The License Plate Game

When I’m driving, I like to play a license plate game with myself to pass the time and challenge my mind. I used to do something similar when I was a kid on vacations with my dad, except those were usually finding plates from all 50 states. Success in my game is based on who has the most extensive vocabulary combined with the best imagination.

License plates in Texas usually are made up of 3 letters followed by 4 numbers. So, the idea of the game is to spot a random license plate on the road and to think of the longest word you can that encompasses those 3 letters in that exact order. The word can contain other letters before, in between, or after as well. The participant who comes up with the longest word, spelled correctly, wins that round. (There’s also a Wordscape variation where participants get extra points for each word they can generate with the same letters.)

So, for example, the car that just drove by me had MTG on their license plate. Someone might come up with “meeting” for 7 letters. But someone else might come up with “meetings” for 8 letters. While someone else might come up with “mitigating” for 10 letters.

I imagine one day playing this game with my son on trips to help fuel a love for words and to increase his vocabulary. Then again, my mom thinks it’s a pretty nerdy game, so maybe it will be too uncool for my son. All I know is that I’m currently undefeated in the game. I expect to still make a pretty good run at the title even after I get someone else to play with me!