Tinker Tailor Glossary:

Glossary Before Watching

MI6 United Kingdoms Secret Intelligence Service
Circus the house name for MI6.
Moscow Centre the Russian secret service.
Nursery the MI6 training centre.
Control former head of MI6; his suspicions incite the search for the mole Gerald; it is
implied that his death from cancer is sped up due to the stress of Operation Testifys
failure.
Source Merlin a source who provides seemingly invaluable material on the USSR; the
data is in reality Russian chickenfeed, designed to to turn away the senior officers
attention from the mole Gerald.
Sarratt the location for MI6 interrogations.
London station the London branch of MI6.
Scalphunters MI6 agents who handle kidnapping, burglary, blackmail and assassination;
this departments role in major operations was reduced after Controls death.
Honey-trap a blackmail operation involving/motivated by sex.
Housekeepers the finance department within MI6.
Inquisitors MI6 interrogators; their main goal is to keep senior officers and defectors
abreast of intelligence operations.
Janitors operations staff at the Circus. They act as security guards and ensure that all
members have verified security clearances.
Lamplighters the surveillance department at MI6.
Mole the term used for an agent who works his way into an organization to spy on his
own country; le Carr has previously said this term was actually used in the KGB.
Mothers the typists and secretaries for senior MI6 officials.
Nuts and Bolts MI6s engineering department, which constructs espionage devices.
Pavement artists MI6 operatives who follow people in public.
Shoemakers MI6 document forgers; they provide passports and other documents when
needed.
Wranglers MI6 cryptographers.
Backbearings - A method of gathering information using indirect evidence or information
to determine a fact. By determining what someone doesn't know and is asking questions
about, the agent can then determine what that person does know.
Bearleader - The people charged with organizing and running an operation.
Angels - Local, non-allied security services.
Burrower - Researcher
Circus - British Intelligence (MI6)
Competition - British Security Service (MI5)
Cousins - American Intelligence
The Fall - Used regarding the time line of the Circus and refers to the unmasking of the
mole 'Gerald' (the fall happens in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy). It is such an important frame
of reference that people refer to events as before the fall and after the fall.
Ferrets - The people who check for listening devices.
Handwriting - An agent's habits, technique, modus operandi
Housekeeper/Housekeeping - Human Resources department, responsible for maintaining
cover identities and agents (joes)
Janitors - Building security personnel
Joe - The term for an agent out in the field who is being operated by British/American
intelligence agencies. The joe is not always a citizen/worker of the opposition.
Lamplighters - The people who carry out surveillance, clear drop boxes, intercept mail,
etc. Based in Acton.
Leash-dogs - People who are trained to follow pedestrians.
Make a pass - Make overt contact with an agent (joe).
Moscow Centre - Soviet Intelligence
Mothers - Secretaries
Nursery - A training, and possibly detention, centre. Located in Sarratt.
Pavement artists - People who are trained to secretly follow an individual on the street.
Put out smoke - When an agent makes a showy display of his or her cover identity in
order to give their cover legitimacy.
Recycling - Sending defectors back to continue spying before anyone knows they are
gone.
Rumpus Room - The meeting room on the fifth floor of the circus.
Scalphunters - The people who handle the dirty work (ie. kidnapping, bringing defectors
across the border). Based in Brixton.
Shoemakers - Forgers
Wranglers - Radio/signals operators, code break