Snail is not a valid clue for SCALE because their main association is through the sound of the words. Snail is also a valid clue for WHALE because they are both animals. Snail is a valid clue for MAIL because this rhyme is a common phrase. Rhymes are always valid when they refer to meanings. You can allow knight to be a clue for night-related things if that makes the game more fun for you. Some people prefer to allow a more liberal use of homonyms. And words like laser, radar, and sonar are always allowed, even though they originated as acronyms. You can decide to allow common abbreviations like UK, lol, and PhD. Sue Mee is not a valid clue for CHINA and LAWYER. Spymasters should not be allowed to make up names, not even names that turn out to be real. Even if you don't allow multiword proper names, you might want to make an exception for place names like New York. This would also allow titles such as The Three Musketeers. Your group can agree to count proper names as one word. George is a valid clue, but you might want to specify whether you mean George Washington or George W. Proper names are always valid clues if they follow the other rules. Lunar squid is not a valid clue for MOON and OCTOPUS. However, in no case should a player be allowed to invent compound words. You can decide to allow any compound words. Technically, only greenhouse can be a one-word clue. Compound WordsĮnglish has three ways to write a compound word. Different groups may prefer to play the game differently. Sometimes you have to make judgment calls about what is valid and what is not. If the opposing spymaster allows it, the clue is valid. And anybody who says you can't say sparrow when ROW is on the table is just trying to cause trouble. Don't be too strictĮngland and island were originally compound words, but in this century, island is a valid clue for ENGLAND. It's also useful when the room is noisy or when the players have very different accents. If you aren't that strong on spelling, ask the opposing spymaster for help. You should spell out your clue if someone asks. Theatre and theater are different forms of the same word). (But you can't use t-h-e-a-t-r-e when THEATER is on the table. You can give the clue k-n-i-g-h-t even when NIGHT is one of the codenames on the table. For example, if you want your teammates to guess THEATER and STRING, you can spell out b-o-w without committing to a pronunciation. You could also use it as a clue for archery-related things, even though that bow is pronounced differently. For example, actors take a bow and the bow is part of a ship, so you could use bow as a clue for THEATER and SHIP.

Words that are spelled the same are considered the same even though they might have different pronunciations and meanings.

So you can't give knight-related clues for NIGHT. Same-sounding words with different meanings and different spellings are considered different words. For example, night sounds like knight, but these two words don't mean the same thing. Homonyms and spellingĮnglish has a lot of homonyms. Until HORSESHOE is covered up, you can't say horse, shoe, unhorsed, or snowshoe. You can't say part of a compound word on the table. Until BREAK is covered up by a card, you can't say break, broken, breakage, or breakdown. You can't say any form of a visible word on the table. For example, you can't use Apfel as a clue for APPLE and BERLIN, but you can use strudel. A foreign word is allowed only if the players in your group would use it in an English sentence.

Citrus: 8 is not a valid clue for LEMON and OCTOPUS. The number you say after your clue can't be used as a clue. You can use eight: 3 as a clue for BALL, FIGURE, and OCTOPUS.

Letters and numbers are valid clues, as long as they refer to meanings. You can't tie BUG, BED, and BOW together with a clue like b: 3 nor with a clue like three: 3. You can't use your clue to talk about the letters in a word or its position on the table. Your clue must be about the meaning of the words. Some clues are invalid because they violate the spirit of the game. You should experiment to find out what your group likes.

Connect word game rules