is verboten. Apparently.
Actually, I learned one new (Public Domain-ish) game last night that wasn't bad. Michael called it Squabble (I think). You play with a standard Scrabble Set, using the letters only (no blanks). Players take turns flipping up one tile into the center. Whenever you see a word (4 letters or more) you shout it out and take it.
The trick is that you can steal words from another player. If you can use all the tiles in one (or more) of an opponents word(s) and any tiles from the center, you can steal it. (No variants of the formed word). You can also anagram your own word (to prevent stealing, since simple anagram counts).
For example, last night one player had SODA and Michael indicated he was waiting for R+L to show up together, so he could claim DORSAL. As the words get longer, they get harder to steal, and when the tiles run out (and people concede) then most words in front of them wins.
Fast, you are involved the whole time, and focuses on both on anagrams and long words. Not bad.
I also played several games that I hadn't touched in a while. A quick (3 player) game of Cosmic Encounter -- I should play with 4-6, but I'm glad I got this copy (Eon), even if another reprint was announced days later. Finally played my copy of Password, which I've had for years. Pulled out Gargon, and had an extremely tight game (86-86-85). Still, this really needs at least 4 players. And got in a play of Princes of Florence, using Steffan O'Sullivan's 3-player variant.
Also played some Party/Trivia games, and I'm beginning to realize just how few games have good questions. I've complained about Smarty Party before, but You Must Be an Idiot! seems to be aimed a bit low. I guess each card (which has four questions, you use two), tries to have four different categories, so you can pick two, but we normally deal out two cards (so you have 8 questions to choose from) and there are still times when I'm forced to ask a no-brainer. That makes it tough on the people dealt "Idiot" cards (who must try to answer incorrectly convincingly). Still, an enjoyable game, if not one I'll be buying.
