The company, according to the number of persons, divides up into two or three or even four groups, or clumps, in different parts of the room, seated closely in circles. As many players as there are clumps then go out and decide on some extremely out-of-the-way thing which the clumps have to guess. In one game, for example, the mine was thought of from which the iron was taken to lay the first railroad rails in America. That is the kind of far-fetched and ingenious thing. When it is decided upon, the players return to the room and take their places, one in the midst of each clump. Questions are then put to them the answers to which must be either "Yes" or "No," and the clump that discovers the thing first is the winner.
Other Yes and No Games
The same game can be played without such keen rivalry, one player sitting in the midst of a great circle and answering questions in turn. There is also a game called "Man and Object," in which two players go out and decide upon a man (or woman) and something inanimate or not human with which he is associated or which he is known to have used, such as "Washington and his hatchet," "Whittington and his cat," "A druid and his mistletoe-knife." They then return and each player asks them each a question in turn until the problem is solved.
The same game is sometimes turned inside out, the players that remain in the room deciding upon some one whom the player that has gone out has to personate and discover. In this case it is he who puts the questions. As he is supposed for the time being actually to be the thing thought of, he ought to frame his questions accordingly: "Am I living?" "Have I been dead long?" "Am I a man?" and so forth.
My Right-Hand Neighbor
This is a catch game and useless except when one of the company knows nothing about it. That player is sent out of the room, and after a due interval is called in again and told to guess what the other players have thought of. He may ask any questions he pleases that can be answered by "Yes" or "No." The thing thought of is each player's right-hand neighbor, who is of course so different in every case as to lead in time to the total bewilderment of the guesser.
How, When, and Where
One player leaves the room, while the others decide on some word, the name of a thing for choice (such as tale, tail), which has one pronunciation but two or three different meanings and perhaps spellings. They then sit in a circle or line and the other player is called in, his object being, by means of questions put in turn to each player, to discover what the word is. His questions must take the form, "How do you like it?" "When do you like it?" and "Where do you like it?" Let us suppose that "tale" is the word thought of. "How do you like it?" he will ask the first of the circle. The answer may be, "I like it amusing" (tale). "How do you like it?" he may ask the next. "I like it active" (tail). To the next, "When do you like it?" "I like it at night" (tale). To the next, "Where do you like it?" "At the end" (tail). To the next, "Where do you like it?" "In an armchair" (tale). And so on until he guesses the word.
Coffee-Pot
A similar game is called "Coffee-Pot" or "Tea-Pot." In this case also the company think of a word with more than one meaning, but instead of answering questions about it they make a pretense of introducing it into their answers by putting the word "coffee-pot" in its place. As the player who is guessing is at liberty to put any kind of question he likes it is well to choose a word that will go easily into ordinary conversation. Let us suppose, for instance, that the word is rain, reign, rein. The questions and answers may run something like this:—"Are you feeling pretty well to-day?" "I always feel well when there is no coffee-pot" (rain). "Have you been reading anything interesting lately?" "Yes, a very interesting book on the present coffee-pot" (reign). "I hope your toothache is better." "Thank you, I hope its coffee-pot will soon be over" (reign). "Did you walk here this evening?" "No; we came with the assistance of the coffee-pot" (rein). The guesser is allowed to make three guesses aloud, but after that he must meditate on the word in silence or put questions to test his theories. If the word is a verb and a past tense or present tense has to be used in an answer, the player says "coffee-potted" or "coffee-potting."