Description

A crossword card game from the late 1930s during a craze of such games, published by a newspaper company. Its games are a slight twist on the usual rules of its rivals.

There are 54 cards in the deck. 52 of them have a letter and a value from 10 to 50 (the Q card actually has two letters, QU); there are also 2 jokers (wild cards) worth 100.

The rules to 6 games are given:

Cross-O-Grams: For 2+ players (but if 4 or more, 2 decks are recommended). Deal 12 each. In a turn a player either makes a word on the table from his hand, or draws one and passes; if his hand only X, Y or Z he may discard one of those before drawing. Words are at least 2 letters long, and after the first word, new words must intersect or extend previous words, crossword fashion. A hand ends when a player goes out or the draw pile runs out. The value of the cards in hand goes to the winner of the round, and the highest total wins after an agred time; or, players get their own totals in hand at the end of a round, and when one player reaches 500, the lowest total wins.

An-O-Grams: For 2-8 players, but use 2 decks for 4+ players. Deal 12 each. In a turn, a player: plays a word of 3+ letters to the table in front of him; or adds 1+ letters to a word on the table to make it a new word (without changing the letters' order), taking the word to himself; or draws 1 card and passes. Simple endings (-S, -ED, -ER) are forbidden. The round ends when a player goes out or the deck runs out. Each player scores the points in front of him minus the points in hand; a player who goes out before the deck runs out doubles his table points.

Casino-Grams: For 2-4 players. Take out the jokers and deal 4 to each player and 4 face-up to the table. In a turn a player plays one of his cards to the table and does one of the following: A) makes a word with it and other table cards, placing the word in front of him; B) builds toward a future word, combining 1 card with table cards, announcing the letter(s) he has that will be played later; C) steals a word from someone else by adding a letter to it and making a new word; D) leaves it on the table with the other table cards. After the cards are played, 4 more are dealt to each player (but no more to the table), and play continues. After all the cards are played, the one who made or stole the last word gets the remaining table cards. Each player gets 1 point per card he has on the table; the game is won on reaching 100.

Cross-O-Gram Solitaire: Like Klondike, 7 piles are dealt out of height 1-7 cards, the top one exposed. Combine the visible cards to build words into a crossword array. When stuck, start turning the remaining deck 3 at a time and use those cards to continue. (Or, do it 1 at a time, going through the deck only once.) You win if you use up the whole deck.

Cross-O-Gram Double Solitaire: The solitaire above played with 2 players, with decks of different colored backs. Take turns playing until you can play to the table. The game ends when neither can add anything to the crossword, and the one with the most cards out wins.

Canister Solitaire: Deal the whole deck into 8 columns face-up, fanned vertically so you can see what's coming. There will be 6 each in 4 columns, 7 each in the other 4. Repeatedly make words only from the letters at the bottom of the columns, discarding them as they are made. You win if you use all the cards up.