MM Links April 2011 [Week 1] in The AnswerBank: Quizzes & Puzzles

Question Author

Outside of the world of scholarly pursuits, I was a typical ‘jack of all trades’, regularly involved in music, drama and sport. The closest I got to being a ‘master’ was on the cricket field. This sport played a major part of my life, in one way or another, for nearly 50 years. Hence, my chosen screen-name – a well-known ambiguity amongst any cricketing fraternity.
I took advantage of my P.G.C.E and taught in comprehensive schools in the Brighton area for 33 years. Initially, I specialised in Sociology and the Humanities, but I reverted to my A-level choices and for the last 23 years taught Mathematics. As a result, my students soon conjured up my acquired nickname of “The Count”. I took early retirement two years ago and am now a gentleman of impoverished leisure.

middlestump

Question Author

Outside of the world of scholarly pursuits, I was a typical ‘jack of all trades’, regularly involved in music, drama and sport. The closest I got to being a ‘master’ was on the cricket field. This sport played a major part of my life, in one way or another, for nearly 50 years. Hence, my chosen screen-name – a well-known ambiguity amongst any cricketing fraternity.
I took advantage of my P.G.C.E and taught in comprehensive schools in the Brighton area for 33 years. Initially, I specialised in Sociology and the Humanities, but I reverted to my A-level choices and for the last 23 years taught Mathematics. As a result, my students soon conjured up my acquired nickname of “The Count”. I took early retirement two years ago and am now a gentleman of impoverished leisure.

middlestump

Question Author

I stopped playing cricket when I was 42. Searching for a replacement summer activity, I tried golf and bowls - but I had little enthusiasm for them. Then, about 10 years ago, whilst on holiday in Mauritius, I was introduced to the game of Association Croquet by three South Africans. I was instantly hooked! I feel that Croquet has an unfortunate image. In reality, it is seldom played at country houses, is truly classless and I have never swung a flamingo! It certainly is a tactical (not ‘nasty’) game requiring certain skills that I am still trying to learn. It has elements that are shared with the likes of snooker and chess and is probably the only outdoor game I can think of, where women can compete with men without being disadvantaged in any way.

Perhaps it won’t excite the same interest that Geocaching received a few weeks ago, but, trust me, it’s a most enjoyable game. However, I digress. According to normal practice, for the everyday running of MM, I will follow the usual rule on word length as introduced by crofter. Each of my pre-selected link words contains at least four letters and at most eight letters. Stray outside this range and you will be wasting one of your attempts! Each of my selected link words may go in front or behind my challenge word! The competition will officially close on Sunday Evening at 7.00pm, when crofter will declare my pre-selected words and then apply the same rules for awarding points that have been applied during all MM Link Games in the past.

My first set of four words to have their links predicted should appear below at 9.00am.

Strix

Typical teacher - double Maths!!! :-))

middlestump

Question Author

Apologies for that inadvertent repetitious posting :-)

Aquagility

Watch it, Strix. You won't enjoy detention!

Strix

Easily done, middlestump, been there - done it - there is a panic-making heart-stopping delay somteimes between posting the hints/words and them arriving on the site!

middlestump

Question Author

I, The Count, challenge you to predict my link words based on the theme of Croquet (a la Alice in Wonderland):

“Off with her Head!”

HOOP

BALL

PEG (I am permitted to use a three-lettered word but you are NOT)

COURT

Good Luck, everyone!