Conference thebay::joyoflex

    This game requires at least three players.  Also, the players should
    have roughly the same ability in the language, or it doesn't work...
    
    Equipment: slips of paper, pencils, and a good dictionary.
    
    Each player goes in turn.  The person who is "it" has the dictionary
    and selects a word.  The word should be one that no one knows: if
    anyone knows the definition, "it" selects another word.
    
    Each person writes down a definition for the word on the slip of
    paper.  The person who is "it" writes down the real definition.
    Everyone gives their definitions to "it".
    
    "It" reads off each definition for the word, as number 1, number
    2, etc.  (They should be mixed up so no one knows whose is being
    read--except for their own, of course.)
    
    Players then vote on what they think is the correct definition.
    "It" gets one point for each WRONG definition; everyone else gets
    one point for each vote for their definition.
    
    Obviously, the person with the most points at the end of the game
    wins.  For a group of five, two turns at being "it" per person is
    a two-hour game.
    
    This game is a MARVELOUs vocabulary builder!

    The object of this game is to guess the rhyming double-word sequence.
    Clues are the number of syllables and the definition supplied by
    the moderator.
    
    The moderator announces the "type" of rhyme (that is, the number
    of syllables), as either a "stink-pink", "stinky-pinky", or "stinkity-
    pinkity".  The moderator then gives a definition, and the other
    players have to guess the word sequence.  The winner is the moderator
    for the next round.
    
    For example: a "stinky-pinky" is a boring horizon.  The sequence
    is a "mundane terrain".
    
    This is a wonderful game for kids just learning vocabulary skills.
    My duaghter played it with me when she was in the second grade,
    while I made supper.

    This word game is actually a geography game as well.  First a domain
    is chosen.  Common domains are states, cities, countries, etc.
    To play, players take turns giving a name out of the domain which
    begins with the same letter that the last name ended with.
    
    I probably didn't explain that too well so here's an example:
    
    Choose: domain = U.S. States and Cities
    
    Player 1: FloridA
    Player 2: ArizonA
    Player 3: AlabamA
    Player n: AnnapoliS
    Player 1: Sourth DakotA
    Player 2: A...
    
    	-Kurt*

    Each player draws a square and marks it off into little squares.
    This can be played on a square of any size, and I seem to remember
    playing it on a 5x5 square:
    
    +--+--+--+--+--+      Each player keeps his or her paper hidden
    |  |  |  |  |  |      from the other players. 
    +--+--+--+--+--+
    |  |  |  |  |  |      Each player, in turn, calls out a letter.
    +--+--+--+--+--+      Every player writes that letter in one of
    |  |  |  |  |  |      the squares.
    +--+--+--+--+--+
    |  |  |  |  |  |      When all the squares are full, each player
    +--+--+--+--+--+      counts the number of words on his or her
    |  |  |  |  |  |      piece of paper. When I played, we counted
    +--+--+--+--+--+      the words in crossword fashion (left-to-right
                          and top-to-bottom). You could also allow
    backward words, or diagonal words, as long as everybody agrees on
    the method of counting words.
    
    The player who has formed the most words wins.
    
    					Val

    The first player calls out a letter (except a letter that forms
    a one-letter word).
    
    Players continue to call out letters in turn. At each turn,
    the letters called so far, in the order they've been called:

          -  must form the beginning of a word
          -  must not form a complete word 
    
    The first player who is unable to call out a letter without completing
    a word loses the round.
    
    For example, if the letters called are: M, O, I, S
    then the fifth player loses: if he calls out T he forms the word
    "moist," and if he calls out anything else the letters don't form
    the beginning of a word.
    
    If a player calls out a letter, and you're not sure the letters called
    so far form the beginning of a real word, you can challenge the player.
    If the player was bluffing, he loses the round. If the player can name
    a word starting with the letters called, you lose the round. 
    
					Val

    Re .3:
    
    The only problem with that game is, do you know *few* geographical
    names there are that start with A and don't end with A?  After
    you've been playing a while, you just get into an A loop and
    never get out of it again!
    
    	-Neil

    re .3  re .6
    
    I forgot to mention that you can't use the same name twice.  Therefore
    if you get into the "a loop" the supply is evenutally exhausted.
    It's actually a good stategy to use if you think you know of a few
    more than your opponents.
    
    -Kurt*

    What about Mad Libs?  You can find the books in most any department
    store (I think there are around 12 or so), or you can make them
    up yourself.  
    
    A person makes up a story but leaves out certain words and that
    person asks the other people to fill in the blanks.
    
    
    _______________, who is married to ___________________, went to
    Girl in room			Male celebrity
    
    the ___________ the other night.  While she was there, she __________
          noun							verb
    
    a pair of __________ jeans at the ________________ store.
    		adjective 	     brand name designer
    
    When _________ found that she didn't have her ___________ with her,
    	 girl above				    noun
    
    she got in her ________ and went ____________ home.
    		    noun		adverb
    
    This is a rather poor example, but I was writing as I was thinking.
     Sometimes the stories come out hilarious.  You don't read the story
    to the people until after all the blanks have been filled in.
    
    					*** Kristy ***

  A variation on .1 is to use the first sentence in a short story or a novel
  instead of a dictionary definition.  Someone ("it") reads off the title of the
  novel or story and writes down the real first sentence.  Then everyone else
  tries to write a convincing first sentence.

  You get a point for picking the real first sentence and a point for everyone
  who thought that *your* sentence was the real one.

  The nice thing about this variation is that you don't need as much equality 
  in the writing ability or vocabulary of the players.

  JP

    The same as GHOST (I've never heard the plural used as the name),
    except you're allowed to add your letter at EITHER end.
    
    Example:
    
    Me:		M
    
    You:	M A		(ok., no danger untul four letters long)
    
    Me:		A M A
    
    You:	J A M A
    
    Me:		A J A M A
    
    You:	A J A M A S
    
    Me:		P A J A M A S  (I lose!)

    Construct two words, compound words, or short phrases, each of which
    is missing the same thing.  Other people have to figure out what's
    missing.
    
    Here are some examples:
    
    	key ___, ___ walk		(answer: keyboard, boardwalk)
    
    		To give this, you'd say "key blank and blank walk"
    
    	"mon blank and blank ring"	(answer: monkey and keyring)
    
    I can't resist.  Here are some for YOU to figure out:
    
    	girl ___, ___ show
    
    	monkey ___, ___ card
    
    baseball ___, ___ compartment
    
    toilet ___, ___ fall
    
    /Eric

RE Note 168.5 by SUPER::MATTHEWS:
    
But what happens if the letter called out forms a word and also forms
the beginning of another word?  Your example is a case in point:

>    For example, if the letters called are: M, O, I, S
>    then the fifth player loses: if he calls out T he forms the word
>    "moist," and if he calls out anything else the letters don't form
>    the beginning of a word.

You can also form the word "moisten" from this.  Do you just take the
first word that is formed and disregard any subsequent formations that
may come from the same word?
							-- Nina

    re .12  Yep, as soon as you spell a word you lose, even if that
    word forms the beginning of another word.
    
    					Val

    I remember long automobile trips and midnight pizza parties being
    enhanced by this game.
    
    RULES:
    Someone is "it".  That person chooses a real person (living or dead)
    and announces the first letter of his/her last name to the group.
    
    Group members attempt to phrase a question about the mystery person
    by oblique references to someone with the same first letter for
    their last name.  The idea is to trick "it" into not being able
    to respond, but not so completely trick the other players that at
    least one of them can answer the question.
    
    EXAMPLE:
    "It" announces the letter is "C".
    
    A group member asks:
    "Were you known as 'Banjo Eyes'?"  Possibly, "it" would be able
    to say...
    "No, I'm not Eddie Cantor"
    
    That would pass the test and another group member would ask another
    question:
    "Did you die from an asp bite?"  Possible, "it" wouldn't be able
    to think of a plausible bluff and would try...
    "No, I'm not Charlemagne"  Others in the group would chime in that
    that answer wasn't correct and maintain Cleopatra was the person
    being described.  "It" would lose and the next "it" would be the
    group member who asked the question that served to stump the old
    "it".
    
    OBSERVATIONS:
    People vie to be "it".  Lots of bluffing takes place.  Challenges
    are worked out among the group members with the majority ruling
    on all challenges to the "real person" requirement.
                              
    After the game gets rolling, many group members have to be restrained
    from calling out the individual being referred to by another member's
    abstruse question.  Of course, any such vocalization serves to
    invalidate that questioner's claim on a response from "it".
    
    Children can band together and rule the game with the Presidents
    of the United States.  Sports figures and rock stars can stump
    know-it-all's with degrees.  Biblical references get challenged
    as to their "real people" status with great regularity.
    
    BOTTICELLI is the games's name because he is one of the references
    that could be chosen, I guess.

One game that we used to play in college involved
taking 26 letters at random - could be a phrase from
a book, a quotation, or any other source - write
these letters down the left side of a piece of paper.
Then, write the letters of the alphabet down a second 
column. The object is then to identify people with these
initials. You can decide wether to limit to real people,
or fictional characters, or living people, etc. Real
pros at this game used to limit only to Shakespearean
characters or similarly narrow sets.