Lipogram

The Missing Letter, Joana Kruse

• Lipogram is a spoken game for two or more players.

• A letter is chosen as the forbidden letter. The object is to make sentences avoiding the chosen letter. Various variations are possible. Answering questions is just one of them.

• Players pick the letter. A first player then asks to the player to his/her right a question, which must be answered using words that do not contain the forbidden letter. Questions are free to use the forbidden letter. The player after giving his/her answer now asks another question to the next player. The game continues in this manner. Anyone who uses the forbidden letter, repeats a previous answer, or gives an irrelevant one has to drop out. The last player to stand is the winner.

• The following is a list of letters with descending frequency of use in English. So if you want to start with a relatively easier game it is wise to pick one from the end of the list: E T A O I N S H R D L C U M W F G Y P B V K J X Q Z

• For those interested: Two famous lipogrammatic novels written without the letter ‘e’: Gadsby (E. V. Wright), A Void (G. Perec)