The answer for B is "Batman". Clue giver says "Bat", waits a few seconds, then says "Man".

Illegal or acceptable?

"Bat" is probably not an acceptable clue for "Batman", because the clue giver is using part of the answer.

I could swear I've seen an end game or two recently where the clue giver is using part of the answer and it's accepted. But I haven't seen the answer as a clue split up into two words.

Perfectly acceptable. Neither "bat" nor "man" is a form of the word Batman. Having said that, I don't think I've ever seen anyone try that trick...and if they did, it would probably just confuse the hell out of the partner.

It's not a good clue anyway. Bat....Ball?...Man...Batter?...NEXT....

Maybe like:

"Bat...

...Man...

...say...

...those...

...words...

...together..."

And now you've wasted six seconds where you could have said "Robin" with a rising inflection and gotten it in one.

Not necessarily.

I just tried this word with my brother, and his first response was "bird", which would fit perfectly.

Maybe if you followed it with "Superhero", it would give you "Batman" in about 3 or 4 seconds.

With an "opposite" inflection? Not hardly.

DoorNumberFour has a point...not everybody's gonna go for the opposite inflection right away.

This is like saying "You know, not everyone on Hollywood Squares is going to know to go for the block."

If anyone appearing on any Password game show, celebrity or civilian, doesn't understand what the opposite inflection means, they have no business being there. Period. Hell, when we play Password on Friday nights at Microsoft, we make sure anyone who is playing for the first time completely understands all three major inflections, to the point of giving them a cheat sheet to work from that we keep in the game box.

Sorry, I'm just not going to worry overmuch that that clue didn't pass the DoorNumberFour's Brother Test.

Now, this leads us to another interesting hypothetical: say that this happened on P+ while the "no opposites" rule was in place. Would "Robin" have been ruled an unacceptable clue? It's not really an opposite in the purest sense, but it does imply "the other one who is NOT Robin," which in context is one...

--Sam

I think this is where you gauge intent. If you give it with the inflection, then of course you should be buzzed. If you just say "Robin", it's probably legal (since you could simply be cluing from the phrase "Batman and Robin", but I don't think it's a very good first clue then. ("Gotham" or "Crusader" would probably be better, but far from definitive.)

Not at all. As you said, they're not opposites. They're more like counterparts, like sun and moon, or dog and cat.

No, it isn't.



I'm sure the contestant coordinators or someone else at the Password game shows probably told the players what to expect, and probably drilled the point fairly hard. Doesn't mean that someone will always know what the opposite might be (in the case of Batman, I think "Superman" might be a better opposite that "Robin"- more straightforward, keeps with the superhero theme of the word).

Ludden pointed out on a number of occasions that "pairs" are not opposites. So since Batman and Robin were a pair (no, I'm not going the MG73 route :) ), "Robin" would be a perfectly acceptable clue. Although there are about three other words that spring to mind--"bird," "hood," and "Williams."

Sorry, TTTT8x or Howard Stern (the other one) fans--"Ward" and "Quivers" didn't make my survey.

The point wasn't whether or not you know the correct opposite. The point was that if the password is "Batman" and you're using "Robin" as a clue, you're going to know to use the opposite inflection or you really shouldn't be there.

My clue would have been "hero" but with the theme song to the 60s Batman in the clue.

How would you do that with a two-syllable word without making an absolute prat of yourself?

That ship has already sailed, young Padawan.

and some of you have been trying to sink that ship for awhile.

Was there ever a time limit in the main game on how long your clue could last?

Please STOP with the the "Stand-up comedian" act, I think we've made it quite clear it's not that funny.

Sadly, Joe, it seems that he was being perfectly serious.

It wasn't meant to be a joke. If I was on the show, I would have given that clue. The only clues I can think of that could possibly get "Batman" on the first clue are Gotham and Riddler.

So, wait, not only would you have given a horrible (and likely illegal) clue, but you would do so even knowing there were better clues you could give?

You're something special, you are.

Maybe ONE of those might lead you to Batman. Here's a hint: it's not Riddler.

Well, yes, I suppose you could do that and if the contestant got it, he/she would receive the money.
However, I suspect the celebrity cleugiver might not be asked back.

Seems to me that "Catwoman" might be a decent clue as well--the word itself is not an opposite and of Batman's primary villians it's the only one whose name doesn't necessarily lead you to other words ("Joker" could, "Penguin" could, etc.).

But like all of these clues, if the person receiving has no idea who Batman is, then one clue isn't going to do it.

That was my point from the beginning, which I don't think I got across very well. Regardless of the inflection you use, some people just don't know who Batman is.

I apologize for being a little snarky with my original post, mainly because I didn't know that Chris was talking about cluegivers rather than clue receivers (and partly because I was still a little mad about him calling me Karlberg when I came up with something that he didn't agree with, after I conceded that he had a point, but didn't agree with said point).

My original intent was to see if any 1 word could be split up into 2 and the legality of it. Not so much whether it would be beneficial to the game. I used Batman as an example. There are many others.

Underwear
Briefcase
Shoehorn
Horseshoe
etc...

Pfft. I can handle snark just fine.

Wow, someone holds quite a grudge.

Since when is it illegal to hum a theme while giving the clue. I have never seen a clue with a tune in it buzzed for illegality unless the clue word itself was illegal.

The reason why I would hum the tune within my clue is because the 60s theme is a well known theme. However, I will change hero to gotham but still hum the tune in the middle.

No more, though.

It isn't illegal. Nor is "Robin" an opposite. Why are we still arguing about it?

Yeah.

Honestly, I gave this up a while ago.

Really, why the hell is everyone jumping all over the idea of working a melody into a password? They did that on the show on many occasions, and sometimes it even worked.

(Worst clue possible: Say "I'm" in a very clipped, deep voice.)

The occasion that comes to mind for me was the "Tony Orlando and Dawn" puzzle on the Super Password finale.

3 of the words were "Tie", "Yellow", and "Ribbon".

Contestant Michelle used that song to convey "Tie" and "Yellow" to Betty White, with perfect results.

The second you start humming, you're not giving a one-word clue anymore. Go ahead and do it, and Nelson Muntzs across the country will point and say "HA-ha!" as the buzzer sounds.

Now, if you mean something like "Gah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-AH-THAM", you might get away with it, but I don't think it's nearly as no-brainer legal as you seem to.

(Oh, hell. Look who I'm taking to. Screw it.)

I watch Super Password and Password Plus every day. Hardly a day goes by without someone singing a clue just as you described above. Trust me, it's legal.

That is what I mean. Now I haven't watch P+ or SP lately because of classes and work, but can anyone recall someone doing that with a legal word and getting buzzed?



You taking me out. I knew you had it in you.

I don't know if I understood this correctly, but I LOL'd.

Fair enough. Touche.