# Solitaire

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solitaire/1356>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 20, 1999, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solitaire/1356 "1999-06-20T15:35:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 1999, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solitaire/1356/1 "1999-06-20T15:35:00Z")

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Does the most common American form of solitaire (seven piles, red on black, comes with Windows) have an official name? “Solitaire,” of course, is a generic term referring to any game you play by yourself. For some reason I always thought the real name of this game was “Patience,” but when I looked it up, it turned out that “Patience” was also a generic (British) term for several different games.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 1999, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solitaire/1356/2 "1999-06-20T15:46:00Z")

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Klondike.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 1999, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solitaire/1356/3 "1999-06-20T15:55:00Z")

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When I was taught the game as a child, it was called “Canfield.”

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 1999, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solitaire/1356/4 "1999-06-20T15:58:00Z")

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Doesn’t Hoyle cover all this?

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 1999, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solitaire/1356/5 "1999-06-21T05:45:00Z")

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My copy of Hoyle’s (82nd printing - 1983)list 20 variants of Solitaire. I learned to play as per the rules Windows’ Solitaire uses by default. Hoyle’s description of the Klondike variant is Windows’ version w/the draw one (instead of three) and Vegas (i.e., you can only go through the undealt remainder of the deck once) options. The Windows default isn’t included in my copy of Hoyle’s

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 1999, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solitaire/1356/6 "1999-06-21T00:34:00Z")

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“patience” and “réussite” (literally _success_ or, I guess, the fact that you have succeeded in completing the game) are used in French.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 1999, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solitaire/1356/7 "1999-06-21T01:42:00Z")

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Ugh. It’s not Canfield, it’s Klondike. Canfield is a different, even more evil solitaire game. You can find the rules for (and play) many different games here:

[http://www.games.demo.ru/solit.html](http://www.games.demo.ru/solit.html)