[1]Pat4inted Dec. 9, 1941 2 1 2 6 5 @ 3 3 4 UNITED STATES ,,PATENT OFFICE 'John W. Mubr=tW, Ew Rwiaway, N. Y. AiDipHeation Mmmber 17. 19;8, Said No. 240,293 3 Claims. (CL 35-35) This Invention relates generauy to a card game and more specineany to a word and sentence f,6rmlng game PlaYed with 'cards representing lnittal and flnal consonants and consonant combinations, and vowels and vowel combinations. 5 The present game utuizes the principles of word formation observed In the study of stenog-, raphy and used-in itie arrangement of letter keys on the keyboard of Stenotype machines. It is known that most English words begin or end with 10 consonants and have vowels In intermediate p6sitions. It is also recogniwd that certain letters occur more frequently than others. The keys of a Stenotype machine a@6 arronged in three groups, a left Wtial consonant group, a middle 15 vowel group and a right final constant group. Within the groups, the keys are arranged with the keys representing frequently used. letteri in the positions ea.slest for the :ftngers to operate. However, the present disclosure applies such -20 principles to the devisement of a novel, educational and cultin- Al card game. In this game a player's skul depends in a large measure on the extent of his vocabulary, and in playing the game he Is encouraged to refer to a dictionary and 25 therefore enlarge hts sphere of knowledge. An object of the Invention is the provision of sets of vowel and consonant cards of a number and character to wbich they are needed in formIng words and,sent6nce's. 36 Another object of the invention Is the division of letter cards into lwtial consonant, intermediate vowel and ftal consonant groups to put a greater element of chance and skill Into a wordforming card game. 35 A further feature of the present Invention Is the distinctive coloring. of cards representing various word parts, thus providing means for rul'Ing an order or arrangement of cards to enhance theiWtial6onsonant, intermediate vowel and Mal consonant cards may be colored red, white and blue, respectively, and this-eoloring may govern the allowable left'to right order of playing the 45 cards. A still further object of the invention is the provision of value or count-figures on each card, the size of the value of each card depending on the frequency or rarity, with which the letter 5 , 0 combination thereon is found In words. Infrequent letter cards are given greater value in order to encourage the players to strive t,o.form large and unusual words. rMe objects and advantages of the inveiition 55 will be fuuy set forth in the following description, made In connection with the accompanying dmwing, wherein: n. 1 is a plan view illustrating the faces of =teen cards, :ftve typical cards of each of the 00 three sets of Initial consonant, lnterm@Mate vowel and ftal consonant cards. Plg. 2 Is a plan view ShOwing the fifteen cards of lMg. 1 after, they have been played and arranged to form words and construct a sentence. PU. 3 shows a seven letter, seven cud word wherein the iarious colored cards are lnterspermed of the game is discards; one cards such as card 1, Mg. 1, one hundred white. vowel cards 22, and vne hundred blue nnal cons@nant cards 23. in Mg. 1 it Is seen that each card Is Printed with a letter or letter combination In the upper left hand comer, and simnar c haracters in a reversed position in the lower right hand corner, so that in either position the face of a card discloses the , characters In an upright position at the upper left comer. In the lower left hand comer of eadh card is printed a number which is the count or game value of the card. The nijmber Is duPlicated in a reversed @@tion at the upper right hand comer of the card so that no matter how the card is tumed, a number appears in a read-, able Position In the lower left comer. The colors 'appear On the face of the" cards as well as on the reverse side. Wide stripes may be substituted for solid color. The letters and nu]@lerals appear in contristing color. In the group of :dve red cards 21 at the left it Is noted that card values vary, from 1 to 8 and that the frequently used T eard has the small Value, and,the relatively infrequent Bp. card is credited with the largest value., The center vowel group brings out the'same feature when it is noted that the comnion vowels have a smalier count than the count of 4 on the vowel combination OU card.22. The blue cards at tbe right GHT card. The flfteen cards sh6wn in Mg. 1 are an eXample of how a Player's hand appears after he has received his quota of cards. He then tries to arrange them to form one or more words, keeping in mind that 9, word must either start with a red card or end with a blue card according to a rule of the gltme. Becau@e there is a bonus given for a complete sentence th6re is an incentive to flnd correlated words rather than separate unrelated wordg. The holder of a hand such as that in Mg. 1 is unusually fortunate because he clan use all cards in a complete seritence as shown In Mg. 2. Such an arrangement Of words Is worth a credit of 51 Points which is arrived at by adding all the separate nimbers on the ilfteen cards. In addition to the card credit the player gets -a bonus of 100 Points for the the value of skiu in putting letters together to 40 - illso SHOW the variation in value from tle construct words and sentences. ]For exa@ mple, common R card to the comparatively lilfrequent
[2]sentence, and'he also gets the credit valu@s on aU unplayed cards in the other Players' hands. Beforo going further into the details and rules of the i@ame it Is believed advisable to first consider the lists of Ietter cards. Certain letters are 5 used more often and with greater, ease. In the followlng lists It is apparent that such frequent ietters are represented by more cards, but that the cre@ut or game value attached to them Is smaller than the value a@sigried to the. Infre- 10 Although the foregoin@g lists of three hundred card identifications represent game elements giving great variety In word combinations, it @is also possible to use fewer cards In each set and yet have many @word elements. The following three lists contain fifty cards In each consonant and vowel set, one hundred and flfty cards In all. I Initial consonants (red cards) I Con- Nlumber 'Value of Con- Number Valtie of quently used letters represented by a single card. sonants of cards each card sonants of muds each card Initial cons6nants an@ff initial consonant --- combinations (red cards) ----------- 6 1 WH ----- c ----------- 6 1 G ------ --- 1 6 p ----------- 3 2 FR ------ -- 1 7 B ----------- 3 2 PR ------ - 7 Consonants Number Value of Consonants Number Valueof, T ----------- 3 2 TR ------ - 8 of cards each of cards each card w ---------- 2 14 SH -------- 8 m ---------- 2 3 TW ------- 8 s ----- ----- I CH -- ---- 1. 7 TH --------- 2 3 CH ------- 9 D -- 2 4 THR----- C ----------- 10 7 H --------- 2 4 J ---------- 1 19 p ----------- - 8 2- 1 --- --- 1 7 0 B ----------- 7 2 PL -------- 1 7 20 F ----------- 8 K --------- I 10 N ---------- a Q ----- ---- 1 10 T-----------6 2GR---@ --- 1 7-,---- 5 PL -------- 10 w ---------- 5 2 ST -------- 1 7 R ---- 6 ST -------- 10 m ---------- 4 @3 KNI ------ 1 7 TH --------- 4 3 I 8 y --- 1 6 D ---------- 4 3 BR1 8 H ---------- 3 4 K --------- 1, 8 F ----------- 3 4 Q --------- 1 8 @5 intermediate vowels (white cards) N ---------- 3 4 SP1 8 L ----------- 2 4 STR@ ----- 1 5 R ---------- 2 5 Dli ------- 1 9 Voweli Number Value of vowels Number value of y ---------- I 5 sm ------- - 1 9 of cards each card of cards eaeb card WH 1 5 FL -------- I 9 0 ---------- - 1 5, CR ------- 1 9 FR --------- 1 6 GL ------- I 10 A ----------- 9 1' Al -------- 1 7 PR --------- 1 .6@ SW ------- 11 10 So F ------------ 9 1 10 -------- 8 TR --------- 1 6 BL I 10 0 ---- 8 2 IE -------- 7-- , 8 1 6 @z__ I 10 I ---- 7 8 AU ------- 11 TW -------- 1 7 u ---------- 3 4 Eo 1 9 ou --- ----- 2 5 01- :_::::: 10 El -------- 10 EA --------- 2 Zntermediate vowels and interinediate viDWel EE-- I 6 IOU ------ 100 I 7 combinations (white cards) 35 oo-- Fi n al c o n s o n a nt s (b lu e '@owels Numl@er VRIU@ Of vowels Number Value of. of cards each card of cards each card ConNumber Value of ConNumber valu . e of *---- -- --- sonants . ofeards each card sonants of cards each card, isAU--@ ---- 1 840 *.... Is I BO ------- I 9 0 ------- ---- 17 2 01- . 1 9 N 4 1 1 7 .10 R ---------- 4 2 LD ------- I 7 1----------- 14, 3El -------- 1, u ------- 5 4 EAU--- I 10 T ObF -------- 4 4 OA -------- 3 2 L --------- 1 7 I 10 3 K I 7 EA --------- 3 5 IOU ---- - - I 100 ND -------- 33 9 OHT ----- I 8 EE --------- - 3 5 OB -------- I 10 45 P ----------- 2 4 ------- 8 00 -------- 2 6 UA ---- - -- I 10 D ---------- 2 4 NY ------- 8 AL -------- 2 7 IA -------- I 10 y 2 4 SS IO ------- 1 7 UR ------- I 10 1 .5 IE-- RS ---- 9 -------- 1- 8 10 NG -------- 1 5 B v ---------- 1 5 NS -------- 9 LL ----- 1 5 RD ------- 2 Final consonants and ftnal consonant go w -------- :- 1 6 RT ------- 1 10 ;Combinations (blue -cards) NT -------- 1 6 GH -------- I 10 TH --------- ------- I 10, ------- 1 6 TS -------- I 10 6.1 CT p----------- LY --------- 10 CH -------- 1 7 Consonants Number Value of Conw,,t, Numbw Vedas of of cards e"b ofeards owhead - as A single PlaYer or any number of persons can N---------- 9 2NS....... 8 play @the 9-m ; however, for more than ten B------------ :8 2RD . --. 8 T--@ -------- 3BT::-:--. @l8 ' persc)ng, two or more -sets of car& shouid be S ----- 7 3 OH ------- I 8 used. 5 CT-- 1 9 ------ 5 WN-:-:-:- .1 9 The dealer may be @ chosen first after each D --------- 4 4 NLY ----- I 60 player pidm a card from any deck, the liolder -Y --------- .3 4 RN@ I m ---------- 3 4 I of the card with the highest value.numeral is NG ------- 4LP -------- 1 9 dwler. v--- 4NO-@ ----- 9 2 5 -TS ---- --- 1 9 After the dealer shuffles -the three decks, live w ------- I 5 I 10 cards of each deck are dealt to each piayer. in NT ---------1 5x----- EL -------- TH 10 65 other words, each player Is given fifteen card#; ST ---- -- 10 five red cards, -five white cards and five blue.cards. P-- 10 CH ---------- 1 6 TTL----- 10 After dealing, the dealer tums an three deck ----------- I. 6 CK-- LD ----- I 6 NK.:7 10 with the cards face;down, and the decks In @a left 10 L I 6 10, to right order @of. red @ *hite @and blue. He then I 1 'TY 10 lo tums the top card ;f each deck and piam it Ry --------- 1 .7 -RTY. I 10 next to the related deck. I 10 NY -------- 2 7irT-- - The player on ihe left of the detaer b" fird 09 ------ I 10 RS ----- Z --------- I 10 chance. Aftergeanningthenatureof,the:nfteen 3 car ds In bis band the, player has the dwgce of to dmwing a single card from any,one of six-soureel
[3]He may take the exposed initial consonant cilrd, or the unexposed top red card, the exposed vowel card or the unexposed top white card, the exposed final consonant card or 'the unexposed top blue card. After drawing the single card the 5 playir puts down the cards representing aU words vvhich he is able to construct with sixteen cards at his disposal. One rule of the game requires that all words formed with the cglrds and used In the game mil t either begin with a red card 10 or end with a blue card. 7he arrangement of the cards in hand In a red, white and blue order from left to right wM -be found to facilitate the formation of words. When nnished forming words the player discards any card In bis hand. 15 The discarded card is placed face up next to the deck of the same color. The discarded card is not necessarily of the- same color as the drawn card. Any card in his 4imd may be discarded. After the :drst player. has completed his play, 20 the person at his left has his chance to draw a card from any of the six sources. Tn playing, the second player can form separate words or prefer@ ably a sentence for which extra credit of 100 points is given. If possible the second player adds 25 a word or.words to the words formed by the first player to create a sentence. For the latter difficult play the player Is given an extra credit of 150 points in addition to the credit value of the cards played. 3 0 All the other players play in the same fashion in theii respective tums. The object of the game Is for the player to dispose of all of his cards by forming words as quickiy as possible. The first player to use aU 35 his cards obtains the cr@-fflt therefor, and in addition he gets the credit values on all the cards remaining iii the hands of the other players. . For example, the player of the sentence in Mg. 2 receives a card credit of 51 points, plus a 40 sentence credit of 100 points, plus tbe card credlt of all cards in all other players'hands. The other players receive credit for the cards they have put down in the form of words. 3:f a player used only seven cards as sh6wn in Mg. 3, he receives a 45 credit of 27 points for the word Culture, but the credit on the eight cards remaining in his hand goes to the winner of the hand. - The winning score may be taken to be 500 or 1000 points, or the highest score at the end of ro certain predetermined numberof deals. In order to add greater variety to the game, the following prefix cards and suffix cards n2ay be added to the cards listed hereinbefore. These prefix cards may be colored red and added to the f,5 initial consonant cards, and the suffix cards may@ be colored blue and added to the final consonant cards. Another way in which the preflx and suffix cards may be employed is to color them -- different than the redi wl-dte or blue cards, for 60 example the'prefix cards may be colored yellow and the suffix cards colored violet. Then the order of ]@lay Is preflx, initial consonant, vowel, final consonant, suffix, or, by color, yellow, red, whit@o, blue and violet from left to right. 65', Number Value of Number Value of Preflxes ofeards each card SufFixes of cards each card - IN ---------- 4 1 rNO ------ 4 170. RE --------- 3 1 MENT --- 3 1 DE --------- 2 2 ORY ----- 2 2 CON ------- 2 3 ANY ----- 1 2 PRO- 1 4 TLON-- 1 3 DIS -------- 1 4 ISE ----- 1 4 rRE -------- I 5 ALLY-- I 5 76 Another and more difficult way in which the game may be played is one wherein all kinds of cards are mixed in one common deck, either before or after dealing. Then the players have only two sources from which to draw, the single exposed card or the unexposed card at the top of the composite deck. T2ie rules outlined hereinbefore may be used, the only change being the composition of the three decks Into one deck. The cards may be used to play a game poker fashion by dealing out five cards to each player, two Initial consonant cards, one vowel card and two flnal consonant cards. When using a composite deck, the flve cards would be of an unpremeditated assortment. Then each player may discard as many as three cards and draw the same number of cards as he discarded. 7he holderof cards forming the longest word is the winner providing that the cards have been arrangqd by the piayer. Even though a tie may result in the length of th6 words held by players, the winner may be determined by calculating the ]@dghest. valued word by adding all scoring amounts ozi the word cards. Word ties may be settled by adding the values of the unused ones of the flve cards. However, length of word takes precedent over value of word. The cards may be used to play a word and -sentence ganie in a solitaire,. fashion. A player may deal himself fifteen t cards and limit the ni,mber of discard and draw operations to ten. After ten operations, a player able to score over a5 points of word values may consider that he has playdd better than average. The novel features of the disclosed word game may be applied to enhance the game known as "Anagrams." . In this modiflcation, the elements 21, 22 and 23 of Fig. 1 may be made of smar flat square, or rectangular, blocks of wood, rubber, or-composition matter, each block bearing a letter or letter combination with or without the scoring numerals. The biocks may be colored red, white and blue when liearing word beginnings, vowels and word endings, respectively, and so guide a player when he draws a block from the blind to supply a word part that he needs to flll out a contemplated word. From the above description It will be apparent that there Is thus provided a game of the character described possessing the particular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but whic.11 obviously is susceptible of modifleation in its form, proportions, detail construction, and arrangement of parts without -departing from the principle involved or sacrificing.. any of its advantages While, in order to c@mply with the stitute, the Invention has been, described in language more or less specific as to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprise the preferred form of several modes of putting the lnventlon Into effect, and the invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modIfications within the legitimate and -valid scope of the appendecl claims. Having thus described my invention, I
