Word for Word (1938)

Transogram's entry in the crossword card game craze of the late 30s. This is the most unusual one in having "cards" made of thin wood slats (which are somewhat fragile, at least after 70 years). There are scrabble-like stands to hold them. The cards each have a letter and value 2-10, except two "Key" wild cards worth 20. Deal 8 letters to 2-3 players, 6 each for 4-6. In a turn, a player plays up to 4 letters to the table, making words of 2+ letters; or, discards a letter and draws a new one. All words except the first must intersect other words, crossword fashion. The hand ends when a player runs out of cards, at which point each player adds the points left in their hand to their total. When someone reaches 200, the lowest total wins. There is also a solitaire version. Take out the key cards and deal yourself 10 letters. Build a crossword array from your hand as above; when you are stuck, draw new letters until you can make another word. Continue until going through the whole deck. You win if you use up all the letters. Later versions from the '50's & '60's use plastic tiles, with slight scoring differences, & include rules for different games using the same components.