← Spark & Whetstone · Why Judges Drop the Top Score
The alley’s screen keeps score, so few people know how. A strike is worth 10 plus your next two balls; a spare is 10 plus your next one. Type a game’s marks and watch the totals wait for their bonus.
X for a strike, / for a spare, - for a miss, or the number of pins. Spaces are optional.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
An empty box is a frame still waiting for its bonus balls, or not yet bowled.
| Bowler | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Each box: the balls on top, the running total underneath. A perfect game is twelve strikes in a row: 300.
A strike’s score depends on balls not yet bowled, so a careful scorer leaves its box empty until two more balls have rolled. That is why a game of all spares made with 5 first scores 150, and twelve strikes score 300, not 120. The tenth frame gives the extra balls a strike or spare needs.
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