Talk:Mornington Crescent (game)

Mornington Crescent (game) was the selected article of the London Transport Portal between 1 March 2010 and 31 March 2010.

Metro Think Tank question 1, 30 June 05

Interestingly, this question in the Metro (page 48) seems remarkably similar to part of the Mornington Crescent (game)#Real rules section:

About 15 years ago, Roger Heyworth of Gibson's Games suggested the idea of selling a game consisting of a box that was empty save for a leaflet promoting a fan club for players of the game. Reputedly devised by comedian John Junkin and still played to this day, can you guess which famous game this is?

Compared to the original:

In the late 1980s Roger Heyworth, a director of Gibson's Games mooted the idea of publishing a Mornington Crescent game consisting of an empty box containing a flier promoting a club for aficionados.

I don't have a problem with this by the way! NickF 30 June 2005 15:33 (UTC)

Nice to see they've employed somebody to change the words a bit more (compare the Metro's obituary of John Peel and the Wikipedia articles on e.g. John Peel, Billy Bragg etc). Joe D (t) 30 June 2005 16:46 (UTC)

Think Tank is set by David J. Bodycombe, who, according to his page, "runs the UKGameshows website, a wiki-based site cataloguing UK television gameshows". NickF 30 June 2005 20:44 (UTC)

1,2,3 O'Leary

I've heard of a game similar to this called 1,2,3 O'Leary in which the first person to say "1,2,3 O'Leary" is the winner. Utterly pointless and not very funny though. Anyone else heard of this??

Fact in question

Another user has deleted this paragraph and claims it is untrue:

The Mornington Crescent tube station is on London's Northern Line between Euston and Camden Town on the Charing Cross Branch. However, if you travel between the same two stations on the City Branch, the station simply isn't there. Now you see it, now you don't. The name is an allusion to the mystery of the game.

The map seems to support the statement. Can anyone offer first-hand knowledge here?

Paul 02:05, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Googling for history of the station, I found this excellent page describing the history of the Underground map. (Haven't checked whether this is linked to from the approp. WP article yet...!) The two lines between Euston and Camden Town ARE in separate tunnels that are far from parallel, as the two lines are at right-angles at Euston (first shown on the 1924 map), having been constructed as separate entities.

On the web page mentioned, the section describing the 1936 map (the second by Harry Beck), highlights the 'problem' concerning Mornington Crescent station. The following extract notes one of the many changes introduced from the previous issue of the map:

– Euston now clearly shows the two branches of the Mordon-Edgeware Line interchanging but not looking like they merge. Consequently the Charing Cross branch with Mornington Crescent is shown to the west of the Bank branch, whereas before (and in reality) the branches were the other way round. *See note below.

* Note by [webmaster]: - This... ...has always been a confusing part of the line for travellers and Mornington Crescent (MC) is still shown, to this day, to the West whereas geographically... ...it is situated to the East side of the Bank Branch. To add to the complication for those wanting to get to MC, there is a platform for each of the two Northern branches at Camden Town, but southbound trains can depart from either platform toward either Charing Cross (& MC) or Bank. The map in 1941, depicts the line arrangement more accurately but shows the junctions to the North of the station when they are really to the South.

Perhaps this was why MC was adopted as the destination for the, even more confusing, Radio 4 strategy game of the same name ;-) NB. The rules of this game and an opportunity to play can be found through a link on the home page.

(I have copy-edited the extract slightly, and sections marked '... ...' have been deleted since they make no sense away from the original page. No significant text was removed.)

From the disputed paragraph we should certainly delete the comment "The name is an allusion to the mystery of the game.", as this doesn't really make any sense. However it would be quite reasonable to create a factual paragraph that describes the problem for travellers at Camden Town, since this is a very sensible reason for MC being chosen - it would not even be necessary to say that this WAS the reason, as that would lead to requests for citations! (Another reason for the choice is that the name contains five syllables and is thus quite distinctive.)

EdJogg 10:11, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

If the fact has no connection to the game, though, it shouldn't be here, it should be in the Mornington Crescent tube station article. --McGeddon 10:23, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

The article's phrase "some trains pass through without stopping" is unhelpful and probably false. The relevant fact is that some Northern Line trains (those via Bank) travel between Euston and Camden Town by a route which bypasses Mornington Crescent. Certes (talk) 00:26, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

It was true when the game was invented though. Until the station re-opened after its 1992-1998 closure, it was closed at weekends. And until just 12 years before the game was devised, even on weekdays Edgware Branch trains skipped the station. So in the mind of occasional tube travellers, the effect was that it seemed to be a random occurrence that a train actually stopped at Mornington Crescent. 𝐨𝐱𝐲𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐵𝑈𝑇𝐴𝑍𝑂𝑁𝐸 ⓊⓉ 14:38, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

Reference numbering problem

Having just added a reference to the "Morningside Cresent" episode, I noticed that the reference numbers do not match. In the main body, the newly added reference is [9] (as of 30/06/2010, 10:10BST), but the footnote is numbered "8" (however, clicking the "[9]" takes you to, and highlights, the correct footnote). --Cthrag Yaska (talk) 09:13, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

The numbering looks fine from here, I'm seeing "(where it was changed to being Morningside Crescent)[9]." in the article, and the footnote is numbered 9 in the References section. --McGeddon (talk) 09:35, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Looks like my old version of Firefox is the problem, misnumbering the <li>..</li> elements in the References section. A later version of FF and IE both display correctly.Cthrag Yaska (talk) 10:28, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Underground, Overground

The article states "Over time the destinations named by the panellists expanded beyond the Underground." AIUI it's the other way round. On the first ever game on 22 Aug 1978, the moves were equally split between streets and Underground stations: Neasden High Street, Goodge Street, Cromwell Road, Dollis Hill, Strand, and Mornington Crescent. (BTW Neasden High Street doesn't actually exist in the real world, which is strangely appropriate for the first ever move in this parody game!) It's only in the recent Jon Naismith era of ISIHAC that the game has concentrated mostly on the Underground, ignoring the streets above. --P Ingerson (talk) 18:13, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Chaim Levitz

I can find no evidence for the existence of this person. I propose to delete the sentence about him if nothing is provided within the next few days. Jezhotwells (talk) 14:07, 19 March 2011 (UTC)