Congratulations! You Found the Secret Page of Winning Tips by: George C. Thomas "Keeper of all that Jezz"

Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998
Dear Dave,

There appears to be some confusion on the tips that I have offered. I’ll try to clarify these in this letter.

1^st I am going to "describe" the Jezzball field as a grid. There are 28 vertical lines and 20 horizontal lines. The top left intersection of these lines would be 1v and 1h. The bottom right intersection would be 28v and 20h.

2^nd To build a vertical trap that is suitable for single ball captures I position my double headed arrow with the base of the top head centered on 26v and 15h. With this position any ball traveling through the CENTER of the intersection can be clicked on and you will have a blue line extending toward the bottom of the screen. If you had everything [including the ball centered on the intersection] just right, you will not lose a life. I normally start my click when the ball is one intersection away [I.E. 25v and 14h or 27v and 14h] and traveling to the center of the intersection. This takes many hours of practice to use this technique.

3^rd As you progress to the higher levels, you must make your traps shorter. Remember not to get greedy.

4^th Another technique that I use during the early levels is to put the arrow on 28v and 16h and wait for the balls to clear the right hand side. I then click, and the while the RED line is still extending towards the top [by now the blue line extending to the bottom has turned black] I move to 26v and 16h and click again. This starts a new BLUE line extending towards the bottom. Upon arriving at the bottom it turns black and you now have your trap set.

5^th Now for the single ball catch! Turn your arrow to the horizontal position [right click]. Move it to 27v and 20h. Now center the right arrowhead base on this intersection. Once a ball enters the trap I wait until it is one "h" line above the arrow and then I click. This normally results in a single ball catch. Again, it takes practice! You will not lose a life. Now just move up to 27v and 19h and wait for the next ball. When you have captured all the balls on the screen move up the intersection above the top ball and close it off. You should have the maximum % of Area Cleared available and not have lost too many lives. This is where you really build points.

6^th You’ve practiced and practiced and are now twin balls are trapped on the same v or h line. What DO YOU DO? What DO YOU DO? For this example we’ll be down in the right corner again. You have a trap built from 26v and 16h. Two balls have trapped in the 27v, 28v and 16h position [in the mouth of the trap]. You must either sacrifice a life or use the technique described in #2, BUT YOU CANNOT BE HIGHER THAN ONE LEVEL ABOVE your trap. You must center you arrow on 15h and take one vertical block. This will allow you to build upon it without losing a life. Be forewarned that if you attempt more that ONE intersection, you will LOSE A LIFE!

7^th Same example as above but, the balls are trapped at 27v, 28v and 17h. The area below must be filled to procure the max % of Area Cleared. Center arrow head on 27v and 19h and click. You now have two intersections [27v, 28v and 18h] under the "TWINS". Now for the exciting part. Position the BOTTOM arrowhead at the 28v and 18h line and click. You’ve now closed the right side block. Move over to the 27v and 18h line and repeat. You will not lose a life if properly executed [sorry about the play on words]. Experiment with this technique and you’ll find that it can be used for single ball traps where you’ve accidentally put a line above them.

8^th In the higher levels you will experience "TWINS" stacking up in your traps but leaving one grid space between them. The solution is to use the "single ball trap" technique in the grid between them.

9^th At the extreme high level you will not be able to successfully build traps [without losing lives]. The solution is to only build ONE grid at a time using the technique described in #2. The Jezzballs will not kill with only one grid at a time [although you still must be centered on a ball].

10^th As the game is winding down [less than 2 or 3 balls] I try to keep a maximum of 65 to 68 % Area Filled. This allows me to build whatever barriers I need to trap the renegades.

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