text:
Should I avoid pairing my opponents first lay in cribbage (singles)?
Should I avoid pairing my opponents first lay in cribbage (singles)?  I ask because more often than not, he seems to have a third.

Let's look at some statistics. Let's assume that you have only a single one of some card value 'x' and 3 other cards. Let's also assume that your opponent has a single one of that card value 'x' (since he laid the first of the 'x' cards). Assuming also that he chose 4 random cards of the 6 he was dealt (not likely, but makes the math simpler), he has 3 chances to have second of that 'x' valued card from a remaining deck of 45 cards (52 - Your 4 - The 2 you threw into the crib - Your opponent's 1 'x' card), 2 of which are value 'x'. The chance of him not getting the 'x' valued card in his 3 more chances is (43/45)*(42/44)*(41/43) or .870 meaning that he has only a 13.0% chance of having a third card of value 'x' and therefore being able to get that 3-of-a-kind. Because you get 2 points for the pair and your opponent gets 6 points (aka you lose 6 points) for the 3-of-a-kind, playing to get the pair nets you (2*.870 - 6*.130) or +.960 points.
If we assume that if he is given a pair of 'x' value cards in his 6 cards, then he will keep them (a reasonable strategy), then the chances of him not getting the 'x' valued card in his now 5 more chances is (43/45)*(42/44)*(41/43)*(40/42)*(39/41) or .788 meaning that he now has a 21.2% chance of having a third card of value 'x' and therefore being able to get that 3-of-a-kind. This nets you +.304 points, a lesser amount than before, but still positive.
In both these scenarios, it is unlikely that your opponent will have that third 'x' card and either way you get a net gain of points over your opponent. Others may have strategies to provide, but these are the raw statistics of your scenario.

I'd say go for it as long as you're not also setting them up for a possible 15 or something.  Like if they play an 8, your 8 goes past 15 and you're safe.  But if they play a 4, and then you play a 4, then they could have either another 4 or a 7 to capitalize on the situation.

I've found a 2012 Cribbage Pro article article which looked at real game statistics. In short, against skilled players, you should generally pair if and only if at least one of the following cases is true:

The lead card matches the cut card.
The lead card is a 3, 4, or 8.
You could get quads (the article specifically mentions it and excludes this fairly obvious case from the analysis).

For completion's sake, while the article doesn't mention it, you should evidently pair the lead card if you have the remaining three cards of the same rank (between your hand and the two you threw in the crib, because then the opponent can't possibly get triples).
The remaining relevant "special" case is where you could get quads but for the fact the count would go above 31, or you threw that possibility into the crib. The data isn't specifically analyzed for this case, but eyeballing the given stats, the 7, Q, and K lead cases are already so close to the decision point, that I would say it's definitely advantageous to pair those leads in this scenario (due to lowered probability of opponent having the remaining card of the same rank, compared to of one of two remaining cards of the same rank).
Methodology commentary

The article used the top 3% of players on its app for its skilled player category.

The article looked specifically at the possibility of the non-dealer getting triples in the pegging. The overall impact to pegging score is thus not considered. Specifically, the most relevant case might be the non-dealer going for 15 on a paired lead between 3 and 7. Eyeballing the given stats, most cases seem far enough from the decision point to be affected, though perhaps the 3-lead-with-non-matching-cut-card case could flip to a decision of not pairing.

They excluded hands in which the non-dealer had the opportunity to get quads. Notably, quads are not possible with leads 8 or higher and these hands were included.

There are a few other scenarios I would have liked separated to streamline the data and analysis. In particular if you have triples of the lead card, then the non-dealer can't possibly peg the 6 points. Also per above, while they excluded the case where you have pairs of the lead card < 8, if you have pairs ≥ 8, this does still lower the probability the non-dealer could get the pegging triples.

Hands included in the analysis were ones where the dealer had the opportunity to pair the lead card. I personally don't see the need for this restriction. This is because at this stage the dealer's hand is opaque to the non-dealer and so the non-dealer's decision to lead from a pair or not appears unaffected (though it could be affected by the cut card, for which the data is already separately analyzed). In any case, I don't believe this would affect the results, just that a larger sample size and thus smaller error bars could have been obtained.

Speaking of which, I'd like to see the error bars. And the math. And the data. Personally, I value verifiability, but beggars can't be choosers - I couldn't find any comparable open source.

Personally, I'd like to see generic cribbage real game statistics only consider early hands in a match, eg. Game 1, less than 60 points each on the board. This would be to eliminate the extra variables of plays being affected by board position and adapting to an opponent's play style. I believe this would allow better approximation of the expected raw optimal values.

Probably Not
I'll work out all the math below, but the part that is difficult to capture in the math, is the strategy of your opponent.  Since your opponent is leading, they are tossing cards into a crib that they won't get.  So, it is possible they'd break up a pair.  Or not.  In the below, I assume they never toss a pair into the crib.
Consider the following typical beginner strategy for first card play.  Lead with a pair card if you have a pair, otherwise lead with your highest card.  If that is your opponent's strategy, then anytime they lead a 3, they have a pair, and you don't want to match it.  But, if they lead a face card, you may want to match it.  You can compute the exact probabilities using the techniques below.
However, what if their strategy is "if I have a pair, lead from the pair.  If I don't have a pair, lead with any random card."  Then, the odds of your opponent having the third card is roughly 54%.  (Details below.  Note, this is significantly higher than B-Rad computed, because they didn't take into account the conditional probabilities.)
In this case, it also does not pay to match.  The expected outcomes are:

Don't match (you score 0 points)
Match (you score 2 points, and with a 45% chance your opponent will score 6.  Or an expected gain of 2 - 0.54*6 = -1.2 points)

So, "on average" you lose 1.2 points matching.
Long Story Short:  If you know your opponent well, you may want to catch a match, but if you don't know your opponent well, probably safer to never match.
To compute the above claim (and hopefully, you'll see how to adapt the below computation to better reflect your opponent's strategy, which does impact the numbers) we have to make a number of assumptions about the strategy of your opponent.  It assumes that if your opponent has 2 pairs, they flip a coin to determine which card to lead.  It doesn't count triples (that's a low probability issue, so it's ignored)  It assumes that your opponent always keeps a pair if he has one.  Note, also, in the computations below, I include the cut card.  I'm assuming the cut card is not the card in question.  The probabilities change significantly if the cut card is the card in question.
Here's what you want to compute:
P( player 1 has a pair of card x given player 1's first play was an x, you have an x, and cut card is not an x)
This is an example of a conditional probability.  If we use P1 to represent player 1, and P2 to represent player 2, we obtain:
P( P1 has pair of x | P1 lead x, P2 has x, cut card not an x)

    P(P1 has a pair of x, P2 has an x, P1 leads an x, cut card not an x)
=  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
             P(P1 leads an x, and P2 has an x, cut card not an x)

To compute these turns out to be a bit complicated.  The numerator really needs to be broken up into three cases (actually more than 3, there are a number of edge cases (like triples) that I'm not addressing, but they should not affect the computation too much)
  P(P1 has a pair of x, P2 has an x, P1 leads an x, cut card not an x)
   = P(P1 has a pair of x & no other pairs, P2 has an x, P1 leads an x, cut card not x)
    + P(P1 has a pair of x & one other pair, P2 has an x, P1 leads an x, cut card not x)
    + P(P1 has a pair of x, and 2 other pairs, and leads an x, P2 has an x, cut card not x)

      Choose(4,2) * 4^4 * choose(12,4) * choose(2,1)*choose(44,5)*choose(39,1)
   =  + Choose(4,2)^2 * choose(12,1) * 4^2 * choose(11,2) * (1/2) * choose(2,1)*choose(44,5) * choose(39,1)
      + Choose(4,2)^3 * (1/3) * choose(12,2)^2 * choose(39,1)
     -------------------------------------------------------------------
          choose(52,6)*choose(46,6)*choose(40,1)

   = 0.0105

Now, the denominator of the original expression is as follows:
   P(P1 leads an x, and P2 has an x, cut not x)
   = P(P1 has a pair of x, leads an x, and P2 has an x, cut not x)
     + P(P1 does not have a pair of x, leads an x, and P2 has an x, cut not x)
   = 0.0105 + Choose(4,1)*4^5*choose(12,5) * (Choose(3,1)*choose(43,5) + choose(3,2)*choose(43,4))/6*choose(38,1)
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Choose(52,6) * Choose(46,6) * Choose(40,1)
   = 0.0105 + 0.00878

Dividing the numerator by the denominator you get 54%.


text:
Rules Hole in Shobu
In the board game "Shobu," there are a few scenarios not covered by the rules.

There is no rule that stops players from recreating the same board state turn after turn (such as the rule in chess that creates a game draw after 3 repetitions)
Nothing is mentioned on what to do if you cannot make a move at all, which can happen multiple ways.

I have chosen not to make 2 separate questions for this because I believe that I can ask one single question to get my answers, that being:
Is there another definitive rules resource for Shobu that covers these scenarios? Or is there no such ruling, and I must make a house ruling?

what situation would cause you not to be able to make a move at all?

2 situations that I can think of off the top of my head (I don't have a board in front of me unfortuanately) are
First, a passive move on both homeboards is blocked by being "Cornered" (this situation is less relevant because it would be difficult to not lose next turn anyway, although I suppose it's possible for your opponent's homeboards to be locked similarly, causing a total game lock). Second, your homeboards each have only one piece in the bottom right, and the other 2 boards you have only 1 piece in the top left. No possible passive move can be matched with an aggressive move.

My apologies on my comment, I messed up my explanation. The second option would only be if you have the 4 boards with all the corners taken, so left homeboard one piece in bottom left, right homeboard one piece in bottom right, and mirrored onto the top corners for the opposing homeboards.

related thread on BBG: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2224335/no-valid-passive-move

No repetition rule exists. You are free to repeat the position as many times as you like.
You lose if you cannot make a legal move.

I messaged Manolis Vranas, the designer, on Facebook, and he says:

If you cannot make both parts of a valid move (Passive & Aggressive) then you lose the match.
  At the later stages of a game, board management can become very important, so you don't paint yourself into a corner.

As for the question "is there a rule regarding repetition?", he says:

Not in so many words, no. Since active play happens on all 4 boards - and the Passive part of each player's move must originate on their Home boards - you don't tend to see the back-and-forth repetition that you get in a game like Chess.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
Kalamax and Conspire
Kalamax, the Stormsire reads

Whenever you cast your first instant spell each turn, if Kalamax, the Stormsire is tapped, copy that spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.

The wording for conspire is

As you cast this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that share a color with it. When you do, copy it and you may choose new targets for the copy.

This brings up this question: If I tap Kalamax as one of the creatures to conspire an instant, does his ability see that he is tapped for his ability to trigger?

Yes, if Kalamax conspires to cast your first instant of the turn, you get 2 copies of that spell.
Tapping Kalamax for conspire happens before the spell becomes cast, since it's an additional cost:

702.77a Conspire is a keyword that represents two abilities. The first is a static ability that functions while the spell with conspire is on the stack. The second is a triggered ability that functions while the spell with conspire is on the stack. “Conspire” means “As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that each share a color with it” and “When you cast this spell, if its conspire cost was paid, copy it. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for the copy.” Paying a spell’s conspire cost follows the rules for paying additional costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f–h.

By the time the spell becomes cast, Kalamax is tapped and its own ability will trigger.

601.2i Once the steps described in 601.2a–h are completed, effects that modify the characteristics of the spell as it’s cast are applied, then the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time. If the spell’s controller had priority before casting it, they get priority.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
How many Dominion sets are there?
How many Dominion sets are there? List them all? Including base set, expansions, special, etc. Additionally, how many promo cards are there, and list those as well?

As of February 2024, there are 16 sets and 12 promo cards1.
In release order:

Dominion (Base game)
Intrigue
Seaside
Alchemy
Prosperity
Cornucopia
Hinterlands
Dark Ages
Guilds
Adventures
Empires
Nocturne
Renaissance
Menagerie
Allies
Plunder

A new expansion called Rising Sun will be coming in 2024.
And the list of Promo cards:

Envoy (November 2008)
Black Market (March 2009)
Stash (February 2010)
Walled Village (June 2011)
Governor (October 2011)
Prince (June 2014)
Summon (November 2015)
Sauna/Avanto (September 2016) 2
Dismantle (December 2017)
Church (2019)
Captain (2019)
Marchland (2024)

Separately there is also the Dominion Base Cards product; which includes the treasures and victory cards you need to play any setup of Dominion; without including any Kingdom cards. This allows players to purchase just an expansion without needing the base game, and allows 5-6 player games.
Guilds and Cornucopia, each being half-sized expansions, are currently only sold as a combined Guilds & Cornucopia set.
Dominion Base Game, Intrigue, Seaside, Prosperity, Hinterlands, and Cornucopia & Guilds each have both a first and second edition, with the second edition for each removing some cards and adding different ones. Due to some cards being different; you could count first edition and second edition as separate sets. Upgrade packs including just the new cards were released for each second edition. Other sets have received minor updates in later printings; but nothing as big as brand new cards.
Note that all sets through Guilds were planned as part of the original design of Dominion; while Adventures and beyond were created later due to Dominion's popularity.
All information taken from http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com.
1 "Cards" is used here to refer to all promos including Summon, even though Summon is an Event, not a Card, within the rules of Dominion.
2 Sauna/Avanto is a split pile; counted here as 1 card even though it is technically 2 separate cards.

There's also the Kingdom Dominion set, which is a stand-alone demo version of the game, featuring a selection of cards from various sets.

Interestingly, I can only find it on boardgamegeek in its Dutch release: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/184207/het-koninkrijk-dominion

Is the Dominion Base cards pack also the 5-6 player expansion "kit"?

@Jontia Sort of. The Base Cards pack combined with the original Dominion or Intrigue will give you enough cards to play 5-6 players. Otherwise there are only enough cards to play any other expansion with 4 players.


text:
Mindslavering a Mindslavered player?
If my opponent Mindslavers me, and then I Mindslaver myself, does it "override" my opponent's control? I assume it works the same as if someone, for example, Act of Treasons on a creature, and then someone else Act of Treasons it, simply gaining control again, but just making sure.

How do you plan to Mindslaver yourself if your opponent is controlling you?

@Glorfindel Because his opponent forced him to presumably.

I'd like some clarification on the timing here. Presumably the opponent activated his Mindslaver during his own turn. When are you activating your Mindslaver? During that same turn, while the opponent's Mindslaver's ability is on the stack? During that same turn, right after the opponent's Mindslaver's ability has resolved? During your own turn, while your opponent is controlling you? In that last case, I don't think there's any interesting interaction, since your Mindslaver will give you control of your next turn, not your current turn.

The timing is irrelevant to the question, considering the specification of which came first present in "and then" i mindslaver myself, but if you insist, my opponent mindslavers me on his turn. It resolves. Then i mindslaver myself, when i next recieve priority.

Thanks for clarifying, it makes sense to me now :-) I guess my confusion was in what the shorthand of "to mindslaver" stands for. If it means "activate and then resolve Mindslaver's ability", then yours resolves last. If it means "activate Mindslaver's ability and pass priority", then yours resolves first.

Understandable.

To be fair, Glorfindel and myself both read it originally as activating your own Mindslaver while under your opponent's control; as opposed to doing it ahead of time before you would be controlled.

Yes, your own control effect will override your opponent's, and you will make your own decisions.

716.1a Multiple player-controlling effects that affect the same player overwrite each other. The last one to be created is the one that works.
716.9. A player may gain control of themselves. That player will make their own decisions and choices as normal.


text:
Is there any way to get an instant or sorcery on the field as a permanent? What would happen if this occurred?
Is there any process or series of plays/cards that would allow an instant to be put onto the battlefield as a permanent, instead of resolving? Would it resolve anyway, even if not cast? Not including something like manifesting an instant, where it's not technically the card.

It's not possible, but it almost was.
In 2001, Wizards added this bit of errata:

The creature type of the tokens created by Splintering Wind has changed from Splinter to Sprite to prevent an unintended and strange interaction with the Splinter sorcery.

They don't say what the interaction actually is, but there's a good chance that it was related to the card Retraced Image (which would be released in Torment about 6 months later), which read

Reveal a card in your hand, then put that card into play if it has the same name as a permanent in play.

In the absence of rules 304.4 and 307.4, this would allow you to put the (Sorcery) card Splinter into play if you had a Splinter token in play.  Which is, as they say, "an unintended and strange interaction."
I have not been able to find any evidence as to whether or not rules 304.4 and 307.4 (which put the kibosh on these sorts of shenanigans) existed at the time.  They certainly existed in 2006, when Time Spiral reprinted Splintering Wind and reerrataed the tokens to be Splinters again.

iirc there was a similar issue to do with the Illusion half of the Illusion // Reality split card before the rules for split cards were changed.

There's a clear boundary between the two types of cards (one having a 'lasting' effect, the other a 'momentary' effect), and as far as I can see that's intentional. In the history of Magic: The Gathering, a handful of instant/sorcery cards with transform and/or manifest have been printed, and with some other cards it would be possible to make permanents of them, except for some very specific rules (mentioned by @doppelgreener) preventing this:

304.4. Instants can’t enter the battlefield. If an instant would enter the battlefield, it remains in its previous zone instead.
307.4. Sorceries can’t enter the battlefield. If a sorcery would enter the battlefield, it remains in its previous zone instead.
701.27d If a spell or ability instructs a player to transform a permanent, and the face that permanent would transform into is represented by an instant or sorcery card face, nothing happens.
701.33f If a manifested permanent that’s represented by an instant or sorcery card would turn face up, its controller reveals it and leaves it face down. Abilities that trigger whenever a permanent is turned face up won’t trigger.

Even if those rules didn't exist, the text on an instant or sorcery indicates what happens when the spell resolves. So if you could somehow get a Lightning Bolt on the battlefield as a permanent, it won't do any damage, not even when it enters the battlefield.

That's what I thought would happen. Printed text would happen upon resolution, doesn't matter if it doesn't resolve.

See also: 304.4 and 307.4, which are rules specifically preventing instants and sorceries from entering the battlefield, and 701.27d (transform) and 701.33f (manifest) which prevent face-down instants/sorceries from being turned face up.

I don't think any of those rules are superfluous.  304.4/307.4 handle interactions between Manifest and flicker/Journey to Nowhere type of effects.
701.27d was definitely created specifically to handle the interaction between Startled Awake/Persistent Nightmare and Moonmist or Waxing Moon with some kind of type changing effect.  701.33f handles interactions between Manifest and Break Open (and probably some other card I'm not thinking of).

@CALEBF you're probably right, but the OP already excluded Manifest.

Well, I took that to mean they didn't care that an Instant or Sorcery could be on the battlefield manifested because that was trivial and uninteresting.  If being manifested first was one of the steps that could eventually get a face up Instant or Sorcery onto the battlefield, I think they would still be interested in that answer (but those rules prevent those kinds of weird tricks).

One last thought that I was too late to edit into the previous comment: I haven't looked to be sure, but I remember rules 304.4 and 307.4 predating manifests, so those would have been superfluous rules prior to the release of Fate Reforged.

Sort of, but not really.
As Glorfindel said, not currently. However, this card was very recently shown at a MtG event where packs contained experimental/prototype cards. It does exactly what you're looking for.
Speculation: If they're testing out gameplay of this mechanic, they may be considering releasing something officially that does something like that.

Honestly, I think that the fact that this was included is a good sign they aren't planning on doing it.  It seems like something that has been on their radar for an extremely long time, and they wouldn't want to take away some of the wow factor by showing that they are still testing it.  I think the test cards represent things that they are pretty sure that they are not going to do, at least in that form.

The release notes describe those cards as "unprecedented peek inside an early stage of the design process". They have said elsewhere that part of the purpose of including the playtest cards is to gauge interest and reactions. So, I think it's not accurate to say that those cards generally represent discarded ideas.

Mark Rosewater has been pretty vehement that the 'playtest' cards are nothing of the sort.  They were created for the Mystery Boosters for the purpose of being entertaining, and are almost entirely unconnected to their actual design process.  I'm sure that they will get feedback from the cards and some of the ideas may end up actually being used, but the cards shouldn't be taken as indicative of anything.

I stand corrected, but still agree with @ArcanistLupus that this shouldn't indicate anything one way or another.

This is not possible under normal gameplay:

400.4a If an instant or sorcery card would enter the battlefield, it remains in its previous zone.

Of course, silver-bordered or other non-tournament-legal cards (including the Mystery Booster test cards) may bend the rules in ways not covered by the Comprehensive Rules. In such cases, absent official rulings, this would be up to your playgroup to decide. (The rulings for the test cards can be found in the Mystery Booster release notes.)


text:
Can you have a permanent become all permanent types at the same time?
Is there any combination of cards that could make a permanent all permanent types simultaneously? (planeswalker, land, creature, artifact, enchantment). I'm hitting a roadblock making something a planeswalker AND a land.

I know this is only tangentially related, but there is actually a way to have a permanent with no permanent types.  See the rulings on Neurok Transmuter for that fun interaction.

Yes
Play Gideon Blackblade. He will be both a creature and a planeswalker on your turn.
Play Mycosynth Lattice to turn it (and everything) into an artifact.
Play Enchanted Evening to turn it (and everything) into an enchantment.
Play Xenograft, naming saproling, to give all your creatures the saproling creature type.
Play Life and Limb to turn the Gideon Saproling into a land (forest) as well.
I'm sure there are other ways to do it, but this might involve some of the least complicated rules.
It's worth mentioning that there are other types that can apply to permanents:
Basic, Snow, Tribal, and a few other silver-bordered ones.

If you add a March of the Machines, everything is a Artifact Enchantment Creature, and your permanents are Artifact Enchantment Creature Lands - Forest Saproling. Be careful, as this will probably destroy your lands (well, your land cards in play, since they have CMC 0 and will be 0/0 creatures. I believe Forests will be OK, remaining at 1/1 creatures.)
Any planeswalker you play from that point on will be a Legendary Artifact Enchantment Creature Planeswalker Land.

I think in order to pull off what OP wanted you have to start with a Planeswalker because (AFAIK) there isn't a way to turn a non-planeswalker permanent into a planeswalker without copying it.  Also, the only basic type that we're missing (outside of Instant and Sorcery because they can't exist on the battlefield) is Tribal.  We'd probably have to figure out a way to copy one of the Tribal Artifacts or Enchantments onto the Gideon without overwriting the previous alterations, copy effects are probably out of the question.

Tribal isn't a permanent type, so we're fine. (It can go on permanents, but it can also go on non-permanent, so it's not a permanent type. )

For a rules reference for that, rule 110.4 explicitly lists the 5 permanent types.

Now with the new "Battle" type, while you can't get a permanent of all six types, you can get an Artifact Enchantment Land Creature Battle. (As far as I can see)


text:
Bay Window Defense Combat Strength Bonus
When a Bay Window is added to a tower and has 1 or 2 marksmen on it, does it provide +1 value to defense strength when resolving strength at any one wall section connected to it ? Or does it provide +1 strength to resolutions for both wall sections connected to the tower it is on ?

Looking at the rules here it says (emphasis mine):-

Gain 1 Strength at both Wall sections adjacent to this Tower
  during Melee combat if there is at least one Marksman present.


text:
Maxed Out Energy / Ecology values
What happens when a player reaches one beyond the maximum possible value on their individual board's economy or ecology tracks ?

Do energy and ecology values start being tallied beyond 7 ?

This thread on BGG suggests a co-designer has clarified that -7/+7 is not a hard limit.  I couldn't find the exact post to clarify that but one of the designers has been very active answering questions.
Something in the rules here say is.

Note: at any time, the players can recalculate their energy and
  ecology totals to check that they haven’t made a mistake

This to me would imply that you can move beyond -7/+7 as it can be recalculated at any time.  If you stopped moving at the extremes then its possible that the total couldn't be calculated in retrospect.


text:
Alliance and Territory Limit
When you have formed an alliance with another player, does the max 2 meeples per territory limit go away (as in 2 meeples of each player and in total 4 meeples can thus occupy any one territory and earn its resources), or does the 2 meeples limit per resource territory still apply regardless of alliances?

The limit stays:
Page 5: Movement:

At no point may more than two meeples, of any color, be in the same region

No exception is made for alliances.


text:
Can you finish a job without starting it?
Let's say I have a job card that says:
Start job: Load 2 contraband on planet X;
Finish job: Deliver 2 contraband to planet Y"
I have obtained contraband via some other means.
Is it possible to fly straight to planet Y and take a "Work" action that consists of just finishing the job and delivering the contraband?

If the job has pickup & drop off locations, you need to visit the two locations in the correct order to finish the job. If the job only has a target location, then you only need to go to one location for completion.
From the official FAQ on page 5:

Question: I don’t get doing Jobs: how do I do them?
..... Each Job will have either a Target or Pick-up
  Location on the card. You then need to use a
  Move Action to get your Firefly to the correct
  location ..... Once you’re at that
  Location, use a Work Action to progress the Job.
..... If the Job also has a Drop-Off Location,
  you’ll need to Fly again to the Drop-Off Location
  to deliver the Goods before completing the Job. If
  the Job only has a Target Location, you’re done.

Note the use of the word "need" - it never says that the pickup location is optional.
Think of it this way - if you told someone you'll give them $10 to pick you up a burger from your favourite burger joint, and they give you a burger they already had in their car from somewhere else, they haven't really done the job you were paying them to do.


text:
Can I move a wildcard after melding if I get 3 natural cards in canasta?
Can I move wildcards around, from set to set, to build a canasta?

No.
There is no specific rule that I can point to in the various online resources I know to quote; but there is nothing in the rules that says that this would be allowed.
You can add additional cards from your hand to an existing meld; if the rules intended for you to be able to move or remove cards from a meld they would list that as an option.

If you look at the rules for melding once a card is in a meld it cannot be picked back up with one exception for a meld that was played this turn which comes with penaltiess.
Rules

After drawing a card, a player may meld cards if (s)he wants to. Cards are melded in columns of at least three cards; e.g. you can meld three Kings, or four Fives. You cannot meld sequences like Four-Five-Six. Once a card has been melded, it cannot be taken back into the hand (except with the Undo meld option).

Note that the rules show a big advantage from not playing wild cards in your melds when possible.

A mixed canasta is worth 300 points, a natural canasta 500 points, and a wildcard canasta 1,000 points.

I have never heard of a wildcard Canasta; that sounds like something unique to that online implementation. By normal rules; a Meld could never be all wildcards.

@GendoIkari search for Wild Card Melds on this page for example rules. I've played this type of canasta many years ago. It is most certainly not specific to the online implementation.

@AndrewSavinykh Interesting, thanks. But it is a variant, not regular rules.


text:
If I play a card and playing that card stuns me, do I get to use the effect of the card still?
Currently the "Diary" horcrux is active which says "Each time a Hero plays an Ally, that Hero loses 1hp."
My hero is currently at 1hp and has an ally to play. That ally gives me a zap to use. When I play the ally and obtain the zap, do I get to use it against a villain or is it removed by me getting stunned? Our players are currently divided about the issue.

The way I interpret the rules is that you can use the zap. Here's what the rulebook says when being stunned:

Discard any or tokens you may have saved on your Player Board
  from other Heroes’ turns.If it is your turn, you may still play cards and take actions with whatever you have remaining after being Stunned.

The above was found on page 18 of the rulebook regarding Hero Health. View PDF Rulebook
I would assume that the stun happens immediately and you would follow the stunned steps from top to bottom.


text:
Do horcrux effects come into play before or after abilities?
After resolving the dark arts cards and villain effects, my character has 1hp. That same character has the "potions" proficiency, so if he plays a spell, ally, and item, any hero gains a hp and a zap.
My character does indeed have all three types of cards in his hand and will be playing all of them. However, the "diary" horcrux is still in play, which says "Each time a Hero plays an Ally, that Hero loses 1hp."
Does the horcrux effect come into play before my character's special ability? In other words, is my character stunned or do I survive this with 1hp? We are thinking that I am stunned.

From my previous answer regarding the situation, I don't think you can avoid the stun by gaining the heart. As soon as you play an ally the horcrux would trigger, causing the stun to happen and stunning states:

You cannot lose (or gain) [heath] any more this turn.

Then the card effects would happen. Here's a BoardGameGeek thread discussing this exact situation:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1677572/diary-affect-timing


text:
How should I ship cards?
Is there an agreed upon standard on how cards should be packaged and shipped when they're sold online on places like Cardmarket or similar websites? I have some valuable cards I'd like to sell, but have never done so before.
Do I simply ship them in a sleeve with an envelope? Or is something more secured the standard? We're talking single card sales here, so each card is out on the market individually.

A soft plastic sleeve (like the ultrapro or dragonshields used when playing a deck) in the mail is not enough support, and cards shipped that way that I have received have come in damaged. The best way to ship is in the rigid plastic top loaders, after that between two pieces of cardboard or poster board, something more rigid than the card(s) in the middle that will protect what you are shipping. Almost all cards I have received are one of these two ways, and none of those have ever been damaged during shipping.
If you use cardboard or poster board, you need to tape the pieces together, so they do not slide apart and the card slide out during shipping. A single piece of tape over the opening of a top-loader can also help, particularly with some top loaders that are larger than others. There is less risk of the card sliding out of the top-loader than there is of it sliding out from between two free floating pieces of cardboard, but the risk is still there.
As for what you ship them in, any envelope card size or larger will do. Magic the Gathering cards are Poker* sized cards are 3.5" by 2.5" and top-loaders are 4" by 3". The smallest envelope according to USPS rules that qualifies as a letter (for standard stamp usage) is 5" by 3.5" so anything around that size works perfectly to fit a top-loader.

*Yu Gi Oh cards are slightly smaller Bridge size cards at 3.5" by 2.25"

If using a toploader, you should also tape shut the top of the toploader.  It's fairly uncommon and difficult, but not impossible, for a card to slip out the top of a toploader in transit.  A simple piece of tape can eliminate that possibility altogether.

@Ertai87 true, I've gotten most toploaders in the mail taped, I'll update the answer.

Are the description of bridge and poker card sizes here backwards? Everything else I am seeing is that the wider (MTG-sized) cards are the Poker sized cards, and the narrower ones are bridge sized cards.

I order a lot of cards, and I can say the normal sleeve/tight sleeve/penny sleeve inside of a hard sleeve/top loader that is taped shut usually works nicely. They usually put that in a bubble wrap package. I have not had an issue with any cards I have ordered.

@Andrew in the case of taping the toploader, do so with the card upside down...I hate getting my boarders sticky...

@fireshark519 Agreed, really the card should be in a sleeve (penny will be fine) with the sleeve in the loader so the opening of the sleeve is not against the opening of the toploader

I've once had 15 cards or so packaged in top loaders in a bubble envelope arrive bent in the middle at a 45 degree angle, so nothing is safe from USPS :-) That said I was able to flatten all the cards out without any noticeable damage, so the good packaging was probably to thank for that.

@SamYonnou there's nothing that's 100% safe, other than getting on the road and hand delivering it. The point is to find the best balance between safety and the cost. The last card I got in the mail were from 2030 miles away, not feasible to hand deliver cards that total cost less than $20 including the shipping.

In addition to Andrew's answer, which is 100% correct, you can write "Do Not Bend" on your envelope.  I have heard that this will tell the post office not to put your envelope through the sorting machine, which can bend or fold your envelope, and hence damage your card.  Usually your card will be safe even without the "do not bend", but for extra safety you can add it.

Also feel free to add the 'Fragile" sticker too, but that just means "toss underhand"..., and if it's a significant amount of money, get insurance!

This may help in the sorting process, but the moment you cross borders all bets are off even in that regard. Besides, the moment your card encounters a mailman that's annoyed at who-knows-what the envelope won't be safe anyway. Never trust the mail system to care for your package. They don't. Wrapping up your cards is the only good solution.

"Do not bend" is surely just an instruction to the person delivering the mail not to bend it while putting it into the letter box. Everything is sorted by machine; if "Do not bend" was going to mean "Don't put this through the machine", then they'd have to pre-sort all the mail by hand to find those.

@DavidRicherby I'm not sure, but I've heard from people who do a lot of shipping (personal via TCGPlayer and/or have experience working for online stores) that "do not bend" means "do not put this through the sorting machine".

"Do not bend" probably wont hurt you, but it doesnt seem to be recognized by USPS to have any sort of officially recognized meaning.  If you dont want an envelope to be treated like a regular letter, it seems like you need to send it as a package or pay a surcharge.  At the end of the day, the best protection against bending is to just ensure that the package cant be bent in the first place.  If it can be bent, assume it probably will be.

Even if the card is well protected, "do not bend" or "hand cancel" instructions are useful.  Thick, rigid envelopes can get jammed in the machines, and you'll end up with a perfectly intact card being returned to sender in a torn up envelope.  I used to work for a store that regularly mailed patches, and we had that happen several times when people forgot to write special instructions on the envelope.

I would like to add, its always better to ship valuable items with tracking and insurance. So a normal USPS letter wouldn't be the best. Maybe use something like FedEx, UPS, DHL and so on. Its more expensive but way more safe*
(*citation needed)

If the buyer is willing to have it shipped by a more expensive option I would not mind, but I don't imagine my cards are quite that valuable.

@Gentlemoth it's more about to prevent the "seller shipped, buyer said it didn't arrive, wants money back" thing. It's protection for you and your money too

I usually put cards in soft plastic sleeve like ultrapro, and use bubble mailer instead of normal envelope. For more expensive ones I prefer to use rigid plastic top loaders. You can also add some cardboard for better protection. Few layers of paper also work.
You also should make sure that cards will stay in center of envelope and do not accidentally move. Bubble mailer is thin on side where it is sealed and offer less protection there, so cards should not move in this area.
Another thing to keep in mind that people who are stamping envelopers may hit it hard with stamp, what may damage card inside. Because of this card should not be directly under post stamps to reduce this risk.

Is a bubble mailer a padded envelope? Are people usually willing to pay the extra cost for that, or is it assumed on the seller to stand for the cost?

If you don't offer free shipping, it's not unreasonable to include the cost of shipping materials. Shipping fees aren't strictly pass-through freight costs. If you're not really in the business of it, just be up front in your posting.

@Gentlemoth: yes, this is this kind of envelope. S&H costs are specified separately, so buyer has to add then to final price. And of course you can do like Alex said, offer free shipping and increase price to cover these expenses.

The Cardmarket webshop has a FAQ answer for this.

How should I pack my order? If you are selling 1-16 single cards, you should:

Put the cards into sleeves (max. 4 cards per sleeve)
Seal the sleeve with adhesive tape.
Use a piece of paper between tape and the sleeve opening to prevent the tape from touching the cards.
Fix the sleeve(s) on rigid cardboard (e.g. a postcard, but not "normal" paper).
Use another piece of cardboard to "cover" the cards from the other side.
You may of course use a toploader, but only 1 card per toploader. And you need cardboard in addition.
  Send in a normal envelop.
Bubble envelopes are not a suitable protection for trading card
  shipments. We do not recommend to use bubble envelopes
For larger orders, we recommend to use piles of cards that you wrap
  into paper (like a present ;-)) to form a block. Make sure to fix and
  protect the block in a box or big envelope.

Using the FAQ like someone else but adding a few things.
If using a toploader, place card inside a sleeve, place sleeve upside down in the toploader and tape it, tape toploaders together if sending multiple cards.
Very important:
Tape the toploader to the envelope! I can't stress enough how this makes a difference, I had some cards arrive the other day (through the breach, engineered explosives and a noble hierarch) that the envelope was shredded to bits on one side but the cards were fine.
Always ensure that the type of postage is adequate, if you are sending 0-20$ worth of cards, use postage that covers that amount, you may risk without it as the risk-benefit (cheaper price) might be worth it for you.
If you are sending individual cards worth $50 or more, make sure the insurance will cover this
This might sound stupid but...don't use the money you got from the cards until you are sure they have arrived safely, the last thing you want is to have to refund $300 to someone while you wait for insurance (or not) but you are unable to as you already bought something else with it.
Be smart, keep safe!

Please source your quote.

The quoted instructions are worded in a way that makes it sound like bubble envelopes are strictly worse than normal paper envelopes. That is wrong. I think what they really meant is that toploader + normal envelope is better than just a bare card in a bubble envelope. This I agree with. Also I see no problem with having multiple cards in a toploader as long as then fit without having to be forced in. That said, 4 cards per sleeve seems a bit excessive and can damage the cards (depending on the sleeve of course; penny sleeves, for example, are huge).

@SamYonnou those are the instructions from cardmarket shop. I agree that bubble envelopes are ok, to be honest it is not as much the bubble wrap but the amount of glue it has, makes the outside better. But definitely needs the toploader inside. I would not put more than 2 cards in a sleeve inside a toploader. That said, penny sleeves can fit a ton of cards specially of lower value. If you ever order from SCG, I recommend using their small cases to ship valuables as they are simply the best!

@doppelgreener added now.

The Cardmarket webshop has a FAQ answer for this.  Let me just copy it here.

How should I pack my order?
If you are selling 1-16 single cards, you should:

Put the cards into sleeves (max. 4 cards per sleeve)
Seal the sleeve with adhesive tape. Use a piece of paper between tape and the sleeve opening to prevent the tape from touching the cards.
Fix the sleeve(s) on rigid cardboard (e.g. a postcard, but not "normal" paper).
Use another piece of cardboard to "cover" the cards from the other side.
You may of course use a toploader, but only 1 card per toploader. And you need cardboard in addition.
Send in a normal envelop.

Bubble envelopes are not a suitable protection for trading card shipments. We do not recommend to use bubble envelopes
For larger orders, we recommend to use piles of cards that you wrap into paper (like a present ;-)) to form a block.
Make sure to fix and protect the block in a box or big envelope.


text:
Texas holdem with an overall time limit
Is there a reasonable way to play Texas holdem in such a way that the game has a time limit? A way you can say "the game ends at 10pm" and then determine the winner/distribute the winnings in a fair way?
Some friends and I like to have a fortnightly poker game. Mainly as an excuse to get us all together as we are busy and don't get as much chance to catch up these days. Sometimes just getting us together is hard enough and because we play on a weeknight, some people become reluctant to commit setting aside a night to play because the games can drag on for hours.
You could stop the game at a certain time and say whoever has the most chips at 10pm gets all the money (we play with 4-6 people with a token $5-$10 buy in just for fun).
Another thing we have tried is when it's down to 2 people, the person with the most wins everything minus the "second place" holders buy-in which they get back.
It always seems murky and potentially unfair whatever we do though because tables can turn quickly and the guy with the most chips at can be broke after just one more hand for example.
Is a time limited game a thing? I have searched and there are all kinds of "limits" but none which seem to limit overall game time.

I've seen timed tournaments online (at sky poker for example).  Each players starting chip stack is equivalent to the buy in and when they tournament ends they get back the equivalent.   Also if you want to do you own research (as I don't know enough about to answer fully)  look up ICM or Independent Chip Model.  This is often used as a way of players negotiating final winnings if they want to end early.

Do you use progressive blinds?

I have not seen anything for an official rules for a time limited game but I have played in settings where there was limited time and players would come and go as they could.
In those situations we would set the chips and the buy in to an amount that can easily be converted back and forth. For example we would set chips to mirror coins (down to the smallest amount you want to deal with) and at the end of the night (or when someone needs to leave) they cash out for how much they had in chips at that time.
Since the games are just for fun there won't be a rush at the end to get a few more chips to win it all but just a general progression to try and at least break even.

You could always time the blind increases in such a way that when they get really high coincides with 10pm - you won't be guaranteed to finish at 10 on the dot, but you'd have a good chance of being pretty close to the end.
It's important to strictly observe the increases though. I've played in (friendly) games where we'd sometimes forget to increase the blinds, and after we realise it people would make comments which showed relief etc. ("No hurry", etc.) but this just prolongs the game - which is fine if you're happy to be playing all night, but if you want to be finishing it up in a timely manner, strictness is key.

Easiest solution is to play cash mode instead of a tournament mode.  In cash games every chip is worth money.  For example, if you play with 5$ you can give every person 500 chips of 1 cent.  at 10:00 PM count the chips and give money accordingly.

Maybe I am looking at this wrong but isn't this what I suggested?

it is, but I have bold over cash and tournament :).  The first time I read your answer I didnt realise I am repeating your answer.


text:
If I draw my Critical Miss card, can I apply its effect so as to mitigate it?
I don't have the rules in front of me so I may be using different terminology to that used in the rules.
Suppose I am playing as the Scoundrel and have taken the perk that allows me to add "(draw another card and) +1" battle cards to my deck. Now suppose I make an "Attack 3" on a monster. I draw one of my "(draw another card and) +1" cards. I duly draw another card, and it is my Critical Miss card.
Am I allowed to apply the effect of the Critical Miss card first, then apply the +1 after that? In other words, in what order do I do things?

first multiply by 0 (for the Critical Miss), giving 0, then add 1, giving 1?
first add 1 (giving 4), then multiply by 0, giving 0?
my choice of the above?

Or is there no ordering to be done and it's a blank "if the Critical Miss card is drawn and it applies to the attack, then the attack deals no damage to the opponent, no matter what other cards were drawn"?

I've possibly already answered this in a roundabout way here.
The short answer is none of your options.  The attack did no damage.
There is no such thing as a "miss" or "critical miss" card in Gloomhaven. The word 'miss' does not appear anywhere in the rules.  It is a 'null' card.
from page 11 of rules

A “Null” symbol means that no damage is done by the attack.

If you pull rolling modifiers and then draw the null card you did no damage.  If the base value of the attack and any other rolling modifiers do not come into play.
Its important to make the distinction between damage and effects.  if you attack added poison or you pulled a rolling wound these are still applied as these are not damage and the attack didn't miss as there is no such thing.

Another way to think about it is to apply the cards (and other effects) in order. Attack 3 (3 damage) Poison (4 damage) Rolling +1 (5 damage) Miss (0 damage, stop).

Remember though its not a 'miss'  its a null   I think the terminology is important here to avoid confusion.

I would have to check what the book refers to the card as, but it would not surprise me that most players refer to it as "miss."

You're correct.  My own playing group keep saying miss so I keep correcting.  The word miss makes is sound like you don't apply status effects when you do.  its important to call it a Null and not a miss.

Sure, sure. For my (one) group it was just looking at the rules and finding, "oh, you still apply status effects on a miss." For my other group, I think everyone had played before, but hilariously one person's first group had done everything wrong. The only specific I remember now was that ranged enemies would pick a focus, move away, then pick a new focus for the attack. But there were like seven or eight things we had to correct. We still regularly forget to give out Bad Idea Cards (Battle Goals), though.


text:
Does Wind Demon card 648 cause it to attack twice if it can spend wind?
Wind Demon card #648 shows a template attack and then says "[spend wind] +1 Attack [different template]". If wind is available to spend, does it make two attacks (one with the first template, the second with the larger template)? Or is the "spend wind" effect meant to modify the first attack (so it gets +1 attack and uses the larger template instead of the smaller)? It is not clear from the card and we cannot find clarification in the rule book.

The rules say

Elemental infusions can be used to augment the effects of certain abilities.

So if wind is consumed the wind demon will perform move + 0 and Attack +1 with the greater AOE.
If it was to perform at attack again it would say Attack +X, If you look at this Cave Bear card for comparison which has two attacks.

Re "If it was to perform at attack again it would say Attack +X", Succinctly, Attack X and Attack +X add an attack action, while +X Attack adds to an existing attack action.


text:
Spades rules on trumping in after spades are broken
In Spades after spades are broken can any player trump in even if he has the suite that was led?  Or does he have to be out of the suite that was led before he can trump?

As in most traditional trick-taking games, a player must follow suit if able. Breaking spades only allows a player to lead spades, i.e. to play a spade as the first card of a trick. Players can only play a spade on a non-spade trick if they have no cards of the led suit.


text:
Words of Worship and Nefarious Lich
Suppose I have Nefarious Lich and Words of Worship in game. When I draw a card, I can pay 1 to draw 5 cards instead. But can I pay 2 and draw 9? Or, repeating this, can I pay X to draw 4X in addition to that first one?

You can only draw at most five cards from this. You could however gain up to 25 life.
Replacement effects can only be applied to an event once, and not indefinitely:

614.5. A replacement effect doesn't invoke itself repeatedly; it gets only one opportunity to affect an event or any modified events that may replace it.
Example: A player controls two permanents, each with an ability that reads "If a creature you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that damage to that permanent or player instead." A creature that normally deals 2 damage will deal 8 damage-not just 4, and not an infinite amount.

Nefarious Lich has a ruling reminding us of how that applies here:

If you were going to gain life and you also have a replacement that can turn card drawing into life gain on the battlefield, you can gain life by using the Lich to turn the original life gain into card drawing, and then using the other replacement to turn a card draw into life gain. Nefarious Lich will not replace the life gain with a card draw again because it has already acted on this event.

Here's how that works out. When you draw a card, that's the event. You can replace it using Words of Worship:

{1}: The next time you would draw a card this turn, you gain 5 life instead.

... which turns the “draw a card” event into “gain 5 life”. This is still the same event, it's just doing something different now. That effect will in turn be replaced by Nefarious Lich:

If you would gain life, draw that many cards instead.

This turns the event into “draw five cards”. This is still the same event, just doing something different again.
If you had activated Words of Worship twice, the second Words of Worship replacement effect would see this event and replace one of the card draws to make this event: “Gain 5 life and draw four cards”. If you'd activated it six times total, these last five would would replace all card draws in this event, and turn the event into “Gain 25 life”.
You might be looking at the lifegain and thinking you'll draw cards, but remember: Nefarious Lich has already applied its replacement effect to this event to transform it once. Its replacement effect will not apply a second time. This means no life gain from this same event will be turned back into cards.

So I can't just have a lot of cards "for almost free" and have to use Greed

Well you do turn one card draw into five, which is pretty damn good, you just don't get to have tons more of them within the same event.


text:
Are numbers greater than 20 legal hints in Codenames? I.e., "911, 3" for "plane", "event", and "skyscraper"
From what I could find in the rules,

Letters and numbers are valid clues, as long
as they refer to meanings. You can use X: 1 as
a clue for RAY. You can use eight: 3 as a clue
for BALL, FIGURE, and OCTOPUS

However, they didn't give any example of numbers greater than twenty like "twenty-one", "twenty-two", "four hundred twenty-six","nine hundred eleven", "nine eleven", and "nine one one"  which are borderline more than one word, and more than one word is clearly stated in the rules as not allowed unless it falls under the section "Flexible Rules" for pronouns and hyphenated words. Below 21, all numbers are one word like "thirteen", "seventeen" etc.
I'd like to do "911" aka "nine eleven" for the terrorist attack on 9/11 2001. It is probably equivalent in terms of ruling to "nine hundred eleven" and "nine one one", as in should probably be treated the same in the rules (whether allowed or not allowed).

I disagree with your conclusion about the 3 phrasings being the same. Even if "nine hundred eleven" is deemed valid because it is a single 3 digit number, "nine one one" or "nine eleven" is not. They may be "spelled" the same, but "nine one one" is three separate digits/words, and "nine eleven" is two separate numbers/words.

@GendoIkari That’s true that one is a single 3 digit number and the others are multiple words. I did not think of that. I just thought about the amount of words/spaces in between. I completely agree with you now

When I've answered you other questions about validity of clues I've always focused on "Don't be too strict'.  if they rules don't explicitly say no, your group are enjoying it, and the clue is in spirit of the game it's probably fine.  I've given years as clues in Codenames and Just One.  they are fine as clues as they can be helpful or unintentionally mislead like any other clue.

Codenames enjoys a variety of flexible rules and often it's up to the opposing spymaster to allow cases like this. 9/11 could definitely fit in either of the following 2 flexible rules, but since they are flexible rules, it's best left to the group to decide if it's allowed or not.
While technically wildly different, 9/11 is not just a date, but it's the common name used for an event. Just like Super Bowl are two words, most groups would allow it as a compound word.

Compound Words
English has three ways to write a compound word. Greenhouse is one
word. Pack rat is two words. Mother-in-law is hyphenated. Technically,
only greenhouse can be a one-word clue. You can decide to allow any
compound words. However, in no case should a player be allowed to
invent compound words. Lunar squid is not a valid clue for MOON and
OCTOPUS.
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Technically, CIA is not one word. But it is a great clue. You can
decide to allow common abbreviations like UK, lol, and PhD. And words
like laser, radar, and sonar are always allowed, even though they
originated as acronyms.

Remember, don't be too strict. If the opposing spymaster allows it, the clue is valid. If you aren't sure, ask your opponent. (Quietly, so the others can't hear.)

Just as the rules say your group might agree to treat "New York" as a word, even though it is two words and therefore not allowed by the stock rules (and so the topic would need to be brought up and agreed upon before the game), your group might agree to allow numbers ("nine hundred and eleven") as words, even though some numbers are more than one word.
I don't think you could reasonably stretch that to dates, phone numbers, or other strings of digits, though.


text:
Are possessive apostrophes legal in Codenames? For example, "women's 3" for "health"
So I want to say something like "women's 3" to indicate "health" which is a card on the board. If I did just "women 3", it's not as likely that my guesser would guess health. You often hear "women's health" or "men's health" magazines or websites, which is what I want to elude to with my hint.
However, when I says "women's 3" out loud, it could either be "womans 3" "womens 3", "woman's 3", or "women's 3", the first two aren't proper words you find in a dictionary, and the last two are somewhat "a word + a non-word/punctuation notation" because of the apostrophe s?
The rules say

Your clue must be about one word.

And

Don't be too strict.

And the following which is a given, but I'd like to know the general consensus of players because the game has a lot of flexible rules, so to figure out what rules are generally accepted by most players, asking StackExchange here might be the best option.

If the opposing spymaster allows it, the clue is valid.

I suppose this is more of a subjective question since "don't be too strict" has multiple interpretations. My thoughts are it's not too overpowered of a clue so we shouldn't to be too strict, but at the same it's not a proper word or it's a "word + a non-word/punctuation notation"?
I've asked another question about if contractions are allowed in Codenames, but I don't think it's a duplicate since even though both have apostrophes, they do differ in what rules they break. The other one might break the more than one word rule, and this one might break the invalid word rule.

"Woman's" and "women's" should be distinguishable when spoken. Even "women's" and "womens" can be distinguished by pronouncing the s in the former as a z (and the latter isn't grammatical, anyway).

If it's one English word and it's a clue about the meaning(s) of the word(s) on the table (and it isn't a form of any words on the table, etc.), then it's a valid clue, yes. Apostrophes are not prohibited.
(No rule to cite; it is difficult to prove a negative).
For the question of "women's" vs. "woman's", etc., you are free to spell it out so as to disambiguate the clue (and should if asked) .

You are allowed to spell out your clue.

You should spell out your clue if someone asks.

How would you consider "woman's" to be about the meaning of the word health?

@Andrew : The clue under consideration is "women's", not "woman's". And the obvious answer lies in the phrase "women's health". But really, that's a question for the OP; it is unrelated to my answer specifically.

That's splitting hairs, neither singular or plural is about the meaning of the word health, it combines with health to create a phrase, yes, but a phrase containing a word does not point to the meaning of that word.

@Andrew. Yes, it does. "health" means health in "Women's health", so the clue is about the meaning. You can also clue "cone" with "snow", for example. Or the example given in the rules: "You can use eight as a clue for BALL," But again, that's a comment for the main post. It has nothing to do with my answer.

Health means health? The first rule about talking about the meaning of a word is you cannot use the word to define itself. the phrase uses the word like any phrase or sentence ever does, that does not make the phrase about the meaning of the word.

See the rules: "You can use eight as a clue for BALL". And again, really, this is unrelated to my answer.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

I'm really surprised by the quoted rules. "You are allowed to spell out your clue. You should spell out your clue if someone asks." This appears to be the exact opposite of the rules included in the French Codenames edition, which state "You are not allowed to spell out your clue, unless someone in your team asks you to. If someone in your team asks you to spell your clue, you can either spell your clue, or state that you refuse to spell your clue."

@Stef Hmm. The French rules on https://czechgames.com/en/codenames/downloads/ make no prohibition but instead only address spelling out the word in the case of being asked: "Vous êtes autorisé à épeler votre mot si quelqu’un le demande." (You are allowed to spell your word if someone asks.)


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Is Codenames meant to played in American English, British English, Australian English, or any of them?
I'm playing Codenames online in an iOS app called Codewords, but I do not know the demographics of the game in general. When someone gave me the clue "rob", I picked "nick" because in informal British, nick means "steal" or "prisoner", and it was wrong. I am not British; I'm American, but I assumed the game was meant to be played by all demographics. Unlike playing in real life where you should play it based on where you live like if you live in America, you should just stick to American definitions, this is online, so I was wondering if the game was intended for a certain type of English or it could be any.

As you noticed, there is really no intention for an online implementation (or, I should say, with strangers). The activity is largely about how to connect shared experiences with your teammates. If I know you're British, then that would open up a new set of clues.

Why would you assume it was from a British meaning?

@JoeW I assume that because I assumed the game is played by every English-speaking person, American, British, Australian, etc. so I figured they would also assume the same thing that their words are subject to any English interpretation (American, British, Australian). I didn’t want to assume everyone who played the game was American.

But what gave you reason to think it meant that instead of an american meaning? Seems strange to jump to that conclusion just because it can be played world wide. What was the clue for?

@JoeW What do you mean by instead of an American meaning? I first look at the general definition that is accepted worldwide "a small cut or notch", and then I look for foreign definitions like American-only, British-only, Australian-only. Because it can be played worldwide, that is exactly why I take into account all possible foreign definitions, like completely the opposite of your logic. "rob 3" was for "thief", "shop", and a third one but the game hasn't finished.

Codenames was designed by Vlaada Chvatil, a Czech game designer, and in its original form was published by Czech games edition. So in that sense, the answer is none of the above.
More generally, the best clues in Codenames are the ones that will lead your team to guess the right words, which means you should assume that you are playing in whatever version makes sense for the players. This can include consideration of things like pop culture references (will your team understand that "Mine" is a clue for "Seagull" because if Finding Nemo?), but also deeper cultural associations.
If your team is all from the US, you should feel safe using American English as the baseline for your clues. If you don't know whether your fellow players speak American, Australian, British, Singaporean, Canadian, whatever English, then you have to use clues that are (to your knowledge) as common across them all and hope for the best.


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Are contractions like "I'm" legal according to the rules of Codenames?
There are some words on the board, "fine", "good", and "lost". I'd like to use "I'm 3" to hit those words as spymaster. Would that be against the rules?
This is the closest rule I could find in the official rules for the standard edition of Codenames.

Compound Words
  English has three ways to write a compound
  word. Greenhouse is one word. Pack rat is two
  words. Mother-in-law is hyphenated. Technically,
  only greenhouse can be a one-word clue.
  You can decide to allow any compound words.
  However, in no case should a player be allowed
  to invent compound words. Lunar squid is not
  a valid clue for MOON and OCTOPUS

I'm not sure if contractions are considered compound words though.

TL;DR.  'I'm' is fine as a clue.  Others may disagree but they are 'looking for trouble'!
The rules to Codenames here give lots of rules on what is or isn't a valid clue.  I think the most important is this heading

DON'T BE TOO STRICT

They also say

Sometimes you have to make judgment calls about what is valid and what
is not. Different groups may prefer to play the game differently.

and

anybody who says you can't say sparrow when ROW is on the table is just trying to cause trouble.

I think the rules are weirdly clear that this is a game where rule lawyering is NOT encouraged.  They say if you're not sure they to asked your fellow spymaster but I think the insinuation is to keep the game light and fun unless its a very clear rules break.   This is a light party game after all and should be kept that way.  To reiterate  "DON'T BE TOO STRICT".
Saying "I'm" is something that is very common usage and a clue people will know.  It's not like you've invented something "OKIsland" to indicate 'Fine', 'Good' and 'Lost'. or nonsense like "Penal'TV".  Yes it might be a contraction of two words but it's common usage is said as one word.
I'd argue that a clue like "'Twas'" is valid for "Night" and "Christmas" as it is said out loud as a single word
You might also to want look at this English StackExchange question which debates if "It's" is one word or two. If you type "It's" into a word processor and do a word count then it counts as one word.  "I'm" does the same.

The other aspect is that if you're ever not sure whether a clue is valid, you can ask the opposing Spymaster. As long as they're ok with it, it should be fine.

"this is not a game where rule lawyering is NOT encouraged" - I think the double negative here is unintentional. Don't you mean this is a game where rule laywering is not encouraged?

@Will.  yes that was unintentional.  edit made thanks.


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Is using a distinct pitch or tone in your voice for your hint legal in Codenames? I.e., "colddd" to link "blanket" and "Arctic"
To link "blanket" and "Arctic", "cold" could be a clue because the Arctic has subzero temperatures and a blanket is something you put on if you are cold at night. Saying "cold" with an extension of the sound in your tone like "colddd" could help your guesser hit "blanket" better because it gives the clue that cold can be an expression of someone who is cold.
Other examples include sounding out "ding" to "dingggg" if you want to hit "dent" but also "bell" and "phone" better since it might suggest to look for clues that sound like ding.

Only some of the consonants in the english language have pronounciations that can be extended, and 'D' & 'G' are not amongst them :)  I don't know what you intended by "colddd" and "dingggg" but I'm reasonably confident that what you've written isn't it.

(For reference, I believe only these consonants can reasonably be extended: 'f', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'r', 's', 'v', 'w', 'y', 'z')

@Brondahl I think it's clear the OP means cold-d-d-d (stuttering to repeat the final sound) and ding-g-g-g, aka dinginginging (simulating the resonance/echo of a bell). Or similar, anyway. Codenames's clues being spoken, not written, means the actual translation of these to written form shouldn't be the focus, though.

@Brondahl In IPA, "dingggg" would be /dɪŋː/, as there isn't actually a /g/ in "ding".  I think that "colddd" refers to intensifying the aspiration on /dʰ/.  In any case, it's about non-standard emphasis rather than the particular way that emphasis plays out.

I don't really see that this adds anything to the clue, to be honest.  I wouldn't be any more or less likely to guess blanket with either pronunciation.

I gave a similar answer to a different question here But this is a different question with almost the same answer.
The rules here say

DON'T BE TOO STRICT

So if the word is a legal clue then there is nothing in the rule to say you can't use a certain voice.  I guess the balance is you couldn't use Western Film accent to say "Paris" to give a clue for "Cowboy" and "France".
Also its worth looking at the rules for Homonyms which say (emphasis mine).

Some people prefer to allow a more liberal use of homonyms. You can allow knight to be a clue for night-related things if that makes the game more fun for you.

You can apply that rule to making sounds with you clues.  Would saying "colddd" make the make more fun for your group?  If so then yes it would be fine.
In general if you're not sure if a clue is legal ask your self, Do the rules specially say you're not allowed to do it?  If the answer is no, and your group are having fun then the clue is almost certainly fine.

I guess the one thing to watch for is that if you're designing a whole language which you convey via vocal ticks, then rather like blinking at your partner in Bridge, you're no longer playing the game you're supposed to be playing.

It looks like this could reasonably be considered to violate either the rule that the word must be in English ("colddd" is not in any dictionary of the English language) or the rule that your clue must be "only one word" without any additional hints.
That is: it's not "only one English word without any additional hints". With the extra information you're attempting to convey in the manner you say the word, you're either turning it into the non-English word "colddd", or you're adding additional hints to the word "cold".
As some of the comments note, though, you're not really getting any extra benefit from trying to add the hint in this case, so you should probably just stick to "cold, 2" in the first place (it still means "cold"), but that's just kicking the can down the road.
If the way you say a word matters, then that probably constitutes an "additional hint".
Consider a different example: clueing the two words "opera" and "monkey" by singing "gorilla" in opera form like "Figaro". One word, sure, but with additional hints added in the way you pronounce it.
But, as always, it's up to your group how much you want to hew to the rules, as per the "golden rule" of Codenames:

If the opposing spymaster allows it, the clue is valid. If you aren't sure, ask your opponent.

Obviously "colddd" with three "d" would not be used anywhere during the game. OP put it this way in the question to indicate regular world "cold" (single "d") pronounced with specific tone. Therefore, the fact that "colddd" is not in any dictionary of the English language, is completely irrelevant, since this would only apply to in-game situations, not to OP posting a question on a web site.

"Obviously" yes, as I said. either "colddd" or extra hint(s) are being imparted to the word (i.e., it being pronounced in a certain way). And additional hints are restricted by the rules. So either the clue is not an English word ("colddd") or it is a word ("cold") plus additional hints.

Codenames is not a hard game to break. All the clue giver needs to do is not have a full control of their facial expressions, and things are spoiled. Just reaching for a red or blue card too early can break things.
Even if players don't have facial expressions there are other ways to pass information completely legally that is not in the spirit of the game. Let's say you have your team read out loud all the words, and give your clue when they say your word. Legal, but I would not keep playing with that group.
Sp now we come to your question. This is just another way to leak information aside from the very analytical Codenames rule set. I would say don't do it. The spirit of the game is very explicit. You state one word, and it is a specific word. In fact the game tells you to spell the word if the specific word is not clear. It also tells you not to use words for anything but their meaning in relation to other words. Don't give card locations, or something about the spelling of the word. I am pretty sure the designer did not want you to use noises or intonations either.
The way I read the rules when you guess a word, you should be able to explain why that word, not the noise, not other hints, lead you to pick it. If you can't you are not following the spirit of the game.

"When the spymaster gives a clue, his or her field operatives try to figure out what it means. They can debate it amongst themselves, but the spymaster must keep a straight face. The operatives indicate their official guess when one of them touches one of the codenames on the table." According to the official rules the spymaster can't use facial expressions and gives the clue before the operatives debate anything so what you are suggesting is against the rules as written.

@JoeW Yeah, but that 's not a rule that's possible to enforce, if someone wants to break it

It isn't that hard to enforce and it is a rule so breaking that rule is breaking the rules and not just violating the spirit of the game. They included it for a reason and also included rules about not reacting when players say the names of cards or reach out to them. No matter how you look at it what you suggested is breaking the rules.

@JoeW I don't understand what rule you're referring to. The spymaster is of course not allowed to speak, except for giving their clue. But the operatives are allowed to speak. What rule do you propose to "enforce"?

@Stef That the players should not be watching the spymaster to see how they react to what they are saying. That the discussions shouldn't really involve the spymaster at all and they should just answer if the word they point to is valid or not. There are plenty of ways to break the spirit of the game by how the spymaster acts and they should just be giving clues and checking the responses.

I have been in a game where the opposing team made up their own clues, and what cards they go with, until they had a good "hit" and then the spymaster gave that clue to the team. I just don't play with those people anymore

"That the discussions shouldn't really involve the spymaster at all and they should just answer if the word they point to is valid or not. " So the players should just propose words without discussing them, and say "yes" or "no" until they can agree on a word? That seems really less fun that the games of Codenames I've been playing. We discuss a lot. That's what makes the game fun and interesting. We explain what we think the clue might mean, whether we think that's a reasonable explanation, etc. We talk we talk we talk. We certainly don't just "answer if the word is valid or not".

@JoeW Furthermore we often discuss future moves. For instance we're hesitating between two words. So we say something like "let's try word A first. If it's not it we'll try word B next turn". That's not intended for the Spymaster, that's intended for the operatives. But of course the Spymaster will hear it - and they would be a fool not to take it into account when they choose their next clue. For instance, they could give us a clue to some other words, and let us hit word B. Or they could give us a clue about the words we're hesitating between, so we'd change our mind and decide not to hit B.

@JoeW There's no good way to prevent that. You can't reasonably ask the Spymaster to put their hands over their ears to prevent them from overhearing the operatives' discussion. You can't ask the Spymaster to leave the room while the operatives are discussing. You can't ask the Spymaster to pretend they didn't hear the discussion and "choose a clue as if you hadn't heard us". How would the Spymaster even know what clue they would have chosen if the circumstances had been different? That doesn't make a lot of sense.

@Stef While I disagree, I have played this game many times and we never had a problem with any of those issues. For starters we don't discuss situations about which words we will try on future turns because we know it will influence the spymaster and in general we don't take actions that will work to influence the spymaster. There is no need to ask the spymaster to do anything if you are not taking actions that will influence what they might do next by telegraphing your actions. When my group plays we keep it at discussing the clue and how we think it relates to the words left on the table.

@Stef If I was to make an honest judgment on what you have been saying it appears you are looking for ways to bend the rules so that the spymaster has an easier time giving clues to the rest of their team. All of that can be prevented by the team not taking actions to telegraph what they may or may not do on future turns.

@JoeW Are you saying that if your team has one last word to guess in relation with the clue given, but you are hesitant between two words, you will not discuss it?? That sounds unrealistic of me. We're not trying to bend any rules, just trying to enjoy the game. Discussion between team members appears to be the heart of the game. I've played with many distinct groups of people and never met someone who wanted to forbid these kinds of discussions.

@Stef We will discuss what we are going to chose based on the clue given but we will not discuss what we might do next turn or on any future turn. All our discussions are about what we think the current clue means. We don't allow discussions about trying a word on a future turn as we don't feel that is in the spirit of the rules.

@JoeW: If you say "The clue could refer to word A or word B, let's hit word A" and it turns out that word A was neutral, do you then pretend that the Spymaster has no idea you might try word B in the future?

You are definably allowed to say things like "we know the other word for cow, so give us a new clue, and add one"
There is also nothing against "we have 2 words left. We will say words until we say word 1, at that moment give us the clue for word 2" but that's not a good time

@Stef I think you are overthinking this and the spirit of the game is to try to avoid the players instructing the spymaster on what clues should be given.

I would disagree that saying things "we know the other word for cow, so give us a new clue, and add one" is in the spirit of the rules and should be avoided at all costs.

@JoeW I think you are overthinking this and I never suggested the players should instruct the Spymaster; however, I also think discussion between the operatives should be encouraged, as it's what makes the game fun. For this reason I disagree with your "avoid at all costs", if "all costs" translates to "the operatives are not allowed to talk".

@Stef It sure sounded like you where suggesting giving the spymaster instructions by hinting at what you would pick on the next turn if the guess on this turn was wrong. I have never said that discussions shouldn't happen but they should be careful about talking about future plans and other topics that would guide the spymaster as what they should be saying. When my group tried things like that at the start we found it quickly ruined the game.

@JoeW I don't really have "a group", we tend to play codenames with lots of different people; however we've never found this to ruin the game. In theory I would agree that the spymaster shouldn't be hearing the operatives' discussions if we really wanted to play a very-serious-high-stakes-codenames-tournament; however in practice we found that it doesn't matter, and any rule about restricting discussions would do more harm than good.

@Stef I think you need to remember two things. First the game rules suggest that you play the way that is fun for your group. If that is the way your group wants to play because it is more enjoyable go for it. Second is that my reading of the rules is from how it worked out with my group and how various things impacted our enjoyment of the game. In the end the rules are very clear about playing in a way that is fun for you but the spirt of the rules from my reading is to limit the information that the spymaster receives from the team.

My interpretation of the (default) rules on homonyms is that the way you pronounce the word may be variously "colored", while staying within limits of at least occasional pronunciation of the word in the given language, and if you are requested to spell the word as per the rules on homonyms, you should spell it "c-o-l-d".  If you have to repeat the clue upon request, you should be trying to produce the same sound every time, as if it was the only way you can pronounce that word.
Dictionaries cover even standard pronunciations, not just the standard written forms of words, but dictionaries can hardly be taken as exhaustive.  It's better to consult with the opposing spymaster beforehand.

I don't know if I would go that far as it would cause troubles for people who do have issues with pronouncing certain words or stuttering problems

@JoeW - If a person normally or at least occasionally pronounces a word a certain way, then that's by definition a legal way for them to pronounce the same word while playing Codenames.  When I'm refering to a possible request to repeat the clue, that is, I'm afraid, quite inevitable to endure when a few players didn't hear or didn't recognize the word.  I'm advising to choose a spelling and a pronunciation and just stick to both.


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If you have two words left to link as spymaster, but they are extremely related to an opponent's word, what should you do?
In about 10% or more of my games, I find myself in a tricky dilemma, where it seems almost impossible to link two words without hitting an opponent's card or a black card. I don't know if using a two hint clue or a one hint clue would be wiser here.
Wall, brush are my words left. Their other words are picture and one other irrelevant word left.
The hints I can think of are "mural 2" or "graffiti 2", but both have high risk of hitting picture.
In this scenario, should I use a one word or two word clue? What are advantages/disadvantages of each. Perhaps there's a way to link those two without hitting picture, but assuming there is none for the sake of this question, what are the pros and cons of each play?

Have you considered using a "zero" clue?

@TheChaz2.0 Wouldn’t that use up a turn, and it would take 2 turns to win like a zero clue and then a 2 word clue? I could simply do 1 word each time like “barrier 1” and “broom 1” to win in 2 turns. Or do “photo 0” and then “mural 2”, but it would end up with the same result as 2 turns. Also it has the risk of the opponent picking the card where you put “photo 0” so you may end up helping your opponent.

The rules mention an optional Expert rule: "0" clues.
"You are allowed to use 0 as the number part
of your clue. For example, feathers: 0 means,
"None of our words relate to feathers."
If 0 is the number, the usual limit on guesses
does not apply. Field operatives can guess
as many words as they want. They still must
guess at least one word."
In this case, if you say "photo, 0" they will know "picture" is NOT one of your cards. You may want to leave this until the end of the game when there are only few cards left, otherwise it doesn't narrow it down much.
You should agree at the start of the game that this is allowed and what it means.

anticipate. Try to get those clues in other sets in previous turns.
give a clue that fits all three but makes your spies wonder which of the three they should exclude. The goal is to have them think along the lines of "if it was brush and picture, he would have said painting; if it was picture and wall, he would have said hang." Here, you could say "decorating." This only works with experienced players.
think laterally. Try to find connections in a very different domain from the other team's word. E.g. plastering, scrape, fire.

The most important thing to consider is not how many cards each team still needs to win, but how many turns they need. You should be more willing to take risks in cases where success will decrease the number of turns you need while failure will not decrease the number of turns your opponent needs. For example, assume for a moment that other than the current turn, a team can always get 2 cards per turn, and on the current turn you can either get 1 safely or 2 with a high chance of giving your opponent 1. Then if you each have 4 cards left, you should take the risk (your opponent needs 2 turns no matter what you do, but you'll need 3 turns if you don't take the risk), while if you each have 5 left then you should not take the risk (you need 3 turns no matter what you do, but your opponent will only need 2 if you give them a card).
Now in reality, it's not as simple as getting 2 cards per turn - if you and your opponent are at similar skill levels then I suggest actually pretending you are in your opponent's chair and try to figure out clues for their team as well in order to tell how many turns they need.
(For your specific example, it sounds like you need 2 turns no matter what because by assumption any two-word clue you give will run your team into 'painting'. If you give your opponent 'painting' then they definitely need only 1 turn while if you play it safe then they may need 2 turns, so you should play it safe.)


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Is it legal to use poetry elements/sound devices as hints like "alliteration 3", "assonance 3", and "rhyme 3" in Codenames?
Poetry elements/sound devices include alliteration, assonance, consonance, and rhyme. An example of a clue would be "assonance 3" for "code", "control", and "candy". I checked the rules, and I'm unsure. This is the most relevant rule:

Your clue must be about the meaning of the
words. You can't use your clue to talk about
the letters in a word or its position on the table.
Gland is not a valid clue for ENGLAND. You
can't tie BUG, BED, and BOW together with
a clue like b: 3 nor with a clue like three: 3.

Unlike "b", "alliteration" actually lives up to its meaning as a hint that it's similar consonants at the beginning of words. However, the words "code", "control", and "candy" don't have anything to do with alliteration itself in the meaning. I suppose the line "You can't use your clue to talk about the letters in the word" makes it illegal, but it's fuzzy.

As stated in the various answers, the rule you quote definitely disallows alliteration etc. The reason for that rule, in my opinion, is to maintain replay value. There are 400 words in the base game, and many hundred more if you mix in various expansions; that's a lot of word combinations and most of them require you to think up new interesting links. But no matter how many thousands of words may be in your box, there are still only 26 letters and fewer common ones, so if clues like "alliteration" were allowed then they could be used far too often.

Nothing fuzzy about it. The meaning of "code" has nothing to do with "alliteration", as you note.

The rule is that clues must be about the meaning of the word. Alliteration, assonance, consonance, and rhyme are all about the construction and pronunciation of the word, and have nothing to do with the meaning of the word, they would very much fall under the quoted rule and be illegal clues.

As you quote, "Your clue must be about the meanings of the words." The "alliteration" clue is decidely not.


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If using an anagram solver is possible/permitted in Scrabble, what additional strategies should you use?
Often on online multiplayer apps of Scrabble and Words With Friends, you have unlimited time to make your move. As a result, most people use anagram solvers to "cheat". However, because this "cheating" is so common, it's been the norm and possibly may need to use it to be competitive in the app.
What additional strategies should you use given that you have an anagram solver tool? I would think aiming to get "Bingo" more often, playing 7 letters to get 50 bonus points.

I think I once read that some high-level players avoid making bingo plays because, while it does give you a lot of points on that one turn, it can reduce your points for the next few turns since your whole set of tiles will be totally random after a bingo, so there's no way to plan ahead and no guarantee that you can do anything good at all on the next turn. I can't find the reference though, so take this with appropriate skepticism :)

Take advantage of the board
If both players play the same number of tiles, then they will on average play the same number of points.  By playing your tiles on the multipliers of the board, you can increase the number of points you get to greater heights than your opponent, while denying your opponent the ability to use those same multipliers
Prevent your opponent from taking advantage of the board.
It is only possible to play on squares that are accessible to the existing tiles on the board.  Your opponent will play immediately after you - they have an opportunity to use any multipliers that you've uncovered before you get a chance.  Deny them this opportunity whenever possible!
Use as many tiles as possible
The number of tiles you draw each round is dependent on the number of tiles you play.  So if you play exclusively 6 tile words while your opponent plays only 3 tile words, then you will end up drawing twice as many tiles than your opponent, which means you will have access to twice as many points.  This is in addition to the massive point bonus achieved for using all 7 tiles, which should be taken advantage of whenever possible.
Maximize the use of your high value tiles
A multiplier space is only as good as the tile you place on it.  A 3x letter multiplier is only worth 2 extra points if you play an 'S' on it.  But if you play a 'Z' on it, it's worth 20 extra points.
Maximize the use of the existing tiles on the board.
The points you get are more than just the tiles in your hand - it's also the tiles already on the board that are part of your word.  That means you should look for ways to use the high value letters already on the board in order to add their points to your own, and to prevent your opponent from using them.

Very frequently, these strategies will be in conflict with each other.  It is up to you to weigh them and figure out which one is to your maximum benefit at any given point in the game.


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How much of an advantage does it give to draw all 2 blank tiles and/or 4 S tiles in Scrabble?
I'm playing against someone who I've had close games with, but now they're up 110 points in a game (they have 420, I have 310) where they drew all the S's and blank tiles. I wonder if this is a coincidence or drawing those tiles have a significant advantage like on average being worth a certain amount of points or additional score.
According to the answer here, a blank tile is worth 25 points to an advanced player: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/a/31913/26603
How about S's worth, and combined with drawing all blank tiles?

A "certain" amount? no. But the ballpark is: you already have 50 (two blanks), so then it's just a matter of adding the four esses. And then factoring in all the other variables (going first, etc.) I'd say it's unlikely the four esses amount to the other 60 points, but it's not a science. There's no one true answer.

@L.ScottJohnson I'm looking for "on average". In the other case, it seems on average 25 points per blank tile for a good player. Wonder what would be the case on average for blanks + 4 S's

"2 blanks and 4 esses" is uncommon enough that not enough statistics are available to make a statement of average beyond the level of guess.


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When is it worth playing around "s" in Scrabble? I.e., trying not to spell words that "s" can be appended to for a parallel word
I often find myself in situations where I have to choose between a high scoring word where the opponent can stick s to score highly, or if I should pick a lower-scoring word that you can't add "s" at the end of to make a parallel word. I suppose it's different for every board, like depending on tile position and lead, but as a general rule, what cases, if any, should I play around "s"?

just to avoid the issue of free points, where I play, we have a house rule that you can't add a lone S after an existing word.


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What are the differences in strategy going first vs going second, vice versa, in Scrabble?
My initial thoughts: when going first, you have no choice but to open the board, but you get to choose how you want the board to be opened, most likely based on your rack and if you know your opponent's playstyle. When going second, you can choose to either open the board more or close it, but you have less control over how the initial board is opened.
I feel like I might be missing more than just those differences though.