The summer of 1932 saw the introduction of this game, when a small edition was produced and sold to test the market. Soon Lexicon was published in a smart slip case and many different editions have followed, including foreign language versions.

The object of Lexicon is simply to have played all of your cards, so that you have none left in your hand. At the end of a round, players add up the score of the cards remaining in their hand. When someone reaches a total of 100, they are eliminated from the game. The first edition was sold through the stationery shops at 1s. 9d. each and sales were practically non-existent. a b c "Weekend fun for the word game fans". Evening Times. 29 July 1983 . Retrieved 24 February 2023.On their turn, a player may lay down a complete word with their letters, extend a word already played, or discard one of their cards and draw one from the top of the draw or discard piles. [8] :25 The player may also choose to exchange one or more cards with those forming a word in play, so long as the exchange results in a complete word. [3] a b c d e Bell, R.C. (December 1974). "Word games". Games & Puzzles. No.31. Edu-Games (U.K.) Ltd . Retrieved 24 February 2023. Word, number and chess games". Games & Puzzles. No.55. Edu-Games (U.K.) Ltd. December 1976 . Retrieved 24 February 2023. No player is allowed to pass his turn without doing one of these four alternatives, but he is not allowed to do more than one in the same turm. By 1934, the game was being sold internationally. In March 1934, proceeds from a game in Australia were donated towards children's health care. [5] :20 In the United States, it was distributed by Parker Brothers as Crossword Lexicon. [6] :1 In 1938, George Parker stated that of all games sold by the company, the demand for Lexicon was only exceeded by that of regular playing cards. [6] :1 By the early 1970s, a version of the game had been released using tiles instead of cards, with minor rule variations. [7] :14–15

a b c d "Lexicon". Elliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games. University of Waterloo Faculty of Health. 5 June 1998 . Retrieved 24 February 2023. a b c d e f Augarde, Tony (1994). The Oxford A to Z of word games. Oxford University Press. pp.133–135. ISBN 0-19-866178-9. Whilst these different games are all fundamentally similar to each other, they nevertheless offer a great amount of replay-ability. The game possibilities don't end there either. Previous editions have included rules for as many as 20 additional variant rule sets, ranging from games of patience to Lexicon Bridge and more, so for the inquisitive there’s more to discover. Final Thoughts on Lexicon The original game was published by Waddingtons in the United Kingdom, and it was later distributed and licensed internationally, and has been published with various names and in different formats. The intellectual property for the game is currently owned by Winning Moves. The object of the game is to build up 12 words of four letters each round the circle and one word of four letters in the centre.

The simple, elegant design of the Lexicon cards allows for several other gaming possibilities. The modern edition of the game comes with rules for two variant games – Lexicon Riddance and Lexicon Criss Cross. The former involves players taking it in turns to form a word using the cards in their hand and one single exposed card on the table. The aim is to get rid of all their cards before their rivals. Criss Cross requires players to draw cards in turn and then write the revealed letters in a 25 square grid hoping to form complete words that will score points. To determine who shall be first dealer, one card is given to each player and the player holding the highest card is the first dealer, A being high and Z being low, thereafter the deal is taken in rotation. The possible actions may seem limited. However, they allow for a sophisticated and surprisingly tactical game that rewards inventiveness, lateral thinking and critical reasoning. When a player chooses to add letters to an existing word, they aren’t restricted to placing them at the beginning or end. Instead, unlike Scrabble, they can insert letters anywhere in the word. Swapping letters out from an existing word for those in your hand allows you to gain the cards you need for a word you intend to play on a subsequent turn. However, by not getting rid of any cards you run the risk of running out of time to play that word. This was an unprecedented approach in the stationery world and there was much opposition and criticism. discard one of his cards and take either the exposed card or the blind one from the pile. He must discard before taking up the exposed or blind card. The discarded card is placed on the top of, or in the place of, the exposed card and this becomes the exposed card on the table.

a b c d e f Sharp, Richard (March 1973). "Games View". Games & Puzzles. No.11. Edu-Games (U.K.) Ltd . Retrieved 22 February 2023.

Blog Archive

The player on the left of the dealer commences. The next player on the left then plays and so on round the table. Each player, after examining his cards, can choose one of four alternatives:- However, when the real launching took place in the autumn, heralded by an intensive newspaper advertising campaign, sales, A writer by the name of David Whitelaw persuaded the company to produce and sell a word game - Lexicon. Ross, Eleanor (23 December 1938). "Household hints". Washington Reporter . Retrieved 23 February 2023. when a word is exposed on the table he can take a card, or cards, out of his own hand and change it, or them, for a letter, or letters in a word provided the word left on the table is complete.

The object is for a player to eliminate all cards from their hand. [11] :8 When a player has no cards left in their hand, the round ends and the other players each tally the point value of the cards they hold. [8] :25 A player may challenge a word as being non-existent or mis-spelt. A successful challenge reduces the challenger's accumulated points by 10, and an unsuccessful one increases it by 10. [3] When a player has accumulated 100 penalty points over any number of rounds, they are eliminated from the game, and the last player remaining is the winner. [8] :25 Other games [ edit ] Any of the 12 cards forming the circle may be moved, if desired, to help to form a word, but once a letter is moved, or if a second letter has been played on it, it cannot be moved again.

About Me

a b Wintle, Simon (29 August 2015). "Lexicon". The World of Playing Cards . Retrieved 22 February 2023.