Amusement devices: games – Board games – pieces – or boards therefor – Word – sentence – or equation forming
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-23
2002-01-22
Pierce, William M. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Board games, pieces, or boards therefor
Word, sentence, or equation forming
C434S177000, C463S040000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06340159
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to games, and more particularly, to a crossword puzzle game show. Players may also hook into the central game show through the internet. New rules and elements are added to the crossword puzzle game show to enhance the play.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Over the years there have been many word games that test the player's knowledge and vocabulary skills. From “quiz shows” to board games like Trivial Pursuit™, many of these word games test the player's knowledge against other players' knowledge. The standard crossword puzzle, on the other hand, is not played competitively but rather involves one player testing his knowledge and skill in solitude. Everyone is familiar with the crossword puzzle. It consists of a grid of small squares, each of which squares is either blacked out or is empty and must be filled with a letter. Each horizontal or vertical sequence of empty squares, delimited by either a blacked-out square or the edge of the grid, must be filled with a word. A separate list of clues gives the player hints as to the appropriate word to be filled in for each sequence of empty squares. Because the horizontal words and the vertical words intersect with each other and thus have certain letters in common, the player may also get a hint of the appropriate word from the letters that are already filled in. Of course, if the player fills in one word incorrectly, she may be led astray as she tries to complete other words that share letters in common with her incorrect guess.
Crossword puzzles first appeared in
The New York Times
on Feb. 15, 1942, and became an instant hit. A 1959 Gallup poll named crossword puzzles the number one pastime in the United States, with millions of people of all ages playing every day.
It is estimated that there are now over 50 million devotees of crossword puzzles in the United States, and many millions more toil over them in other countries. According to Will Schortz, crossword puzzle editor of
The New York Times
, “these brain teasers arc found in all languages, and in newspapers around the world.”
In the United States alone, there are approximately 1,509 daily newspapers (with a circulation of over 56.7 million), and 903 Sunday papers, (with a circulation of over 60.5 million), and there is a crossword puzzle in every one of these newspapers. Also, consider these facts:
There are currently 121 internet sites devoted to crossword puzzles, as well as, crossword puzzle software.
It is said that many people buy their paper just for the crossword puzzles.
There are national and international crossword puzzle tournaments.
There is a Crossword Puzzlers Association, located in New York City.
Crossword puzzles have been a hit since
The New York Times
published its first crossword puzzle in 1942. Because of their popularity, various efforts have been made to create new games based on the crossword puzzle concept or to create new ways of playing. Examples of such efforts are described in the following U.S. patent references, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,978, to Martino, et al., describes a rotating cube displayed three-dimensionally on a computer, on which crossword puzzle or other games can be played (see FIG.
15
). U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,942, to Elum, relates to a crossword-puzzle type game where indicia on specific squares give added hints to help solve the puzzle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,578, to Wayman, discloses a method for generating a crossword puzzle as well as automatically searching for solutions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,595, to Sherman, et al., relates to a crossword puzzle game that involves elements of skill and chance. The game is played with a die, each of whose sides shows a number, either 4−, 5, 6, 7, 8+ or “wild.” On each player's turn, he must roll the die and then he must attempt to complete a word with the same number of letters as is shown on the die. For a “wild” roll, the player may choose any length word. Points are accumulated by adding one point for each letter of a correctly filled in word. A player may also challenge an opponent's answer by referring to an answer key. If the challenged answer is correct, the opponent keeps the points and the challenger loses a turn. If the challenged answer is incorrect, the challenger gets the points and the opponent may lose a turn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,173, to Curtis, et al., relates to crossword puzzle game equipment for playing a crossword puzzle board game. The game board includes a grid of consecutively numbered squares, some of which must be blacked out before each game in order to form a crossword puzzle surface. The equipment includes multiple clue books, each containing multiple crossword puzzles. Each player may look at his own clue book as players simultaneously attempt to solve the crossword puzzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,126, to Coefield, relates to a competitive crossword puzzle game. Players take turns filling in the crossword puzzle. Each player uses a different colored marker to fill in the squares of the puzzle grid, each of which squares is assigned a numerical value. The length of time that a player may use for each turn is limited by a timer. When the puzzle is complete, the score for each player is the sum of the numerical values assigned to the squares that are filled in with the color of that player's marker.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,815, to Sturtz, relates to a word game that is played on a game board. The game board allows for the insertion of different crossword puzzles onto the surface of the board. Opponents take turns filling in one letter of the crossword puzzle at a time. For each letter inserted, a certain number of points is added to the player's score, corresponding to the sum of the number of the row in which the letter was inserted, the number of the column in which the letter was inserted, and the number of bonus points associated with the letter that was used. Players also lose a certain number of points for inserting each wrong letter.
Unfortunately, all of the prior art lacks the combination of challenging, exciting, and competitive elements to the game. The standard crossword puzzle is normally played individually by a student taking a study break, a commuter trying to ignore the crush of rush hour, or by someone curled up on their couch, relaxing in the comfort of their own home. Indeed, the goal of the standard crossword puzzle is often to help the player relax. The standard crossword puzzle thus lacks the excitement of a competitive game, and is designed generally in the opposite manner.
Most crossword puzzle games also lack a buildup of excitement until a certain climax, where all of or a portion of that which a player has won earlier in the game may be lost, and a player who has been losing up to that point may increase their score by up to double the previous amount and/or all of a sudden emerge victorious.
Another element lacking in most game shows is a component that allows the audience watching the game from home to participate actively in the game, rather than to observe passively. Most games and/or game shows also lack the element of a live broadcast, thereby detracting from the show's excitement.
Accordingly, it is desirable to create a new crossword puzzle game that will continue to challenge the players' skills, and that will add elements to the game that will make the game more exciting and dramatic.
It is also desirable to create a new version of the crossword puzzle game that adds competitive elements to the game, by allowing multiple players to compete against each other, rather than playing in solitude or cooperatively with other players.
It is further desirable to allow multiple players to challenge each other directly and take each other's winnings, rather than merely to compete indirectly for the highest score, increasing the competitiveness and excitement of the game.
It is further desirable to add a climactic phase to the crossword puzzle game, where everything that a player won earli
Donner Irah H.
Hale and Dorr LLP
Pierce William M.
LandOfFree
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