Coincidence or intentional? I’m fairly sure a player of penultima_thule’s experience will be quite familiar with Carlson’s Gambit, but I suppose it’s a remote possibility he just wants to gaze at the fountain in Manor Park. Best play it safe and derail any plans by getting off the trams and on to West Croyden.
Looking for Circle Line’s terminus I ended up in Embankment. Nice here. I think I will some tokens on ice-cream.
Ha ! My plan is working.
St James’s Park
Maybe I’m missing some nuance, but your plan seems pretty straightforward, and suggests and obvious counter to Ravenscourt Park.
Elmers End
Ok, nearly there …
Imperial Wharf
Indeed it is … in fact coming out of a self-induced funk I am astounded to believe I can call MC in two moves … if only I had one of those bloody lost gold tokens.
So lets park the rolling stock at Gospel Oak
Hackney Downs. That places pjd in Nid for at least the next two rounds. Quarters continues.
Oh, ffs.
Right, just the barest glimpse of an opening opens. Essential now methinks to keep Thameside of the Victoria Line, and within Zone 2 at most. This reduces the available options substantially and the best of them, though unconventional is Dalston Kingsland.
Let’s push posh: Highbury and Islington. I swap two blue and one red token for a golden one. I smell a trap.
The fact that the trap smells implies we’ve shunted into the wrong set of Tubes. Thames Tideway.
Using my remaining gold…..Gant’s Hill
As an aside, I trust all players understand that the faux indignation above was just that…..faux
Still alive…
Collindale
Faux accounting, rounders alive… did we really land in the sewers? Made me think of going to Pontoon Dock, but Caledonian Road & Bransbury is the better way to go then.
Yes, it would seem that threading the current needle will require more than usual dexterity. The sharks are circling and anyone who attempts a home run but falls short will surely be kibbled.
Further @Pardel-Lux’s astute placement blocks access to all the premium localities on the Mildmay Line. Yes, both Camden Road and Belsize Park would be prescient, but equally likely to cause one’s vitals to be singed.
Methinks the prevailing strategy is good, and while Hamstead Heath is a tad too far out in the sticks, it might be the magus option.
And in regard to the pro tempore olive branch regarding any faux faux indignation expressed, I have made a detailed consultation of my copy of “The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language” (Huddleston & Pullum, 2002). Naturally, being a pedant of the first water, in such cases I would normally refer to Fowler’s 1926 opus “Dictionary of Modern English Usage” but my 1st Edition is currently out being rebound in buckram.
The reference is incontrovertible.
Consequently I reject the offer as being well intentioned but maladroit.
Sir, it was genuine faux indignation.
Archway
OK, now @pjd is out of Nid and circling with intent … options, options, options …
Finsbury Park
It would seem to me that keeping play on the Picadilly line provides the most positional advantages at this stage, and while Seven Sisters doesn’t provide direct access to MC, it’s near enough to plausibly threaten Wallace’s Gambit at any time. Oh, and this also marks a countdown on Quarters.
I was thinking of Kentish Town, but Kentish Town West is more promising and obviates the Gambit. Evident, with hindsight, that I should have tried to block the Picadilly Line in my last move at Caledonian Road from Caledonian Road & Barnsbury.