Lexicon of Tiddlywinks

Fourth Edition, November 1994 ... Copyright ©1994 Richard W. Tucker ... Feedback ... Notes

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Entries P to T

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P

Pairs · n a type of tournament in which fixed partnerships compete to win

Paul McCartney (UK) · a boondock-and-sub [Back-formation from John Lennon]

PBTT (US, now rare/obscure) · n abbreviation for power behind the throne, someone with great influence over a NATwA Sec-Gen

penhaligon = carnovsky [after a TV presenter who managed it first time on BBC's Breakfast Time]

perimeter rule · n an optional tournament rule which dictates that a wink sent off the playing surface can be placed anywhere on the perimeter by the opponents, and that the shooting player does not miss his or her next shot.  However, if the playing wink's color is sent off the playing surface in conjunction with any other wink(s), the playing wink's color misses its next shot.  This rule originated in the US during the 1980s and was prominently espoused by Sunshine.

persimmon · n (US) three players playing the two colors of a partnership, rotating uniformly among the three players. (February 1978, Continentals tournament.) [From persimmon, the fruit; analogy with pear, being a pun on pair, a partnership.] = (UK) rotating three

perversion · n a game played with winks which is not the standard four-color game, including simulations of other sports (e.g. baseball). Sunshine's Alleghany Airlines Book Club Presents (February 1976) is the seminal publication on perversions

Petrie piddle (obsolete) = n piddle

1977 Verbatim Dec. Philip Michael Cohen. Page 4. Petrie piddle--desquopping a wink by squeezing it out from underneath a pile.

PFTL = pot-from-the-line

phonecard squidger (UK, now rare/obscure) · squidger made from a flexible British Telecom (BT) phonecard

piddle (US) · n a delicate shot in which a squopped wink is gently freed. Also vt. = (UK) chip; carve out

1977 Verbatim Dec. Philip Michael Cohen. Page 4. piddle--to make microscopic adjustments in a pile, usually to walk it off a friendly wink.

piece = wink [from the game of chess]

pile · n a set of two or more winks, some squopped and ordinarily one or more free, in which each wink is either squopping another wink in the group, and/or is squopped by another wink in the group

pile flip · a shot which results in a wink from within a pile or underneath a squop ending up on top

pile-jump (UK) = gromp (Winking World 50, page 13)

PINTS · n Pinner Tiddlywinks Society (UK)

pip · n a notional measure of benefit resulting from a shot [1980s+]

pivot n the movement of a wink around a point of contact with another wink

Plan 47 · n potting a partnership's remaining free winks when many of its winks are squopped in a large pile, with the hope that the opponents will be forced to free a wink from that pile

plexy (US) · n a squidger made of Plexiglas

point · n either a time-limit point (now called tiddlies) or a game point

point transfer · n the transfer of one game point to the winning pair in a game which ends in a potout

poke (US) · n the application of a squidger to a wink or pile with a quick, short stroke that is intended to result in moving a single wink a short distance to result in a desired objective.

Port Stanley (UK) = n bomb (Devlin, 1985)

positional game · n a game which is marked by many small adjustments to the positions of winks on the mat. In Britain, chiefly associated with Nick Inglis--hence sometimes an "Inglis game".  In the USA in the 1970s, associated with Bill Renke and Ross Callon.

poss · n (UK) to send a wink no more than a quarter of the distance intended, especially if the shot was an easy one [Named after Poss Ellis, OUTS winker, January 1993 during the Cambridge Open; Newswink 28, page 10]

pot · n the cup that is placed at the center of the mat in the official four-color game of tiddlywinks. It has an external diameter of 48mm at the top and 38mm at the base, and is concave around its side.

1891 American Stationer 12 Feb. Page 320. large wood box with lithographed label, box partitioned for the different counters, handsome pot, painted and varnished, with bale and feet

pot · vt, vi to shoot a wink with the objective of having it come to rest in the pot. (Winking World 1, page 2)

pot-from-the-line · n a Guinness Book of Records event in which 12 small winks at the baseline of the mat are potted in the fewest number of shots.  Abbreviated as PFTL.

pot-out, potout · n the achievement of having all winks of a color in the pot. Also vi

pot-squop · n a game strategy in which one player of a partnership focuses on potting out and remaining pottable, while the partner focuses on squopping the opponents

1977 Cornell Alumni News July. Page 23. A common strategy, known as "pot-squop", calls for a player to attempt to shoot all of one color into the cup (pot out) while using his or her other color to squop enemy winks and rescue any winks that become squopped.

pot-style · adj holding the squidger at an obtuse angle toward the direction of a shot

pottable · adj a wink that potentially can be potted, either directly or indirectly

• 1977 Verbatim Dec. Philip Michael Cohen. Page 4. nurdle--to shoot (a wink) too close to the pot to be pottable or otherwise useful.

potting at risk · n attempting to pot a wink during a turn when a player's color is due to free an opponent wink at the conclusion of free turns

potting game (US) = baseline pot

ppg · points per game average

ppl · points per loss average

ppw · points per win average

press (US) · n a shot which consists predominantly of downward pressure. A press shot is often used to free a wink that is barely squopped somewhere in a pile. = (UK) tap

protect · vt, vi to send a wink to land near a pile where it can more readily squop any opponent winks that may want to squop the pile

protection · n winks near enough to a pile to be able to squop any opponents approaching the pile

push shot · n a shot which consists overwhelmingly of lateral pressure (with little or no downward pressure), which is contrary to the rules. (Winking World 5, page 5, March 1964)

PVC · n polyvinyl chloride, a material sometimes used for making squidgers, and typically light gray in color. [First used by Larry Kahn]

Q

quad (US) · n a pile in which four winks are squopped by one wink

quadrupleton (UK) = quad

QuCTwC \kwuck twuck\ (UK) · Queens' College Tiddlywinks Club (Cambridge)

QESH (sometimes QUESH) n (UK) · a team named from Queen Ethelberga's School, Harrogate, an establishment having nothing at all to do with any of the players on the team, but which they once happened to drive past

quick and continuous · adj said of a shot in which the squidger is moved without hesitation or discontinuity during the execution of the shot

QUILTS · British Marchant Trophy team formed by players from Queens' College, Cambridge [= QUeensmen In London Tiddlywinks Society]

R

rabbit-bashing · n racking up high scores when playing against very weak opponents

ramp · n a wink in a pile which is leaning against another wink and is also touching the mat

rating · n a numerical measure associated with a winker based on the winker's performance in play

regionals n (US) · Eastern Regional and Western Regional tournaments

relevant · adj describing a wink that is located at a position where it fulfills a useful function, e.g. protecting a pile or threatening a wink or pile

Relix n (US, now rare/obscure) · a US team formed from the Zoo team [From Relix, newsletter for Grateful Dead fans]

Renaissance n (US, now rare/obscure) · a US team formed in Fall 1976. [Named after a bookstore in Ithaca, New York]

1979 Harvard Magazine May-June. Page 37. Joe Sachs, secretary-general of the North American Tiddlywinks Association (NATwA), wore a T-shirt that had the name of his club team, Renaissance, on the front and WORLD CUP WINKS on the back.

resquidge · vi to conduct the squidge-off again between players whose squidge-offs were equally near the pot. also n

Rick Tucker squidger (UK) · 1½ inch diameter marbled-effect squidger, usually yellow, as sold to British players during 1985 US tour; more generally, any squidger made by Rick Tucker since 1979

rim shot (US) · n a shot in which a wink bounces off the top edge of the pot

Rivendell · n (US, now rare/obscure) a US team formed by Severin Drix [a place in books by J.R.R. Tolkien]

roll · vi to move about on the mat along the circumference; said of a wink

1958 Sports Illustrated 7 Apr. Page M7. The Cambridge club has also considered spin (which it says is forward after squidging) and rolling--nothing is more frustrating than to successfully get a wink near the pot, only to see it roll away.

rotate (US) · vt to adjust a mobile free wink which involves turning the wink around in place

rotating three (UK) = persimmon

rounds · n the portion of play after time expiration when a potout has not occurred

run six · to pot all six winks of a color in successive shots of a single turn [First use: Newswink 14, page 13]

S

safe (US) · a position for a wink where it is unlikely to be squopped

salmon pink (UK) · one of the 1½ inch diameter marbled-effect squidgers made of gambling chips in Britain in the early 1980s--many were salmon pink in color

Samson · n nickname of Severin Drix in the late 1960s

Schiller squidger · n a squidger made and sold by Tim Schiller of the US, 1973

ScotTwA · n Scottish Tiddlywinks Association. Revived in 1992; previously organized in some form in the 1960s.  Now (2004) no longer active.

ScotTwAn · n a member of ScotTwA (1994)

scrunge (rare) (UK) = bounce out (Hull Guildhall, 1962, in Winking World 4, page 11) ["to be scrunged"]

Sec-Gen = Secretary-General

Secretary-General · n the principal officer of NATwA or IFTwA; the ETwA equivalent is Chairman

seduce · vt to tempt the opponent into trying a risky shot (Winking World 5, page 5, March 1964)

self-protecting · adj said of a pile which can easily be gromped or bristoled to squop nearby opponent winks

set · n the winks and pot

1958 Sports Illustrated 7 Apr. Page M7. Even in apparently uniform sets, sometimes "borrowed from small brothers and sisters for an indefinite period," measurement has often shown one wink is twice as thick as another.

shoot (US) · vt, vi to make a ¹shot. = play

¹shot · n a squidge and the corresponding results

²shot · n an exclamation of commendation for a good shot

1977 Verbatim Dec. Philip Michael Cohen. Page 4. shot--an exclamation of commendation for a good shot. Antonym: Unlucky. A Briticism, with some currency in America..

shot judge (US) · n a person who judges whether a shot is performed in compliance with the rules of tiddlywinks

side by side (UK) = tangent ·

sideways amigos (UK, now rare/obscure) n the act of positioning a Mars Bar traversely in the mouth prior to performing an amigos [CUTwC, 1980s] ·

sideways bristol n a shot similar to a bristol except that the squidger is not held parallel to the intended direction of the wink being played ·

Silver Wink · n (UK) a trophy donated by Prince Philip for inter-varsity university team matches [Initiated during the 1960-61 season; trophy first awarded in 1961]

single (US) · n one person playing both sides of a partnership in a game normally played by a pair, e.g. in the Pairs

Singles · n a kind of match in which one player plays both colors of a partnership

singleton (UK) · a one-on-one squop separate from other piles

snaffle (UK) (rare) = eat

Somerset Invitation · exclusive invitation tournament held annually by Stew Sage in Chilcompton, Somerset

Somerville · n a former US team based in Somerville, Massachusetts and associated with OAK-BYTE

Sotwink · n a UK club based in Southampton

sponned (UK) · adj (obsolete) said of a wink on which an opponent is kneeling or standing (Hull Guildhall, 1962, in Winking World 4, page 11)

squabble (obsolete) = pile

1964 Winking World 5, March. Page 5.

squallop (obsolete) = vt squop (CUTwC rules, 1956)

squapt (obsolete) = squopped out (CUTwC rules, 1956)

squidge · vt, vi to apply a squidger to a wink (Winking World 1, page 4)

¹squidger · n the round instrument used to play winks. It may be no smaller than 25mm (formerly 1 inch) in diameter, no greater than 51mm (formerly 2 inches) in diameter, and no greater than 5mm (formerly 3/8 inch) in thickness at its edge

²squidger · n (rare) someone who squidges

1962 Life 14 Dec. Page 122. It set up two-man units each with a powerful offensive squidger and a canny defensive squopper.

squidge-in · n the play of a previously unplayed wink from behind its baseline. Also vi

squidge-off · n the determination of which color starts a game by shooting a wink of each color toward the pot. The closest color wins the squidge-off. Also vi

squidging . adj, n performing a squidge

1958 Sports Illustrated 7 Apr. Page M6. To keep squidging muscles in supple condition before a match, Cambridge tiddlywinkers twiddle their thumbs during lectures.

squop · vt to play a wink so that it comes to rest vertically above some or all parts of another wink. n a wink that is squopped

1962 Life 14 Dec. Page 121. Hold That Squop!

squop, bristol, John Lennon memorial shot · British drinking game

squop-style · adj holding the squidger at a sharp angle toward the direction of a shot

squopped · adj a wink that has some part vertically below another wink

squopped-out (US) · n a game situation in which all winks of one color (or both colors of a partnership) are squopped or in the pot

squopped-up (UK) = squopped-out

squopper · n (rare) one who squops

1962 Life 14 Dec. Page 122. It set up two-man units each with a powerful offensive squidger and a canny defensive squopper.

Squopsman, The · n the official journal of the Scottish Tiddlywinks Association. [First issue published in June 1993.]

squopt = (rare) squopped out

1958 Sports Illustrated 7 Apr. Page M6. If both members of a pair have all their winks covered, they are said to be squopt.

stack (UK, especially Pinner) = gromp

StATS · n St. Andrews Tiddlywinks Society, Scotland

Straight, The · n winking venue at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York [Willard Straight Hall]

streaking · n a perversion in which the goal is to pot as many winks in a row as possible without missing. See Alleghany Airlines Book Club Presents for the rules.  [named after the fad in the mid-1970s of people running naked outside]

sub · vi, vt to shoot a wink that ends up coming to rest under another wink, squopped. Also n

1977 Verbatim Dec. Philip Michael Cohen. Page 4. sub or submarinev.t. or v.i. To shoot a wink (usually one's own) under another.

submarine = (US) sub

Sunsch = Sunshine [clipped]

Sunshine · n American winker David Sheinson

1979 Harvard Magazine May-June. Page 41. The legendary figure with the late-Sixties ponytail and the bare feet, whose nom de tiddly is Sunshine.

Supreme Dean, The (US) · n British winker Alan Dean

1979 Harvard Magazine May-June. Page 41. They had a player named Alan Dean, who was called The Supreme Dean and was thought to be unapproachable in ability.

T

tangent (US) · adj said of two winks that are very close to each other but are not squopping each other. = (UK) side by side

tap (UK) = press (US)

tar baby · a pile under your own control, but into which your winks seem to be sucked entirely inadvertently. A tactical nightmare [Bob Henninge, 1990]

TDI · n ("The Dumb Indian") American winker Saul Agranoff

teams of four (UK) · short for the ETwA National Fours

¹tempo · n an abstract measure of the positive value of a good shot compared to the potential for opponents to recover from it

²tempo · n·  advantage to be gained by forcing opponent into a shot, thereby allowing yourself a turn in which to do what you want. Essentially therefore a measure of who has the initiativehence to gain tempo or to lose tempo [from the game of chess]

tetrad n (Relle) = quad

Thesis, The · n The Science of Tiddlywinks, a study published by members of CUTwC in 1955

thin squidger · n a squidger with an edge that is sharp rather than rounded. [circa 1972]

30-second rule · n a rule enacted in the 1980s in which a partnership has the option to stop the game clock after 30 seconds has elapsed since the previous shot, and the opponents have not made a shot

"The Winks Club Mats"· anthem of CUTwC, sung to the tune of the "Red Flag"

Thorpe's Ring n (UK) = circular squop [named for Geoff Thorpe]

tiddle (deprecated) · vt, vito shoot a wink. n, adj (deprecated) = tiddlywinks

1958 New York Herald Tribune 16 Jul. But the defending player tries to tiddle his wink out of danger.

1962 Life 14 Dec. Page 122. The touch that won a tiddle title.

1962 Ibid. and the basic cheer, "Tiddle the Wink!"

1977 Youth Mar. Page 45. The small plastic discs are the winks; there is no "tiddle".

tiddledy,  -es (obsolete) n = tiddly

tiddler · n (deprecated) one who plays tiddlywinks

1958 New York Times 9 May. Is a player properly called a tiddler or a winker?

1990 The Saturday Evening Post Sep. Page 66. The top tiddler of Richfield Center, Michigan, unfortunately couldn't leave well enough alone.

¹tiddly, -ies · n (obsolete) In some antique games, same as squidger. Not used in modern winks. (Also tiddledy)

1890 GAME OF TIDDLEDY WINKS, McLoughlin Brothers. the player holding one of the Tiddledies, as shown in the illustration, presses with its edge upon the Wink and causes the latter to jump. ·

²tiddly, -ies n (obsolete) = wink

1970 Christian Science Monitor 9 Mar. An opponent must never blow on another player's tiddly (in order to move it farther from the cup) when he isn't looking. ·

³tiddlies n (UK) = time-limit points (May 1993 ETwA rules)

tiddlywink (rare) = wink

tiddlywinker n (rare) = winker

tiddlywinks · n a competitive partnership game in which the objective is to gain an advantage over opponents by squopping opponent winks and by squidging friendly winks into a pot. [Preferred spelling. Earliest known use of spelling, 1894]

1894 Contemporary Review Aug. Page 246. for when school was done and work over the children gathered in the brilliantly lit, hot-pipe-heated rooms and played draughts, bagatelle, lotto, or tiddly-winks.

1926 Bookman Sep. Page 90. The great realist plays an amusing game of tiddlywinks in the north woods.

tiddledy-winks · n the original spelling of the game of tiddlywinks [Trademark registered in England in 1889 by Joseph Assheton Fincher.]

tie n·  a game score of 3½ to 3½ in the official four-color game of tiddlywinks

time limit n·  the duration of time permitted for the play of the game prior to rounds. This is 25 minutes for games with pairs, and 20 minutes for games with singles

time-limit points · n (US) points calculated at the end of the game which are used to determine the order of colors for assigning match (or game) points. For each color, 3 time-limit points are earned for each wink in the pot and 1 time-limit-point is earned by each other unsquopped wink in play. = (UK) tiddlies

TKOs · n (US) "The Knowledgeable Ones", a US team that first played in the 1974 Westerns (November), replacing Hyth

Toads · n a US team (also Chrome Toads, Xenopus)

triple (US) · n a pile in which three winks are squopped by one wink

triple crown · n (US) first place in the Continentals (team championships), Singles, and Pairs. [From triple crown in other sports, e.g. winning the three major US horseracing championships.]

triples · n a variant version of tiddlywinks played with six colors and six players, three players playing in partnership against the other three. See Alleghany Airlines Book Club Presents for the rules

tripleton (UK) = triple

trundle (rare/obsolete) = gromp (Cohen, 1977)

turnover · n (UK) = flip

Tucker two-turn · n A variation on partnership play in which two (or more) players play the two colors of a partnership, but one player plays the turns for both colors consecutively, and then the other player does; partnership play continues in this fashion. [invented by Rick Tucker in Ithaca NY circa 1977]

turn · n one shot, or a sequence of shots, made by the player of a color, where each shot after the first one is an extra shot resulting from a wink of that color being potted on a previous shot. Compare with free turns

two minute rule · rule enacted in the 1980s, but rarely enforced, according to which a partnership has only 2 minutes to play a shot in rounds, after which time the shot is forfeited

two-ply · adj a tiddlywinks mat made of two plies of felt, one light gray, one off-white, available from the early 1960s to 1973

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