Category and Letter Round Sheet Generator

What this generator does

Draws a different letter for each round from the letters you allow and lays them out on printable answer sheets with your categories and score columns. The random letter generator gives letters one at a time; the category elimination game is a spoken game in which players drop out. This one is for the written version, with every sheet sharing the same letters and an example-answer page for the host.

How to use this tool

1. Choose a built-in set of categories, or type your own, one per line.
2. Check the eligible letters — remove any you find too hard, or add letters such as Ä or Ñ.
3. Set the rounds and how many sheets to print, and choose a scoring rule.
4. Press Draw the letters, then print. Every sheet has the same letters in the same order.
5. Call each round's letter, play, then score each round using the rule on the sheet.

Understanding the controls

Start from

Everyday (animal, fruit or vegetable, city or country, first name, something in a kitchen, job), Out and about (sport or hobby, something you wear, way to travel, shop or business, something found outdoors) or a Quick round of four. Editing the categories turns this into your own set.

Categories, one per line

Up to 10, each up to 40 characters so it fits its column. Blank lines and repeats are dropped. Sheets with more than six categories print in a smaller size; turning the paper sideways gives each answer more room.

Eligible letters

The letters rounds may use, each once. A built-in set fills in the letters it has checked; you can remove letters or add others, including accented letters. A letter added outside the checked set is flagged, because a category may have no fair answer for it.

Scoring

10 for an answer nobody else gave and 5 for one shared with another player; or 1 point for every accepted answer; or 1 point only for answers nobody else gave. Blanks, answers with the wrong letter and answers the group rejects score nothing under every rule.

Accented letters count as their plain letter

When on, É counts for E and Ñ for N, and 'Émile' and 'emile' are the same answer when checking for a shared one. When off, accented letters are letters of their own. Letters such as Ø or ß have no accent to remove and always stay themselves.

Seed (optional)

The same seed, letters and rounds give the same letter order again while the generator is unchanged. It is for repeating a sheet and is not cryptographic.

Worked examples

Everyday categories, 6 rounds — seed picnic

Rounds T, B, O, K, I, E. Example answers for K: kangaroo, kiwi, Kenya, Kofi, kettle, kennel worker.

The worked round on B, scored 10 unique / 5 shared

Player 1 (bear, banana, Brazil, Bea) scores 30; Player 2 (badger, banana, Berlin, blank) 25; Player 3 (bear, broccoli, Paris, Ben) 25 — Paris starts with P, so it scores nothing.

Letters the built-in sets leave out

Q, U, V, X, Y and Z from all three; I also from Out and about, which has no fair I answer for clothing, travel, shops or the outdoors.

Common use cases

• A family or party game that needs nothing but pencils
• A class warm-up where the teacher wants letters known in advance and example answers to hand
• A pub-quiz style round in which teams fill one sheet each
• Language practice with categories chosen for the vocabulary being learned

How this generator works

Each built-in set stores, for every category, a short list of example answers under each letter, written for this page. A letter is offered only if every category in the set has at least one example for it, and each example is checked to begin with its letter; X, Y, Z, Q, U and V are left out of all three sets, and I of Out and about, because at least one category has no answer fair enough to print. For a sheet, the requested number of letters is drawn from the eligible list without repeats, by shuffling the list and taking the first ones, and a check confirms every letter is different and eligible. Text is compared in the standard composed form of Unicode, so an accented letter typed as one character or as a letter plus an accent is the same; whether accents are then ignored is the setting above. The worked example is scored by the same rule you choose, so it always matches what the sheet says.

Randomness and fairness

Only the order and choice of letters is random. Letters come from your browser's cryptographic random source, or from a repeatable sequence when a seed is typed; each eligible letter is equally likely in each round until it has been used.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Assumptions this tool makes

• Every player's sheet has the same letters in the same order, and one person calls each round.
• The example answers are English words and names. They show one fair answer exists; they are not a complete list.
• How long a round lasts is up to the players; a common choice is a couple of minutes, or until the first player has filled every box.

Limitations and good to know

• Typed-in categories are not checked: the page cannot know whether such a category has an answer for a letter, and prints no example answers for it.
• The built-in sets and their examples are in English. Versions with other languages' categories and letters are not offered.
• Accepting or rejecting an answer is left to the players; the page scores only what it can check, the starting letter and whether answers match.
• Up to 10 categories and 26 rounds, and at most 8 sheets per print.

Common mistakes

Adding hard letters to your own categories without agreeing a rule

If a category may have no answer for a letter, agree beforehand that a blank there costs nothing, or take the letter off the eligible list.

Arguing about answers mid-round

Settle disputes only when scoring, by the rules agreed before the first round; the guidance on the page gives a simple vote.

Practical tips

• Print the host's example page and keep it face down; it ends 'there isn't one' arguments quickly.
• For younger players or language learners, use the Quick round and fewer rounds.
• Keep the seed with the sheets if you want a rematch on the same letters later, while this tool is unchanged.

Privacy and your data

The sheets are made in your browser and nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere: categories, letters and seeds stay on your device. Usage counts record only that letters were drawn and how many rounds there were.

Frequently asked questions

Why are some letters missing?

In the built-in sets a letter is only offered if every category has a fair answer for it. Letters like X or Q fail that for most categories, so they are left out. You can add them back to the eligible list if your group likes a challenge.

Does 'The Hague' count for T or H?

The page checks the first letter as written, so it counts for T. Many groups agree to ignore 'the' and 'a' at the start; decide before the first round, and settle anything else by vote.

Do accented letters count?

That is a setting. With accents folded, Émile counts for E; without, É is its own letter, which suits languages where it is one. Either way, a letter typed in different ways on different keyboards is treated the same.

Can every player have different letters?

No — every sheet has the same letters, because the game depends on everyone answering for the same letter at the same time.