These systems provide a way to record shots and outcomes in winks games. They are absolutely not in general use, but then we haven't normally had the community split by a COVID-19 lockdown, either, so maybe they'll catch on.
The Recording System was first described in Winking World 5, and further illustrations have appeared in subsequent WWs. This is a complete list of the abbreviations etc. as they stand in summer 1964 (slightly modified in 2020 for easy transcription to unicode).
| r | small red out from base | R | large red out from base |
|---|---|---|---|
| → | moves towards the pot | ↠ | moves away from the pot |
| → ... | moves towards ... | ↔ ... | moves away from ... |
| ↓ | leaves the mat | t | tokens |
| x ... | squops ... | m ... | misses ... |
| * | comes off the top of the pile | * ... | frees ... from the pile by desquopping |
| ⤷ ... | dives under ... | ↘ ... | bombs ... |
| Δ | adjusts, consolidates or positions | ||
| ... f | ... is freed. Used with various "action" shots. | ||
| : ... | becoming ... Used after involved desquops etc. | ||
| g3 | the pile of 3 winks whose top one is small green. | ||
| g(g3) | the small green on top of such a pile. | ||
| Rg4 | the pile of 4 winks whose uncovered ones are large red and small green. | ||
| R(Rg4) | the large red on top of such a pile. | ||
| b[Y5] | the small blue inside a pile of 5 winks whose top one is large yellow. | ||
| m-pot | tries to pot, but misses | ? and ! are used as in Chess; meaning a bad or doubtful shot, and a good shot, or tactics, respectively. | |
| pots | pots successfully | ||
| f.t.3 | free turn no.3 | ||
| T.L. | Time Limit | ||
| Note 1 | Any approach of a wink by an oppposition wink is considered as an unsuccessful squop, and the notation ...m... used. | ||
| Note 2 | The term r x Y4 is understood to mean that red covers the top wink; the pile becomes r5. Similarly ...Y4 (where ... is any action) may also be written ...Y(Y4). However, the term Y(Y4)... is not abbreviated to Y4 ... |
||
| / | near. Within about 75% chance of squopping distance. Nearness to the opposition indicates probably being squopped. The use of / is shown in the examples below. |
|---|---|
| The comma | One shot may have more than one action to describe. Thus, r ↘ b2 is the first action, and b * might be the second action. These are separated by a comma, thus r ↘ b2, b * is the complete shot, leaving three separate winks. Another example — say red fires from base and leaves the mat. This is r, ↓ whereas r ↓ would be a small red already in the playing area being fired off the mat. Again, blue out from the base and squops green is b, x g |
| The semi-colon | is used to separate two shots, e.g. y pots, y m-pot |
| The space | The position of the space when / is used is vital; it is best shown in the examples below. |
| Subscripts | r21 the pile r2 that was formed first. r22, r23 etc. |
| yd yellow fired from base landing very far from the centre. |
| r, /b | = red fires from the base and lands near small blue. |
|---|---|
| r/b x g | = red that was near blue squops green. |
| r Δ /y2 | = red positions himself near y2 |
| r/yg x g | = the red equally near yellow and green squops green. |
| r/b m y/g4 | = the red near blue misses the yellow near g4. |
| r m y, /g4 | = red misses yellow, landing near g4. |
| r m y, /r/b | = red misses yellow, landing near the red near blue. |
| r | A small red wink flat on the mat |
| G | A large green wink flat on the mat |
| y | A small yellow wink flat on the mat which will take the next action |
| b/Y | A small blue wink on a large yellow wink |
| rg | Small red and green winks side by side (close enough to be bridged) on the mat |
| r ≈ g | A small red near a small green on the mat (too far to bridge, trivially close to squop) |
| r g | A small red and green wink at moderate distance, flat on the mat (common squopping distance) |
| r ↔ g | Small red and green winks at significant distance (a squop would be unexpected), flat on the mat |
| (Rg)/y | A large red and small green, both on a small yellow - disambiguate with parentheses |
| r/(yy) | A small red on a doubleton of two small yellows |
| (r/y)y | A small red on a small yellow, next to another small yellow |
| (b/y)/r | A small blue on a small yellow on a small red |
| b/(y/r) | A small blue on a small yellow on a small red, the blue is also over the red |
| (r(g/b))/y | A small red and (a small green on a small blue) on a small yellow |
| (r/y1)(b/y1g) | A small red over a small yellow next to a small blue over the same small yellow and a small green |
| /g | A small green behind the baseline |
| |b | A small blue at the edge of the mat |
| U | The pot |
| gU | A nurdled small green |
| g ≈ U | A small green at phonecard distance |
| g U | A small green at moderate potting distance |
| g ↔ U | A small green at long range from the pot |
| r → r | A small red flat on the mat plays to another position flat on the mat; winks in motion are in bold face (underlining may be substituted if recording by hand, but bold is easier to see in typeset text) |
| g b ⥬ g/b | A small green flat on the mat squops a small blue which was flat on the mat and at moderate distance |
| y ↔ b ⇥ yb | A distant small yellow flat on the mat lands adjacent to a small blue, also flat on the mat (presumably misses short) |
| y b ⤳ by | A small yellow flat on the mat flies over a small blue, also flat on the mat, and lands adjacent (presumably misses long) |
| r/y ≈ g ⥬ r/y/g | A small red on a small yellow bristols successfully onto a small nearby green |
| R y/b ⥬ R/y b | Large red gets a knock-off and squop of yellow on blue |
| R y/b ⥬ R/b y | Large red gets a knock-off of yellow but remains on blue |
| R y/b ⥹ y/(Rb) | Large red attacks a yellow on blue and subs under yellow |
| R ↔ y ↝ Ry | Large red distant from small yellow rolls and lands near the yellow |
| R y/b ⇘ R y ≈ b | Large red behind the baseline bombs a yellow on blue; red lands at a moderate distance, yellow is knocked off but stays near blue |
| R/g ⇗ R ↔ g | Large red on small green docks the small green |
| R/g ⇗ R ↔ |g | Large red on small green docks the small green off the mat |
| /g ↴ |g | Small green brings in but flies straight off the mat |
| /y ↝ ↴ |y | Small yellow brings in but rolls off the mat |
| b ↔ U ⤵ ↴ |b | Small blue attempts a distant pot, misses long and goes off the mat |
| r ≈ U ↷ r/U | Small red from phonecard distance potted |
| r U ⤸ rU | A pot attempt by a moderate-distance small red, missing short and nurdled |
| r U ⤵ U ↔ r | A pot attempt by a moderate-distance small red, missing long and distant |
| r U y/b ⤵ ⇘ r/y/b | Small red bombs a yellow-on-blue squop over the pile and lands on |
| r Uy/b ⤸ r/y/b | Small red calypso onto yellow-on-blue by the pot |
| /Y ↷ Y/U | Big yellow Penhaligon |
| r ≈ Y/b ⥄ Y/r ↔ b | John Lennon - big yellow docks blue and squops red |
| Y/b ≈ r ⥬ b Y/r | Play across - big yellow plays off blue onto red |
| Y/(r/g) ≈ b ⥭ Y/r ≈ g/b | Yellow over red over green plays the green onto a nearby blue, keeping red |
| b ≈ Y/(r/y) U ↷ Y/U r/b ≈ y; y U ⤵ U y | Big yellow over red and yellow pots, putting the red on a nearby blue; the freed small yellow misses long in the next shot of the same turn |
| B ⥁ | Blue passes or misses a turn |
| B → B ⏲ | Time expires after big blue snooves (a @ can be used in handwritten text) |
| 2: B → B | Big blue snooves in turn 2 |
| g ↔ b ⥬ g/b! | A distant small green flat on the mat squops a small blue which was flat on the mat; this was unexpected |
| y/b r ⥄ b y/r? | A small yellow plays off a blue onto a nearby red; this is tactically questionable |
| r ≈ U ↷ r/U* | Small red from phonecard distance potted; red pots out |
| g b ⥬ g/b#2 | A small green flat on the mat squops a small blue which was flat on the mat, causing a squop-up with 2 free turns (in the new money) |
| A comma can be used to describe two outcomes of the same shot | |