Green Glass Door

The Green Glass Door or Deep But Not Profound is a common word game where a player already introduced to the game gives clues to a new player about what does or does not belong behind the "green glass door". The object is for the uninformed player to guess the criterion for things that belong behind the green glass door, and once they have guessed, to play along.

The rule for whether an item belongs behind the green glass door is whether or not it contains a pair of identical letters. It is better to have the two items mentioned related in some way to greater confuse the individuals participating in the riddle.

Examples

Some examples:

• Behind the door you may attend classes at school or college but not courses at a university.
• There is a moon but no sun.
• There is glass but no windows.
• There is grass but no dirt.
• There is a book but no pages.
• There is a strawberry but not a grape.
• There are cattle but no cows.

The reverse of this game is known as the Red Plastic Window, in which only words with no double letters are behind the Red Plastic Window.

• There are lifeguards but no swimmers
• There is heaven but no hell.

Other common variations of the Green Glass Door are Moody's Grill and Bobby's World. Things with double letters are said to be in Moody's Grill, or can be taken to Bobby's World, other things are not. In England, a common variation is talking about what Harry the Hippo, or Wally the Woff (both double letters), does and does not like. Another well known variation is Fannee Doolee, which was a skit played on the show ZOOM. A midwestern US variation is called Deep but not Profound. Another version involves things you can and cannot buy with Moon Pennies, and an extended version has to do with The Valley of the Green Glass Doors. The Green Glass Door is very common among Boy Scouts, especially ones who already know the secret.

References