Cross-Clue
One clue, two secret words.
Cross-Clue is a small logic puzzle disguised as a party game: four words sit on the table, one hidden pair is the real target, and everyone else has to reverse-engineer which two the clue-giver actually meant from a clue that could plausibly point at several combinations. It rewards a clever, slightly misleading clue over an obvious one.
Objective
The Clue Giver links two of the four words with a one-word clue; everyone else guesses which pair the clue points to.
How to play
- Four words are shown to everyone (e.g. 'Sun, Moon, Star, Cloud'). The Clue Giver secretly knows which two of them are the assigned pair; everyone else only sees the four words.
- The Clue Giver writes one single-word clue that links the two secret words. The other six pairings (Sun-Moon, Sun-Star, etc.) all stay on the table for guessers.
- Every other player picks the pair they think the clue is pointing to. At the end, the assigned pair, the clue, and every vote are revealed.
Scoring
Each guesser who picks the exact pair scores 1 point. The Clue Giver also scores 1 point, but only if at least one guesser got it right — otherwise the clue was too tricky. Speed bonus (host option): the fastest correct guesser gets +1.
Example round
- The four words are 'Sun, Moon, Star, Cloud'. Ana secretly knows the assigned pair is Moon and Cloud.
- Ana writes the clue 'Eclipse' — technically true of Sun-Moon too, which is the trap.
- Ben picks Sun-Moon, reasoning eclipses are usually about the sun.
- Cleo picks Moon-Cloud, thinking of a cloud drifting past a night moon.
- Dan also picks Moon-Cloud. Cleo and Dan each score a point for the correct pair, and Ana scores a point too since at least one guesser got it right.
Strategy tips
- As clue-giver, avoid the clue that's most obviously true of your pair — if it also fits a second pairing, you'll bait guesses toward the wrong pair and lose your own point.
- As a guesser, run the clue against all six possible pairings on the table, not just the first one that comes to mind, since the trap pairing is usually the intuitive answer.
- Watch what other players are picking if the vote isn't fully blind in your setup — clustering around one pair is a strong signal even before the reveal.
- If you're the clue-giver, remember you only score when someone guesses right, so a clue that's clever but unguessable is worse than one that's slightly too easy.
Best with
Works with as few as 2 players and holds up in larger groups too, since more guessers means more chances for the clue-giver's wordplay to either land or backfire — a good fit for a focused small group rather than a big loud party.
Variations
- Agree to a fixed clue-giver rotation so everyone gets an equal number of turns writing clues across a session.
- For a harder variant, ban clues that share a root word with either of the four words on the table.
- Play a silent round where guessers can't discuss their reasoning out loud before locking in, to stop groupthink from carrying weak clues.
FAQ
How many possible pairs are there among the four words?
Six — the four words on the table can be combined into six distinct pairs, and only one of them is the clue-giver's secret assigned pair each round.
Does the clue-giver score if nobody guesses correctly?
No — the clue-giver only scores a point if at least one guesser picks the exact assigned pair; if the clue is too tricky and everyone misses, the clue-giver gets nothing that round.
Can a clue be more than one word?
The rules call for a single-word clue linking the two secret words, similar to other one-word-clue games in the app — keeping it to one word is what makes the six possible pairings genuinely ambiguous.