Entries F to J

F

failure to free · n a situation during a game after one partnership has played its free turns resulting from squopping out its opponents, and has not freed any opponent winks

feeb (US) · vi to make a poor attempt at a shot, usually in reference to a short squop attempt in which the shooting wink falls short of its target. Also n. [clipped from feeble] See also poss and George Michael

felt · n the material with which all officially-sanctioned mats have been made

Ferd · n ("Ferd the Bull") American winker Peter Wulkan

fiat vincs ruat cælum · let winks be played, though the heavens crumble; NATwA motto.

fiber-based phenolic · n a plastic material sometimes used to make squidgers, generally brown. First used by Rick Tucker

five-way pot-squop · n a perversion in which five colors are employed. See Alleghany Airlines Book Club Presents for the rules

flat (UK) · adj said of a solo wink in play

flat wink (UK) · n an unsquopped wink in play

Fleas · n an encyclopedic publication by Fred Shapiro which appeared in November 1978. [From fleas, the name for the game of tiddlywinks in many languages, e.g. jeu de puce (French).]

flexible squidger · made of nonrigid plastic, often a bottle-top or (especially in Britain) a phonecard or credit card ·

flip n a shot which results in at least one wink coming to rest on its other side. Also vt. ·

flog n a perversion in which players pot winks. See Alleghany Airlines Book Club Presents for the rules. ["golf", backwards] ·

fluff · n a pilled tuft of felt from the mat

foreign visitor rule · n a ruling by IFTwA which grants the highest-placing national contestant (in a national championship) the right to challenge the world champions should the winner of the national championship include a foreigner. (Early 1980s)

foul shot (UK) · n a shot that is contrary to the rules of tiddlywinks

four-color game · n the official game of tiddlywinks, in which four sets of colored winks are used, six each of blue, green, red, and yellow

four pot relay · n an event recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records which involves four winkers each potting winks into his or her own pot for a specified length of time. When the first winker pots a wink, the second winker removes it and pots it into the 2nd pot, and so on

fractional score · n a game score of 5 1/2 to 1 1/2, 4 2/3 to 2 1/3, 4 1/2 to 2 1/2, or 3 1/2 to 3 1/2 in the official four-color game of tiddlywinks

free · vt, vi to get a squopped wink out of a pile as a result of a shot

free turns · n The turns awarded a partnership which has squopped-out the opponent partnership

free wink · n a wink which is not squopped, not in the pot, and has been played from the baseline

fuzz = fluff

G

game point · n in the official four-color game of tiddlywinks, a total of 7 points, of which 4 are awarded to the color with the most time-limit points, 2 to the next color, 1 to the next, and 0 to the remaining color. 1 point is transferred to the winning partnership in the event of a potout

George Michael (UK) (rare) = feeb [early 1980s]

Gill n· location of NATwA's 25th anniversary reunion, in 1991 [Gill, Massachusetts]

Good (also g-) · vt, vi to perform a Good shot on a wink

Good shot · n a shot in which a played wink causes another wink to be moved (typically knocked off another wink) as a result of the played wink's pressure on the wink from the bottom face or edge of the moved wink. [Invented by John Good of MIT, 1972.]

Goode shot = Good shot ["Goode" is a misspelling]

Goons · n a BBC radio comedy troupe from the 1950s which played CUTwC in March 1958 at the request of Prince Philip. The Goons included Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, and others

Gottesman (US) · n a game strategy in which each wink that is brought in from the baseline is potted before subsequent winks of that color are brought in. [Named after Mike Gottesman of Harvard, 1966.] = (UK) Dave Taylor

grand tour (US) · n the path of a wink that rolls around the pot or through areas where other winks are located

gromp · n a shot which moves a pile of winks to squop a wink. Also vt.

Gromper's Gazette · NATwA newsletter appearing in 1992

guard (UK) · n a solo wink near a friendly pile

Guinness Book of Records (UK) · a book documenting exemplary feats, including tiddlywinks records. The US edition has omitted tiddlywinks for nearly twenty years

Guinness Trophy (UK) = Bombay Bowl

GUTS · n Gargoyle Undergraduate Tiddlywinks Society at Harvard, 1962-1964

H

hairy's den (UK) · n an area totally dominated by the opposition [Bancroft]

Hampshire Open Pairs · tournament played annually at Southampton

Horsemeat · n nickname of Larry Kahn

HOTT · n (US) Halloween Open Teams Tournament

Hyth · short for HYTHNLBTWOC

HYTHNLBTWOC · n \HITH n'l BIT wok\ (US) Hark yon tree hath no leaves but they will out club, a team formed by Sunshine. [First played in the February 1970 Continentals. Named by members of the team, each team member adding a word to the name]

I

idiot's delight · n trying to pot a wink into a pot which is held in the hand and used as a squidger on the wink. See Alleghany Airlines Book Club Presents for the rules

IFTwA · n \IF twa\ International Federation of Tiddlywinks Associations

Ilkeston Toys · n name of a British toy company which supplied tiddlywinks equipment in the early 1970s; formed by the owner of Marchant Games

illegal shot (US) = foul shot

Indian rule (US) · n a convention in which blue squidges-off first, either green or yellow next, and then the color partnering the closer wink to the cup squidges-off. [Named for Saul Agranoff (Indian), who proposed it, mid-1970s].

Individual Pairs · n a type of tournament during which each winker partners each other winker in the match; the individual with the highest total of match points is designated the winner [The first NATwA Individual Pairs was held on 28 April 1984]

Individuals = Individual Pairs

IP (US) abbreviation for Individual Pairs

J

jab shot (US) · n a type of shot in which the squidger is forcefully applied to a wink in a short, straight motion

John Lennon memorial shot (UK) = boondock and squop.

Jubilee Singles (UK) · n a singles match in which anyone may challenge the current champion to a match in which the best score in five games wins

judge (US) · a third party called in to decide a dispute between two players. In Britain, the term generally used is umpire, although judge is used when the matter in question is the legality of a shot

jump in (US) · vi to send winks into an area that the opponents control

junior birdman (US) · n a bomb shot in which a wink is shot high into the air toward the target. British term is Port Stanley

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