HOW TO PLAY BOUNCED

You’re in line at the hottest club in town. The bouncer wants the password. There’s no single password: tonight, any word that fits his secret rule works.

WORKS OR BOOMP

Say any word. If it fits the rule, it works. If it doesn’t, BOOMP: you get bounced. Every word is a clue.

GETTING IN

When you think you know the rule, step up and say 3 new working passwords in a row: a lamp lights for each one, and the third gets you in. A miss ends the attempt, and you get 2 attempts a night. Fewer total tries is a better score. After 40 tries it’s last call.

WHAT DOESN’T COUNT

Words you already said, simple variants of them (plurals, -ing, -ed), and words the bouncer has never heard of don’t count against you.

RULES AND RED HERRINGS

Rules can be about spelling, sound or meaning, like “words with a double letter” or “words that rhyme with cat”. You start with one word that worked and one that got someone bounced. Watch out: on some nights those two share something that has nothing to do with the rule.