Past mastermind
Sir,
I agree with Sheila Parker (“Mastermind overmatter”, Letters, Eye 1647) that giving a quick rubbish answer is preferable to passing on Mastermind. It certainly was in my case. When I was a contender in the 1988 semi-final in Glasgow I followed this policy and, despite being asked the wrong set of general knowledge questions and having to start the round again, I beat a lovely American called Henry Boettinger zero to one on passes – our scores being equal.