A quadrennial spectator sport would leave three intervening years for the hot stove league.
[A Point of Order regarding the Dude: Like it or not, he is still starting each post with the previous bolded word or phrase. So he is still playing the game by following one of its most fundamental directives. Unfortunately, he still refuses to indicate what part of the closing string the next player is supposed to use. And he seems to be immune to mild public shaming, so it's a coin-toss as to whether or not he will ever have that "road to Damascus" moment and change his ways.
After ruminating on this dilemma for several soul-searching hours (thank God I have no life), it occurred to me that the Dude is the closest thing this game has to a Wild Card (or Joker, if you will). He is still welcome to play, but, as long as he continues to flout one of the major rules, the next player in line can treat the Dude's post as a Wild Card i.e. (s)he can use the last word, any part of the closing string that isn't part of the opening string, or the closing bolded word or string from the previous entry. This is pretty much what people are doing already, but at least now we will have a Wild Card rule and not have to waste any more time on it. The floor is open for debate...]
Raptusregaliter
Grand Ayatollah
PowerWorld Linguistics Guild