Duplicate-clue cancellation

Give independent one-word clues, remove identical clues and make one cooperative guess from what remains.

Cooperation & communication · Language & storytelling

Players

4–7 people

Time

10–15 minutes

Materials and quantities

Six target cards, one reusable writing slip per clue giver and a separate review key.

Each group uses its own set; clue writers reveal only after everyone has finished.

Prepare

Choose a guesser who cannot see the target card. All other players see it and privately write exactly one clue word, without discussion. Agree to compare clues after trimming spaces and ignoring English letter case; Chinese clues use one short term. Only exact matches cancel in this version. The target itself or a clue containing its full written form, an empty slip or a multiword phrase is invalid. Do not introduce an unannounced synonym or plural-equivalence rule during scoring.

Play

The guesser looks away while the writers reveal to each other. Remove every copy of each duplicated valid clue, not just one of the copies. Remove invalid slips too. Only then show the remaining slips to the guesser. The writers cannot add spoken explanations, gestures or new clues. The guesser has one attempt or may pass. Reveal the target and discuss one collision after the guess.

Worked example

For bridge, clues river, river, crossing and span leave only crossing and span: both river slips are removed. With no clue left, the guesser may still attempt once or pass, but no replacement clue is written. The teacher key lists a collision example, not a unique set of allowable synonyms. For a Chinese round use the Chinese target and independently written Chinese clues rather than asking players to decode an English word they do not know.

Finish and check

One point is earned for the team’s correct target, zero otherwise; there is no separate score for a clever writer. Rotate the guesser and play six rounds. A partly overlapping longer answer can be discussed before play, but default scoring requires the displayed target or an agreed equivalent noted before the round. Record removed clues separately so an apparent absence of useful clues is not mistaken for a missing player turn.

Adaptation and practical limits

Use familiar concrete targets and offer a read-aloud helper without revealing the target to the guesser. Allow passing; a clue collision is a property of the submissions, not a social failure. Keep the task untimed. The paper version does not automatically detect roots, translation equivalence or semantic overlap. If exact-match cancellation feels too narrow, state a new convention for the next full game rather than retroactively changing this one.

Free alternatives: Use paper or clean reused cardboard and a pencil. Copy the supplied diagrams and tables by hand; no specialist kit or purchase is needed.

Printable materials

Preview at 100% scale, with browser headers and footers off. Cut with suitable help. Keep host keys separate. This is a manual tabletop kit, not an online opponent, automatic judge or solver.