Conversation cards for couples, ready to cut out

Deal these first. Answers come in one word, nobody has to think, and three minutes of it changes the temperature at the table.

Safe while you are still eating. Half of them end with one of you writing something down to cook on Sunday.

The deck that plays like a game. Argue about the answer, and nobody has to give anything away to join in.

For the stretch after a heavy card, or for a table where one of you is tired. Read them out in a serious voice.

Where the night turns toward the two of you. Easier than it looks, because you were both there and you remember it differently.

Answers run longer here than in the decks before it, so deal fewer cards and let each one finish.

Keep this one when the others go back in the drawer. Slower than the decks before it, so leave room for the second half of each answer.

Once the plates have gone. These ask what actually works on them, which beats guessing again in December.

The last deck, and the one to stop on. One card is a whole conversation, so do not deal three.