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Single Card Focus

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  • So far, we have learned about the two types of clues: Play Clues and Save Clues.
  • But all of the Play Clues and Save Clues that we have seen so far have only "touched" a single card.
  • Obviously, it is also possible to give a clue that touches two or more cards.
  • We agree that if a clue touches two or more cards, the clue only delivers a message about one specific card. This is referred to as the focus of the clue.
  • With every clue, only one card is focused. Nothing specific is implied about non-focused cards (except that they will be useful at some point later on).
  • For example, if Alice gives a Play Clue to Bob that touches two cards, then Bob can only play the focused card. He has to hold on to the non-focused card for later.

New Cards​

  • When determining the focus of a clue, you need to look for "new" cards.
  • New cards are specifically defined as cards that are touched by a clue that did not have any clues "on" them already.

Determining the Focus: 4 Steps​

So, when two or more cards are touched by a clue, which card is focused?

  1. If no cards are new, then the focus is on the left-most re-touched card.
  2. If only one card is new, then the focus is on the new card.
  3. If two or more cards are new, and one of them was on chop, then the focus is on the chop.
  4. If two or more cards are new, and none of them were on chop, then the focus is on the left-most new card.

Example 1: Left-Most Focus​

  • In the example below, Alice clues red to Bob. This must be a Play Clue.
  • Before this clue, Bob's hand was completely unclued. So, with this clue, two new cards were introduced - the red card on slot 2 and the red card on slot 4.
  • Bob knows that in this situation, the focus of the clue is the left-most of the two new cards. This must be a Play Clue on a red 1.
AliceClue GiverClue GiverBobFocus(1)

Example 2: Chop-Focus​

  • In the example below, Alice clues red to Bob. This must be a Play Clue.
  • Before this clue, Bob's hand was completely unclued. So, with this clue, three new cards were introduced - slot 1, slot 2, and slot 5.
  • Before this clue, Bob's chop was slot 5. So, since the clue touched his chop and Chop-Focus has precedence, this must be a Chop-Focus Play Clue on a red 1.
AliceClue GiverClue GiverBobFocus(1)
  • Note that even though it touches Bob's chop card, Bob knows that this cannot be a Save Clue. Specifically:
    • It can't be a 5 Save on a red 5, because Alice would have clued number 5 for that.
    • It can't be a 2 Save on a red 2, because Alice would have clued number 2 for that.
    • It can't be a Critical Save, because there are no red cards in the trash yet.