Thursday, September 22, 2011

Board Games - Quick 5

by Anna Sugden

The other night, we were discussing the fad of playing board games. It used to be that everywhere you went, from family visits to dinner parties with friends, the board games would come out and off everyone would go. [We won't mention the whole wives falling out with husbands, brothers and sisters not on speaking terms thing .]

Though many of us remember the days of Life, Monopoly or Scrabble, and Kerplunk, Mousetrap or Operation, there was also Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary and variations on the Charades theme.

Two of my favourites were Celebrity Taboo and PSI.

In Celebrity Taboo, you had to get people to guess which celebrity you were, but couldn't use certain key words eg how do you get people to guess you're Groucho Marx when you can't use words like cigar, mustache, brothers etc.

In PSI, again people had to guess which celebrity you were but this time it was by answering questions as if you were the celebrity. eg If you were a flower, what would you be?

So, for a bit of fun today, I thought we'd do a Board Games Quick 5.

1. Favourite board game

2. Most detested board game

3. Best and worst Trivial Pursuit category (Geography, Sports & Leisure, Entertainment, Art & Literature, Science & Nature, History)

4. If you were a flower, what would you be? If you were a drink, what would you be? If you were a type of shoe, what would you be?

5. Complete the following sentence: Imagine trying to get people to guess you were (insert name of celebrity) without mentioning the following words ... (insert words)


Here are my answers to start you off:

1. I used to love Mousetrap because it had all those different bits and contraptions!

2. Sorry, but it's Monopoly.

3. I was always terrible at Geography, but really good with Entertainment, Art & Literature or Science & Nature.

4. Flower: Red Gerbera daisy, Drink: Mojito, Shoe: something red, high-heeled, strappy, with zips, studs or a bow.

5. Imagine trying to get people to guess you were "Dolly Parton" without mentioned the following words ... boobs, country music, platinum blonde, high heels.

Over to you!

39 comments:

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Here chooky chooky!

Aunty is HOME at last. ;-)

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Wow VA, what a walk down memory lane! I haven't played board games in AGES and I used to play almost every weekend. I was a KILLER at Trivial Pursuit. Sports was my only bad category. Hard to say which was my best...

OOPS! I'm getting things a bit out of order. My favorite board game was Dark Tower. Anyone remember that one? It came with a battery operated "tower" (rather medieval looking) that you pushed to get random info with every move.

Least fave: I agree about Monopoly. It seems so mean-spirited to drive your opponents into bankruptcy. Plus my brothers created a "dirty" version in which you could use "outside inducements" to trade properties. (For example: I'll wash and wax your car plus throw in Vermont Ave. for Marvin Gardens.) You can imagine how nasty things got. :-P

Hmmm, I can't remember the other questions! But the last one... Can you imagine trying to describe Aunty Cindy without mentioning "riding crop" "Irish hunk" and "cabana boys"? ;-)

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

If you were a flower, what would you be? If you were a drink, what would you be? If you were a type of shoe, what would you be?

Here's the one I forgot...
Flower -- gardenia (I like the smell)
Drink -- margarita (sweet but salty, that's MOI!)
Shoe -- Clark's sandal (my favorite shoe, I'm wearing a pair right now!)

AC

Anonymous said...

Anna...did you ever play Mystery Date?

:)

Congrats on the big pollo, AC!

Pink

Jane said...

Congrats on the GR, Aunty Cindy.

Hello Anna,
The Rangers and Devils played a preseason game and your team won.

1. Clue
2. I can't think of a board that I really hate.
3. My best Trivial Pursuit subject is probably entertainment and my worst subject is art and literature.
4. Tulip
I would probably be a mango margarita and the type of shoe would be a strappy heel.
5. Imagine trying to get people to guess you were "Angelina Jolie" without mentioned the following words ... lips, tattoos, children.

Anna Campbell said...

Hey, Aunty C, you got the chook! Welcome back!

VA, I LOVE board games but hardly anyone seems to play them anymore. They were a real 80s thing, weren't they? Here's my answers:

1. Trivial Pursuit (because I usually won - all those historical romances I read had to be good for something!)

2. Monopoly because it goes on forever.

3. Best, Art and literature. Worst Sport.

4. Flower - Aussie wattle! Drink, champagne. Shoe, a ballet slipper.

5. Imagine trying to get people to guess you were Cary Grant without mentioning the following words: Affair to Remember

Mary Preston said...

1. Upwords: like scrabble but you build up.

2. Chess: I really have to concentrate

3. Best (History) and worst (Sports and Leisure)Trivial Pursuit category

4. Flower: Daisy
Drink: Hot Chocolate
Shoe: Loafer

5. Imagine trying to get people to guess you were ( Audrey Hepburn ) without mentioning the following words ... Gamin, Chic, Petite, Actress, Iconic.

Anna Sugden said...

Welcome back, AC! Hope you had a great cruise. Get that chook working on your unpacking and laudry!

LOL about the side deals for Monopoly - yeah, we had those too. Fun at a dinner party ;)

Ooh - nice one - I'd add cruise or travel to that list about you!

Helen said...

Well done Aunty Cindy have fun with him

I do love these games Anna

1. Trivial Pursuit
2. Scrabble (because I am really bad at it)
3. Good on sport no good on science
4. Rose, Scotch and coke, Thongs (flip flops) so compfy
5. Nicole Kidman not mentioning Tom Lamb Roast Keith

Have Fun
Helen

Mozette said...

Most detested: Monopoly. I always lost all my money as I'm not good at counting or keeping my properties... however now, I'm better, but I still lose.

Favourite: There's three. Cluedo or Scotland Yard or Chess.

Best Trivial Pursuit item: General Knowledge.

Flower: Sterling Rose
Drink: Root Beer
Shoe: Doc Marten

As for the person I'd like to try to mention without mentioning three things? P!NK. Hair, voice, pregnancy.

Anna Sugden said...

Hi Pink! Great to see you!

I'm sure I did play Mystery Date - I know I played something like that and checking on the internet, the box looks the same!

Anna Sugden said...

Hi Jane! I saw that we played last night. It's only pre-season, but good to see hockey back. Not long now before we're back for real! The only bummer is that ESPN over here is not showing the games and they need to get a new agreement in place. I'll be really cross if there's no way to watch!

Oh yes - Clue! That's always good fun.

Like the Angelina Jolie one - don't forget Brad Pitt!

Anna Sugden said...

Perhaps it's a good thing you didn't get the board games out when we were there, Fo *g*. Things like the washing up were too confusing for some ... board game rules might have finished them off LOL

I can imagine you were brilliant at Trivial Pursuit - you have such wonderful general knowledge.

Ah yes, Cary Grant *sigh* How about not being able to mention debonair or Archie Leach.

Anna Sugden said...

I agree with you on chess, Marybelle - too much like hard work, trying to remember all the different things that pieces can and can't do!

Oh, you did Audrey Hepburn perfectly! Especially if you couldn't mention Tiffany's too!

Anna Sugden said...

LOL Helen - I'm glad you clarified thongs - for some people, the word has a very different meaning!

I'm not very good at Scrabble either - I can think of the words, but I'm not very good at the tactics.

Ooh - good one with Nicole Kidman! I'd add icy, to that - she is very!

Anna Sugden said...

Hi Mozette - perhaps that's why I wasn't very good at Monopoly too. I couldn't be bothered. It didn't appeal to me to collect money and properties.

How cool that you'd be a Doc Marten! I love them - I have several pairs, my faves being a red suede pair I wear to the footie.

Janga said...

1. Favorite board game: A tie between Balderdash (love making up definitions) and Cranium (love the mix--it's like a bunvh of games in one)

2. Most detested board game: Monopoly (I always lose.)

3. Best and worst Trivial Pursuit category: Best--Art & Literature, History; Worst--Georraphy

4. If you were a flower, what would you be? A magnolia, of course--a steel one. :)If you were a drink, what would you be? A mint julep If you were a type of shoe, what would you be? A classic black pump.

5. Complete the following sentence: Imagine trying to get people to guess you were George Clooney without mentioning the following words: ER, Oceans Eleven, Sexiest Man Alive.

Nancy said...

Cindy, welcome home! Can't wait to hear about your trip. And congrats on the bird.

Anna, after Hurricane Hugo came through here, the dh and I had no power for two weeks. We entertained ourselves by playing Scrabble and a strategy game called Pente by candlelight. That was many years ago, and I still have no desire to play either!

My favorite board game is Trivial Pursuit. I love trivia. Eilis Flynn and her husband introduced me to this game, and I still remember sitting on the floor of their apartment playing it.

My least favorite--sorry, Anna!--is Monopoly. It just takes sooo long.

My best Trivia Pursuit category is history, then arts and leisure. I haven't kept up with pop music, so that would lower my performance on any version using new cards. My worst, hands down, was geography.

If I were a flower, I would be a hyacinth. They're not only pretty but hardy, and I love the way they smell. Or a nasturtium, bright, pretty, and hardy.

If I order a drink it's likely to be a Brandy Alexander or a bourbon and gineger ale with a twist of lime.

When it comes to shoes, my narrow feet are very restrictive. Shoe designers and manufacturers hate me, and they make nothing I can wear. Yes, I think it's personal. *sigh* So the shoe would be New Balance.

The celebrity question is a poser. I mostly ignore celebrity news. I guess, pretending to be Paris Hilton and not mentioning internet videos would be the best I can do.

Fun post!

Nancy said...

Cindy, that tower game sounds cool!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hey, AC! You caught the birdie! Grins. Hope he's good for you today and doesn't steal the Monopoly money or the little icons.

Grins.

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

HA! The chook is knee-deep in my laundry even as I type. I showed him a piccie of what I did to a parrot on Roatan and he is suddenly very cooperative! ;-)

Nancy, Dark Tower would have been right up your alley! I don't think they make it any more, and heaven knows whatever happened to mine. Probably "lost" after my divorce. That's how long ago it was (the 80s)!

And I HEAR YA on New Balance! They are THE BEST exercise-type shoe EVAH!

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

LOL Duchesse on the Monopoly icons. I LOVED the race car --VROOM VROOM! And avoided the iron at all costs... Hm, I still do! Imagine that. ;-)

AC

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

AC, love your answers, and that Tower game DOES sound cool!

Okay, so....

1. Favorite - Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit b/c I'm good at it. Grins. We even took the cards to the hospital when I was in labor w/ our eldest to entertain ourselves. The nurses thought we were nuts. I also love Monopoly because I adore property acquisition, but it DOES take forever.

2. Yahtzee. :> Because my brothers played it to kill.

3. My best was Literature, my worst Geography. So obscure...Grins.

4. Flower - Red Geranium
Drink - Polar Bear (Kahlua, vodka, vanila ice cream)
Shoe - Comfy, but highly polished black and tan leather riding boots (And you can draw whatever conclusions you want from that. SNORK!)

5 - Kathrine Hepburn w/o mentioning Spencer Tracey, iconic, Desk Set, Bringing Up Baby, or On Golden Pond. (Or awesome. She's one of my heroes!)

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

AC said: And I HEAR YA on New Balance! They are THE BEST exercise-type shoe EVAH!

I'll give a hankie-waving AMEN to this as well.

Love me some New Balance. Like Nancy, I have the "fit problem" of narrow, high-arched feet. And I'm a size 9.5 US. Eeek. I don't have to tie the NB's so tight the laces meet just to keep them on my feet. Grins.

And they are so COMFY!!

I'll give a shout out too for LL Bean's gumshoes. I've had a pair since college that finally died. :> And they now make them in narrow! Go, LLBean!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

AC said: LOL Duchesse on the Monopoly icons. I LOVED the race car --VROOM VROOM! And avoided the iron at all costs... Hm, I still do! Imagine that. ;-)

I don't iron, but I never minded the icon. I always wanted the top hat or the shoe though. :>

Anna Sugden said...

LOL Janga - glad to see another person who dislikes Monopoly. Wonder why it's the best-selling game it is when so many of us hate it?!

Ah - a steel magnolia. I think we have a few of those among the Banditas too.

George Clooney - yum - definitely right about those words.

Anna Sugden said...

I know what you mean, Nancy. Too much of a good thing ... or not!

Interesting how many of us aren't good at geography too. It was always my weakest category on TP.

Bourbon and ginger ale with a twist of lime sound yummy - must try that.

Ah, but I think of you as more than a New Balance shoe. Perhaps one of those lovely laced boots with a stubby heel from the turn of the century. Classic, historic and ideal for tall people, with that hint of naughtiness ;)

Anna Sugden said...

LOL AC - you show that chook who's boss! Then send him my way - I have some ironing he could do!

I seem to remember playing Dark Tower at a friend's house.

Anna Sugden said...

How did I know you'd be one to love Monopoly, Jeanne?!

Ooh Yahtzee - I used to love that too *g*. I played to kill ... ;)

Hmm - love the sound of those riding boots. Very interesting!

Ah Katherine Hepburn - one of my heroes too. Desk Set is one of my favourite ever movies. I still get the giggles on Lexington Avenue - Mexican Avenue! As is The Philadelphia Story.

Anna Sugden said...

I always hated the iron and wanted the car or the top hat in Monopoly. Now if they'd had a nice shoe instead of that crappy boot, I might have gone for that!

jo robertson said...

Great topic, Anna! I used to love board games, especially the ones with words, like Scrabble, that I had a chance of winning. Taboo is great too and probably my fave.

I don't like the Trivial Pursuit ones that are too specific, like TP from the 80's. Sheesh, I can hardly remember the 80's LOL.

Yay, AC, you got the rooster and welcome back. You should have him do all those onerous chores that build up when you're on vacation!

jo robertson said...

Oh, here are mine:

Fave: Scrabble

Hate: Chess, never understood the rules.

Fave Trivial Pursuit: Literary, of course! I hardly ever miss.

Oooh, I'd be a pepsi-drinking red rose in comfortable Birks!

Sigmund Freud without sex, beard, psychiatrist, or Oedipus.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Jo said: Sigmund Freud without sex, beard, psychiatrist, or Oedipus.

Good one, Jo!

And I'm going to love thinking of you as a Pepsi-drinking red rose in comfy Birks. SNORK!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Anna said; How did I know you'd be one to love Monopoly, Jeanne?!


Because I love buying houses? Bwahahahah! Not that I've done it in a while, but still...

Gotta say though that I do understand why people don't like the game. It can get so looonng and drawn out. :>

Jo we used to play absolutely killer Scrabble games in our house - librarian, English teacher, reading kids....yeah. Killer.

Pissenlit said...

1. Scrabble

2. Risk (I have no idea how to play it aside from just messing up everyone else's plans...lol)

3. Best: Entertainment, Art & Literature
Worst: Geography, Sports & Leisure

4. Flower: dandelion
Drink: Coke and vanilla ice cream float
Shoe: Black leather knee-high boots

5. Imagine trying to get people to guess you were Chuck Norris without mentioning the following words ... fists, Texas Ranger, kick-ass, martial arts.

Nancy said...

Oh, it's what shoe we want to _be_! I missed that part. Wonder Woman boots. Definitely.

Anna Sugden said...

LOL about the pepsi-drinking red rose in Birks, Jo!

Ah yes, old Siggy - remember him well from my Psychology degree. People used to crash our Freud lectures!

Anna Sugden said...

How interesting that you'd be a dandelion, Pissenlit! I'm fascinated, since most people who garden can't stand them - and we know that's not true of you!

Ooh good choice with Chuck Norris!

Anna Sugden said...

That's more like it, Nancy! Perfect choice!