Alice: We’ve got ten minutes before the bus comes. How about playing a game?

Barney: OK. I know a good one. It’s called GHOST. Do you know how to play?

Alice: No, I don’t.

Barney: I can teach you. It’s very easy. It’s a spelling game. We have to take turns saying a letter to make a word. The aim is to make the other player finish the word. So, in your turn, you shouldn’t say any letter that can be the last letter of a word.

Alice: But how do I know what word we’re spelling?

Barney: You don’t! That’s the game. Let’s start, I’ll explain as we go along. The first letter is C.

Alice: OK. I’m going to say K for the second letter.

Barney: C-K? You can’t say that. There’s no word in English that starts with those two letters. It must be a real word that you’re thinking of. But you’re not supposed to tell me the word.

Alice: OK, OK. Let’s go for A. So, it’s C-A. Can I say that?

Barney: Yes, that’s fine. Lots of words in English start with those letters. C-A-….T.

Alice: That’s a word – cat! You lose!

Barney: Wait – there’s one more rule that I haven’t told you yet. Three-letter words don’t count. So, it’s your turn again.

Alice: Really? You should explain that rule at the beginning. All right. Hmmmm….. C-A-T-C.

Barney: Ooh, that’s difficult. Are you sure it’s a real word? You mustn’t say it if you don’t know the word.

Alice: Yes, I’m definitely thinking of a real word. Do you want me to give you a clue?

Barney: You’re not allowed to give me a clue. Let me think. ……………. Oh, I see what you’re doing. You want me to say H to make catch, C-A-T-C-H. I guess there’s no other way to finish the word. You beat me!

Alice: I can’t believe I won the game – I’ve never played before!

Barney: Wait – you haven’t won the game yet. You’ve just won the first round. Because I lost, I get the letter G. If I lose again, I get H, then O, and then S and T. So, the first player to lose five rounds and get G-H-O-S-T ghost, loses the whole game.

Alice: I see. Well, I hope you’re not going to get angry when you lose the game.

Barney: You don’t have to be so annoying! Who says I’m going to lose?