Kinds of Codenames Clues: Links Your Team Will Read

Welcome to Level 2. At Level 1 you learned to build a clue from the danger words outward and to keep your number honest. Now look at the clue itself. A clue is a link between your word and the words on the grid, and links come in a handful of kinds. Each kind behaves differently in your team’s heads.

Once you can name the kind of link you are using, you can predict where your operatives will go, including the places you did not mean.

Category clues

The clue names a group the words belong to. “Fruit” for APPLE and LEMON. “Planet” for MARS and SATURN.

Category clues are the first thing most spymasters reach for, and they are often the leakiest. A category tends to catch more than you mean. “Fruit” also pulls toward ORANGE, DATE, and anything that grows on a tree. Before you give a category clue, scan the grid for every word that could belong to the group, including loose members.

Use them when the category is narrow and the grid holds nothing else that fits.

Trait clues

The clue names something the words share. “Round” for BALL and MOON. “Sharp” for KNIFE and NEEDLE.

Trait clues can link words from very different corners of the board, which is why they make good clues for two. Their risk is that almost everything has some trait in common with something. “Round” reaches CIRCLE, WHEEL, and a dozen others if they show up.

Use them when the trait is the first thing anyone would say about both words.

Phrase partner clues

The clue makes a common phrase or compound with each word. The rulebook’s own example of a valid soundalike is “snail” for MAIL, because snail mail is a common phrase. “Paper” might go with PLANE and TIGER.

Phrase clues are tight. A phrase either exists or it does not, so they leak less than categories. Their weakness is direction: a phrase that is obvious to you may not come to mind from the other end. Your team has to start at the clue and find the phrase, not the other way around.

Use them when the phrase is so common that your team will think of it within seconds.

Use clues

The clue names what the words do or are used for. “Cut” for SAW and SCISSORS. “Write” for PEN and DESK.

Use clues sit between categories and traits. They are easy to read, but tools and objects often share uses, so check the grid for other things that do the same job.

Name clues

One-word names are always valid clues. “Einstein” could point at GENIUS and RELATIVITY, if both were on the grid. “Tokyo” might link JAPAN and TOWER.

Name clues are powerful with a table that shares the same references and risky with one that does not. A name your team does not know is a clue for zero words. This is where knowing your table matters most. Agree before the game whether full names and titles are allowed, since the rulebook leaves that to each group.

Double meaning clues

The rulebook treats words spelled the same as the same word, so one clue can reach two meanings. Its example is “lead,” spelled out, for CAPTAIN and GOLD. “Bat” for BASEBALL and CAVE works the same way.

Double meaning clues are often the cleanest way to join two words that have nothing else in common. The risk is that operatives may read only one meaning, find one word, and stop. A number of two is the hint that a second meaning exists. Good operatives learn to ask: does this clue mean two things?

Letters and numbers, used for meaning

Letters and numbers are valid when they point at meaning, not spelling or position. The rulebook allows “x” for RAY and “eight” for BALL and OCTOPUS. These clues are rare but sharp, because few words on a grid have that kind of link.

Which kinds are safest?

A rough order, from tightest to widest:

1. Double meaning and phrase partner clues. Narrow, if your team can find the meaning or phrase.
2. Name and number clues. Narrow, if your table shares the reference.
3. Use and trait clues. Medium. Scan for other words with the same job or quality.
4. Category clues. Widest. Safe only when the category is small.

This is not a rule. It is a habit of checking. A tight link that your team will not find is worse than a wide link that you have checked against every word on the board.

Matching kinds to your team

Teams have styles. Some operatives think in phrases. Some think in pictures and traits. Some know every film from the last forty years. After a few games, you will notice which kinds of link your team reads right on the first try.

Lean on those. If your team misses double meanings, give them as clues for one until they start seeing them. If they jump on categories too eagerly, give fewer categories. The same habit works from the other side: operatives who know their spymaster’s favorite kind of link can read clues faster. Our Codenames clue tips cover the safety check that goes with every kind.