It's the game where you see all the answers... you just need to put them together!

SPLIT DECISION

OBJECTIVE: Two players compete to identify words with its first and second halves broken up.

FRONT GAME

To start off, each round uses a board with two rows. In the first row are six "prefixes", a group of letters that may compose the first half of a row. In the second row are six "suffixes"; letters that may compose the second half of a word. For instance:

A	MOD	KET	1
B	PAC	AIR	2
C	INT	IFY	3
D	IMP	ENT	4
E	REP	ERN	5
F	DEC	ACT	6

These groups of letters can be combined to make a multitude of words. For instance, in the board above, you can create the words MODIFY, MODERN, PACKET, PACIFY, INTENT, INTERN, INTACT, IMPAIR, IMPACT, REPAIR, REPENT, and DECENT.

In the first round, the first column is shown to the players, while the second one is hidden. A clue to one of the words is hidden (for example, "Drinking does this to your driving ability.") The player who buzzes in tries to identify the prefix in the first column that would help spell out the word. If correct, the player scores 1 point and tries to guess where on the second column the proper suffix is hidden. Note that when answering, the players must respond with the letter and number on the board, not the word part itself. (So the answer to the question is D-2.)

If the player can find the suffix, he gets another 2 points for a total of 3, and retains control for the next question. Otherwise, the suffix chosen is shown momentarily, hidden, and another toss-up is asked.

Play continues in this round until either A) one player scores 20 points, winning the game; B) all available words are played; or C) the host goes through all available words twice. If no winner is found after one round of play, a second round is played with the suffixes shown and the prefixes hidden. Players now get 2 points for both the prefix and the suffix.

The first player to score 20 points wins the game and $500. The loser gets $200 for playing.

BONUS ROUND - The "Compound Fracture"

The round starts by showing the player a list of 16 words in random order, like so:

Man - Fire - Sweat - Day - Super - Cake - Handle - Holder
Camp - Shop - Time - Pan - Cup - Size - Care - Tea

The words on this list can be put together to form an assortment of compound words - words that are made up of two separate words. However, there's only one way to use all 16 words and make 8 compound words. The words are identified by saying them out loud. If a player gets cornered, he can say "Rewind!" and disconnect all the compound words he'd made to that point.

If the player can find the right way to use all 16 words, he wins $20,000. If a player is stuck, he can call out for a "freebie" which will show the player one of the right compound words. Each time he does so, however, the top prize is cut in half. If time runs out, the player wins $250 for each compound word formed in his best performance.

Champions stay on the show for five days or until they accumulate $25,000 in winnings.

SELLING POINTS

Wow. I never thought I'd ever be able to improve on the idea I had on here before, but I did. The front game brings back some of the elements of Eye Guess, where you are guessing blind for the extra points, and have to remember where each suffix is after it's been shown. The bonus round can also get quite interesting given that there are a lot of combinations for words out there. (BTW, can you solve the Compound Fracture I have up there? Hurry, the clock's ticking.)

WEAKNESSES

Some people have said it's a bit cheap to have to guess at the suffix. But honestly, that's the best device I can come up with. Also, I'm a bit afraid of seeing the same words getting used over and over again.

FRUITION RATING (1-10): 8

Miles ahead of the original idea, but could still use a bit of polish.

Questions, comments, cares or concerns? Use the link on the left to E-mail me and tell me what you think!

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