Mrs. ACW and I chose to travel around beautiful Scotland via train, so we had lots of time to spend with one another, and after a few hours on a train longingly staring into each other’s eyes, forced together close enough to feel the other person breathing, it really stirs some natural instincts.
So we spent a lot of travel time playing hangman.
Now, I’m not one to toot my own horn (by the way, does anyone remember the time I was mentioned in the Baltimore Sun?) but I not only cleaned the floor with Mrs. ACW, but I wrung her out, cleaned the floor with her again, then stuck her in a closet until the next time we played hangman, whereupon I went nuclear on her ass.
Here’s an example: It took me a total of 5 wrong guesses to get the words “fluctuate” and “sable”, while it took Mrs. ACW 20 wrong guesses to get the words “finch” and “disc”.
Even more telling is the next trip when I guessed “wiener”, “canard”, “beasties”, “stench”, and “stenographer” with only 14 total incorrect guesses. Mrs. ACW, however, did not do so well. For “grumplet”, “pastiche”, “cromulent”, “gable”, and “perjure”, she guessed 44 wrong letters. And before you give me a bunch of grief about using the not-quite-real words “grumplet” and “cromulent” those are the words that she guessed with the least wrong letters.
When we weren’t playing hangman, Mrs. ACW suggested we play 20 Questions, a game at which she typically excels. Well, most of the time. Every 9th or 10th round you can be assured that the clue she has in mind is either Wookie or Sherlock, and if it wasn’t one of them, it was probably sheep or Highland Cows.
I never end up asking the right questions, so I flounder helplessly, guessing “cabinets”, “linoleum”, and “brillo pad” when given the clue that the “thing” can be found in the kitchen, but never guessing “marmalade” because I forgot to ask if the thing was “food”.
But otherwise, we just passed the time talking. It’s nice to be stuck with someone who’s a good conversationalist.
Oh, we also boned. A lot.
