For the third successive year, letters, numbers and conundurhams are returning to the medieval cathedral city of Durham — and this time, we’re jazzing it up for a special Halloween shindig. (No, you don’t have to dress up.)

Date: Saturday, 31st October 2026

Venue: Merryoaks Community Hall, Park House Rd, Durham DH1 3QF

Admission: £14

Hosted by: Adam Beach

Doors open: 10:30

Games to be played: Six 15-rounders followed by 15-round grand final

Refreshments: Various snacks and biscuits

Finishes by: 19:00

Wheelchair accessible?: Yes

Parking onsite?: Yes

Format:

The event will be carried out in the three-to-a-table “Lincoln” style, in which attendees will be playing six (thereby hosting three) 15-round preliminary games across three rounds.

Once the heat games have concluded and the scores have been collected, the two top-performing players will come head-to-head in the grand final.

Rough timetable for the day

• Doors open: 10:00

• Introduction: 10:50–11:00 (10m)

• First round draw: 11:00*

• Round 1: 11:00–13:00 (2h)

• Lunch: 13:00–13:45 (45m)

• Round 2: 13:45–15:45 (2h)

• Round 3: 15:45–17:45 (2h)

• Grand final: 18:00–18:45 (45m)

• Prizegiving: 18:45–19:00 (30m)

*Please arrive by 10:50. If you are late, the other two players on your table will carry out their game first to give you time to arrive without missing out on any gameplay. If you haven’t arrived by the time they have finished, you will be “pruned” until you turn up.

Post-event group meal plans:

Meal will be booked for 20:00 at Ask Italian in Durham City Centre. Please contact Adam if you’d be interested in coming along.

Payment:

Entry fee for the day will be £14 per person. You can sign-up via this Google Form: forms.gle/yMYBuu9LVasSFdZE7

Public transport:

The community hall is located 1.5 miles southwest of Durham Railway Station — the station being located in the city centre. If you want to get your steps in, it’s a 36-minute walk from there according to Google Maps. If not, there are two bus services that run from the bus station, which stop within a five-minute walking distance of the venue: Arriva’s 7 towards Darlington, and Go North East’s X21 towards West Auckland. Alight at the Douglas Gardens stop, which is one stop after the Duke of Wellington.