A QUESTION OF TIME

It takes hours of dedicated practice to become bad enough to be part of my local pub darts team. They lost their latest match 5-0 in one of the most gruelling nights of my life, the longest game going on for 90 minutes, a result which must surely jeopardise the position of the team captain - "Dr Darts". One player, who managed to produce the lowest average score of the evening, ten, put their off-form down to some new darts which were "clearly the wrong weight".

The self-styled "Ton Machine" got an average score 15 higher than the player who blamed the lighting for their hour and ten minute marathon game, which naturally ended in defeat.

The player whose game took half an hour got a better average score than the the 50-minute man. The awesome "Professor Maximum" was in action for 20 minutes longer than the player who simply claimed the opposition was cheating. The dartmaster, known as "The Surgeon", was clinically finished off in the shortest time.

"Colonel Bull's-Eye", who was adamant a "bad pint" had upset his throwing arm, got an odd-numbered average score which differed from the average score of another team-mate by eight. One player managed to get an average of 52, the best of the night, but even she lost, while another player got a score of 40.

The night eventually ground to a halt and was summed up by two comments. One came from a spectator who felt the most interesting fact about the evening was that no player's average score was a prime number. The last word went to one of the team who honestly suggested the loss was the result of a "quite staggering lack of talent".

From the information above, can you work out how long each player's game lasted, what their average score was and what reason they offered for their dismal performance?

Answers on a postcard, marked a Question of Time 2, should reach us by Thursday. The address is as for the Crossword. The sender of the first correct answer opened will receive an Oris watch worth £159. The answer will be published in two weeks' time.