rabidsamfan | Backdated entry (Reply)

Key to The Game
spoilers for that...

The game they are playing has to do with rules. All of the examples given follow a pattern which Pippin decided upon before starting up the game. Anything which fits the pattern "is"; anything which does not fit the pattern "is not".

So if the pattern Pippin had picked were "words beginning with c" he'd have given clues like:

It's a game of cat, but not dog. It's a game of chilly but not freezing. It's a game of can't but not won't.

The second word is important because it helps to indicate which homonym the first word is. And because it helps confuse the casual listener.

"It'a a game of cue, but not hint" is a better clue for our example than "Cue but not line" because a line can also be a queue.

Now, can you figure out Pippin's specific game? If not, look below...

Pippin's pattern is words spelled with only one vowel. Once Boromir guesses it, he'll be the one to start the next game. (Unless he defers to someone else.)

BTW, I learned this game sitting in a laundromat on vacation listening to a group of teenagers play it as they did their laundry and not once did anyone explain it to me. Then I took it back to my family reunion and drove everyone nuts...