Maxwell Seaborg, age 13, of Tucson, Ariz., for his question:
HOW DID THE GAME CURLING RECEIVE ITS NAME?
Curling is a game played on level ice in Canada and parts of the United States. The game originated in Scotland and the Netherlands more than 300 years ago.
Two four man teams compete in the game, which was named because of the curling or curving action of markers that are called stones.
A court of ice 146 feet long and 14 feet wide is used. The players slide the heavy stones on the ice toward a round 12 foot target called the house.
Players deliver the stones, which weigh 42 1/2 pounds, from a hack or foothold located 126 feet from the center of the house at the opposite end of the ice. The stones have flat tops and bottoms and include handles on top.
To deliver a stone, a player puts the ball of his right foot in the hack and then crouches with his feet together. The stone rests on the ice to his right and slightly in front of him. He grasps the handle in his right hand, slides the stone straight back and raises it as he does. The stone comes off the ice at the top of the player's backswing.
Thin the curling player turns him arm either in or out as he swings the stone forward from the backswing. This twisting action causes the stone to turn as he releases it on the ices. The stone curls or curves either to the right or left as it slides along. And it was this action that gave the game its name.
If a player believes his stone will fall short of the target after he has released it, he will command, "Sweep." Players on his team at the other end of the court will then run ahead of the sliding stone, sweeping the ice vigorously with brooms. The sweeping smooths the ice surface and lessens resistance to the stone.
Curling experts say that sweeping can add six to 10 feet to a stone's delivery. When a player wants his teammates to stop sweeping, he will shout, "Brooms up."
A total of 16 stones are used to play the game of curling. When all have been delivered by players from one end of the ice to the other, an "end" has been played. The stones of. one team that are closer to the house's center than those of the other team score one point each. The other team receives no points in that end.
The procedure is than repeated with players at the other end of the ice sliding the stones back down the ice.
A team in curling is called a rink. It is made up of a lead, a No. 2 player, a No, 3 player and the skip or captain. They take turns delivering his stones first because it is simpler to do so when there are no other stones on the ice.
The skip is usually the player who issues the "Sweep" command.