# Mornington Crescent question **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 23, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794 "2010-09-23T17:52:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**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:** [October 5, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/201 "2010-10-05T13:26:04Z")
> [@lynne-42](#): > > Clearly we’re into End Game, and this is getting very tricky. I now have a five-time- **Paddington** , and must be able to convert that to an MC, surely. But I’ve hit a snag. > > I know, I know: “MCoogle is your friend” and I did a search, given **Dagenham Heathway** , Nibs and the current Token status. Coffey 2003 (the analysis of the Stockholm Nationals) indicated that I must avoid any further calls on the District Line or I’ll strike Julian dimensions (for obvious reasons, I don’t want to risk that!). But Levy, Jameson & Smithers (1997 report on the Orkney Majors, Round II, Grade A) indicates very strongly that I have MC in two by playing **Barons Court**. > > OK, I’m going to risk it and stay with the District Line:\*\* Barons Court\*\*. Which means you missed my purple flag, which I’m turning in for a move back to the Piccadilly line. **Arsenal** Let’s see you get MC in two now. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/202 "2010-10-05T13:46:22Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > Aside @ **Dead Cat** : I remember the Triangulation Rule, but could you please provide a page reference? My copy of _MCE_ (1982 revision) is missing a few key passages. I was storing it in a packing box for too long, and my lady’s cat might have gotten to it. (But there’s no way to be sure.) Well, in my copy the Triangulation Rule is only hinted at (on pages 142-145), but I have a feeling that in the 1982 revision all the page numbers from the original were reversed, so you need to look at pages 541, 441, 341, and 241. Let’s hope the cat missed all those! > [@ianzin](#): > > I thought it was the other way round? I thought the three misplays had to be _on_ the Circle Line. It’s the circularity that allows the third mis-play to validate the first. At least, that’s the way we used to play it at my club. You are right, of course - what an elementary error! But still moot, as I said. Picadilly does seem to have sidestepped lynne’s cunning effort, but I still need to tread carefully. I can’t be bothered to check the thread, but I don’t believe I am in knip, so I think **Goodge Street** is safe. I would have preferred to utilise the double-o in Waterloo, but I don’t really want to take the out-of-bounds penalty. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/203 "2010-10-05T13:55:22Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Which means you missed my purple flag, which I’m turning in for a move back to the Piccadilly line. > > **Arsenal** > > Let’s see you get MC in two now. How about this? Pontoon Duck was played early on, followed short by hassocks declared. Hassocks allows me to answer **Goodge Street** by skipping without playing Old Street, and play… **Mornington Crescent.** ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/204 "2010-10-05T14:14:55Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > > [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > > > Aside @ **Dead Cat** : I remember the Triangulation Rule, but could you please provide a page reference? My copy of _MCE_ (1982 revision) is missing a few key passages. I was storing it in a packing box for too long, and my lady’s cat might have gotten to it. (But there’s no way to be sure.) > > Well, in my copy the Triangulation Rule is only hinted at (on pages 142-145), but I have a feeling that in the 1982 revision all the page numbers from the original were reversed, so you need to look at pages 541, 441, 341, and 241. Let’s hope the cat missed all those! Indeed, the 1982 revision has the page numbers reversed. I happened to be reading through it last night, comparing _MCE_ to Rashi, and I did go over page 441. Curiously, pages 442 and 440 were clawed beyond recognition, but 441 showed no harm whatsoever. This is what happens when a cat gets inside a sealed box. **Bricker** ’s play direct to MC leaves me a little :dubious:, especially after I had played Wimbledon Park, trebled. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/205 "2010-10-05T14:47:25Z")
Nice try, **Bricker** , but you’ll have to do better than that. **Red Skeezix** declared Street Fog [on page one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12954507&postcount=24). Fog has never been mentioned again, ergo it is still a factor, ergo you can’t skip Old Street. **Lynne** - I’m surprised at your comment that we seem to be nearing the end game. Personally, I would have thought the opening skirmishes were just drawing to a close as some early mid-game strategies begin to emerge. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/206 "2010-10-05T15:04:46Z")
As Churchill said after El Alamein, this is not the end, nor even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Not only did **Bricker** miss the fog, we’re still under Tudor Court Rules, which prohibit the MC Direct attacks., unless you declare Anne’s Head Forfeit, which is explicitly prohibited by _Jones&Wales MC Expurgated Quarterly Vol. XXIV_, pp 37b.1 to VLIV(A1). So, to the early midgame! **Swiss Cottage** ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/207 "2010-10-05T15:48:49Z")
A neat Zone 2 squeeze play there, **Wargamer**! Aggressive, but without leaving too much of an exposed flank. You’ve been studying _Siegbahn on Strategy_ methinks! Time for a three-line play, just to spice things up a bit: **Farringdon**. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/208 "2010-10-05T15:49:12Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > Nice try, **Bricker** , but you’ll have to do better than that. **Red Skeezix** declared Street Fog [on page one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12954507&postcount=24). Fog has never been mentioned again, ergo it is still a factor, ergo you can’t skip Old Street. Blast **Red Skeezix** , and damn his heirs and assigns. OK, fair enough. That rule is rather basic, and I don’t know how I missed. it. In my defense, **Wargamer** dropped Gold Transfer Tokens on London Bridge, which is not legal during street fog, and from then on I simply forgot that condition. BUT – I would ask that since I explicitly indicated a force to Old Street was not necessary with hassocks in play, it was clearly my intention to recognize the force to Old Street. So post #203 should be construed as a play of **Old Street** by me. **Wargamer** can choose to play **Swiss Cottage** still, of course, as it is a perfectly fair Jubilee Line play regardless, but it requires an additional westbound count of three. In fairness he may wish to play another, and in fairness, you may all wish to say that #203 is a nullity based on my error. (Aside to Scuba Ben: I’m sorry, but since **Wimbledon Park** is in the bounds of Merton Borough, the Priory Rule excepts all multipliers attempted following a Northern Line play… which yours was, as you recall, following **Tooting Bec** ) ETA: Never mind. It’s gone beyond two plays, and no reconsideration can apply. Slow typing. ) Crud. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/209 "2010-10-05T17:15:35Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > (Aside to Scuba Ben: I’m sorry, but since **Wimbledon Park** is in the bounds of Merton Borough, the Priory Rule excepts all multipliers attempted following a Northern Line play… which yours was, as you recall, following **Tooting Bec** ) I should’ve known that. The Priory Rule was used to good effect in the Carbon County, UT, championships this past June, and I was there at the time. I particularly remember my surprise at MC’s popularity in the Great Basin – but if you’re not digging something up (usually coal, sometimes paleoanthropology or fossil hunts), there’s not a whole lot to do out there. Also, it’s legal to drop tokens on London Bridge even during street fog. But then the tokens can’t be picked up, due to the fog. At least, that’s my understanding of _Mornington Crescent for Dummies, Vol. XIX_. ETA: Duh, I should make a move! We normally play with the DLR {I often set up moves to Tower Hill and get trumped with Tower Gateway}, so I’ll go for the two-line play at **Canary Wharf** and randomly redistribute tokens. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/210 "2010-10-05T17:56:48Z")
Canary Wharf? This should be interesting. **Lynne** has completed her ‘full house’ play (five moves) on Paddington, which is of course one of only two four-line stations. Given that CW was played as a two-line play, it’s lucky that Pad and CW don’t share any line in common, or else **Lynne** would have immediately won out-right! However, if someone were to go for the a three-line play (e.g. Euston), there’s a distinct chance of a Hogg Lateral Shift play that could lead to a very strong advantage, _if_ it’s played correctly and if the rest of us aren’t _very_ careful. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/211 "2010-10-05T18:04:46Z")
**Perivale** , and “in the hole” one to protect against crossruff. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/212 "2010-10-05T18:37:16Z")
Guys, I’m sort of troubled by all the editing going on in this thread. If you have add’l comments, can you put them in a new post? Otherwise what’s to stop **Ben** , say, from changing his **Canary Wharf** to **South Ealing** once he saw **Bricker’s** play? Or, Christ, **Marble Arch** even! I know this is just a friendly game, but this is the sort of stuff that people lose their tournament cards over. (Remember Bullfinch at the Invitational in, what, '93? '95 maybe.) –Cliffy ---
**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:** [October 5, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/213 "2010-10-05T19:13:53Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Guys, I’m sort of troubled by all the editing going on in this thread. If you have add’l comments, can you put them in a new post? Otherwise what’s to stop **Ben** , say, from changing his **Canary Wharf** to **South Ealing** once he saw **Bricker’s** play? Or, Christ, **Marble Arch** even! I know this is just a friendly game, but this is the sort of stuff that people lose their tournament cards over. (Remember Bullfinch at the Invitational in, what, '93? '95 maybe.) > > –Cliffy Was that the fork incident? **Oxford Circus** ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/214 "2010-10-05T19:28:01Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Was that the fork incident? No, that wasn’t at the Invitational but at a Welsh regional. But it was the same year – the wiki says they were both '93. Man, that guy had a tough season. In response to your Oxford Circus, how about **Bank**? (Eastbound registration, obv.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/215 "2010-10-05T19:39:41Z")
Yippee! ‘Bank’ and ‘East’ are both four letters and have a matching vowel, allowing me to play my favourite _again_… **Totteridge & Whetstone** Yay, twice in one game! I’ve never managed this before! ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/216 "2010-10-05T19:56:04Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Guys, I’m sort of troubled by all the editing going on in this thread. If you have add’l comments, can you put them in a new post? Otherwise what’s to stop **Ben** , say, from changing his **Canary Wharf** to **South Ealing** once he saw **Bricker’s** play? Or, Christ, **Marble Arch** even! I know this is just a friendly game, but this is the sort of stuff that people lose their tournament cards over. (Remember Bullfinch at the Invitational in, what, '93? '95 maybe.) Quite simply, editing like that just wouldn’t be cricket. MC practice rigorously opposes changing a move after the next move has been made. That’s so obvious, no rules authority sees a need to spell it out. Now in nomic, all rules have to be spelled out. Fortunately we’re playing MC not nomic. (Been there, done that, got tired of it.) ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/217 "2010-10-05T20:00:31Z")
**Bond Street** Just to continue off the four letter continuum, Bank and Bond are both four letter words that start with ‘B’. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/218 "2010-10-05T20:04:08Z")
Up or down? **Baker Street** An increase of one letter (still starting with B) lands me four green tokens. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/219 "2010-10-05T20:06:04Z")
/quotes entire thread. I thought I spoke and understood english. I was wrong. \ ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794/220 "2010-10-05T20:07:00Z")
**Barons Court** , up to 6, and I’ll take a Green Oyster Card! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mornington-crescent-question/554794.md?page=12)