Crossword clues for gamesmanship
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. The use of legal but unsporting tactics to gain an advantage over one’s opponent
WordNet
n. the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win a game
Wikipedia
Gamesmanship is the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win or gain a serious advantage in a game or sport. It has been described as "Pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods possible to achieve the desired end" (Lumpkin, Stoll and Beller, 1994:92). It may be inferred that the term derives from the idea of playing for the game (i.e., to win at any cost) as opposed to sportsmanship, which derives from the idea of playing for sport. The term originates from Stephen Potter's humorous 1947 book, The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating).
Usage examples of "gamesmanship".
As an adult it amused him to add new layers of role-playing and gamesmanship to an otherwise dreary life.
Nom Anor was to the gamesmanship of politics, the subtle mockery of this half-pagan creature was too much.
Had the Romulans succeeded in keeping that subspace singularity, his political gamesmanship might even have jeopardized the entire universe.
The business of the Collegia was learning, after all, not gamesmanship.
This is not surprising, since it is perhaps the subtlest and most refined outdoor sport ever devised, riddled with craft and gamesmanship, and affording endless scope to a character such as his.
She found it a witty and ingenious commentary on the dangerous schoolboy shenanigans of superpower gamesmanship.