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You’ll need

• Standard deck of playing cards1 deck for up to 10 players, reusable
• Spoons1 fewer than the number of players, reusable

How to play

1. Lay the spoons in the middle of the table, within reach of everyone. Deal four cards to each player and put the rest of the deck face down beside the dealer.
2. The dealer picks up the top card, keeps or swaps it, and passes one card face down to the left. Everyone else does the same with what they receive, so cards flow steadily round the table. The last player discards.
3. The first player to hold four cards of the same rank quietly takes a spoon. Once anyone notices, everyone grabs for the remaining spoons.
4. The player left without a spoon gets a letter (S, then P, and so on).

Who wins

Anyone who spells out S-P-O-O-N-S is out; the last player still in wins.

Variations

Bigger groups can use two decks and need eight of a kind; play the nose-touch version with no spoons for a quieter table.

Safety: Grabbing can get rough; use plastic or wooden spoons, no knives or forks, and remind players to grab, not snatch from hands.