Using a single alphabet as clue

[anonim123]

I wanna know from people if using a single alphabet is also a valid clue. The reasoning is that alphabet has also its own meaning, at least it is nth letter of alphabet.

[aghagh]

I don't fully understand your question, sorry. Can you please elaborate ?

Giving a single letter as a clue can be accepted in cases like the following:
- "c" when the mystery word is "light" because "c" is the speed of light
- "T" when the mystery word is "ice" because "Ice T" is an actor
- "I" when the mystery word is "robot" because of the novel "I, robot" by Asimov
- "g" when the mystery word is "attraction" because of gravity attraction
- "x" when the mystery word is "treasure" because that's how treasures are typically indicated in a treasure map or when it's "box" because of the "X-box" console
- basically any single letter if the mystery word is "letter"

A single letter would not be allowed to indicate the initial letter of the mystery word, for example. Or "B" for "bee" as it would be an homophone. There always has to be a concept linking the clue and the mystery word.

[TearsOfJupiter]

Insofar as the question is asking about scenarios where the word is, say, "pizza" and you give a "P" to indicate that the word starts with P, I think it would be allowed by the rules. However, I'd argue that it'd be in bad form, even though I think it'd technically be allowed. Aghagh seems to think it wouldn't be allowed in that instance. But I am not sure what the argument is for that. The official rules excplitly say that: "A proper noun (Sherlock, Lego), compound word (merry-go-round), number (007), onomatopoeia (Riiing), acronym (FBI), or special character ($) are all considered to be valid clues." If a special character or a number can be valid, then I'd assume a letter would be as well, barring the instance aghagh mentions where the letter is a homophone (e.g., B for Bee). The rules also provide what seems to be an exhaustive list of invalid clues, and the starting letter is not listed. According to the rules, invalid clues are as follows:

• The Mystery Word written in a different language (Vert to guess Green)
• A word in the same family as the Mystery Word (Princess to guess Prince)
• A made-up word (Cuppajo to guess Coffee)
• A homophone of the Mystery Word (Flour to guess Flower)

Beyond homophones and starting letters, I agree with aghagh that there are scenarios where a single letter is not only clearly allowed but also very appropriate and in good form. For instance, when the mystery word was "Metro", I gave the clue "L" because the L is a common name for Chicago's metro.

[dhnyny]

I agree with TearsOfJupiter, both in terms of what's proper and what might be bad form.

[anonim123]

Interesting to hear what you guys are thinking about, thanks!