St. Paul Cash Spiel
Curling Glossary
What the words mean, and how they apply at this spiel.
The game
Housealso rings
The circular target at each end of the sheet: concentric rings 12 feet across. Only stones in the house can score.
Pinalso tee
The exact centre point of the house, where the centre line and the tee line cross. Draws to the button are measured to it.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: A last stone draw that covers the pin is recorded as 0.
Sheet
One playing surface: a strip of ice with a house at each end. A club has several, numbered side by side.
Five-rock free guard zonealso free guard zone, FGZ
The area between the hog line and the tee line, outside the house. Until the sixth stone of an end is thrown, a stone resting there may not be knocked out of play by the opposing team.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: In effect at this spiel, alongside the no-tick rule.
No-tick rule
Until the sixth stone of an end is thrown, a guard touching the centre line in the free guard zone may not be moved off the centre line by the opposing team. Triangles on the ice show whether a stone is touching the line.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: In effect at this spiel. If it is broken, the team that didn't break it chooses: reset the stones, or leave them where they are.
Positionsalso lead, second, third, vice, skip, fourth, alternate
A team has four players who each throw two stones per end, in order: the lead, the second, the third (also called the vice), then the skip. The skip calls the game, and the vice holds the broom while the skip throws. Some teams have a different player throw last; that player is the fourth. An alternate is a registered spare.
Three-handed play
Playing a game with three players instead of four. World Curling's 2026–27 rule requires four players at the start of a game and caps three-handed play at two consecutive ends.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: St. Paul Cash Spiel does not apply that restriction: a team may start and complete any game with three players.
Ends and scoring
End
One round of play, like an inning: both teams throw all eight of their stones toward the same house, then the end is scored.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: Games here are 8 ends.
Scoring an end
Only one team scores in an end: the team with the stone closest to the pin. It scores one point for each of its stones in the house that is closer than the opponent's closest stone.
Hammeralso last stone, last rock
The last stone of an end, and the advantage of throwing it. After an end is scored, the team that did not score gets the hammer; after a blank end, the hammer stays where it was.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: In the round robin, hammer is awarded to the team winning the LSD. The playoffs have their own rule.
Steal
Scoring in an end without the hammer.
Blank end
An end in which neither team scores. Teams with the hammer sometimes blank on purpose, to keep the hammer for a later end.
Hammer, ties and standings
LSDalso last stone draw
A single stone each team throws to the house before a game, measured from the pin. The team whose stone finishes closer gets the hammer in the first end.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: Distances are recorded in inches, rounded to the nearest quarter inch. Failure to stop a stone in the rings is recorded as 73 inches. If the thrower moves the stone before it is measured, it is recorded as 73 inches. A stone covering the pin is 0 inches.
DSCalso draw shot challenge
A team's average distance from the pin across its last stone draws. It is not a throw of its own: you throw an LSD; you're ranked on your DSC. Lower is better. It breaks ties in the standings.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: For the draw shot challenge (DSC), a team's last stone draws (LSDs) are averaged — one per game — with the worst dropped once the team has thrown 4 of them; the lower average ranks higher.
Round robin
A format in which each team in a group plays every other team in it once.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: The round robin is played in pools. Teams are then ranked across the whole division, not within pools, and the top teams advance to a playoff.
Pool
A group of teams that play a round robin among themselves.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: Not to be confused with the selection pools on How selection works, which decide who gets into the field.
Cross-pool game
A round-robin game against a team from a different pool.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: Cross-pool games count toward a team's record like any other round-robin game.
Tiebreaker
The order of rules that separates teams with the same record.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: Teams are ranked by winning percentage (then most wins); ties are broken by head-to-head, then draw shot challenge, then entry seed. Head-to-head decides a tie between two teams that played each other; when three or more teams are tied, or two tied teams never met, the draw shot challenge decides.
The event
Bonspielalso spiel
A curling tournament. The word is Scottish; curlers usually shorten it to "spiel".
Cash spiel
A bonspiel that pays prize money to the teams that finish highest.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: St. Paul Cash Spiel pays prize money in both divisions.
World Curling Touralso WCT, tour event, satellite event
The international circuit of sanctioned curling events that elite teams play through the season.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: St. Paul Cash Spiel is a World Curling Tour satellite event. For the 2026–27 season it is also an official Grand Slam of Curling satellite: each division's champion earns a berth into the GSOC National.
WCF World Team Rankingalso world ranking
World Curling's ranking of teams by points earned at sanctioned events. It is World Curling's ranking, not the World Curling Tour's.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: The field is selected using it, and teams are seeded from it. The final seeding, which pool play is drawn from, is locked on September 23, 2026, from the Week 7 WCF World Team Ranking.
Grand Slam Pointsalso Slam Points
Points toward qualifying for the Grand Slam of Curling's Players' Cup. They are separate from WCF World Team Ranking points.
At St. Paul Cash Spiel: A playoff run here earns them.