From mirk@warwick.UUCP Tue Apr 18 17:45:56 1989
\nFrom: mirk@warwick.UUCP (Mike Taylor)
\nSubject: A brilliant new card game (long but fabulous)
\nDisclaimer: This game invented by Carver\/Hodge\/Lessacher\/Taylor<\/p>\n
Rules for “Enid” – A card game for 2 to 5 players
\n=================================================<\/p>\n
The game of Enid developed over a number of late nights towards the
\nend of last term and start of this; it is based on the classic
\ncard-game “Blackjack”, but we hold it to be more educational, since it
\nhas strong influences from the fields of computer science, piscatorial
\nzoology and english literature.<\/p>\n
For the benefit of those readers not acquainted with the relatively
\npedestrian game of Blackjack, a summary follows. Those who already
\nknow this game can skip straight to the section detailing the ways in
\nwhich Enid differs from Blackjack, after the dashed line.<\/p>\n
In Blackjack, each player is dealt a hand of seven cards, and the
\nremainder of the deck is placed face down on the table, except for one
\ncard which is turned face up. The first player to get rid of all his
\n(or her; throughout this article, masculine pronouns are used in a
\nnon-gender-specific sense) cards is the winner. A player loses a card
\nby placing it face up on top of the current face-up card; it must
\nfollow either suit or rank except in special circumstances mentioned
\nbelow.<\/p>\n
Play starts with the player to the left of the dealer, and passes to
\nthe left until one player has one. Any player unable to take his turn
\nmust instead draw the top card from the face-down deck. When this
\ndeck is exhausted, it is replenished from the stock of face-up cards.<\/p>\n
This is “natural” Blackjack. As it stands it is a rather dull game;
\nthus it is enhanced by the addition of “magic” cards. That is, cards
\nof certain rank have special effects. These are:<\/p>\n
\tAce:\tThe player playing an ace nominates a new suit, which
\n\t\tthe next play must follow.<\/p>\n
\tTwo:\tThe next player is forced to pick up two cards unless
\n\t\the is able to lay another two, in which case the
\n\t\tplayer after must pick up four cards. If he is able
\n\t\tto play another two, he may do this instead, in which
\n\t\tcase the next player picks up six, etc.<\/p>\n
\tSeven:\tThe direction of play is reversed.<\/p>\n
\tEight:\tThe player who laid the eight MUST immediately follow
\n\t\tit with ANY OTHER CARD in his hand; the second card
\n\t\tneed not follow suit or rank as in the usual case.
\n\t\tIt the player is unable to follow an eight (ie. it was
\n\t\this last card) he must draw from the deck.<\/p>\n
\tTen:\tThe player may lay any or all cards from his hand which
\n\t\tare of the same suit as the Ten just laid.<\/p>\n
\tJack:\tA black Jack causes he next player to pick up seven
\n\t\tcards, unless he can follow with a red jack (which
\n\t\tneutralises the blackjack) or another black jack, in
\n\t\twhich case the next player must draw fourteen cards,
\n\t\tunless able to lay a red jack.<\/p>\n
\tQueen:\tThe next player is skipped.<\/p>\n
\tKing:\tThe next two players are skipped.<\/p>\n
One last rule is that a player with only a single card left must say
\n“Last card” as soon as he has laid his last-but-one; otherwise he must
\npick up seven, in an astonishingly witty way.<\/p>\n
This, then, is the usual game of Blackjack. Some regional variations
\nexist in the exact powers of the magic cards, but those listed above
\nare typical, and make a balanced and witty game.<\/p>\n
\/*————————————————————————–*\/<\/p>\n
In a different league altogether, however, is Enid. This builds on
\nthe usual rules in a number of ways. Firstly, the suits are renamed;
\nno longer are they Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds, but Carp,
\nSturgeon, Halibut and Dalmations. (The dalmation is, of course, not a
\nfish, but is included for historical reasons). Secondly the card
\nranks are renamed after eminent computer scientists:<\/p>\n
Black\tAce:\tRob McMahon\t (Warwick computer Unit’s SuperGuru)
\n Red\tAce:\tJeff Smith\t (Warwick computer Department’s Guru)
\n\tTwo:\tMarvin Minsky\t (AI pioneer and researcher)
\n\tThree:\tDenis M Richie\t (Co-inventor of C and UNIX)
\n\tFour:\tBrian W Kernighan (Co-inventor of C)
\n\tFive:\tTarski\t\t (aka. “The Boring One”)
\n\tSix:\tAlan Turing\t (Pioneer of computational theory)
\n\tSeven:\tAlonzo Church\t (as in the Church-Turing thesis)
\n\tEight:\tAho\/Sethi\/Hopcroft\/Ullman (Authors who only ever
\n\t\t\t\t\t\twork together)
\n\tNine:\tTerry Wogan\t (Not really a computer scientist)
\n\tTen:\tTerry Winograd\t (Natural language researcher)
\n Black Jack:\tMark Rafter\t (Warwick C++ guru)
\n Red Jack:\tJohn Buckle\t (Warwick frisbee guru)
\n\tQueen:\tJulia Dain\t (Warwick compiler-design guru)
\n\tKing:\tKen Thompson\t (The inventor of UNIX)<\/p>\n
Obviously, people form other establishments may wish to rename the
\nAces, Jacks and Queen after local people. For historical reasons, the
\nred aces are always referred to as “Jeffy-pheasant(sic) without
\n\/cs\/res”, the King as “Kendall Mint Thompson”, and the Queen EITHER as
\n“Julia Dain”, “Julia Ordain”, “Julia Hors d’Ouvre” or “Julia Hors
\nd’Ouvre which must be obeyed as all times”. The Ten may be referred
\nto as the “Terry Winograd”, “Terry who Mage can’t pronounce”, or “The
\nblock who wrote SHRDLU”. Mage can’t pronounce “Winograd”.<\/p>\n
To encourage the use of these new names, each card played must be
\nnamed by the player as it is laid, without reading it off a list.
\nThis is difficult at first, and tends to discourage the over-use of
\nthe eight, but in time becomes second nature. Any player unable to
\nname his card is forced to draw from the pack, and the card’s “magic”
\neffect, if any, is nullified.<\/p>\n
Whenever a Denis Richie or a Brian Kernighan is played, the player
\nmust make up a middle name, beginning with the appropriate initial,
\nwhich may not be re-used later in the same session of play, on pain of
\nbeing forced, once again, to draw from the deck. The middle names may
\nnot be proper nouns unless they are really good ones.<\/p>\n
Whenever an Alonzo Church is played, reversing the direction of play,
\nthe player laying the card must shout triumphantly at the player who
\n*would* have played next, had the Church not been played: “Haaargh!
\nBe Alonzo Churched! (a bit)”.<\/p>\n
Anybody playing a black Alan Turing may force the next player to
\ncompose and recite a limerick, the first line being chosen by the
\nplayer laying the Alan Turing, unless this player can follow the
\nTuring with another black Alan Turing, which passes the limerick onto
\nthe next player, or a red one, which cancels it entirely. If it
\ndoesn’t scan or rhyme properly, or is just no good, the other players
\nmay elect to force the poet to draw from the deck anyway.<\/p>\n
The card from which the game draws its name is, of course, the Enid
\nBlyton. This card is always a nine, and its suit during any game is
\ndetermined by the suit of the first card to be turned over at the
\nstart of the game. The enid is a kind of “smart-bomb” among cards –
\nit can gets its possessor out of almost anything, for instance a Mark
\nRafter can be annulled not only by a John Buckle (to the ritual cry of
\n“My John Buckle casts your Mark Rafter to type VOID!”), but also by
\nthe Enid Blyton. Similarly, the Enid can cancel any number of
\nconsecutive Marvin Minskys, or indeed Alan Turings.<\/p>\n
Another property of the Enid Blyton is that if the player laying it is
\nable to name it correctly, then all other players are immediately
\nforced to draw from the deck, thus making the Enid a useful weapon on
\nthe player with only one card remaining. (Incidentally, in this game,
\nBlackjack’s traditional call of “Last card” is replaced by “Last St.
\nFrancis of Assisi”. Forgetting this results, predictably, in being
\nforced to draw seven cards from the deck)<\/p>\n
Naming the Enid is a more difficult task than it may seem, since each
\ntime it is correctly named, the player playing adds another middle
\nname onto the list, which starts empty at the beginning of the session
\nof play (Note: it is *not* re-zero’d between games – only at the
\nstart of a whole new session) Once four of five such middle names
\nhave been added, it can become quite difficult to remember them all
\n(They must of course, be in the right order)<\/p>\n
An example of a growing Enid, taken from the very first ever game of
\nEnid that we played, is:<\/p>\n
\tEnid Blyton
\n\tEnid Flamboyant Blyton
\n\tEnid Flamboyant Disjoint Blyton
\n\tEnid Flamboyant Disjoint Ornithological Blyton
\n\tEnid Flamboyant Disjoint Ornithological Aestheticism Blyton<\/p>\n
A player attempting to lay the Enid, but unable accurately to name it
\nmust draw a number of cards from the deck equal to the current tally
\nof middle names, and forfeits the right to add a new middle name.<\/p>\n
Well, there you have it. Curiously enough, this isn’t *just* a set of
\nsilly rules, but does actually make a frogging good game – it keeps us
\namused for hours, and well repays the time taken in learning its
\nrules, which are, of course, fairly fluid. I strongly urge you to
\nhave a go.<\/p>\n
If you play this game, please email me with any comments, ideas for
\nnew rules, particularly good middle names for Enid Blyton, etc. My
\naddress is in my signature at the bottom of this article.
\n______________________________________________________________________________
\nMike Taylor – {Christ,M{athemat,us}ic}ian … Email to: mirk@uk.ac.warwick.cs
\nUnkle Mirk sez: “Gm Gm F#7 Bb Cm->Gm Eb->Gm F F; Gm G#7 Bb C Eb C Bb Dm->D Gm”<\/p>\n
