Acceptable Clues

[DoctorFianchetto]

I'd like to get the opinion of the community on whether certain types of clues are acceptable.


1. Relative clues

Example: Small, Big, Biggest

This type of clue doesn't address the meaning of the keywords, but how they relate to each other.


2. Misdirection clues

Let's say that CLAY is one of the keywords. The clue-giver gives HARRY POTTER.

The three keywords besides CLAY do not relate to the Harry Potter universe in any way. Because of this, they deduce that it must relate to the occupation of potter and guess CLAY.

The problem is that CLAY is not related to "Harry Potter" at all, but only to the word "Potter". The clue-giver could have said POTTER with the same effect. The addition of HARRY exists to misdirect the other team, unfairly in my opinion.


3. Elimination clues

These are negative clues of the form NOT RELATED TO X. I've seen three of these done in combination to form a kind of logic puzzle. I'm less certain on this one since unlike the previous example it appears to give equal information to both teams.


4. One clue representing many words

I once saw the clue REV. This could represent at least two different words: Revolution and Reverend.

At the end of the game it became clear that it meant revolution.

Note this is in contrast to giving the clue REVOLUTION, which could refer to a political revolution or the revolutions in an engine (revs). One word with multiple meanings is, of course, fine. One clue abbreviating multiple words is a smelly misdirection.

[Ez0ah]

I don’t really see a problem with these kind of clue.
1. Unless you go for the lowest bar like small/medium/large, those are usually pretty creative clues, and they can be really satisfying to pull of. It’s probably not an easy guess for the opponent team but it give really useful indications for the following rounds.
2. A misdirection is, in my experience, as likely to confuse your mates as your opponents. Remember, if the opponents get it wrong, it’s just a setback, no big deal. If your team doesn’t get it, you are already halfway to a loss
3. A negation probably gives as much indication as a regular clue, in my opinion.

[GameTrekker]

+1

I never saw an unfair clue in Decrypto.
The only forbidden clues are private clues.
Clues must bé relative to the word meanings. Rev for révolution is forbidden.

Clues may be abbrevations, onomatopoeis, symbols,...
IRL, you can sing or perform a mime.

[CaptainMug]

I think clues that pertain to all words in order to understand them fully are wrong clues.

Big or Small doesn't really matter in my opinion because someone will understand that we would never describe 'Planet' as small.
That being said, we just had a game where the player put down "Smallest" "3rd smallest" and "4th smallest"
You would only know what those clues refer to if you know the size of all 4 words.
In this case they refer to other cards, not to the word itself in order to be fully understood.

The game states "Each clue must clearly be separate" which in this case they are not.
Also "A clue must only refer to the meaning" which in this case is also wrong.....
Therefor I think size is legal as long as they don't deter from the other 4 words to their relative size.

I've played with players who use Anagrams, which imho is also a gray area....

[Thomas]

I don't agree that anagrams are a gray area. Most anagrams do not refer to the meaning of the original word, and therefor I would rate it as cheating (or at least as "against the rule").

[dizzymisslizzy17]

1. There are discussions about this particular issue on BGG. Some say yes, some say no.

I do this sometimes, but usually at least one of the clues actually relates to the meaning of the word. For example, I like to use big or bigger for Texas because everything is big/bigger in Texas. Now that I've posted it, I probably won't use it anymore.

2. I think this is a great clue. It is ok if the clue has extra information. The meaningful part of the clue relates to the meaning of the word.

3. Interestingly, on BGG, someone brings up these clues and they remind us that we're not allowed to repeat words. Usually these clues fail that rule. I'm okay with them as long as they refer to the meaning of the words.

4. Abbreviations are allowed. And words with multiple meanings are not just allowed, but encouraged as part of the strategy.

[0rsk1]

On the 3. point : rules specify : "The Clues must refer to the meaning of the Keywords."

So anti-clue or NOT-RELATED-TO-X is not allowed by rules?

[Jellby]

My interpretation is that what that rule is trying to prevent is clues about the word itself, devoid of its meaning. So clues about the number of letters of the word, or how it sounds like are forbidden. But clues that are based on the meaning of the word (or any of its possible meanings) are fine.

I'd say even something related not the meaning of the word, but to for instance a movie or book that has the word in the title, would be fine too. For example, is "Jack Nicholson" related to "nest"?

[NinePointOh]

You would only know what those clues refer to if you know the size of all 4 words.
In this case they refer to other cards, not to the word itself in order to be fully understood.

I see no problem with that. Every single clue is a reference to at least something other than the Keyword itself. If I give the clue "Gimli" for the keyword "Dwarf" that requires basic knowledge of LOTR, not just the word itself, to be fully understood. The rules do not prohibit this.

The game states "Each clue must clearly be separate" which in this case they are not.

I disagree on this point. What the rule states is, "Be sure to separate each of your 3 clues. There can be no confusion between what constitutes your first, second, and third clue."

The rule is not saying there can be no relation whatsoever between your clues or between your clues and other words. The clarifying sentence explains that by "separate" the rules mean a clear distinction as to what your first, second, and third clues are. So for example, I can't just combine my clues into a single sentence like "Gimli spent a lovely day yesterday with his sister, during which they went swimming, visited the county fair, and ate fresh salads for dinner at Applebee's" expecting my own team to be able to pick out DWARF, BIKINI, and RANCH as our only Keywords with any relevance and then putting them in the order they appeared in my sentence. The other team needs to know exactly when clue 2 ends and clue 3 begins.

The BGA format already forces adherence to this rule.

Also "A clue must only refer to the meaning" which in this case is also wrong.....

What the rule says is "The Clues must refer to the meaning of the Keywords." Note that the last word is plural. It does not say "Each clue must only refer to the meaning of its own Keyword." The rules as written do not prohibit a clue that refers to multiple Keywords.

I've played with players who use Anagrams, which imho is also a gray area....

This one seems pretty black and white -- an anagram is based on the spelling of the word which is explicitly prohibited.

[NinePointOh]

On the 3. point : rules specify : "The Clues must refer to the meaning of the Keywords."

So anti-clue or NOT-RELATED-TO-X is not allowed by rules?

I would say it is definitely allowed, as it still "REFERS TO" the meaning of the Keyword. Referring to something does not in any way imply whether it must be a positive or negative reference.

However, you can't say "Doesn't start with a 'B'" or "Doesn't have 5 letters." Not because the clue is negative, but because the reference is to spelling and length, not the meaning of the Keyword.