[Illustration]
This is a game every boy or girl thoroughly enjoys. Take paper, and
with a pencil draw four cross lines as shown:
[Illustration]
Two persons only can play at this game, one player taking "noughts,"
the other "crosses." The idea is for the one player to try and draw
three "noughts" in a line before the other player can do the same
with three "crosses." Supposing the player who places his "O" in the
right-hand top corner, the player who has taken the "crosses" will
perhaps place an "X" in the left-hand top corner. The next "O" would
be placed in the bottom left-hand corner; then to prevent the line of
three "noughts" being completed, the second player would place his "X"
in the center square. An "O" would then be immediately placed in the
right-hand bottom corner, so that wherever the "X" was placed by the
next player, the "noughts" would be bound to win. Say, for instance,
the "X" has chosen the "noughts" commences and was placed in the
center square on the right-hand side, the place for the "O" to be put
would be the center square at the bottom, thus securing the game. The
diagram would then appear as illustrated:
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"TIT, TAT, TOE"
[Illustration]
There can be two, three, or four players for this game. First take
paper and pencil and write the players' names across the top of
the paper in the order in which they are to play. Next draw a large
circle, in the center of which draw a smaller one, placing the number
100 within it. The space between the inner and outer circles must be
divided into parts, each having a number, as shown in the diagram.
This having been done, the first player closes his eyes, takes the
pencil, and places his hand over the paper, the point of the pencil
just touching it. He then repeats the following rhyme, moving the
pencil round and round while doing so:
Tit, tat, toe,
My first go,
Four jolly butcher boys
All in a row.
Stick one up,
Stick one down,
Stick one in
The old man's crown.
At the word "crown" the player must keep the point of the pencil
firmly on the paper, and open his eyes. If the pencil is not within
the circle, or if within but with the point of the pencil resting upon
a line, then the player gives the pencil to the next player, having
scored nothing.
If, on the contrary, at the end of the rhyme, the pencil is found to
be resting in a division of the circle, for instance, marked "70,"
that number is placed beneath the player's name, and the section is
struck by drawing a line across it. If afterward the pencil rest in a
division of the circle that has been struck out, the player loses his
turn in the same way as if the pencil were not in the circle at all,
or had rested upon a line of the diagram.
The game continues until all the divisions of the circle have been
scored out, when the numbers gained by each of the players are added
up, and the one who has scored the highest number of points wins the
game.
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