Carnelli

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Carnelli game at 2007 American AG

Carnelli is a game created by Jan Carnell, a member of Metropolitan Washington Mensa. This game has been popular at Mensa gatherings for years. It can be called a "title association" game, like "word association" only using titles, such as those of a book, play, movie, or song.

It is played by a group of people who arrange themselves in a circle, with the nonplaying judge (or "Carnelli Master") standing in the center of the circle. The Carnelli Master starts the game going by pointing to one of the players and saying a title to start the game. The pointed-to player must continue the game by saying a title himself, which must connect to the previous title in some way, such as having a word in common (The Time Machine and Time Enough for Love), having a common author (Hamlet and Macbeth), a common actor or producer, or other linkages of a similar nature -- different groups of Carnelli players can vary in exactly what kinds of links are permissible. A common rule is to allow pun linkages as long as they draw sufficient groans from the other people present -- the link from Tequila Sunrise to To Kill a Mockingbird (pronounced "Tequila Mockingbird" for effect) is a popular one.

Play proceeds around the circle, with each player naming a title that connects to the last one said. If a player is unable to come up with any title within the allotted time (kept by the Carnelli Master; generally, the time limit reduces as the game proceeds) he or she is eliminated and must move outside the circle. If a player names a nonexistent or incorrect title, a title that does not legitimately connect with the preceding one, or a title that has already been used in the current game, another player may challenge it, and such challenges are ruled upon by the Carnelli Master, whose judgments are said to be "arbitrary, capricious, and final". If the challenge is upheld, the challenged player is eliminated, but if the challenge is rejected, the challenger is instead eliminated. The winner is the last player remaining after all other players have been eliminated.

It is interesting to note that there is not strictly a one-to-one relationship between titles and works -- What a Girl Wants is, unrelatedly, a Christina Aguilera song and an Amanda Bynes movie, while the first Harry Potter book is known both as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Since it is titles that aren't allowed to be repeated in the course of a game rather than works, players may only say "What a Girl Wants" once, but may use both Potter titles separately -- unless, of course, the current Carnelli Master decides otherwise.

References

External link

Metropolitan Washington Mensa page on Carnelli