Glossary of game and puzzle terms

210 words used in the games and guides on DailyGameClub, from sudoku and crosswords to card games, board games, darts and bowling, each explained in a sentence or two and linked to the guide that covers it.

A

Algebraic notation: The standard way of writing chess moves (Nf3, exd5, 0-0), used in the move list. How to Play Chess: Rules for Beginners
Anagram: A word made from the same letters as another in a different order (STOP, POTS, SPOT). Quick Word and Big Word: 4 and 6 Letters
Anchor: A point held in the opponent’s home board in backgammon. Backgammon Rules and Basic Strategy
Archive: Earlier days’ puzzles, kept for 60 days. Archive games count toward your statistics but not toward streaks or leaderboards. How to Keep a Daily Puzzle Streak Going
Around the Clock: The darts game of hitting 1 to 20 in order and then the bull in as few darts as possible. Darts 301 Checkouts: Table and Tips
Arrow (word games): The mark on a guessed letter that is in the hidden word but in another spot. Daily Word Strategy: Openers and Logic
Atomic number: The number of protons in an atom; the periodic table is ordered by it. Periodic Table Memory Tips for the Quiz

B

Bag: In Spades, a trick won beyond the contract; ten bags cost 100 points. Spades Rules and Strategy: Bids and Bags
Balance (Sun & Moon): The rule that every row and column holds equal numbers of suns and moons. Sun & Moon Puzzle Guide: Balanced Rows
Ball save: The grace period at the start of a pinball ball when a drain returns the ball. Pinball Tips: Flipper Control and Scoring
Bar: The middle strip of a backgammon board where hit checkers wait to re-enter. Backgammon Rules and Basic Strategy
Base (Ludo): The coloured corner where a player’s tokens wait until a six brings them out. Ludo Rules and Strategy for 2 to 4 Players
Bearing off: Removing backgammon checkers from the home board at the end of the game. Backgammon Rules and Basic Strategy
Before-and-after: A grouping trick in which four words all precede or follow the same word (FIRE, FOOT, HAND, SNOW before BALL). Four Groups Guide: Spot the Red Herrings
Bivalue cell: A sudoku cell with exactly two candidates. Advanced Sudoku: X-Wing, Swordfish, Chains
Blocked grid: The British crossword style with black squares between answers, where every other letter crosses (the Daily Crossword). How to Solve Crosswords: Tips That Work
Blocked hand: A dominoes hand in which nobody can play and the boneyard is empty; the lightest hand wins it. Dominoes Rules: The Draw Game to 100
Blot: A single backgammon checker on a point, which can be hit. Backgammon Rules and Basic Strategy
Boneyard: The face-down dominoes drawn from when a player cannot play. Dominoes Rules: The Draw Game to 100
Book: Four cards of one rank in Go Fish, laid down for one point. Go Fish Rules and Simple Strategy
Breaking hearts: The first heart played in a hand of Hearts, after which hearts may be led. Hearts Rules and Strategy: Dodge the Queen
Bridge word: A word with many neighbours, through which word-ladder routes pass. Word Ladder Guide: Solve in Par Every Time
Bust: A darts turn that goes below zero, to exactly one, or to zero without a double; it does not count. Darts 301 Checkouts: Table and Tips

C

Call: The number of tricks a Call Break player promises to win in a round. Call Break Rules and Bidding Strategy
Caller: The voice, here the game or the server, that announces each bingo number. Bingo Guide: 75-Ball Cards, Lines and Houses
Candidate: A word, equation or code that fits every mark received so far. Daily Word Strategy: Openers and Logic
Castling: Moving the king two squares toward a rook and the rook to the square the king crossed, once per game under conditions. How to Play Chess: Rules for Beginners
Centre letter: The letter in the middle of a word wheel that every word must use. Word Wheel Guide: Find More Words Faster
Chain (Dots and Boxes): Boxes joined end to end, each missing two sides, so that opening one gives all of them away. Dots and Boxes Strategy: Chains and Control
Chain (Golf and TriPeaks): A sequence of plays each one rank up or down from the last. Golf Solitaire Guide: Leave Fewer Cards
Chance (Five Dice): The score-sheet box that scores the total of any five dice, best kept for a bad roll. Five Dice Guide: Score Sheet Strategy
Chase the lights: The Light Switch method of clearing each row by pressing the squares beneath its lit squares, then fixing the last row from the top. Light Switch Guide: Chase the Lights to Zero
Check: A chess king under attack, which must be rescued at once. How to Play Chess: Rules for Beginners
Check and Reveal: Crossword help that marks wrong letters or shows a letter or word; a helped grid counts for your streak but is not ranked. How to Solve Crosswords: Tips That Work
Checkmate: Check with no escape; the game ends. How to Play Chess: Rules for Beginners
Checkout: The darts that finish a leg from a given score, such as treble 20, treble 20, bullseye for 170. Darts 301 Checkouts: Table and Tips
Chequerboard search: Firing at every second square of a Sea Battle grid so that no ship of two or more squares can hide. Sea Battle Strategy: Place and Hunt Smartly
Chunking: Grouping cards or facts into blocks to remember them as units. Pairs Memory Game Tips: Fewer Flips
Clue bar: The line above a crossword grid showing the current clue and letting you switch between across and down. Mini Crossword Tips: Solve 5 × 5 Grids Fast
Compulsory capture: The checkers rule that a player who can jump must jump, and must keep jumping while able. Checkers Strategy: Win With Forced Jumps
Confinement: When all of a region’s open squares lie in one row or column, so that line’s crown must be in the region. Crowns Puzzle Guide: One Crown Per Region
Contract (Spades): A team’s combined bid, which it must make together. Spades Rules and Strategy: Bids and Bags
Control (Dots and Boxes): Being the player who never has to open a long chain. Dots and Boxes Strategy: Chains and Control
Corner (reversi): A square that can never be flipped, and the most valuable square on the board. Reversi Strategy: Corners and Mobility
Counting argument: Matching a set of rows or columns to the same number of regions that fit inside them, to exclude other regions from those lines. Crowns Puzzle Guide: One Crown Per Region
Cradle: Holding a pinball flipper up so the ball rests on it, ready for an aimed shot. Pinball Tips: Flipper Control and Scoring
Crossing: A square shared by an across and a down answer in a crossword; each letter found is a clue in the other direction. How to Solve Crosswords: Tips That Work

D

Daily mission: The pinball goal that is the same for everyone today, worth a large bonus when finished. Pinball Tips: Flipper Control and Scoring
Daily puzzle: A puzzle published once a day, the same for every player, that changes at midnight (Mountain Time on this site). Best Free Daily Puzzles to Play Online
Dead bounce: Letting a pinball bounce off a raised flipper to the other flipper without flipping. Pinball Tips: Flipper Control and Scoring
Deadwood: The cards in a Gin Rummy hand that are not in melds; pictures count 10, aces 1. Gin Rummy Rules and Strategy for Two
Deal (Spider): Tapping the stock to put one card on every column; five deals in a game, none while a column is empty. Spider Solitaire Strategy: One to Four Suits
Development: Moving chess pieces off their starting squares to active ones in the opening. Chess Openings for Beginners
Difference of squares: The identity (a + b)(a − b) = a² − b², used to multiply numbers equally spaced around a round number in your head. Mental Math Tricks for the Daily Quizzes
Difficulty tag: The Easy, Medium or Hard label on a daily puzzle’s card, which changes the rules or the size of the day’s puzzle.
Divisibility rule: A quick test for whether one number divides another, such as digit sums for 3 and 9. Mental Math Tricks for the Daily Quizzes
Double (dominoes): A tile with the same number at both ends, playable only on that number. Dominoes Rules: The Draw Game to 100
Double corner: The checkers corner with two connected dark squares, where a lone king can hold a draw. Checkers Strategy: Win With Forced Jumps
Double letter: A letter that appears twice in a word (SPEED, LLAMA); a guessed letter is marked only as many times as it appears. Daily Word Strategy: Openers and Logic
Double-cross: Leaving the last two boxes of a chain for the opponent in order to keep control of the game. Dots and Boxes Strategy: Chains and Control
Double-out: The 301 darts rule that the final dart must land in a double (the bullseye counts). Darts 301 Checkouts: Table and Tips
Drop targets: Pinball targets that fall when hit; a complete bank raises the multiplier. Pinball Tips: Flipper Control and Scoring
Ducking: Deliberately losing a trick by playing under the highest card so far. Hearts Rules and Strategy: Dodge the Queen

E

En passant: Capturing a pawn that has just advanced two squares as if it had moved one, allowed only on the next move. How to Play Chess: Rules for Beginners
End bonus (TriPeaks): Twenty-five points plus two per stock card left, awarded for clearing all three peaks. TriPeaks Guide: Long Runs, More Points
Enumeration: The number in brackets after a crossword clue giving the length of the answer. How to Solve Crosswords: Tips That Work
Equals and cross clues: In Sun & Moon, an = between two squares means they match and a × means they differ. Sun & Moon Puzzle Guide: Balanced Rows
Exact and near: The two counts returned for a Code Breaker guess: symbols in the right slot, and symbols in the code but in another slot. Code Breaker Strategy: Crack Four Symbols
Exact finish: The rule that a token must land on the final square by an exact roll, in Ludo and (by default) Snakes and Ladders. Snakes and Ladders: Rules and History

F

Fifty-move rule: Fifty moves by each side with no capture and no pawn move ends a chess game as a draw. How to Play Chess: Rules for Beginners
Fill-in-the-blank clue: A crossword clue with a missing word shown as ___; usually the quickest clue in the grid. How to Solve Crosswords: Tips That Work
First attempt: The first finished play of a daily puzzle on its day; the only one that is ranked on the leaderboard. How to Keep a Daily Puzzle Streak Going
Flip (Pairs): Turning over one card in Pairs; the leaderboard counts flips, two per turn. Pairs Memory Game Tips: Fewer Flips
Flying: Moving a piece to any empty point, allowed in Nine Men’s Morris when a player is down to three pieces. Nine Men’s Morris: Rules and Strategy
Follow suit: The duty to play a card of the suit led when you hold one. Hearts Rules and Strategy: Dodge the Queen
Fork: A move that creates two threats at once, in chess, Tic Tac Toe or Four in a Row. Tic Tac Toe Strategy: Never Lose on 3 × 3
Foundation: The piles built up by suit from ace to king; filling them wins Klondike, Free Cells and Spider’s equivalent runs. Klondike Solitaire Strategy: Win More Deals
Frame: One of ten turns in bowling, with up to two balls (three in the tenth after a strike or spare). Bowling Scoring Explained, Frame by Frame
Free card (Pyramid): A pyramid card with nothing covering it from the row below; only free cards can be paired. Pyramid Solitaire Guide: Clear All 28 Cards
Free cell: One of the four spaces in Free Cells that holds a single card. Free Cell Solitaire Strategy: Plan the Deal
Free centre: The middle square of a 75-ball bingo card, marked from the start. Bingo Guide: 75-Ball Cards, Lines and Houses
Free turn (mancala): Another move, earned when the last seed sown lands in your own store. Mancala (Kalah) Rules and Strategy
Frontier disc: A reversi disc next to an empty square, which gives the opponent moves. Reversi Strategy: Corners and Mobility
Full house: Three dice of one number and two of another in Five Dice, worth 25; or every square marked in bingo. Five Dice Guide: Score Sheet Strategy
Full wheel: A word that uses all seven letters of a word wheel, worth its length plus a 7-point bonus. Word Wheel Guide: Find More Words Faster
Fully checked grid: The American crossword style in which every white square belongs to both an across and a down answer (the Mini Crossword). Mini Crossword Tips: Solve 5 × 5 Grids Fast

G

Gambit: Offering a pawn in the chess opening for development or the centre. Chess Openings for Beginners
Gammon: A backgammon win over an opponent who has borne off no checkers; named in the result here, with no extra stake. Backgammon Rules and Basic Strategy
Gap (slide puzzle): The empty space a sliding tile moves into. Slide Puzzle Guide: Solve the 15 Puzzle
Gin: Knocking with no deadwood at all, worth 25 extra, with no lay-offs allowed. Gin Rummy Rules and Strategy for Two
Given: A digit printed in a sudoku at the start. How to Solve Sudoku: A Beginner’s Guide
Great (word wheel): Forty per cent of the points available in a word wheel; reaching it solves the puzzle. Word Wheel Guide: Find More Words Faster

H

Halogen: A group 17 element (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, astatine), a reactive non-metal. Periodic Table Memory Tips for the Quiz
Hidden pair: Two digits confined to the same two cells of a house, which removes every other candidate from those cells. How to Solve Sudoku: A Beginner’s Guide
Hidden single: A digit with only one possible cell left in a row, column or box. How to Solve Sudoku: A Beginner’s Guide
Hidden word: A shorter word spelled inside each of several longer words, a common Four Groups trick. Four Groups Guide: Spot the Red Herrings
Hoist and fly: The side of a flag nearest the pole, from which stripe orders are read, and its free end. Flags That Look Alike: Telling Them Apart
Home column: The coloured path to the centre of a Ludo board, reached after a lap and finished by an exact roll. Ludo Rules and Strategy for 2 to 4 Players
House: A row, column or box in sudoku: the three groups within which digits cannot repeat. How to Solve Sudoku: A Beginner’s Guide
Hunt and target: The two modes of a Sea Battle search: looking for a ship, then finishing one you have hit. Sea Battle Strategy: Place and Hunt Smartly

I

Intermediate result: The outcome of one step in Number Target, which must be a positive whole number and becomes a new number to use. Number Target Guide: Hit the Total Exactly
Invite code: The six-character code (or link) that lets a friend join your private online game. Games to Play With Friends Online, Free

J

Junction point: A Nine Men’s Morris point with four neighbours, in the middle of the middle square’s sides. Nine Men’s Morris: Rules and Strategy

K

King row: The far rank of a checkers board where pieces are crowned. Checkers Strategy: Win With Forced Jumps
Knock: Ending a Gin Rummy hand with deadwood of ten or less. Gin Rummy Rules and Strategy for Two

L

Lamp (Letter Drop): One of the six misses allowed in Letter Drop; a wrong letter puts a lamp out. Letter Drop Strategy: Guess Letters in Order
Lay-off: Adding your deadwood to the knocker’s melds in Gin Rummy to reduce your count. Gin Rummy Rules and Strategy for Two
Leaderboard: The day’s ranking of members’ first finished attempts at a puzzle, by guesses, moves, points or time depending on the game. How to Keep a Daily Puzzle Streak Going
Letter frequency: How often each letter appears in words of a given length; the basis of good opening guesses. Letter Drop Strategy: Guess Letters in Order
Line (bingo): A complete row, column or diagonal on a bingo card. Bingo Guide: 75-Ball Cards, Lines and Houses

M

Meld: In Gin Rummy, a set of three or four cards of one rank or a run of three or more in one suit. Gin Rummy Rules and Strategy for Two
Metalloid: An element on the staircase between metals and non-metals, such as silicon or arsenic. Periodic Table Memory Tips for the Quiz
Mill: Three pieces in a line along a board line in Nine Men’s Morris; making one takes an enemy piece. Nine Men’s Morris: Rules and Strategy
Mixed run: In Spider, a descending sequence containing more than one suit, which cannot move as a unit. Spider Solitaire Strategy: One to Four Suits
Mobility: The number of legal moves a player has; the key measure in reversi and Nine Men’s Morris. Reversi Strategy: Corners and Mobility
Must-beat rule: In Call Break, the obligation to play a card higher than the highest so far in the suit led, or a higher spade, whenever you can. Call Break Rules and Bidding Strategy

N

Naked pair: Two cells in one house holding the same two candidates, which removes those digits from the rest of the house. How to Solve Sudoku: A Beginner’s Guide
Naked single: A sudoku cell with only one candidate left. How to Solve Sudoku: A Beginner’s Guide
Neighbour (word ladder): A word one letter different from another, reachable in one step. Word Ladder Guide: Solve in Par Every Time
Nil: A Spades bid to win no tricks, worth 100 if made and −100 if not; blind nil, bid before looking, is worth 200. Spades Rules and Strategy: Bids and Bags
Noble gas: A group 18 element (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon), unreactive because its outer electron shell is full. Periodic Table Memory Tips for the Quiz
Nonogram: A picture logic puzzle in which number clues give the lengths of runs of filled squares in each row and column; Picture Cross is one. How to Solve Picture Cross (Nonograms)
Nordic cross: A flag cross with its vertical bar shifted toward the hoist, used by Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland. Flags That Look Alike: Telling Them Apart

O

Odd and even threats: Four in a Row threats on odd or even rows counted from the bottom; they favour the first and second player respectively. Four in a Row Strategy: Threats and Zugzwang
One away: The Four Groups message that three of the four submitted words share a group. Four Groups Guide: Spot the Red Herrings
Open frame: A bowling frame with fewer than ten pins knocked down in two balls. Bowling Scoring Explained, Frame by Frame
Opener: A first guess chosen for the information it gives, such as a five-letter word with five different common letters. Daily Word Strategy: Openers and Logic
Opposition: A position in checkers (or a king endgame in chess) where the player to move is at a disadvantage. Checkers Strategy: Win With Forced Jumps
Order of operations: The rule that multiplication and division are done before addition and subtraction, applied in Equation Guess. Equation Guess Strategy: Crack It in Four
Outlane: The channels at the far left and right of a pinball table that drain the ball past the flippers. Pinball Tips: Flipper Control and Scoring
Overlap: The squares a nonogram run covers whether pushed as far left or as far right as it can go; they must be filled. How to Solve Picture Cross (Nonograms)

P

Par: The best achievable result for a puzzle: the fewest steps in Word Ladder, the fewest presses in Light Switch, the strokes a good player needs in Mini Golf. Light Switch Guide: Chase the Lights to Zero
Parity (reversi): Who gets the last move in a region of empty squares at the end of a reversi game. Reversi Strategy: Corners and Mobility
Parity (slide puzzle): The property that makes half of all tile arrangements unsolvable; boards scrambled by sliding are always solvable. Slide Puzzle Guide: Solve the 15 Puzzle
Pass (solitaire): One trip through the stock; limited on some days in Klondike and Pyramid. Pyramid Solitaire Guide: Clear All 28 Cards
Pass and play: Two or more people sharing one device and taking turns, with a curtain between turns when the game has hidden information. Games to Play With Friends Online, Free
Pattern (Word Duel): The colours of an opponent’s row in Word Duel, which show progress without showing letters. Word Duel Guide: Win the Five-Letter Race
Peak: One of the three triangles of cards in TriPeaks; its top card scores a bonus. TriPeaks Guide: Long Runs, More Points
Pencil mark: A small note of the digits a sudoku cell could still hold; Pencil mode writes them. How to Solve Sudoku: A Beginner’s Guide
Pin: A piece that cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it. Chess Openings for Beginners
Pip count: The total distance all of a player’s backgammon checkers still have to travel. Backgammon Rules and Basic Strategy
Pips: The dots on a domino or die; in dominoes, the hand’s total counts against you at the end of a hand. Dominoes Rules: The Draw Game to 100
Planned capital: A city built or chosen to be a capital, such as Brasília, Canberra, Abuja or Astana. World Capitals by Continent: A Study Guide
Pocket: The gap just beside the head pin where a bowling ball produces the most strikes. Bowling Scoring Explained, Frame by Frame
Point (backgammon): One of the 24 triangles on a backgammon board. Backgammon Rules and Basic Strategy
Pointing pair: A digit confined to one row or column within a box, so it can be removed from that line outside the box. How to Solve Sudoku: A Beginner’s Guide
Pond: The draw pile in Go Fish. Go Fish Rules and Simple Strategy
Practice puzzle: An extra puzzle of a daily game generated on request, never ranked and not counted for streaks.
Probe: A guess made for information rather than as a possible answer, in Code Breaker or the word games. Code Breaker Strategy: Crack Four Symbols
Promotion: A pawn reaching the far rank becoming a queen, rook, bishop or knight. How to Play Chess: Rules for Beginners
Protected honour: A king or queen with enough lower cards of its suit beneath it to survive the ace being led. Call Break Rules and Bidding Strategy

Q

Question-mark clue: A crossword clue ending in ? to signal wordplay: the answer fits only when a word is read in a second sense. How to Solve Crosswords: Tips That Work
Quick match: Being paired online with whoever is waiting to play the same game. Games to Play With Friends Online, Free
Quiet pattern: A set of Light Switch presses that leaves a board unchanged, used to rewrite a solution with fewer presses. Light Switch Guide: Chase the Lights to Zero

R

Rare letter: A letter found in few words (Q, Z, X, J, K), and so the quickest to spot in a word search grid. Word Search Tips: Find Every Word Quickly
Rated game: An online game between signed-in members that changes an Elo-style rating: chess, checkers, Four in a Row, reversi and Ludo. Games to Play With Friends Online, Free
Recovery PIN: The six-digit number chosen when an account is created; with the username and backup key it lets you set a new password, since accounts have no email. How to Keep a Daily Puzzle Streak Going
Red herring: In Four Groups, a word that appears to fit one group but belongs to another. Four Groups Guide: Spot the Red Herrings
Region (Crowns): A coloured area of a Crowns board that must hold exactly one crown. Crowns Puzzle Guide: One Crown Per Region
Robot: The computer opponent in the card, board and arcade games, at Easy, Normal or Hard; it runs in your browser.
Root: The core of a word before endings are added (WALK in WALKED); finding it solves most six-letter words. Quick Word and Big Word: 4 and 6 Letters
Ruff: Winning a trick with a trump after being unable to follow suit. Call Break Rules and Bidding Strategy
Run (picture logic): A group of consecutive filled squares in a row or column of a nonogram. How to Solve Picture Cross (Nonograms)
Run (solitaire): Cards in descending order that move together: alternating colours in Klondike and Free Cells, one suit in Spider. Spider Solitaire Strategy: One to Four Suits
Rung: One word in a word ladder. Word Ladder Guide: Solve in Par Every Time
Running mill: A mill opened and closed on alternate turns, taking a piece every two moves. Nine Men’s Morris: Rules and Strategy

S

Safe move: A Dots and Boxes line that does not create a box with three sides. Dots and Boxes Strategy: Chains and Control
Safe square: A Ludo star or start square where a token cannot be captured. Ludo Rules and Strategy for 2 to 4 Players
Scouting guess: A guess chosen to test new letters (or characters, or symbols) rather than to solve the puzzle. Daily Word Strategy: Openers and Logic
Seat of government: The city where a government works when it differs from the official capital, such as The Hague or La Paz. World Capitals by Continent: A Study Guide
Shape (Equation Guess): The pattern of numbers, operators and the equals sign in an eight-character equation, such as ab+cd=ef. Equation Guess Strategy: Crack It in Four
Shedding game: A card game won by getting rid of all your cards, such as Crazy Eights. Crazy Eights Rules and Strategy
Shooting the moon: Taking all thirteen hearts and the queen of spades in one hand of Hearts, which gives every other player 26 points. Hearts Rules and Strategy: Dodge the Queen
Shot (checkers): A sacrifice that forces a sequence of captures in your favour, such as a two-for-one. Checkers Strategy: Win With Forced Jumps
Singleton: A single card of a suit in a hand. Call Break Rules and Bidding Strategy
Slack: In a nonogram line, the line length minus the minimum length the clue needs; low slack means squares can be filled at once. How to Solve Picture Cross (Nonograms)
Solver-checked: A deal or grid that a program has played through before publication to confirm it can be completed. Klondike Solitaire Strategy: Win More Deals
Sowing: Dropping mancala seeds one by one into successive pits. Mancala (Kalah) Rules and Strategy
Spare: All ten pins with two balls; worth 10 plus the next ball. Bowling Scoring Explained, Frame by Frame
Stable disc: A reversi disc that can no longer be flipped. Reversi Strategy: Corners and Mobility
Stalemate: The player to move has no legal move and is not in check; a draw. How to Play Chess: Rules for Beginners
Stock and waste: The face-down pile a solitaire turns cards from, and the face-up pile they turn onto. Klondike Solitaire Strategy: Win More Deals
Store (Kalah): The large pit at each end of a mancala board where captured seeds are kept. Mancala (Kalah) Rules and Strategy
Streak: The number of consecutive days on which you have solved at least one daily puzzle or quiz on its own day. How to Keep a Daily Puzzle Streak Going
Strike: All ten pins with the first ball; worth 10 plus the next two balls. Bowling Scoring Explained, Frame by Frame
Subtractive pair: A smaller Roman numeral before a larger one, meaning subtraction: IV, IX, XL, XC, CD, CM. Roman Numerals Guide: Read Any Year
Supermove: Moving several cards at once in Free Cells, allowed only when the empty cells and columns could do it one card at a time. Free Cell Solitaire Strategy: Plan the Deal
Surface reading: What a clue appears to say before you look for its hidden meaning. How to Solve Crosswords: Tips That Work
Sweep: Reading every row, column or diagonal of a word search in order for one letter. Word Search Tips: Find Every Word Quickly
Swordfish: The three-row, three-column version of an X-wing. Advanced Sudoku: X-Wing, Swordfish, Chains

T

Tableau: The columns of a solitaire layout where cards are built down. Klondike Solitaire Strategy: Win More Deals
Target (Number Target): The three-digit number to reach exactly by combining six numbers with + − × ÷. Number Target Guide: Hit the Total Exactly
Tempo: One move’s worth of time in chess; a move that forces a reply gains a tempo. Chess Openings for Beginners
Threat (Four in a Row): A square that would complete a line of four for one player. Four in a Row Strategy: Threats and Zugzwang
Tick (word games): The mark on a guessed letter that is in the right spot. Daily Word Strategy: Openers and Logic
Treble and double rings: The thin inner and outer rings of a dartboard that multiply a segment by three or two. Darts 301 Checkouts: Table and Tips
Trick: One round of a trick-taking game in which each player plays a card and the best card wins them all. Call Break Rules and Bidding Strategy
Tricolour: A flag of three bands, vertical or horizontal. Flags That Look Alike: Telling Them Apart
Trump: A suit that beats every other suit; spades, always, in Call Break and Spades. Call Break Rules and Bidding Strategy
Turkey: Three strikes in a row in bowling. Bowling Scoring Explained, Frame by Frame

U

Undercut: When the defender’s deadwood equals or beats the knocker’s after lay-offs; 25 points to the defender. Gin Rummy Rules and Strategy for Two
Unique rectangle: A sudoku deduction from the fact that the puzzle has one solution: four cells with the same two candidates in a rectangle across two boxes cannot all be bivalue. Advanced Sudoku: X-Wing, Swordfish, Chains
Upper bonus: The 35 points earned in Five Dice for 63 or more in the Ones to Sixes boxes. Five Dice Guide: Score Sheet Strategy

V

Void: Holding no cards of a suit, which lets you trump or discard when it is led. Hearts Rules and Strategy: Dodge the Queen

W

Wild card: A card playable on anything; the eight in Crazy Eights, which also names the next suit. Crazy Eights Rules and Strategy
Wrapping: Kings and aces joining up in Golf and TriPeaks on easier days, so that a run can continue past a king or an ace. Golf Solitaire Guide: Leave Fewer Cards

X

X-square: The reversi square diagonally next to a corner; playing it usually gives the corner away. Reversi Strategy: Corners and Mobility
X-wing: Two rows in which a digit has exactly two candidates in the same two columns, letting the digit be removed from those columns elsewhere. Advanced Sudoku: X-Wing, Swordfish, Chains
XY-wing: A pivot cell with two candidates and two wing cells that share one candidate each with it; the common third digit can be removed from cells seeing both wings. Advanced Sudoku: X-Wing, Swordfish, Chains

Z

Zugzwang: Being forced to make a losing move because every safe move is gone; decisive at the end of Four in a Row. Four in a Row Strategy: Threats and Zugzwang

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