A Few More “Ghost” Quizzes For You

People seemed to enjoy the last game. So I’ll put a few more up, to mull over. I don’t know how many more of these I can think of, because I am trying to come up with situations where it looks like the opponent has put you in a difficult position, but there is a way to turn it to your advantage. And there probably are not that many such examples of letter sequences, bur it’s fun to try to think of them.

Just a response to the issue of “foreign words.” There is no rulebook for “Ghost.” There are no formal competitions, like for Scrabble or Bridge, where there are rules, and even officials to settle disputes. Ghost is a game which I played with my parents, and then with friends; and I think I also read about it in a book or magazine as a boy. So one can play it as one wishes, but for the game to be the most fun, I think it should be limited to commonly used words in America, even if they are sometimes esoteric, or originated from a foreign country, as almost all of them did.

Use only American spellings, or you will have people adding a “u” to HONO, to turn honor into honour. No suffixes or plurals. No slang. This is not snobbery or parochialism, it is just that you want as few disputes as possible, or the game can be spoiled. Interestingly, my parents and I rarely argued about whether a word was valid or not, we just seemed to agree on the basic rules. It’s actually a fun game, not unwieldy, moves right along.

Here are some challenges to try. Again, I thought of these, I did not research sequences or use a dictionary, that would not be right. So ideally you should not, either!

1. He starts with S. You say Y, for SY. He says L, for SYL. You respond with?
2. You start with S. He says T, for ST. You say Y for STY. He says L, for STYL. You…?
3. You start with G. He says R, for GR. You say A, for GRA. He comes back with V, for GRAV. Do you have a winning play? Yes, I would not have asked if you did not!
4. He starts with M. You say O, for MO. He says R, for MOR. You say…? There may be more than one answer to this, but I have picked the only one I can think of which looks like a sure winner.
5. You start with C. He says R, for CR. You say A, for CRA. He says V, for CRAV. What do you do?

Answers below

1. You say P, thinking of Sylph
2. You say U, thinking of Stylus
3. You say A, thinking of Gravamen, a word often used in legal arguments or decisions
4. You say D, thinking of Mordant
5. You say A, thinking of Cravat