charade

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
charade /ʃəˈrɑːd/

▶noun

• 1 an absurd pretence intended to create a pleasant impression.

• 2 (charades) [treated as sing.] a game of guessing a word or phrase from a written or acted clues.

– origin C18: from Fr., from mod. Provençal charrado ‘conversation’.