User Guide
7
You are allowed to use
0
as the number part
of your clue. For example,
feathers: 0
means,
"None of our words relate to
feathers
."
If
0
is the number, the usual limit on guesses
does not apply. Field operatives can guess
as many words as they want. They still must
guess at least one word.
If you're not sure why this is useful, don't
worry. You'll figure it out.
Sometimes you have to make judgment calls
about what is valid and what is not. Different
groups may prefer to play the game differently.
Compound Words
English has three ways to write a compound
word.
Greenhouse
is one word.
Pack rat
is two
words.
Mother-in-law
is hyphenated. Technically,
only
greenhouse
can be a one-word clue.
You can decide to allow any compound words.
However, in no case should a player be allowed
to invent compound words.
Lunar squid
is not
a valid clue for MOON and OCTOPUS.
Proper Names
Proper names are always valid clues if they
follow the other rules.
George
is a valid clue, but
you might want to specify whether you mean
George Washington
or
George W. Bush
. Your
group can agree to count proper names as one
word. This would also allow titles such as
The
Three Musketeers
. Even if you don't allow multi-
word proper names, you might want to make an
exception for place names like
New York
.
Spymasters should not be allowed to make up
names, not even names that turn out to be
real.
Sue Mee
is not a valid clue for CHINA and
LAWYER.
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Technically,
CIA
is not one word. But it is
a great clue. You can decide to allow common
abbreviations like
UK
,
lol
, and
PhD
. And words
like
laser
,
radar
, and
sonar
are always allowed,
even though they originated as acronyms.
Homonyms
Some people prefer to allow a more liberal use
of homonyms. You can allow
knight
to be a clue
for
night
-related things if that makes the game
more fun for you.
Rhymes
Rhymes are always valid when they refer to
meanings.
Snail
is a valid clue for MAIL because
this rhyme is a common phrase.
Snail
is also
a valid clue for WHALE because they are both
animals.
Snail
is not a valid clue for SCALE
because their main association is through the
sound of the words. (If someone in your group
has a job weighing snails, however, this clue is
perfectly fine.)
Some people like to allow any kind of rhyming
clue. If you decide to allow this, just remember
that you aren't allowed to indicate you are giving
a rhyming clue. Your operatives will have to
figure that out for themselves.
Sometimes you may have multiple unguessed
words related to clues from the previous
rounds. If you want your team to guess more
than one of them, you may say
unlimited
instead of a number. For example
feathers:
unlimited
.
The disadvantage is that the field operatives
do not know how many words are related to
the new clue. The advantage is that they may
guess as many words as they want.
EXPERT CLUE: ZERO
FLEXIBLE RULES
EXPERT CLUE: UNLIMITED