Sleepy Gus. "No worries. Everything is normal."
When a guess is correct, both the giver and guesser earn points. The giver also earns additional guesses to be used on other players' clues. The points and additional guesses are allocated based on how many guesses (from all players) it took to get a correct answer. The scale is as follows:
| Guesses | Giver Earns | Guesser Earns |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 point 1 guess | 10 points |
| 2 | 2 points 2 guesses | 9 points |
| 3 | 3 points 3 guesses | 8 points |
| 4 | 4 points 3 guesses | 7 points |
| 5 | 5 points 3 guesses | 6 points |
As you can see, the guesser wants to solve the clue with as few guesses as possible, but the giver wants to see a few wrong guesses first. However, if the clue is not solved after five guesses, it is a failed clue and no points are awarded. Likewise, if a clue is not solved by the end of the game (two weeks), it expires with no points for anyone. So the giver wants to make the clue good, but not too good.
As a guesser, even a wrong guess can be helpful because you'll get an additional hint about the solution. After you submit your guess, it will be shown to you with, possibly, some letters underlined and bolded. This tells you the first letters of the solution. Here's an example, let's say you enter the guess "Benjamin Franklin". It might come back looking like this:
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
This tells you that the solution begins with the letters FRANK. However, it doesn't tell you anything about spacing or punctuation. The solution might be something like FRANK SMITH, FRANKENSTEIN, or it might be FRAN KELLEY. You see? They all begin with the letters FRANK. But wait, there's more! You can also eliminate names like FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT and FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT. Why? Because you know the letter after FRANK is not an L; otherwise it would have been highlighted in your guess. Get it?
If no letters are highlighted in your guess, that tells you something too. It tells you that the solution does not begin with any letter in your guess. So every guess you make gives you useful information. However, this information is visible to all the other players too.
Sound like fun? You bet! Let's walk you through the steps to get you started.
If you just want to look around to get a feel for the game, you can use the < Guest > identity. This will let you see clues and other players' guesses, but it won't allow you to change anything.
Click the Enter button to continue.
You might also see a number in quotation marks next to closed clue. This is the number of comments that clue has received.
When you click on a clue in the list, you'll see the guesses (if any) that have been made on that clue. These guesses will have highlighting to indicate the initial string of the solution, like BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
Also, you are allowed only a limited number of guesses each game. Initially each player is allocated 5 guesses. You earn up to 3 additional guesses each time one of your clues is successfully solved. You'll want to use your guesses wisely.
If you make the first guess on a clue, you can immediately make a second guess. After that, however, you cannot guess twice in a row on the same clue. For example, if you make guess number 2, you can't make guess number 3. You have to wait for another player to guess, and then you can come back and make another guess.
Look at previous guesses for helpful information. A highlighted region within a guess indicates the initial string of the solution. If nothing is highlighted within a guess, the first character of the solution does not appear within that guess.
When making a guess, keep in mind that spelling counts. However, spacing and punctuation are ignored; only letters and digits matter. Uppercase and lowercase are also treated the same.
Type your guess and click the Submit Guess button. You'll then see your guess in the list of guesses. If it contains the initial part of the solution, it will include highlighting. Remember that you should ignore any spacing and punctuation within the highlighted region.
If your guess is correct, the entire guess will be highlighted and the word SOLVED will appear below it. You and the clue giver will automatically receive the points you've earned. See the Scoring section below.
Note: Before you give a new clue, be aware of the number of open clues and the total number of guesses currently available. (Both numbers are available from the Scores report. Click on the < Total > entry to see the details.) If lots of clues are open and few guesses are available, there's a danger that the guesses could be spread too thin.
To create a clue, click the Give Clue button on the left side of the screen. You'll then see a solution along with its category: person, place, phrase, movie, or song. For example, the category might be Person and the solution might be JOE BIDEN.
There really are no rules for clues. You can use anything that you can type with 36 characters or fewer. You can use part of the solution; you can use rhyming words; you can mention the category within the clue. (You cannot use HTML tags. They will be silently removed.) Remember to make your clue good enough that it will likely be solved within five guesses, but not so obvious that it will be guessed right away.
Note that guessers do not see the category of the clue until there have been three incorrect guesses. After that, the category is revealed.
Clues that have a few possible answers work well; a clue with a single possible answer doesn't work well. For example, "A U.S. vice-president" is a better clue than "Obama's vice-president." Word play within clues is encouraged. Puns and other egregious sins should be indicated by including a question mark or exclamation point. For example, "Little Joseph near lion's home?" might be a clue for JOE BIDEN. (Yeah, I know you can do better than that.)
Type your clue and then click the Submit Clue button. To see your clue, choose "open clues I've given" from the radio set on the left side of the window. Your new clue should appear in the clue list.
If you can't think of a good clue immediately, click the Defer button. A null clue will be saved for this solution. It won't be visible to other players until you go back later and edit it. Just be sure you come back and edit it within the first week of the game.
After you've submitted a clue, you can change it as long as no one has made any guesses for it and the game is less than one week old. Once a guess has been submitted, the clue can no longer be modified. To edit a clue, select it within your "open clues I've given" list. Then click the Edit Clue button that appears on the right side of the screen.
You'll receive points for your clue only if and when another player solves it.
The allocation of points and guesses depends on how many guesses it took to solve the clue. Here's that table again:
| Guesses | Giver Earns | Guesser Earns |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 point 1 guess | 10 points |
| 2 | 2 points 2 guesses | 9 points |
| 3 | 3 points 3 guesses | 8 points |
| 4 | 4 points 3 guesses | 7 points |
| 5 | 5 points 3 guesses | 6 points |
For example, if the clue is solved on the first guess, the guesser earns 10 points and the giver earns only 1 point and 1 guess. If it takes three guesses, then the guesser gets 8 points and the giver gets 3 points and 3 guesses. If it takes five guesses, then the guesser gets 6 points and the giver gets 5 points and three guesses.
If a clue is not solved within five guesses, nobody earns any points for it and the giver does not get any additional guesses.
To see a report of the current scores of all players, click the Scores button (located below the list of clues).
The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. Unused guesses are worthless.
The Player Detail report gives information about the player's performance as a giver and as a guesser. It also provides information about guesses earned and used by the player.
Open: Number of those clues still active for guessers.
Solved: Number of those clues that have been solved.
Failed: Number of those clues that remained unsolved after five guesses.
Points Earned: Points this player earned as a giver in this game.
Efficiency: The percentage of possible points the player received for all solved or failed clues (out of a maximum of 5 points per clue).
Clues: Number of different clues those guesses apply to.
Correct: Number of the guesses that were correct.
Wrong: Number of the guesses that were wrong.
Points Earned: Points this player earned as a guesser in this game.
Efficiency: The percentage of possible points the player received for all clues guessed on (out of a maximum of 10 points per clue).
Earned: Number of additional guesses the player earned (3 for each solved clue).
Spent: Number of guesses the player used (1 for each guess).
Available: Number of guesses the player currently has available.
Sleepy Gus. "No worries. Everything is normal."
Panicky Gus. "Heads up! Something's wrong!"