hoodwinker

He later said of this position, "The lads learned soon enough never to try to hoodwink an old hoodwinker."

Other possible influences for the clacks system are the similar semaphore network in the Keith Roberts novel Pavane or the hoodwinker towers in The Blue World by Jack Vance.

There was a lot more creaking, and a muffled scream from downstairs where a Venerable Seer, creeping carefully through the darkness from the broken window, had trodden on the fingers of a Hoodwinker who was hiding under the table.

The San Francisco Chronicle film critic, Edward Guthmann, also reviewed the film positively and thought the actors performed quite well, writing, "Fast-paced and unerringly surprising, Nine Queens is nicely performed by a large cast, particularly Darín (El hijo de la novia) as a goateed, less-than-perfect hoodwinker.