Syl-la-bles

Apparently 'disproportionableness' and 'incomprehensibilities' are two of the longest words in common use. In fact we used 'em down the pub just the other night. But that's because we were playing Syl-la-bles, the ludicrously entertaining board game where long words and syllables spell victory.

The idea is to work your way around the board and score points by thinking of words that begin with particular letters, the longer the better. Players must also spell words and come up with synonyms. It's every dictionary-munchers dream! In fact it's fantastic...no it's fantastical...make that fandabidozi (which wouldn't count 'cos it's not a real word). Better still you don't need a brobdingnagian vocabulary to play Syl-la-bles. It's as hard or as easy as you want it to be.

To begin playing wannabe wordsmiths must first roll the dice. Chances are you'll land on a letter square. If the letter is P you must think of the longest word you can beginning with that letter. The more letters and syllables your word contains the more points you score - so polysynthetic would be a real humdinger.


There are also thesaurus squares where players must pick a card and think of a word that means the same as the one on the card, and Spelling Bee cards where players must spell tricky words. The winner is the first person to reach the points target. The whole thing really is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. (Nil points for that one too).


Even if you're not a wordy person Syl-la-bles is brilliant fun. We've never heard so much umm-ing and aah-ing. And it takes more than a daily dictionary swallowing session to reign supreme; we've seen smug lexicographers reduced to tears racking their enormous brains for a synonym for 'ethical'. Of course we're not telling you the answer - you'll have to play Syl-la-bles and find out for yourself. Word!