again in the not too distant future. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/189 "2022-09-10T17:57:48Z")
I thank you, I am sure this game too will be seen in retrospect as worthy of study. Well done you all. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/190 "2022-09-10T22:46:42Z")
Interesting (and well played btw). It seems that the combination of the post 1977 variants and the increased scope of the Underground ie the Elizabeth Line have now made token conservation a strategic factor much more than in the Classic period. Of course, perhaps some more judicious intervention by said moderator might have helped. Am unsure that this evolution, whereby management of one’s own play is as, if not more so, important as managing the play of opposing players, makes for better gameplay. But there’s nae room for sentimentality and time and tide etc. Will need to be more brutally efficient next time. Salute’ ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/191 "2023-04-23T21:31:55Z")
Ok, now we’ve reached the not too distant future, I’m going to try an opening i recently learnt from the MC forums :- **South Harrow** ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/192 "2023-04-23T21:38:15Z")
Brutally efficient, someone said? **Park Royal** , close to Coronation Street, for Flakes’ sake! [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/04/23/multimedia/22CHARLES-MERCH-01-mkqp/22CHARLES-MERCH-01-mkqp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp) ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/04/23/multimedia/22CHARLES-MERCH-01-mkqp/22CHARLES-MERCH-01-mkqp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp) Coronation flakes, better than snowflakes! ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/193 "2023-04-24T03:01:17Z")
**Knightsbridge**. Because why not ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/194 "2023-04-24T04:51:43Z")
Well yes indeed, but through history “why not” has consistently been the greatest source of umbrage in the ingress and egress of playing this game. **Arnos Grove** ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/195 "2023-04-24T05:36:48Z")
You fool! You can’t just call Arnos Grove within a fortnight of a coronation! You’ve left your entire left flank exposed to Disraeli’s Gambit! Since I am a gentleman, I’m not going to take full advantage of your strategic blunder in order to have you sentenced to transportation, but I will claim a pensioner’s discount under the Transit Reform Act 1977, help myself to five selections from the Parliamentary snuffbox, and move my Reserve Token to Bushney while my main token remains at Burnt Oak until the maintenance crew fin8sh scraping that dead stoat off the tracks. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/196 "2023-04-24T07:05:10Z")
Hmm, methinks you have snorted at least one too many of your Parliamentary selections. There have been but two coronations since the CH Holden designed and Grade II listed Arnos Grove was opened in 1932. According to my 2016 almanac Arnos Grove has never be called within two weeks of those so precedent is lacking. Am happy for your proposal to be gazzetted as this game needs all the formal rules it can accumulate. Ignoring the reaking stoat carcass and playing on, I think **Chesham** in Buckinghamshire might sate any Chav’s regal fetish and best suit these formative stages of the game. Further by virtue of playing consecutive above ground stations on the Underground I can claim Nid indemnity. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/197 "2023-04-24T07:50:38Z")
Good grief, there is a difference between “brutally efficient” and “outrageously aggressive”, you know. Well, so be it - I’ll try for Putney Bridge, what could possibly go wrong with that? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/198 "2023-04-24T14:11:57Z")
Whoa - whoa. Since when did jumping lines like that become legal? Did I miss something? Let’s try to reign things in a bit with **Aldgate** ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/199 "2023-04-24T14:32:20Z")
I’m not sure if M\_M _intended_ to bypass Earl’s Court - the obvious move - but since we’re here, there’s nothing stopping me from executing a Terminus option. **Wimbledon**. And lest someone call muggins, I’m obligated to point out all Nid indemnities are now nullified across the board. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179/200 "2023-04-24T14:58:27Z")
Easy does it: one station north, might as well have walked. **Wimbledon Park**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-friendly-game-of-mornington-crescent/929179.md?page=11)