Re: Scrabble, Officially

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:11:42 -0500, huey.callison@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
>Peter Boulding <pjb@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> Les Albert <lalbert1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>> >It's like the card game TEGWAR, The Endless Game Without Any Rules.
>> >No matter what card the dupe plays he is trumped by a rule made up at
>> >that moment. 

>> ... Ealing Broadway...

>No, not Mornington Crescent, it's a game briefly mentioned in a M*A*S*H
>episode, called "Double Cranko", played with shot gl*****, a
>checkerboard, and a deck of cards. At one point, the dupe (I forget who 
>it was - maybe Klinger?) says "You can't do that! That's against the 
>rules!", and BJ says "Rules?" 


I don't know what Mornington Crescent is, but you can see TEGWAR being
played in a scene from "Bang the Drum Slowly" (an excellent movie that
I recommend to everyone).  Here is some dialog from the scene where
the baseball players are fleecing some guy who want to play TEGWAR
with them:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry Wiggen: These are Fifth and Two. Fifth and Queen. 

Joe Jaros: Red Rooster. 

[long pause, then Tegawar Player lays a 3. Joe slams down his cards] 

Joe Jaros: BANJO! Ha-HAAAA! That's the first natural Banjo since the
days of Joe Dimaggio in St. Petersburg. 

Henry Wiggen: Hey, wait a minute. Fifteen and Fifteen's Thirty-One. 

Tegwar Player: Hey, what's the name of this game? 

Joe Jaros: Fifteen and Fifteen is Thirty-TWO! 

Henry Wiggen: Thirry-T... oh, that's right.
 
[to Tegwar player] 
Henry Wiggen: That's a Double Honeybees. 

Tegwar Player: I'm not too sure if I'm clear on some of these new
rules. 

Joe Jaros: What new rules? There hasn't been any rules changes since
the Black Sox Scandal, 1919. Big League Tegwar's Big League Tegwar
known to every big-time ballplayer from Boston to California. 
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Les