A Dictionary of Terms Pertaining to Tetris Attack

Second Edition

By Clifford Chao and David Weaver

aerial chain. n. a link of a chain that occurs on top of breaking blocks.

anti-grav chain. n. a horizontal link of a chain in which one of the blocks has empty space directly under it at the time of the break.

ASSU chain. n. a chain which, prior to its initiation, appeared to have a large potential but is actually small or insignificant.

auto-rape. n. v. a death that occurs as the direct result of raising the stack too high with the L and R buttons.

big mac chain. n. a vertical link of a chain that, before it connects, is separated into three pieces by at least two horizontal breaks.

bitch-slap combo. n. a combo consisting of six or more exclams. bitch-slap chain. \ bÑch'-sl²p' chªn'\. n.

block. n. a single square-shaped piece in Tetris Attack.

blocked chain. n. a skill chain that cannot be executed because of a vertical break occurring between a block and the location where it is to be placed.

branching chain. n. a chain in which at least one link results directly from each link of a non-garbage twin chain. converging branching chain. n. a branching chain in which the two branches fuse back into one.

break1. n. v. the simultaneous disappearance of three or more adjacent, identical blocks.

break2 n. v. the transformation of all or part of a garbage block into non-garbage blocks as the result of a break (first definition) occurring adjacent to it.

bug. n. the lack of formation of non-garbage blocks upon the breaking of a garbage block. bug kill n.

chain. n. a break that occurs upon the landing of at least one block that fell as the result of a previous break. chainage n.

cliff-diver chain. n. a horizontal link of a skill chain that occurs by dropping a block so that it lands next to and at the same time as two or more other falling blocks.

column. n. a vertical row of non-garbage blocks.

column chain. n. a vertical link of a non-twin chain that directly follows another vertical link.

combo. n. a break that consists of more than three blocks. comboage. n.

compression death. n. death that occurs while the stack is being lowered.

connect. v. to place three or more like blocks in a row or column so that they are adjacent. connection. n.

crosscut chain. n. a vertical link of a non-twin chain that directly follows a horizontal link.

cursor. n. a pair of brackets used to switch two blocks horizontally.

cyber-rape1. n. v. a death that occurs as the result of obtaining unusable blocks from the breaking of a garbage block.

cyber-rape2. n. v. the ending of a garbage chain that occurs as the result of obtaining unusable blocks from the breaking of a garbage block

dancing. n. the constant motion of the figures within each block.

Dave. n. v. an auto-rape that occurs within the first 5 seconds of the match.

death block. n. a single block that supports the entire stack above it and that cannot be lowered except by a break occuring below it.

die. v. to end a match as the result of having one's stack reach the top of the screen while rising. death. n.

discovered break. n. a vertical break that is caused by the removal of a block from between the blocks to be broken. discovered chain. n.

divine intervention chain. n. a garbage chain that does not involve any blocks that were originally in the stack.

drop-in chain. n. a horizontal link of a skill chain in which a block is switched with an empty space, thus lowering one block of the link and supporting another.

dry stack. n. a medium to high stack in which no major combos or chains are visible to the player using it.

eleventh-hour save. n. a break (usu. of garbage blocks) that prevents death and occurs at the last possible moment before death.

exclam. n. a gray block marked with an exclamation point. exclam chain. n. a chain in which one or more links is made of exclams.

flat chain. n. a horizontal link of a non-twin, non-staggered-layer chain that directly follows another horizontal link.

flicker. n. v. to rapidly and repeatedly switch one block with either another block or an empty space.

flicker snag chain. n. a chain that involves the snagging of a block out of the top space of a vertical vacuum using flickering.

flicker twin chain. n. an artificial twin chain in which the switched block is flickered.

flying chain. n. an insertion chain in which the inserted block is falling when it is switched.

flying death block. n. a death block that is above breaking blocks at the time the garbage block directly above it falls.

foot chain. n. a horizontal link of a non-twin chain that is aligned with the lowest block of the previous (vertical) link.

French chain. n. a chain that requires a large amount of effort to set up but is not significantly damaging to one's opponent. French combo. n.

fumble. n. v. the failure to move a block as intended. lightning fumble. n. v. a movement of a block which momentarily causes a connection but not a break.

garbage block. . n. a block of unusable material that is dropped on one's stack as a result of the combos and chains of one's opponent.

garbage chain. n. a chain that is caused by the repeated breaking of one or more garbage blocks.

god blocks. pl. n. blocks that are above a garbage block and can be arranged to break it or the one above it.

god chain. n. a long, visually impressive chain consisting of many different types of links.

gravy chain. n. non-garbage links that follow directly from a garbage link.

Heaven and Hell chain. n. a single link of a garbage chain which involves blocks from the main part of the stack and blocks which were God blocks immediately before the link.

insertion chain. n. a vertical link of a skill chain that results from sliding a block under one or more falling blocks.

instant kill. n. a death that follows instantly after the completion of a chain or combo without delay time. instant kill theorem. n. theorem which states that an instant kill must eventually occur if a player continually makes chains that do not break the garbage stack (provided that the stack is at the top of the screen).

kevork. v. to intentionally auto-rape oneself for the purpose of ending the match sooner.

link. n. a break that occurs as part of a chain.

lower. v. to rearrange the stack so as to leave its highest point in a lower position.

luck chain. n. an unintentional chain or link.

mark. n. a square-shaped box above a breaking combo or chain that indicates the size of the combo or length of the chain.

monochrome chain. n. two or more consecutive links of a chain that consist of blocks of the same color.

Neil. v. to fail to execute a major non-garbage chain during a match.

opening chain. n. a chain that is executed immediately at the start of a match.

pause rape. n. a death that occurs as the direect result of a loss of a chain of thought due to the pausing of the match.

phantom break. n. a break on the winning player's side of the screen that does not fully disappear before the match ends.

possessed chain. n. a chain that requires skill far beyond that of the player who executes it.

power cheese blaster block. n. any large (at least 2 pounds), unsliced block of cheese made available for consumption during the playing of TA. power cheese chain. n. a link of a chain that is completed while simultaneously taking a bite out of a power cheese blaster block without the use of the hands.

question mark chain. n. any chain consisting of 14 or more links.

rising. n. the upward motion of the stack. rise. v.

row. n. a group of blocks that are all at the same height.

scrooge chain. n. a long chain that, upon completion, leaves the player who executes it in a smothered position. scrooge. v. master scrooge chain. n. a scrooge chain which leaves absolutely no blocks remaining in the stack aside from garbage blocks.

shame death. n. a death with no garbage blocks on one's stack.

skill chain. n. a chain in which all links are not set up at the beginning of the chain.

slide chain. n. a flat chain in which one of the blocks in the break is switched to meet two others that are falling.

smother. n. v. a situation in which garbage blocks fill almost the entire screen and the blocks under them cannot be arranged to break them.

snag chain. n. a link of a chain that involves the switching of a falling block.

spite chain. n. a chain that occurs while its executor is smothered. spite break. n.

spliced chain. n. a separate chain that is started near the end of another chain but is counted as a continuation of the first chain. spliced god block chain. n. a spliced chain in which the second part of the chain is begun by using god blocks to break a garbage block.

splitting chain. n. a chain in which one link directly results in at least two more.

stack. n. all the non-breaking blocks and garbage blocks on the screen.

staggered-layering chain. n. a link of a chain that does not involve the bottom block of a falling column or columns.

style points chain. n. a chain that is visually unusual or impressive.

suck. n. v. a theoretical link in a chain which does not occur because the player executing it is thinking about future links without realizing a prior mistake. suck death. n. a death that occurs as the result of a suck.

super chain. n. any chain consisting of 25 or more links.

support chain. n. a horizontal link of a non-anti-grav skill chain that results from sliding a block under a falling block and causing it to fall one less space.

switch. v. to swap two blocks horizontally with the cursor. switchage. n.

T.A. n. abbreviation for Tetris Attack.

tease death. n. a death that occurs just before a break that would have been an eleventh-hour save.

teleport chain. n. an insertion chain that requires a block to be moved two or more spaces through a vacuum. teleport snag chain. n. a link in a skill chain in which the space where a block is snagged and the place where it chains are at least 2 blocks apart.

thin ice break. n. a break that is accomplished by moving one or more blocks across the top of breaking blocks.

thunder match. n. a match of TA which is accompanied by a large quantity of noise from either the game itself, the players or both.

trap. n. an unintended break that occurs during the setup of another break and prevents the latter.

trumpet chain. n. any chain consisting of four or more links.

twin chain. n. a pair of links in a chain in which the second does not occur as a result of the first but as the result of a difference in the timing of their respective occurences. triplet chain. n. sequential twin chain.. a pair of links in a garbage chain in which the second link of the pair rather than the first breaks the garbage block. artificial twin chain. n. a twin chain that is caused by the switching of a block and would otherwise have been a combo. condensed twin chain. n. a twin chain in which the upper link is artificial and thus delayed so as to break at the same time as the lower link and cause the two links to count as one. audible twin chain. n. a twin chain in which the two links are sufficiently far from each other vertically (two blocks or more) that they are audible as separate links.

vacuum. n. the empty space left by blocks that have disappeared.