Just One - Game Thread

Hello all, and welcome to the debut of JUST ONE on Boards

A recap of the rules for you all first:

To play the game, everyone on each team but one person is given a list of secret words for that round. Then everyone submits a 1-word clue to those secret words. The game mod removes any duplicate words and posts the unique clues and the one person from each team then guesses the secret words.

For each word the guesser gets correct, their team gets a point; if wrong, they lose a point. They can also pass on guessing a word, and the team's score is unchanged.

Example:
Secret Word: Michael Jackson

Clues submitted:
Thriller
Moonwalk
Superstar
Dance
Moonwalk
Thriller

Thriller and Moonwalk were duplicated so would be thrown out and the guesser would be given the clues:

Superstar, Dance

They would then either guess Michael Jackson (1 point) or Taylor Swift (-1 point) or pass (0 points).


Here are some additional rules:


What clues are allowable

The clue must be composed of a single word.

Note: a digit, a number, an acronym, an onomatopoeia, or a special character are all considered to be words.

Example: 007 is allowed to help someone guess Bond, just like Riiiiiinnng or SMS are allowed to help someone guess Telephone, and $ is allowed to help someone guess America.

If an acronym is used, the secret word may not be part of it. For example, AT&T would not be a valid clue if the secret word was telephone.

Also, hyphenated words are totally fine, as long as their existence predates this thread (see more below). "yellow-haired" and "tow-headed" would be valid clues for blonde. "not-brunette" would not be a valid clue for blonde.




What clues are not allowable

A clue may not be identical or similar to any of the other secret words. For example, if "fox" and "fire" are two of the secret words, then fire is not an allowable clue for fox, and fox is not an allowable clue for fire.

In addition:

1) The clue may not be the secret word written in a different language. Calamari is not a valid clue for "squid."

2) The clue may not be from the same family as, or have the same root as, the secret word. Prince is not a valid clue for "princess." Washroom is not a valid clue for "bathroom."

3) The clue must be a pre-existing word. That is, you cannot make up words for the sake of the clue, but words that are not in the dictionary but exist independently of this thread are valid clues. Example - yumyumjuice would not be a valid clue for "alcohol."

4) The clue may not contain a significant component of the secret word, even if the root is different. Grass is not a valid clue for "grasshopper," and grasshopper is not a valid clue for "grass."

5) The clue must refer to the word itself, and not a homonym of the word or a similar-looking word. If the word is "sun," then daughter is not a valid clue. If the word is "mind," then Kaling is not a valid clue.

6) The clue must relate to the meaning of the word rather than, for example, how the word sounds or how many letters it has. Leather is not a valid clue for "weather," and three is not a valid clue for "egg."



When will clues be duplicated:

Clues that are too similar to other clues will be duped at the moderator's discretion. I will try to be consistent and apply the duplication rules in good faith. I may solicit advice on what I perceive to be close calls. I may make mistakes, but I will try not to, and I ask for your forgiveness if I do.

Fundamentally, when words appear similar, I am looking to see whether cluegivers have distinct concepts in mind that do not share the same root. For example, if the secret word is "lawn," then grass and grasshopper would be valid clues that are not duplicates, because their root is different (grass and hopper, respectively) and they are conveying different things. Likewise, Superman and Supergirl would not be duped, because the roots are different (man and girl) and they are referring to different things. However, bite and bitten as clues for "eat" would be considered duplicates of each other, as would highway and freeway as clues for "road." Again, there will be judgment calls, but I will do my best to be consistent.


My next post will outline how the game will work.