Judging Specifics for “Million Dollar Password”

Whenever we get a new show out with really picky judging like Million Dollar Password, I get a lot of emails about how the judging is done.  thankfully, unlike so many other shows, we were provided with a rules bible.  It’s unbelievably long as far as judging goes, but it’s good to be prepared for a word game.  It’s an interesting read too.  We know the rules by now, and if not you can read the rules page which we really need to get restarted.  

Again, the only changes this season are that a quarter million dollars is now a milestone giving you a free shot at the million and you are able to see all six Passwords used for that level (you only need to get five to move on).  Last season you were only able to see five of the six.  You see the words for three seconds each.  But on to the judging.  Here are a few of the interesting rules I found.  All of the rules are listed under the page break.

*Commonly known words that do not appear in either of the dictionaries of record are acceptable if they are not illegal for any other reason. For example, a commonly known word such as “bootylicious” is acceptable.

*All Passwords are single, non-hyphenated words. Clues must also be single, non-hyphenated clues. Examples of illegal clues include “twenty-five” and “New Zealand”. However, we will accept the word “e-mail” as a legal clue.

*Brand names are allowed if they are well-known. “Hershey” would be an acceptable clue for the Password “chocolate”.

*Using a clue that rhymes with the Password is legal, as long as the rhyme is an otherwise legal word (for example, “table” is a legal clue for “cable”). However, it is illegal to use any form of the clue “Rhyme” to indicate that a rhyming clue has been or will be used.

*Players may use facial expressions, voice inflections, and limited head movement. For example, a player may whisper “silent” to get “quiet” as a response.

*Singing clues with a recognizable tune is illegal. For example, players cannot sing the clue “Purple” to get the password “Rain”.

*Pointing to an object or motioning (including darting one’s eyes) to an actual representation of the Password (for example, “table” or “watch”) is illegal.

*Specific gestures and pantomime are not allowed when giving clues. For example, a player may not show a “curve” with his or her hands when giving any clue for the Password “voluptuous”, or stretch his/her neck for the Password “giraffe”.

*No spelling clarifications of a clue word are allowed. For example, if the Clue Giver gives the clue “through”, it is up to the Guesser to decide if they meant “through” or “threw”.

*A previously given clue or guess may be repeated by either player as a subsequent clue.

*Adding the clue “opposite” after another clue is acceptable.

*Using a clue that rhymes with the Password is legal, as long as the rhyme is an otherwise legal word (for example, “table” is a legal clue for “cable”). However, it is illegal to use any form of the clue “Rhyme” to indicate that a rhyming clue has been or will be used.

*Contestants may not give a clue that is a homophone of the answer or a large part of the answer. For example, “threw” could not be given as a clue for “through”, and “cough” could not be given as a clue for “coffin”.

*Contestants may not give clues that pertain to the spelling or writing of the Password itself. For example, it is illegal to use the clues “R”, “A”, and “T” for the password “rat”. Similarly, it is illegal to use such clues as: “starts”, “with”, “R”; “three”, “letters”; “tar”, “backwards”; etc.

Word Acceptability

*The dictionaries of record are Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition and Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd edition. These dictionaries are our primary source for the verification of Passwords and the acceptability of clues. However, other sources may be used at the Producer’s and Network’s sole discretion to verify the existence of words not found in these dictionaries, including, but not limited to, proper names, titles, commonly known slang, etc.

*Commonly known words that do not appear in either of the dictionaries of record are acceptable if they are not illegal for any other reason. For example, a commonly known word such as “bootylicious” is acceptable. Other examples include, but are not limited to, titles of books, movies, etc. However, players may not create a nonexistent word (for example, “smelephone” to clue “telephone”).

*All Passwords are single, non-hyphenated words. Clues must also be single, non-hyphenated clues. Examples of illegal clues include “twenty-five” and “New Zealand”. However, we will accept the word “e-mail” as a legal clue.

*If the Password or clue has two different spellings according to the dictionaries of record, one spelled as a single, non-hyphenated word and one NOT spelled as a single, non-hyphenated word, it may still be used as a Password or clue. For example, the word “online” may be used as a clue for “Internet”, even though the dictionaries of record also show the spelling “on-line”.

*Passwords and clues may both contain apostrophes (examples: “won’t”, “O’Connor”).

*Proper nouns may be used as both Passwords and clues as long as they are not illegal for any other reason. For example, “Hitchcock” may be given for the Password “mystery”, or the clue “Victoria” may be given for the Password “Beckham”.

*Foreign words are allowed if they are found in the main English portion of the dictionaries of record. For example, the word “fiesta” could be used as a clue for “party”; however, “biblioteca” would be an illegal clue for “library”.

*Brand names are allowed if they are well-known. “Hershey” would be an acceptable clue for the Password “chocolate”.

*Passwords will not be acronyms or initials. Clues may not be acronyms or initials (such as “TV”, “IBM”, “CD”, “JFK”, or “CBS”) unless the dictionaries of record also show them as being uncapitalized words (such as “scuba”, “radar”, or “wasp”).

Acceptable Forms of Guesses

A Guesser’s answer will be accepted even if not exactly correct if:
*It is the plural form of a singular answer, or vice versa (for example, “mouse”/”mice”)

*It is an inflected form of a verb answer (such as “take”/”taking”, “steal”/”stolen”)

*It contains the full answer, even phonetically (such as the guess “manly” for “man”; the answer “dummy” for “dumb”) as long as it has a closely related meaning. For instance, we would NOT accept the word “shout” as a correct answer for the Password “out”.

*Guesses that are close to the correct answer but have a different suffix (such as the guess “Communism” for the Password “Communist”, or the guess “repetition” for the Password “repeat”) are accepted as correct answers if the words are closely related in meaning. However, not all words that are the same except for different suffixes are acceptable. For example, “wick” would not be accepted for the Password “wicker” because their meanings are not closely related.

*If a Guesser’s answer contains more than one word that is commonly linked together (such as “peanut butter”), we accept the first word as his/her answer and judge accordingly.

Acceptable Forms of Words for Cluing

*No form of the Password itself may be used as a clue. For example, the clue “chemist” could not be used for “chemistry”, and the clue “steal” could not be used for “stolen”. This includes proper nouns: “Charlie” could not be used as a clue for “Charles”, and “Bogie” could not be used as a clue for “Bogart”.

*Therefore, a player may not simply add or subtract a prefix or suffix from the Password to create a clue. “Unbelievable” would be an illegal clue for “believable”.

*A player may not give a clue that is the same basic word with just a different prefix or suffix. “Actor” would be an illegal clue for “actress”.

*Clue words may not be words contained in the password if the clue has a related meaning. For example, “pave” would not be allowed for “pavement”, and neither “black” nor “berry” would be allowed for “blackberry”. If the clue contains the Password but is unrelated, it is legal; for example, “Hal” would be a legal clue for “shallow”.

*However, it is allowable to repeat a small part of the Password as part of a clue, as long as it is not the entire main root. For example, although “foot” and “ball” would not be allowed as clues for the Password “football”, the clue “baseball” would be allowed.