THE PERPLEXING POLITICIAN

Monday 19 September 2011

I've found a great party game from the 1920's which I thought might help pass the time at the political party conferences.

It is called The Perplexing Politician - A Game Which Has Nothing To Do With Politics.

Everyone at the party is given a card on which is printed a list of questions. The answer to each one is a single word - and all of them have to end with TORY.

Because There Is No Alternative, it can be played at any or all of the Party Conferences.

(With thanks to the late Diana Cowley, a staunch member of the Kensington, Chelsea, and Fulham Conservative Association who played the game a long time ago.)

Here is the original card. I particulary like question 30. Perhaps people could invent some more innovatory questions, but this is not mandatory.

Show comments (19)

User0276668246 · 16:58 19 Sep 2011
Another great story. Really been enjoying the blog for some time now.
User0917040290 · 00:40 3 May 2012
8 is definitely masturbatory. I wonder if there are any games with other 3-4 letter endings?

Regards,
Mitt
User0531978888 · 23:25 19 Sep 2011
And 27 obligatory?
User0531978888 · 15:44 21 Sep 2011
33. Purgatory?
cje77 · 16:15 23 Sep 2011
DerekMc wrote:

'Good fun.

An alternative could be looking for words containing or starting with "lab" and "lib."'

Indeed. For various definitions (Inflamma-Tory, Denuncia-Tory etc) have look at the book Tory Story (Incorporating 'Living with Labour' and 'Liberal Outlook') by Bernard Hollowood (Hammond & Hammond, 1964).
User0527776643 · 17:14 20 Sep 2011
13. Complimentory

15. Observatory

30. Masticatory
DerekMc · 10:17 22 Sep 2011
Good fun.

An alternative could be looking for words containing or starting with "lab" and "lib."
User0029395030 · 04:50 7 Nov 2011
A Tory who kisses another Tory? This is a family-friendly forum here. Children and teenagers should not have to see this. Where are the morality campaigners when you need them? Tories don't kiss other Tories except on their arses!
User0852195970 · 18:34 20 Sep 2011
24. celebratory
19. preparatory
? . desultory
13. complimentory [sic]
4. victory

i'm going to stop as i'm spoiling the game!
Steffan · 16:14 21 Sep 2011
Some of us might be reminded of that old line that the only useful tory is a lavatory.
User0703696995 · 15:11 23 Sep 2011
Can't we make all of them History?

We are trying hard in Scotland.
D1679246820623 · 14:58 21 Sep 2011
Brill. I reckon I've got about 20.

31. A tory who is a constitutional historian and doesn't understand the riots?

32. A tory who puts a current narrative in context?

33. The place all good Tories go to when they die?
User0665502477 · 10:55 21 Sep 2011
dear mr. curtis,

i love your blog. i write to ask for permission to use a clip from one of your documentaries (the power of nightmares intro sequence) that´s on youtube. i have a site called http://englishforcriticalthinkers.com/ where i write and publish english language teaching materials. of course, the material i´m producing is all free.

thanks.

don williams
User0786801559 · 15:52 18 Aug 2012
The Perplexing Politicianlooks like a cool game.

Regards,
Eva
Steffan Llysdinam · 18:15 19 Sep 2011
The answer to question 30 might be 'vomitory'.
User0170855368 · 18:31 17 Oct 2011
Trying my best to get all the answers....
ibn7
D1679246820623 · 16:11 22 Sep 2011
@ Onwhosplanet - spot on!

31 is quite tough. It's not the person himself, who I think is related to the drummer from The Beatles, but more his comments.

32 is a Category, in some sense......
User0776231552 · 00:14 20 Sep 2011
A tony who was overly self-involved and self-indulgent...........
User0029395030 · 23:52 8 Nov 2011
Did the original game ever include questions to which the answers were "Toryannosaurus Rex" and "Toryceratops"?

As you know, Toryannosaurus Rex had big jaws and stomped around the place but a tiny brain and two little arms not much good for anything in particular. Toryceratops travelled in herds as evidenced by fossil remains found in river-beds surrounded by cliffs by palaeontologists who surmise that the animals usually blindly followed a leader in the manner of lemmings.