Page 2 • Mornington Crescent • Non-Gaming • Travel • Eurogamer.net

terminalterror 19 Dec 2005 11:46:54 18,932 posts
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This is getting quite tense now isn't it?

Murbs 19 Dec 2005 11:47:54 25,151 posts
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I'm absolutely stumped. Given the ruleset I don't think I can take a turn until someone plays Aldwych.

boo 19 Dec 2005 11:49:01 13,901 posts
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As it's the Winter Cobald rules, I invoke Bell's Shank and go Birmingham New Street, which I believe opens up North-Eastern sidings.

gang_of_bitches 19 Dec 2005 11:49:37 5,707 posts
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this may look like suicide but bear with me.

Kentish Town.

pjmaybe 19 Dec 2005 11:50:16 70,666 posts
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That's the gutsiest move I ever saw...

/hits volleyball over net

Peej

boo 19 Dec 2005 11:50:43 13,901 posts
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Is he mad?

@ g_o_b

Goodge St - good move, sir!

Edited by boo at 11:51:24 19-12-2005

terminalterror 19 Dec 2005 11:50:58 18,932 posts
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As we are in the latter half, but not the last week of the month, I think I should be OK with

King's Cross St. Pancras

GrandTheftApu 19 Dec 2005 11:51:40 6,117 posts
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Mansion House

gang_of_bitches 19 Dec 2005 11:52:01 5,707 posts
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Interlocking Mainliners? We're in for a long day.

Murbs 19 Dec 2005 11:52:41 25,151 posts
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Someone please play Aldwych. It's getting silly now, I've got my Persey-Simmons Defence prepared and I just need to get the timing right.

boo 19 Dec 2005 11:52:58 13,901 posts
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Poor old Murbal's still stumped.
Will nobody help him?

terminalterror 19 Dec 2005 11:53:34 18,932 posts
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gang_of_bitches wrote:
Interlocking Mainliners? We're in for a long day.

Unless an amateur steps in with a foolish move, I don't think anybody will be winning for some time yet. I never realised the depth of skill hidden within the Eurogamer forums.

gang_of_bitches 19 Dec 2005 11:53:46 5,707 posts
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Not a chance Murbal. If I play my cards right I've got MC in 4 moves.

GrandTheftApu 19 Dec 2005 11:54:17 6,117 posts
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boo wrote:
Poor old Murbal's still stumped.
Will nobody help him?

Sorry my endgame is centred on Southwark.

Murbs 19 Dec 2005 11:55:31 25,151 posts
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Akeldama wrote:
Pimlico

You absolute git. I know you've been looking at Aldwych but you opt for that. Are your holding a grudge, sir?

gang_of_bitches 19 Dec 2005 11:56:23 5,707 posts
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Akeldama wrote:
Pimlico

D'oh. Don't mind admitting that's a major set back, may as well pack it in now, but one last roll of the dice.

West Ruislip.

terminalterror 19 Dec 2005 11:56:57 18,932 posts
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Mornington Crescent - The History

The game of Mornington Crescent was invented in the late nineteenth century by the drivers of Hackney carriages as a serious attempt to design a one-way system around the increasingly busy area of Euston in London. It is variously credited to Arthur Mowe, a Cockney, and Horstmann Ure, a second generation Silesian immigrant.

A simple, but profitable, variation on the game is still played by London taxi drivers, because their motto is "He was a stranger, and I took him in". Cabbies try to include Mornington Crescent in every journey. This helps to maximise fares for journeys which would not naturally contain a diversion via the Euston district.

An Edinburgh, Scotland, taxi driver holds the current unofficial record. Fraser McFurtive (37) managed to include Mornington Crescent in a journey between Drumsheugh Gardens and Milton Road West (both in Edinburgh), on the excuse that he was avoiding congestion in Princes Street (without mentioning that there is also a Princes Street in London).

Sven (48, 26, 27), a muscular Swedish taxi driver, is currently a contender for the distance title. He is en route between Kongsgatan and Tegelbacken (both in Stockholm), but, like most of us, has so far failed to reach Mornington Crescent, though he has been in London for several years now. It has been contended that, since his passenger returned to Stockholm by air in 1993, his attempt ought to be declared null and void. But not yet... hey, give the guy a chance! Declare it null and void when he's finished.

A totally different game of the same name is played on BBC Radio.. regrettably, mostly for laughs. To their credit, however, the radio-based exponents of the game are very fast on their feet, since they do not have to travel anywhere. They have contributed some of the more recent rule changes, including "Begging and Pleading" (an end-game decoration) and "Gruntfuttock's Posture" (in which the moves of the game are retrospectively altered in order to favour one player or another - also known as "editing the broadcast tape").

Today, the real game is played by grizzled aficionados (though it is not necessary to be foreign) without the aid of the London A-Z or the map of the London Underground. In fact, even the Penguin-keepers' Yearbook is outlawed from the professional game, which attracts hushed groups of onlookers on street corners from Ouagadougou to Ulan Bator, and even Basingstoke.

Nothing to do with the modern game, but it interesting to learn the history of such an institution.

Wobbler 19 Dec 2005 11:57:15 181 posts
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4 moves, eh? gand_of_bitches? We will see about that. For some simply spoiler play, I'm going to use the 1954 Wallis defense on behalf of everyone.

Chalfont & Latimer.

/jumps on hand grenade to save rest of the squad.

GrandTheftApu 19 Dec 2005 11:58:45 6,117 posts
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Ah Ha! now we're picking up speed.

White City

gang_of_bitches 19 Dec 2005 11:59:44 5,707 posts
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Wobbler wrote:
4 moves, eh? gand_of_bitches? We will see about that. For some simply spoiler play, I'm going to use the 1954 Wallis defense on behalf of everyone.

Chalfont & Latimer.

/jumps on hand grenade to save rest of the squad.

Just can't stand to see a 17ker having a little success can you. You people sicken me.

MrWorf 19 Dec 2005 12:00:10 64,187 posts
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Shepards Bush (Central Line)

Edited by Razz at 12:00:32 19-12-2005

terminalterror 19 Dec 2005 12:01:11 18,932 posts
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Mornington Crescent - The Game

There cannot be anyone in the civilised world who does not already know the basic rules of Mornington Crescent, so we shall not insult our readers by re-iterating them here. Suffice to say, if you have temporarily forgotten them, or if you come from, say, the uncivilised world, such as, for example, France, you will certainly pick them up as you go along. Beginners will discover that Mornington Crescent is a little like golf, a little like shove-ha'penny, quite a lot like watching your laundry in the tumble-drier, and most closely resembles feeling around in the dark for a pocketful of loose change dropped in an unlit, damp alleyway on a Saturday night after a few beers. That is to say: frustrating, hard on the right forefinger, disorienting, even more disorienting, sheer hell on the right forefinger, and frustrating... probably in that order.

hehe

Deleted user 19 December 2005 12:01:12

GrandTheftApu wrote:
Ah Ha! now we're picking up speed.

White City

Ha! Barbican, invoking McSheffrey's gambit. Circle line closed. Razz and GrandTheftApu placed in knip.

Edited by Fozzie_bear at 12:01:26 19-12-2005

terminalterror 19 Dec 2005 12:02:32 18,932 posts
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Wembley Park!

Let's see how you cope with the McGraw Evasion!

MrWorf 19 Dec 2005 12:02:41 64,187 posts
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Fuck that.

Edgware Road!

gang_of_bitches 19 Dec 2005 12:02:49 5,707 posts
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as we approch lunchtime a stop at Watford High Speed Buffet seems appropriate.

Pac-man-ate-my-wife 19 Dec 2005 12:03:22 7,087 posts
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Euston!!!

I can't believe no-one's seen that one sooner!

MrWorf 19 Dec 2005 12:04:08 64,187 posts
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Kings Cross!

Murbs 19 Dec 2005 12:04:11 25,151 posts
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Akeldama wrote:
Aldwych

(now let's see what you've got Murbal)

I believe the Gentlemen's way to begin the Persey-Simmons Defence would be....

Tufnell Park

Wouldn't be considered rude, would it?

Edited by Murbal at 12:05:06 19-12-2005

Wobbler 19 Dec 2005 12:04:19 181 posts
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gang_of_bitches wrote:
Just can't stand to see a 17ker having a little success can you. You people sicken me.

Well I never! A little C&L move and he's throwing insults around! This never used to happen in my day (Well apart from the 1981 finals of course, but let's not open that can of worms again!).

You haven't even spotted that you've got enough tokens to get out of a Dollis Hill loop, whereas the rest of the players haven't. The next move should be obvious. Kids nowadays, eh?

Mornington Crescent • Page 2