The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1913-01-24
A CAME FOR
QUICK WITS.

An amusing game of this sort, little
known, is called spelling down the
line" Any number can play, but TWEEN
ty to thirty make the best game. Two
are captains. and each In turn chooses
a player. and these players stand in
order, one on one team and then one
on the other team, all in line. When
the line is finished the captains are at
each end.
Either of the captains can begin, and
he looks down the line and sees all are
ready. Then he thinks of word,
usually as long one as possible, and
spells the first letter out loud, but does
not tell any one what the word is that
he has in mind. Suppose he thinks of
pronunciation and starts with "p."
The next player. not knowing what
the word is. thinks of as long word
as he can beginning with 'p" and
hits upon "promiscuous," so he spells
out loud "r." The third mans idea of
q good long word beginning with 'pr''
is perhaps 'propitiatory," so he spells
TO-" The fourth man thinks of pro
tectorate" and says 1T"
Now it is getting down to the fun,
and each begins to think hard before
it comes to his turn, so as to be ready
with good long word. The fifth man
cannot think Of any word beginning
with prot" except prototype so he
says 10" and the man beyond, who
was hoping he would say that, is all
ready with "protoplasm' and snaps
out "p."
Now the next poor fellow In line is
stuck. He thought it would be &c"
or It." and he was all ready to go on
with either prototype" or protocol
but he cannot think Of any word that
starts with "protop," so he is down and
out. The player who puts him out must
then state the word he thought of to
show that it was fair, because II there
is no such word or it Is not spelled that
way the one who gave false lead is
out of it instead. Sometimes they have
an umpire. who follows the words in
the dictionary. as it must be one of
two or three when it gets to the fourth
or fifth letter.
The captain at the other end then
starts word, and it passes down the
line in the opposite direction to the
first. so that player at the other end
is usually weeded out. Sometimes the
spelling narrows down to a word that
is4welE known. and then the ingenuity
comes in frightening it out, so that 1t
shall not end with certain player
nor with one of his teammates.
4 AS the ranks thin out each player
has to see who stands next him. Sup
pose 1t gets to player who sees one
Of his own team is next him and the
word so far is ''measur." If he says
"e" he escapes, but his friend must
say 3D. If he says anything and steps
out. To escape this the first one says
a." and his teammate says IN" and
there is nothing left for the third one.
who belongs to the other team. to say |
uuL IL, do LucEC 10 uO OIucI 4COAL1Iud-
ton possible that will extend the word.
Sometimes, instead of having each
team alternately in the line. they have
all of one team at one end and all of
the other at the other end. Then the
scheme is to get words long enough to
reach to the opposing team and die
there, and words that end in illness"
or such easy syllables are in demand.
As the line gets shorter word may |
pass clear through and back to the
originator. The game may be further |
varied by having the new words start
ed where the last one dies.
Those who are knocked out still
have plenty Of fun guessing what
word will come out and thinking what |
they would say If they were still In 1t.
It is very seldom that the following
player will think Of the same word as
the one ahead of him, and this is one
Of the surprises Of the game.-New
York Sun.