Codenames 25

[Krill]

What's the uncovered board look like?

[pjabrony]

I'm curious if HOLE is blue or even black. I'm working out what I would have clued for Red's list and right now, not knowing the full board, I've got:

Excavate 4 (DRILL, GROUND, MOLE, GAS)
Spirit 2 (GHOST, PORT)
Sonata 2 (MOON, PIANO)

[JR4]

Here is the full board:

DRILL	VACUUM	PIN	CHOCOLATE	PORT
PIANO	SQUARE	SNOW	HELICOPTER	FORK
MOLE	TRUNK	ORGAN	GAS	LEMON
GROUND	HOLE	ROSE	AIR	GHOST
SATURN	FALL	PARACHUTE	NOVEL	MOON

Most of the time the team and I just weren`t on the same page but we came pretty close to winning anyway.

I wasn`t too happy about the board to start with as there were quite a few mines that had to be avoided. Two easy pairs suggest themselves - HELICOPTER and PARACHUTE plus LEMON and CHOCOLATE would be a piece of cake to clue together. But how can you get more words? There is a stupid amount of words with a military connotation for instance. In the end I decided to go for Cheap 3 as the first clue in lack of better options.

WK got it right straight away, I was simply clueing the cheapest items on the board. He also somehow managed to spot the slight difference between LEMON, PIN, CHOCOLATE, NOVEL (that were all blue) and ROSE plus FORK that were grey. And then the rest of the team decided to discard that advice.  
I can understand why FALL was brought up but I was left literally speechless when AIR was the first guess. I mean, the clue was cheap, not free. Not the best start.

Superdeath had a pretty challenging board too. I know nothing about pokemon and he easily got his three first words. Which obviously put a lot of pressure on us.

So, I decided to take a mad risk by going for Kevlar 3. I could see any of HELICOPTER, PARACHUTE, TRUNK or ORGAN. Oh, and HOLE is actually the assassin! The team did very well by steering away from HOLE but there definitely was a non-zero chance that the game would end right there. We got four words on that clue which was a huge relief. (Well done pointing out that Kevlar is the opposite of HOLE).

Oil 3 was pretty dangerous as it brought up HOLE again. It wasn`t clear to me which connection was stronger - HOLE or PORT but the reds wisely decided to pass in order to get more information.

Grocer unlimited was an attempt to get you on the right track but I do agree that it`s very hard to get PARACHUTE and HELICOPTER. The team didn`t seem to like the intended word (SQUARE) and I was rather disappointed that no one pushed for it.

Then Superdeath made a rather strange clue. Surely, SNOW is the best match for the clue MAN? It also brought up the assassin again which created even more drama. Things could have gone wrong here but at least SNOW was grey. A final chance to win. And I messed up again.

Evacuation did get HELICOPTER and PARACHUTE but then again the team disliked SQUARE. I couldn`t find a better way of clueing it and at the same time getting both of the remaining blue military words. I didn`t think about the similarity to VACUUM as I was in a hurry when making that clue. It`s probably right to allow that one but I`ll try to look for "twins" next time. WK mentioned that SQUARE was a weak link but again no one else really liked that word. At least I was hoping to bring the word up for discussion as arguably that word fits both Grocer and Ecacuation (well, to some extent). But no.

And then the reds were able to clear the board. There was still some potential for drama but you managed to avoid HOLE.

[JR4]

Any suggestions as of how to clue the blue words in three turns?

[Krill]

Honestly don't see how to link square to anything, but Kevlar and cheap could have been 4 clues leaving you to say shape 1...

[pjabrony]

Any suggestions as of how to clue the blue words in three turns?

Three turns is difficult, but here's how I'd attack it:

Medevac 3 (for HELICOPTER, ORGAN, and PARACHUTE)
Entenmann 3 (for CHOCOLATE, LEMON, and SQUARE)
Lockpick 3 (for PIN, TRUNK, and NOVEL, though that's a damn stretch).

In each case I listed the least likely word last, so if the team missed NOVEL and SQUARE I'd clue Rectangular 2 (and possibly even 3 if PARACHUTE was missed, they can be square), if they missed SQUARE and PARACHUTE I'd clue Canvas 2, and if it was PARACHUTE and NOVEL, um...dunno.

But, given that Red team had to hit DRILL, GROUND, PORT, and MOLE without touching HOLE, I think I'd have planned for four turns.

[Old Harry]

Well that must have been tense for the spymasters!

Nice work Superdeath on somehow getting us to avoid HOLE given DRILL, GROUND, PORT, and MOLE (and thanks Bob for being dead set against it in that last round!) I've no idea how I'd clue PIANO, PORT and MOLE at the end there...

[superdeath]

Yeah.. i had wanted to go for POKEMON 6-7 or so, but i didnt know if anyone else was an avid pokemon fan... leaving me to just say Billy 1 for piano.

ALSO, i may be young but i love the oldies. I clued MAN to hopefully get Piano at the very least, and maybe Mole-man. I....... kinda forgot snow was on there until AFTER the first guess was made.

I honestly didnt see HOLE being a choice for OIL, when port seemed such an easier word for it. I mean, think of how much oil is transferred around the world via ports? But seeing the board i was damn near speechless at how hard it would be to get DRILL, MOLE, and GROUND without HOLE being guessed.

Looking over the other comments... WTF is a Entenmann? how do you connect Spirit with PORT? Great game, i hope to spymaster again now that i know wtf i am doing... somewhat

[pjabrony]

Entenmann's is a line of baked goods, and their cakes are usually square.

Also, Port wine for the spirit connection.

[El Grillo]

Entenmann is a brand of donuts and other pastries in the US, but to be entirely honest I'd have gone with Donut HOLE before SQUARE if I got that clue. One of PORT's other definitions is a type of Portuguese alcohol or spirit.

EDIT: Sometimes the tough part about this game is when multiple words have plausible connections, but one seems much more plausible to the spymaster and another seems much more plausible to the team. Also, interpreting clues where an opposite is implied rather than a direct connection, like Kevlar being taken as a clue toward or away from HOLE.