Consonant Frame
Two or three consonants are given; in a couple of minutes you have to collect as many words as you can that contain all of them.
The group names two or three consonants — that is the — and for a couple of minutes everyone goes quiet and writes. Any word will do that contains all of those consonants, each once, in any order. Vowels and soft signs are added freely and in any number.
For the frame T–M–N the fitting words include tuman, manto, moneta, temen, ataman, nemota — and there is the whole effect: words with nothing in common turn out to be relatives by three letters.
They are found not by going through a dictionary but the other way round, by dropping vowels into a skeleton: t-m-n, ta-ma-na, tu-ma-no. Whoever hears faster wins.
Rules of the consonant frame
The frame
The group picks several consonants — usually two or three — and agrees the length of a round, usually two or three minutes.
Words
Each player writes down words containing every consonant of the frame.
- each consonant of the frame is used exactly once;
- their order in the word is free;
- vowels and soft signs are added in any number;
- no other consonants may appear in the word.
Common nouns in the singular count.
Scoring
When the time is up the lists are read aloud. Every fitting word is a point; disputed words are accepted or refused by a vote.
The highest score wins.
Variants
One consonant. A frame of a single letter; words become plentiful, and the round is made shorter.
A whole phrase. Instead of separate words, a phrase is built in which the only consonant to appear is the one given. It is markedly harder and is not usually timed.
Worth knowing
How many consonants go into a frame and how long a round runs are agreed: two or three letters and two or three minutes is the usual measure. Whether a consonant of the frame may be doubled, and whether words containing it twice count, has no settled answer.
Glossary of terms
- The frame
- The set of consonants chosen for the round. Each has to appear in the word exactly once, in any order.